Heartbeat City Explained

Heartbeat City
Type:studio
Artist:the Cars
Cover:The Cars - Heartbeat City.jpg
Recorded:July 1983 – January 1984
Studio:Battery (London)
Genre:
Length:38:41
Label:Elektra
Producer:
  • Robert John "Mutt" Lange
Prev Title:Shake It Up
Prev Year:1981
Next Title:Greatest Hits
Next Year:1985

Heartbeat City is the fifth studio album by American new wave band the Cars, released on March 13, 1984, by Elektra Records. This marks the band's first album not produced by long-time producer Roy Thomas Baker, instead opting to produce with Robert John "Mutt" Lange. Considered a "comeback" album for the Cars, Heartbeat City represented a return to the success of the band's self-titled debut album.

Music critic Robert Christgau noted that "the glossy approach the Cars invented has made this the best year for pure pop in damn near twenty years, and it's only fair that they should return so confidently to form." Numerous tracks from the album received airplay on modern rock and AOR stations, with the singles "Drive" and "You Might Think" reaching the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100, while the album peaked at number three on the Billboard 200.

Background and release

Heartbeat City was recorded at Battery Studios in London with producer Mutt Lange. The band followed a method where the keyboards, guitars and vocals were recorded first to a LinnDrum click track, then the bass and drums were added. According to drummer David Robinson, all the drums and keyboards were sampled into and played or programmed via the Fairlight CMI, which he felt gave "a much better, cleaner, more controllable sound" for the album.[1]

Heartbeat City spawned six singles. "Drive" and "You Might Think" reached the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at numbers three and seven, respectively.[2] A number of songs from the album gained significant radio and television exposure, notably "Drive", "You Might Think" and "Magic", which all received heavy rotation on MTV. The title track served as the album's sixth and final single outside North America.

The lead vocals on "Drive" were performed by bassist Benjamin Orr. The song's video was directed by actor Timothy Hutton and features Ric Ocasek arguing with a troubled young woman played by model Paulina Porizkova (whom Ocasek would later marry). "Hello Again" had a video directed by Andy Warhol, who also appeared onscreen.[3]

Despite not being released as a single, "It's Not the Night" reached number 31 on the Top Rock Tracks chart.[4] The song "Stranger Eyes" was used in the theatrical trailer of the 1986 film Top Gun, but never made it onto the soundtrack. "Looking for Love" was covered by Austrian singer Falco as "Munich Girls" on his 1985 album Falco 3.

When the Cars performed at Live Aid, they played three songs from the album ("You Might Think", "Drive", and the album's title track), alongside the fan favorite "Just What I Needed".

The album was produced by Robert John "Mutt" Lange. His commitment to the Cars' album meant that he told Def Leppard he could not work on their album Hysteria. However, due to delays in that album's recording, Lange was eventually able to produce it.

Artwork

The cover art (including an image of a 1971 Plymouth Duster 340 and an Alberto Vargas pin-up model[5] [6]) is from a 1972 piece by Peter Phillips called Art-O-Matic Loop di Loop.[7]

Track listing

Notes

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Heartbeat City.[8]

The Cars

Additional musicians

Technical

Artwork

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (1984–1985)! scope="col"
Peak
position
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)15
European Albums (Eurotipsheet)[9] 33
US Rock Albums (Billboard)[10] 1

Year-end charts

Chart (1984)! scope="col"
Position
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)29
Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[11] 12
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[12] 5
US Billboard 200[13] 12
Chart (1985)! scope="col"
Position
Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[14] 69
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[15] 16
US Billboard 200[16] 49

References

Bibliography

Notes and References

  1. The Driving Beat: The Cars . Chris . Maillard . International Musician And Recording World . January 1985 .
  2. The Cars Chart History (Hot 100) . . February 17, 2021 . November 17, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211117202007/https://www.billboard.com/artist/the-cars/chart-history/hsi/ . live .
  3. Web site: The Uncensored Andy Warhol-Directed Video for The Cars' Hit "Hello Again" (NSFW) . Open Culture . October 15, 2012 . August 1, 2019 . March 26, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220326042910/https://www.openculture.com/2012/10/watch_the_uncensored_andy_warhol-directed_video_for_the_cars_hit_hello_again_nsfw.html . live .
  4. The Cars Chart History (Mainstream Rock Airplay) . Billboard . February 17, 2021 . April 9, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220409125201/https://www.billboard.com/artist/the-cars/chart-history/rtt/ . live .
  5. Stack . Phil . Vargas . Alberto . January 1944 . Varga Calendar for 1944 . Esquire . July 9, 2022 . March 6, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230306062825/https://classic.esquire.com/article/1944/1/1/varga-calendar-for-1944 . live .
  6. Web site: FEB 1944 VARGA CALENDAR SEXY BLONDE PIN-UP GIRL PRINT . WorthPoint . July 9, 2022 . July 9, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220709190238/https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/feb-1944-varga-calendar-sexy-blonde-75212962 . live .
  7. Web site: 1972 The Cars "Heartbeat City" Album Cover . PeterPhillips.com . December 12, 2018 . November 11, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20201111193054/https://www.peterphillips.com/art-o-matic-loop-di-loop-1972-the-cars-heartbeat-city-album-cover-1984/ . live .
  8. Heartbeat City . liner notes . . . 1984 . 60296-1.
  9. European Top 100 Albums . . 1 . 34 . November 19, 1984 . 16 . 29800226 . World Radio History . May 18, 2022 . January 20, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220120105703/https://worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-UK/Music/Archive-Music-Media-IDX/IDX/80s/84/M%26M-1984-11-19-OCR-Page-0016.pdf . live .
  10. Rock Albums . Billboard . 96 . 29 . July 21, 1984 . 20 . 0006-2510 . . February 17, 2021 . February 17, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240217044707/https://books.google.com/books?id=j5I4br0t7cwC&pg=PT19#v=onepage&q&f=false . live .
  11. Top 100 Albums of 1984 . RPM . 41 . 17 . January 5, 1985 . 0033-7064 . Library and Archives Canada . June 1, 2020 . February 3, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220203174136/https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/films-videos-sound-recordings/rpm/Pages/image.aspx?Image=nlc008388.9642&URLjpg=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.collectionscanada.gc.ca%2Fobj%2F028020%2Ff4%2Fnlc008388.9642.gif&Ecopy=nlc008388.9642 . live .
  12. Web site: Top Selling Albums of 1984 . . June 12, 2019 . July 6, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190706133652/https://nztop40.co.nz/chart/albums?chart=3873 . live .
  13. Web site: Top Pop Albums of 1984 . Billboard.biz . December 31, 1984 . December 26, 2020 . https://archive.today/20121231160407/http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/charts/archivesearch/article_display/855368?imw=Y . December 31, 2012.
  14. RPM's Top 100 Albums of 1985 . RPM . 43 . 16 . December 25, 1985 . 14 . 0033-7064 . Library and Archives Canada . June 1, 2020 . March 28, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220328115613/https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/films-videos-sound-recordings/rpm/Pages/image.aspx?Image=nlc008388.0618&URLjpg=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.collectionscanada.gc.ca%2Fobj%2F028020%2Ff4%2Fnlc008388.0618.gif&Ecopy=nlc008388.0618 . live .
  15. Web site: Top Selling Albums of 1985 . Recorded Music NZ . February 3, 2022 . July 4, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190704074127/https://nztop40.co.nz/chart/albums?chart=3874 . live .
  16. Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 1985 . Billboard . June 19, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180730184336/https://www.billboard.com/charts/year-end/1985/top-billboard-200-albums . July 30, 2018.

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