(1978) Elektra /Asylum label.  Original inner sleeve with lyrics. Purchased new through membership in the Columbia House Record Club. Oh my god did my mom hate it when I would join the Columbia House Record Club!  I don’t think I EVER satisfied my commitment of membership.  EVER.

For those that don’t know what I am referring to let me explain:  The Columbia House Record Club was an opportunity to buy 11 records for  ONE PENNY (plus shipping) if you committed to buying 6 or 8 or 10 more records AT REGULAR PRICE within the next three years.  Every month after receiving your initial 11 you received a Columbia catalog with new releases and a SELECTION OF THE MONTH picked out for you based on your favorites. If you liked the monthly selection you DO NOTHING as it will come to your home automatically in the mail, all you had to do was pay for it at full retail price including shipping. If on the the other hand you didn’t want that month’s selection, you had to send back the reply card by a certain date.  Then the whole process would start all over again the next month.

Sounds simple right?  Well one of the wrinkles was sometimes Columbia House Record Club would send more than one monthly selection for your consideration– these were extra opportunities to enjoy purchasing at home but it also required you to watch the calendar and get that no thank you reply back to them in time or you would end up with that selection.  Then of course there were days when you completely forgot to send the reply in time.  Or your mom didn’t have stamps.  Or you moved 4 times in one year. Or you lived in the dorms.  Or you had “roommates” that signed up but used your name– rright. Bottomline: I loved the Columbia House Record Club.  There’s a great scene in the Coen Brothers film A Serious Man where main character Larry Gopnik is on the phone with the Columbia House Record Club explaining to the caller he had no idea what this club is and that he never signed up for it.  My mom had similar experiences…

SIDE ONE

1. Good Times Roll  (3:44)
2. My Best Friend’s Girl  (3:44)
3. Just What I Needed  (3:44)
4. I’m In Touch With Your World  (3:31)
5. Don’t Cha Stop  (3:01)

SIDE TWO

1. You’re All I’ve Got Tonight  (4:13)
2. Bye Bye Love  (4:14)
3. Moving In Stereo  (5:15)
4. All Mixed Up  (4:14)

And now to this album… The Cars are Ric Ocasek vocals and rhythm guitar; Benjamin Orr vocals and bass; David Robinson drums, percussion, syndrums, and backing vocals; Elliot Easton lead guitar and backing vocals; Greg Hawkes keyboards, percussion, saxophone, and backing vocals.  When this album arrived in the mail I couldn’t wait to play it.  I remember taking it over to Kelli’s house for a party and everybody loved it.  The Cars crossed over between punk and rock and roll in this new wave fashion and they were very popular with my friends.  Surprisingly, with the amount of parties this album has been played at, it is in really good shape.

This is their debut album.  Every track is a solid hit.  I remember seeing The Cars at the US Festival in 1982.  I remember owning Candy O and Panorama— don’t know where those records ended up.  I remember playing this album for the first time for my children– they loved it then and now.  This album never gets old.