WEDNESDAY JAM: Let the stories be told

Been a while since I posted here. Sorry, everybody.

Ric Ocasek, principal songwriter and co-lead singer of the Cars was born 78 years ago today. This wouldn't be all that remarkable if not for the fact that Ocasek was 34 years old when his band's self-titled debut album was released in June 1978. Now, this 41-year-old doesn't look at 34 as all that old, but it is in rock 'n' roll years.

Consider the following tweet I read a bit ago:

Ric Ocasek was just a month younger than George Harrison, a couple months younger than Keith Richards, Jimmy Page, and Jim Morrison, and was older than Ray Davies, Pete Townshend, and Eric Clapton. Viva late bloomers. https://t.co/GCWmd79Fwm

— Craig Calcaterra (@craigcalcaterra) March 23, 2022

Let's look at it another way. The Beatles (Harrison's former band of course) broke up eight years before the Cars' debut album. Jim Morrison had been dead for almost seven years. The Rolling Stones (Richards) released "Some Girls," which was their last great album if we're being honest with ourselves, three days after "The Cars." Likewise, Led Zeppelin (Page), the Kinks (Davies), the Who (Townshend) and Clapton had all done the lion's share of their best work by 1978.

So the fact that Ocasek and his (slightly younger) bandmates had an entire Rock & Roll Hall of Fame career ahead of them in 1978 is rather remarkable.

Cheers to you, Cars. Rest in peace, Ric Ocasek (1944-2019) and Benjamin Orr (1947-2000).

But there's a second reason I'm writing about the Cars today. It just seems to fit in with the weekend I just had, which made the second verse of "Good Times Roll" (album one, side one, track one) hit a little bit harder:

Let the stories be told
Let them say what they want
Let the photos be old
Let them show what they want

On Friday, I left the BG office early en route to Fort Wayne, where the Wabash College Little Giants were playing in the NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Final Four. I'll admit, the game wasn't much from a Wabash perspective, but on the way, I met up with Corey, my best friend since kindergarten (not a Wabash grad) and then got to the game, where we saw Chewy, Bonzo and Kip, three guys I've barely seen in the 19 years since I graduated. Hanging out afterward was the best part of the evening.

The next morning, I also talked on the phone to former roommate Austin, who wasn't able to make it out Friday night. It honestly might've been the first time we talked since we graduated in 2003.

Stories were told. Photos were old. The good times did, indeed, roll.

Feel free to listen for yourself:

But there's one last reason I've been listening to the Cars lately, and that's thinking about a fellow fixture here at the BG who loves this band. I won't go into details because either you know or you don't, but he's facing a pretty tough diagnosis and a long road to rehab in the coming weeks and months.

I thought I'd just post this (I'm confident he'll read it) and let him know I'm thinking about him. Lately, I've even been rocking the vinyl of three Cars albums and thinking of him (see photo at the top).

So, let the good times roll, people. Be good out there.