Local history: Rock star's grave
is a shrine to fans
The Akron Beacon Journal,
by
Mark J. Price
Original Article
Posted By: OhioNick,
10/5/2020 2:05:46 PM
You wouldn't expect this to be the final resting place of a rock star. Sunlight filtered through the autumn trees as we drove through the Ohio countryside in Geauga County. My wife, Susie, and I turned onto a gravel drive flanked by brick pillars and iron gates, and nodded to two motorcyclists as they rolled toward the exit.
We apparently were on the same pilgrimage. As the rumble of engines faded, silence returned to St. Patrick Cemetery in Thompson Township. A lonely cricket chirped from a hiding place in the grass. Benjamin Orr’s headstone was easy to find.
Reply 1 - Posted by:
Highlander 10/5/2020 2:16:37 PM (No. 562797)
That flew by me. No clue about this guy or his band. I’m a former Grateful Deadhead.
5 people like this.
Reply 2 - Posted by:
DaddyO 10/5/2020 2:20:56 PM (No. 562799)
Bought Candy-O in the 70's, must have listened to it a million times. And the cover wasn't bad either.
12 people like this.
Reply 3 - Posted by:
JunkYardDog 10/5/2020 2:37:33 PM (No. 562815)
Ben had the best voice in the band. Ocasek sounds nasally & quirky, and Ben was more of a crooner. Drive and Let's Go were among my favorite Cars tunes.
11 people like this.
Reply 4 - Posted by:
Hazymac 10/5/2020 2:46:46 PM (No. 562824)
Benjamin Orr, bassist, was one of two lead singers for the Cars, alongside Ric Ocasek. Their voices were interestingly similar in timbre--Orr, not Ocasek, sang "Candy-O"--although it was Ocasek with his inimitably compressed vocals who usually sang lead. The group was excellent. I have all of their albums on record and CD. IIRC, Orr had pancreatic cancer. His bandmate Ocasek passed away only a year or so ago. RIP, Benjamin. You played an important part in creating the sonic landscape between 1978 and 2000.
11 people like this.
Reply 5 - Posted by:
DVC 10/5/2020 3:03:40 PM (No. 562841)
Who? I think I have heard of the Cars, maybe, sorta.....but sure couldn't name a song.
4 people like this.
Reply 6 - Posted by:
red1066 10/5/2020 3:34:46 PM (No. 562880)
Good band with some catchy tunes and some very neat videos. As for the song " Moving in Stereo ", what guy who was in his teens to early twenties doesn't think of Phoebe Cates in that movie when hearing that song. That one scene made Phoebe Cates career in movies.
4 people like this.
Reply 7 - Posted by:
Urgent Fury 10/5/2020 5:21:12 PM (No. 562946)
The Cars helped pull us out of the hellish Disco era. Their first album is outstanding.
7 people like this.
Reply 8 - Posted by:
darthmuaddib 10/5/2020 6:25:12 PM (No. 562991)
Watch The Cars perform live when their first and second album were out. Amazing. They were very tight as a band and you can tell that they really enjoyed playing together. They will be missed but at least their music will continue on.
3 people like this.
Reply 9 - Posted by:
franq 10/5/2020 6:39:36 PM (No. 563005)
He had a great voice. I always found playing bass and singing difficult. Much easier to play drums, keyboard, or rhythm guitar. Orr did it well.
3 people like this.
Reply 10 - Posted by:
Hazymac 10/5/2020 6:44:14 PM (No. 563010)
Side two* of the first Cars album (1978) didn't contain any hit singles, but we used to binge listen to it because it hung so well together as a song cycle. ( * "You're All I've Got Tonight" + "Bye Bye Love" + "Moving in Stereo" + "All Mixed Up" ). Many good times were associated with that album and that group. And it didn't hurt that gorgeous Phoebe Cates took off her bikini top to the third of those songs in Fast Times at Ridgemont High, either. In this music fan's opinion, the Cars made a lot of high quality rock and roll music. Think I'll listen to Side 2 again tonight.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQ4v3XiDFeU&list=PL1gLT2gwYzAHrPJaFj67VnW1GrtnVYCOA&index=3
(The entire Cars first album, if it'll play for you) Side 1: "Good Times Roll" + "My Best Friend's Girl" + Just What I Needed" + "I'm in Touch with Your World" + "Don't Cha Stop" + the four songs above
4 people like this.
Reply 11 - Posted by:
Mizz Fixxit 10/5/2020 6:54:09 PM (No. 563013)
“Nuclear boots and drip dry glove.” Name that song!
3 people like this.
Reply 12 - Posted by:
Hazymac 10/5/2020 7:05:50 PM (No. 563023)
Re #11: Song 2 on side 1: "My Best Friend's Girl" ("... and she used to be mine...")
3 people like this.
Reply 13 - Posted by:
thewarden 10/5/2020 7:56:42 PM (No. 563073)
Feeling really old now, one of the bands of my teen years. MTV was good to them. Not my favorite (Ric Ocasek creeped me out...reminded of the chauffeur in Burnt Offerings...shudder!). I love the 80s!
2 people like this.
Reply 14 - Posted by:
Faithfully 10/5/2020 8:53:41 PM (No. 563119)
I wonder if these nuts visit their Grandparents graves.
2 people like this.
Reply 15 - Posted by:
varkdriver 10/5/2020 8:59:48 PM (No. 563123)
#11: I Love The Night Life, Baby!! And I still do, even 40 years later. Of course now, night life means a quiet night at home after dark...
2 people like this.
Reply 16 - Posted by:
Faithfully 10/5/2020 9:07:57 PM (No. 563131)
15 ?
0 people like this.
Reply 17 - Posted by:
Faithfully 10/5/2020 9:17:29 PM (No. 563141)
This salon has just gone to hell. You fans of sex, drugs and R&R are what went wrong with society in the sixties. The music was your Pied Piper. It was downhill from that.
1 person likes this.
Thanks for posting, and thanks to #4 for his usual insight.
Couldn't agree with #7 more.
First saw them at the Spectrum in Phila in the fall of '78. Just like the author's experience, not much interaction with the audience. The stage was set up, house lights went out, Greg Hawkes appeared and walked toward the keyboard as the crowd went crazy. He gave a quick look in our direction and a sheepish wave of acknowledgement - and that was about it. Fabulous show - and just one album released at the time.
1 person likes this.
Think about how many famous singers/people of the times are gone and nobody remembers them or ever heard of them.
Just imagine. The same will happen to Hollyweird.
1 person likes this.
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Comments:
It's been 20 years since the death of Benjamin Orr of the Cars.