Гэри Нуман - "Cars" синглының тарихы

1979 single by Gary Numan
the 1979 Gary Numan song

"Cars" is the first solo single by English musician Gary Numan. It was released on 21 August 1979 and is from his debut studio album The Pleasure Principle. The song reached the top of the charts in several countries, and is Numan's most successful single. The song was the first release credited solely to Gary Numan after he dropped the band name Tubeway Army, under which he had released four singles and two LPs, including the number one UK hit "Are 'Friends' Electric? ", and its parent album Replicas. Musically, the new song was somewhat lighter and more pop oriented than its predecessors, Numan later said that he had chart success in mind: "This was the first time I had written a song with the intention of 'maybe it could be a hit single'; I was writing this before 'Are "Friends" Electric?' happened." He has since described "Cars" as "a pretty average song". In the UK charts, it reached number 1 in 1979, and in 1980, it hit number 1 in Canada two weeks running on the RPM national singles chart (29 weeks in the top 100), his only single to chart there. The single was first issued in the US in February 1980, where it peaked at #4 on the Cash Box Top 100 and #9 on the US Billboard Hot 100 on June 7, 1980, remaining at that position for three weeks. Although Numan had a string of hits in the UK, "Cars" was his only song in the American pop charts.

The music video featured Numan's then current backing band, including Billy Currie from the band Ultravox, but he had not played on the recording of "Cars". It is perhaps notable that the music video for "Cars" depicts no images of actual cars. At 2:43 in the video, five Gary Numans appear to be "driving" (in a standing position, holding an imaginary steering wheel) along a Polymoog keyboard.

The original UK single was released in August 1979, backed with a non album instrumental track called "Asylum". The US B side was "Metal", from The Pleasure Principle The track has been a UK Top 20 hit for Numan in three successive decades: on its original release in 1979 (reaching number 1), in 1987 as the 'E Reg Model' remix (reaching number 16), and in 1996 following its use in an advertisement for Carling Premier beer (reaching number 17). Numan has performed the song onstage since its original release, and it appears on all but one of his official live albums to date.

Chart (1979–1980)PeakpositionAustralia (Kent Music Report)9Belgium (VRT Top 30 Flanders)28Canada (RPM 100 Singles)5UK (Official Charts Company)1US Billboard Hot 1009US Billboard Hot Dance Club Play73 Canada5UK18 U. S. Billboard Hot 10012

Fear Factory, an American heavy metal band, recorded a version of "Cars" and released it as the second single from their album Obsolete. The song was only included as a bonus track on the limited edition digipak re release of Obsolete and would be instrumental in breaking Fear Factory into the mainstream. In their rendition, Gary Numan performs a duet with frontman Burton C. Bell.

According to Bell, around 1996, the band started performing "Cars" as an encore at European concerts. Word spread that Fear Factory was performing the song, and as a result, Gary Numan's manager contacted them. Upon request, Numan's management flew him out to the Vancouver studio for a three day span to record vocals on "Cars." The band also asked Numan to record a spoken word piece for the introduction of the song Obsolete. Numan had a long standing dislike for being associated with what he perceived as dated music, and this initially made him apprehensive of working with Fear Factory until realizing "there was a chance that it could introduce me to a new generation of people who didn't know my history. And that can be useful, because my music's got a lot heavier and darker anyway." The result would be satisfactory for both parties, and Numan praised the band as "brilliant, really easy to work with. They didn't have a bad word to say about anyone." The uncharacteristically bouncy and bright rendition somewhat contrasts with Fear Factory's reputation for intense, grinding metal, while the heavy use of synthesizer and other electronic elements corresponds with the band's industrial style. Drummer Raymond Herrera described the cover as "basically like a blueprint of a futuristic car." He added that, while other songs were considered, the band chose "Cars" because all the band members knew and appreciated it and because the keyboards suited Fear Factory's sound. Herrera later noted that the group initially wanted to record U2's "New Year's Day" but chose "Cars" because they were fortunate enough to have Numan participate. Fear Factory later covered the U2 song "I Will Follow," in 2005.

"Cars" played a significant part in Obsoletes status as Fear Factory's highest selling album. By 2001, it had sold over 750,000 copies. According to Herrera, the cover received greater enthusiasm in the UK than in the band's native US, which was validated by its chart status. During the song's promotion, Gary Numan joined the band for a concert performance in Brixton, London to much enthusiasm. After the radio trade publication R&R listed "Cars" as the most added track on both active rock and mainstream rock in May 1999, the song earned "Breaker" status and continued to surge up the chart. "Cars" debuted and peaked at number 57 in the UK Singles Chart on 9 October. It peaked at No. 16 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart and No. 38 on Modern Rock Tracks. The song was featured as the main theme for Test Drive 6, a video game released in 1999 for the PlayStation and Dreamcast consoles.

In 2009, Chicane sampled "Cars" in "Hiding All the Stars", which reached No. 42 in the UK and No. 23 in Belgium. Toronto based alternative rock quartet Sloan performed a version of the song in June 2011 for The A. V. Club A. V. Undercover series.