Thanks for posting! I had no idea Ric appeared to support Quick Change World. I always thought this song evoked a certain Cars quality, due in no small part to Greg Hawkes' unmistakeable contribution on the keys.
@fischerfarm5 Your absolutely right; David Robinson laid down his sticks when The Cars broke up, but Benjamin Orr continued to tour with other bands and created more songs that were unreleased, but are available to hear on You Tube. Very sad that Ben was so talented and wanted to play and sing, but there was something BIG between him & Ric :-( I am just glad Elliot is there for me to watch :-)
This didn't look like 1997 to me... from the Letterman episodes guide it says this was from 10/13/1993. Nice to see Elliot and Greg. Good solo by Elliot, he chose a Telecaster from his extensive collection for this performance.
In this video, one of the main reasons for The Cars' success is, unfortunately missing. It's not just Ben's absence, but the symbiosis, or whatever you want to call it, between him and Ric. Whatever their relationship was, good or bad, it was powerful, and you could feel the tension (I mean that in a good way), on stage. Plus Ben had incredible vocal range and in this song, you can hear how narrow Ric's range is. I miss Ben.
I think Ric saying that Ben was jealous of him and his writing is a cop-out.
If you listen to "Door To Door", their last album, Ben sings lead on the song "Coming Up You" that sounds like Ben Orr's songs on The Lace album. I think it must have been such a slap in the face for Ben to sing this song and know the similarity.
Obviously, Ric wanted to play with Elliot and Greg.
I am upset! Someone needs to clear the air, report the truth about what was going on with Ric and Ben after the split.
So, Ric goes on Letteman and gets paid the big bucks while Ben is playing in small venues for a lot less. That doesn't make since if they were, supposedly, friends all of those years.
I am sure there are people that know. Just tell us fans-
@JesusFreakJene Rick said in a interview this year that even though he loved Ben they had a 23 year cold war and he never really understood why, he said it could probably have been stupid jealousy because he was writing most of the songs after 1984. Here is a Quote "There was all kinds of weird stuff, like he said, “My girlfriend writes songs, let’s use one of those or two of those.” I said, “No, that’s not the Cars.” Whats sad is those songs were used on The Lace and were great...
@kenc1161 Yes, I heard that comment by Ric about Ben's music contributions, but that was in the mid-80's. I believe if Ric didn't know why, he should have tried to find out (if he did indeed love the guy).
Ben seemed to need a friendship with his fellow band players, because after leaving The Cars, Ben seemed to substitute his friendship for Ric with (I believe his name is) John in ORR.
What about Elliot, Greg, & Dave?
I wish Ben was still here. Personalities can be powerful roadblocks.
@JesusFreakJene Ben had been tight with John Cafferty for awhile and from what I have read so was Ric up until 87. The other guys continued to do stuff with Ben til he died but just never all at the same time, My take has always been the Yoko factor, Ben was in sick stupid love with Diane Grey Page at the time and she was a huge influence on his music. Could be that Ric really resented that relationship. Watch Ric & Ben interact in the last interview in 2000. No doubt they were close
@kenc1161 I agree with all you said, but I keep going back to the 80's; that's when Ben was involved with Diane, but they broke up and Ben was not with her during the 90's, so why couldn't Ric contact Ben and the group and all friends reconnect? I am sure we will never know the truth, unfortunately.
@JesusFreakJene Just watch the last interview the cars ever did in mid 2000, a few months before Ben died of cancer, all thats important is you can see the band has forgiven any and all bad memorys. Its on Youtube in several parts. Ben is wearing a Cleveland Browns jersey and they are all happy together. So, let the bad times be forgotten. All bands have them.
@sadalite At that moment in time, I believe they all knew Ben did not have much time left. I agree that they all loved each other, it is obvious. I dislike Ric making statements when Ben is not here to defend himself that he was jealous of Ric. I don't believe so. Ben was a class act. He knew he was dying and he needed his friends around him. I am very glad that the band got together for Ben's sake, as well as, all of them.
Yes, all bands have issues, but not too many bands have 2 leads-
@sadalite At that moment in time, I believe they all knew Ben did not have much time left. I agree that they all loved each other, it is obvious. I dislike Ric making statements when Ben is not here to defend himself that he was jealous of Ric. I don't believe so. Ben was a class act. He knew he was dying and he needed his friends around him. I am very glad that the band got together for Ben's sake, as well as, all of them.
Yes, all bands have issues, but not too many bands have 2 leads-
This is 1997. Ric did a couple of club dates in the Boston & Philly areas. I saw him at the 5 Spot in Philadelphia. It was a real small place. Sort of a bar atmosphere..
really a shame elliot couldn't have been in on more of ric's solo songs.... this is one of the cars -- um ric's -- best... hope they do this one on the tour, or at least SOME previous solo work, as jimmy jimmy was done during the heartbeat city tour... thank you for posting!
I just realized he's fucking the lyics all up haha but that's alright cause its his damn song
spaceorbison 1 month ago
Thanks for posting! I had no idea Ric appeared to support Quick Change World. I always thought this song evoked a certain Cars quality, due in no small part to Greg Hawkes' unmistakeable contribution on the keys.
djhousefire 2 months ago
If this was 1993 that explains his punk look... everyone was dressing down during the grunge years riding that wave.
spaceorbison 2 months ago
Most of you are talking about Ben's absence but if you know your band you will notice that David Robinson isn't playing the drums......
fischerfarm5 3 months ago
@fischerfarm5 Your absolutely right; David Robinson laid down his sticks when The Cars broke up, but Benjamin Orr continued to tour with other bands and created more songs that were unreleased, but are available to hear on You Tube. Very sad that Ben was so talented and wanted to play and sing, but there was something BIG between him & Ric :-( I am just glad Elliot is there for me to watch :-)
JesusFreakJene 2 months ago
him, Joey Ramone and Howard Stern are triplets
tacomonster98 4 months ago
This didn't look like 1997 to me... from the Letterman episodes guide it says this was from 10/13/1993. Nice to see Elliot and Greg. Good solo by Elliot, he chose a Telecaster from his extensive collection for this performance.
retrotrs80 5 months ago
@retrotrs80 - It's EASY to tell. In 1993, Letterman was still somewhat human.
By 1997, the skunk in his soul started acting up.
2011: Beyond redemption.
7855waldo 3 months ago
In this video, one of the main reasons for The Cars' success is, unfortunately missing. It's not just Ben's absence, but the symbiosis, or whatever you want to call it, between him and Ric. Whatever their relationship was, good or bad, it was powerful, and you could feel the tension (I mean that in a good way), on stage. Plus Ben had incredible vocal range and in this song, you can hear how narrow Ric's range is. I miss Ben.
athenamuses 5 months ago
@athenamuses - Perfectly stated. Thank you.
7855waldo 3 months ago
I think there was much greater behind-the-scene stuff than Ben being jealous of Ric (It may have been the other way around).
How can anyone accuse someone jealousy after they have passed and they are not able to respond? That is chicken sh@t-
JesusFreakJene 5 months ago
I think Ric saying that Ben was jealous of him and his writing is a cop-out.
If you listen to "Door To Door", their last album, Ben sings lead on the song "Coming Up You" that sounds like Ben Orr's songs on The Lace album. I think it must have been such a slap in the face for Ben to sing this song and know the similarity.
JesusFreakJene 5 months ago
@08nairb This was October1993. Ric was promoting his "Quick Change World" solo record. cc @wyomingson1
showmevince 5 months ago
@showmevince If this was in "93" that would explain why Ben wasn't there (too soon), but still sad he wasn't.
Thanks for the info-
JesusFreakJene 5 months ago
@JesusFreakJene just wanna say I made a comment that started exactly like yours and noticed afterwards lol
spaceorbison 2 months ago
They were a good, GOOD band.
BackInsight 5 months ago
If this was in "97", where was BEN?
Obviously, Ric wanted to play with Elliot and Greg.
I am upset! Someone needs to clear the air, report the truth about what was going on with Ric and Ben after the split.
So, Ric goes on Letteman and gets paid the big bucks while Ben is playing in small venues for a lot less. That doesn't make since if they were, supposedly, friends all of those years.
I am sure there are people that know. Just tell us fans-
JesusFreakJene 6 months ago
@JesusFreakJene Rick said in a interview this year that even though he loved Ben they had a 23 year cold war and he never really understood why, he said it could probably have been stupid jealousy because he was writing most of the songs after 1984. Here is a Quote "There was all kinds of weird stuff, like he said, “My girlfriend writes songs, let’s use one of those or two of those.” I said, “No, that’s not the Cars.” Whats sad is those songs were used on The Lace and were great...
kenc1161 5 months ago
@kenc1161 Yes, I heard that comment by Ric about Ben's music contributions, but that was in the mid-80's. I believe if Ric didn't know why, he should have tried to find out (if he did indeed love the guy).
Ben seemed to need a friendship with his fellow band players, because after leaving The Cars, Ben seemed to substitute his friendship for Ric with (I believe his name is) John in ORR.
What about Elliot, Greg, & Dave?
I wish Ben was still here. Personalities can be powerful roadblocks.
JesusFreakJene 5 months ago
@JesusFreakJene Ben had been tight with John Cafferty for awhile and from what I have read so was Ric up until 87. The other guys continued to do stuff with Ben til he died but just never all at the same time, My take has always been the Yoko factor, Ben was in sick stupid love with Diane Grey Page at the time and she was a huge influence on his music. Could be that Ric really resented that relationship. Watch Ric & Ben interact in the last interview in 2000. No doubt they were close
kenc1161 5 months ago
@kenc1161 I agree with all you said, but I keep going back to the 80's; that's when Ben was involved with Diane, but they broke up and Ben was not with her during the 90's, so why couldn't Ric contact Ben and the group and all friends reconnect? I am sure we will never know the truth, unfortunately.
JesusFreakJene 5 months ago
@JesusFreakJene Just watch the last interview the cars ever did in mid 2000, a few months before Ben died of cancer, all thats important is you can see the band has forgiven any and all bad memorys. Its on Youtube in several parts. Ben is wearing a Cleveland Browns jersey and they are all happy together. So, let the bad times be forgotten. All bands have them.
sadalite 5 months ago
@sadalite At that moment in time, I believe they all knew Ben did not have much time left. I agree that they all loved each other, it is obvious. I dislike Ric making statements when Ben is not here to defend himself that he was jealous of Ric. I don't believe so. Ben was a class act. He knew he was dying and he needed his friends around him. I am very glad that the band got together for Ben's sake, as well as, all of them.
Yes, all bands have issues, but not too many bands have 2 leads-
JesusFreakJene 5 months ago
@sadalite At that moment in time, I believe they all knew Ben did not have much time left. I agree that they all loved each other, it is obvious. I dislike Ric making statements when Ben is not here to defend himself that he was jealous of Ric. I don't believe so. Ben was a class act. He knew he was dying and he needed his friends around him. I am very glad that the band got together for Ben's sake, as well as, all of them.
Yes, all bands have issues, but not too many bands have 2 leads-
JesusFreakJene 5 months ago
lol No body CAN sideline Paul Shaffer ;) lol
drewwalker59 6 months ago
A surprising find. Three of the Cars are playing..
Firmcontrol 7 months ago
This is 1997. Ric did a couple of club dates in the Boston & Philly areas. I saw him at the 5 Spot in Philadelphia. It was a real small place. Sort of a bar atmosphere..
wyomingson1 7 months ago
what year is this?
08nairb 8 months ago
anyone got the lyric of this song?
ismailzhafri 9 months ago
With Elliot and Ben in the band, kind of pathetic to pretend he's not just riding on the Cars reputation. They should have been in the seats too.
tacomadc 9 months ago
@tacomadc Ben Orr died years ago taco?! Come on brother, true fans know this?!
obamaequalsoneterm 9 months ago
@tacomadc the 4 surviving members are playing with daves band. Elliott is the lefty guitar player...Later...
obamaequalsoneterm 9 months ago
really a shame elliot couldn't have been in on more of ric's solo songs.... this is one of the cars -- um ric's -- best... hope they do this one on the tour, or at least SOME previous solo work, as jimmy jimmy was done during the heartbeat city tour... thank you for posting!
Jantelover 10 months ago
YES! thanks
Frankenfukstein 10 months ago
Been looking for this FOREVER. Thanks for uploading.
showmevince 10 months ago
I like how Rick utilized Letterman's band for the live song and didn't sideline them.
Pope2019 11 months ago 2
Hey, there are even elliot and Greg in. How cool is that ?
clacalamaris 11 months ago