World Series of Rock: 50 Years Later: Cars

Hook-savvy with the perfect combo of New Wave and Classic Rock, you can't help but sing along to the Cars.

The band's magnetism and intellectual arrangements resonated with an audience ready to leave the left of the dial underground and cement themselves into the mainstream. Founded in Boston in 1976 by singer-guitarist-songwriter Ric Ocasek and singer-bassist Benjamin Orr, the Cars were the ultimate New Wave dream machine: a hook-savvy super-charged quintet that fused 1960s pop, 1970s glam, and avant-rock minimalism into a decade of dashboard-radio nirvana. More on rockhall.com...

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The Cars were influenced by...

• Roxy Music

• David Bowie

• Big Star

The Cars inspired bands like...

• Weezer

• The Strokes

• Smashing Pumpkins