Singer, songwriter, and guitarist Ric Ocasek died on September 15, at the age of (depending on the source) 70 or 75. In the late 1970s and 1980s, Ocasek was the leader of The Cars, a band who fused a variety of rock styles into a distinctively popular blend.

At the heart of The Cars were Ocasek and bass player Benjamin Orr, who began performing together in the late 1960s. They performed together in several bands before moving to Boston and forming Milkwood, a folk-rock trio that released one album in 1973.

After Milkwood, Ocasek, and Orr began forming the band that would become The Cars, and spent the first half of 1977 playing clubs in New England and recording a demo tape. The song “Just What I Needed” became popular on Boston radio, and that was enough success for The Cars to land a record deal; they released their debut album, The Cars, in 1978.

The band’s style added new wave synthesizers to guitar-based rock; the songs were compact and energetic. The mix was a success; the next four albums from The Cars went platinum, and they were a staple of early 80s radio with hits that included “My Best Friend’s Girl,” “Touch and Go,” and “Shake It Up.” Their most successful album, 1984’s Heartbeat City, generated two top ten hits, “You Might Think” and “Drive.”

The Cars separated in 1988. Ocasek had already begun recording solo albums, beginning with Beatitude in 1982. His biggest success as a solo artist came in 1986, when the single “Emotion in Motion” topped the rock chart.

The Cars reunited in 2010 to record one more album and make a brief tour. They performed together for the last time in 2018, when The Cars were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

More of Ocasek’s music, both with The Cars and as a solo artist, is available for streaming at Hoopla. He did not often appear on multi-artist compilation projects, but he performs “Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah” on Simply Mad About the Mouse, a 1991 collection of Disney songs performed by contemporary pop stars.