Let’s Go!: Benjamin Orr and The Cars
By Joe Milliken
Having read Joe Milliken’s biography on The Cars bassist/singer, Benjamin Orr, I felt compelled to revisit the bands 1984 album, Heartbeat City, seeing as a reoccurring comment throughout the last part of the biography was just how beautiful Orr’s vocals were on the song, Drive, one of three songs on the album he sang, along with Stranger Eyes and It’s Not the Night, whom he sang with fellow The Cars rhythm guitarist/singer/composer, and Orrs long-time friend before success graced them with its presence, Rick Ocasek. Often sharing lead vocal duties on their albums, where Ocasek’s vocals could be described as quirky (yet compelling), Orrs have a beautiful, soulful sound to them, and as it stated in the biography, Drive has a definite beauty to it that cannot be denied – an eternal beauty, you might say.
Benjamin Orr, born Benjamin Orzechowski in Lakewood, Ohio and known locally as ‘Benny 11 Letters’ (easier to say than pronouncing his last name), was a founding member of the late 1970’s, 1980’s rock and roll/new wave band, The Cars, but is not as well known as Ocasek, who, based upon his lead vocal duties, as well as appearing in many of The Cars ground-breaking music videos on MTV, is much better known. The fact that Orr died at the age of 53 in 2000 of pancreatic cancer, has left him a bit of an unknown, despite the fact that the music The Cars created over six albums, that Orr participated in, lives on and is as valued today as it was when first released. If ever a biography was needed to draw attention to a talented rock and roller whose existence had an impact on the music scene, it was a biography on Benjamin Orr.
Let’s Go! is a start, although hopefully not the last, as despite Milliken’s efforts – the book is an enjoyable read – I felt it was just adequate; a reminder of Orr’s existence and contribution to the world of music, but not as in depth or definitive as it should be. What we understand reading this biography – that I would highly recommend for those who love music biographies – is that Orr was a great guy, a legend in the Cleveland music scene, having been a member of The Grasshoppers, the house band for a local music variety TV show, Big 5 Show, amongst other musical endeavours, before meeting Ocasek, making several attempts to make it in the business, before teaming up with keyboardist Greg Hawkes, lead guitarist Elliot Easton, and drummer David Robinson and forming The Cars.
The consensus in most interviews Milliken conducted was that Orr was a great guy, who never raised his voice, was always supportive, and just had a natural ability to sing, to the point he often gave only one take in the studio, getting it perfect the first time. There is nothing wrong with this, and even after becoming hugely successful, Orr continued to be down-to-earth with family and friends, but one wonders if Milliken’s depiction of Orr is a little too one-dimensional, as I would be willing to bet that like most of us, Orr is a lot more complex than that. Now, that is not to say, there is anything bad to say about him, as I believe based on what I read, there isn’t, just that the depiction of him seemed repetitive and a little glossed over, that there is still an interesting man and musician there that needs to be discovered – but than again, not every music biographer can be as thorough as Peter Guralnick, who has written numerous excellent music biographies, including the definite biographies on Elvis Presley, Last Train to Memphis and Careless Love.
Let’s Go! is a quick, fun, read, and a necessary reminder that The Cars were not just Ric Ocasek, who is the performer most readily identified with the band, the awkward-looking front man, who like Mick Jagger and others proved the rock and roll adage that success in music and rock and roll can make you attractive enough to marry a supermodel – Paulina Porizkova in Ocasek’s case. Now, I apologize here to Ocasek and Porizkova, as I am sure they married based on love, and I know love is unique, and we find ourselves attracted to whom we find ourselves attracted to, but certainly their coming together followed in a long line of quirky, awkward-looking rock and rollers marrying seemingly unattainable women, well above their station. It should be noted that Orr was the good-looking, heartthrob member of The Cars.
One revelation from the biography was the fact The Cars were a lot more successful than I believed. I knew they were big, and had hits, but with that string of five albums, starting with The Cars in 1978, their success was impressive, even considering a couple of their albums, like 1980’s Panorama were considered a departure from their sound and a bit experimental. I will say, having revisited 1984’s Heartbeat City that it is one of those albums you could consider perfect. From the opener, Hello Again to its tenth song, Heartbeat City, there is no filler on the album, but brilliant songs throughout. There are not many perfect albums out there, but I will argue to my dying day that Heartbeat City is one of them.
For a quick read, and one that will enlighten, Milliken’s effort is excellent; and while it is a criticism, I believe there is still room for someone else to revisit this subject and maybe delve deeper, giving us a more in-depth profile of this remarkable man and musician. In the meantime, Let’s Go! will suffice, as an enjoyable read, a tragic story based on Orr’s early passing, but also a brilliant excuse to dig out those old The Cars albums and revisit them – like you really needed an excuse in the first place, right?! ♥