The Cars Audiobook By Bill Janovitz, Greg Hawkes - introduction cover art

The Cars

Let the Stories Be Told

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The Cars

By: Bill Janovitz, Greg Hawkes - introduction
Narrated by: Corey Carthew, Bill Janovitz
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New York Times bestselling author Bill Janovitz delivers the definitive story of The Cars, one of the most popular, beloved, and influential bands to emerge from New Wave—with a foreword by Cars keyboardist Greg Hawkes.

The Cars formed in the late 1970s as an alliance of five journeymen musicians with roots in Maryland, Ohio, New York, and New England. They had each performed in a series of bands before finding one another—along with the right sound at the right time. That sound, soon fortified by their iconic imagery, turned them into Rock and Roll Hall of Famers.
Biographer, critic, and musician Bill Janovitz explores the musical, cultural, and commercial impact of the band with articulate and knowing insights. He draws on his own exclusive new reporting along with the enthusiastic participation of the surviving members of the band, as well as nearly everyone who surrounded them over the years. The band's unusual providence is fully explored here for the first time, and each of their landmark albums is masterfully chronicled and dissected, as is their profound support of the Boston music scene that has reverberated around the world and throughout the decades.
Yet, with all of the success, there were also significant conflicts within the band, which led to an untimely end. Janovitz reveals the stories of each member, and of the group as a whole, with great care and understanding. To paraphrase The Car's own lyrics: Hello again, you might think this is just what you needed. It's magic. Let's shake it up and let the good times roll. Americas Biographies & Memoirs Entertainment & Celebrities Music United States Celebrity
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Critic reviews

“This inside account of the life of a rock band bristles with extravagant details and penetrating insights, much like his masterpiece biography of Leon Russell, but Bill Janovitz’s The Cars: Let the Stories Be Told persuasively makes the case for the Cars as one of the essential American rock bands of their day. Janovitz brings a fellow musician’s perspective, a scholar’s depth and a fan’s enthusiasm to this riveting, rollercoaster ride of the entire bell curve of the storied band’s epic career.” —Joel Selvin, author of Altamont and Fare Thee Well
“Like The Cars, I was born in Ohio in the late seventies. I grew up listening to their cool, stylized, slightly unnerving songs, but now, thanks to Bill Janovitz, the records sound new to me. With The Cars: Let the Stories Be Told, Janovitz has given us a meticulously researched and satisfyingly granular portrait of the band, the history, the personalities, and the unmistakable sound. And what a writer! He had me on page one.”—Maggie Smith, author of Keep Moving and You Could Make This Place Beautiful
“I loved The Cars and followed their career from beginning to end, and I loved this book. Well written and researched, it captures the rock scene from the hippie days to new wave. It also stands as a cautionary tale about how not to run a band. All band dynamics are slippery, but I have always believed that everybody in a great band should be valued and rewarded.”—Peter Buck, R.E.M.
Detailed History • Interesting Story • Excellent Narration • Depth Interviews • Great Information • Well-balanced View

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Disliked the unnecessary accents the narrator tried to give various characters. Most pretty cringe-worthy. Also the mispronounced names. Not cool.

The Boston insider knowledge the author brings to an only somewhat interesting story.

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A lot of references in here I did not expect.
Ministry, Steve Albini, Suicide, Skinny Puppy, etc.

A lot of references

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Great book if you like the band and are interested in the behind the scenes goings on.

Great information

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It wasn’t good story telling. I feel like I didn’t learn all that much about the band members. Rick wanted to be in control of many things. He was a talented song writer. Ben was the good looking one. Not enough info on their individual selves. Too many
other things that made it feel so long.

Too long!

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Bill Janovitz writes great books on one of my favorite subjects. He understands what he is writing about because he has lived through the music industry as a musician. I loved his book on Leon Russell.

This book was a letdown. Only because the narrator couldn’t pronounce many things correctly. So many dumb mistakes, and bad Boston accents are annoying. This narrator tries to get into character and he doesn’t even understand the bands or the people he is trying to portray. Doing dumb stoner impressions for musicians is like doing blackface. He mispronounced people’s names, street names and music terms. A great narrator reading a good book is magical, a bad narrator reading a book just sucks.

Narrator Couldn’t Pronounce Anything Right!

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