Since You're Gone

Just last month we lost one of the most iconic voices of 80s pop, who also went on to produce some of the biggest albums of the 1990s and early 2000s. I think Ric Ocasek's obituary in The New York Times describes his seminal work with The Cars best: "[They] merged a vision of romance, danger, and nocturnal intrigue and the concision of new wave music with the sonic depth and ingenuity of radio-friendly rock." Which basically means they were ultra-cool and rocking and smarter than the average radio sludge.

Throughout the 80s while The Cars were having monster hit after monster hit, Ric Ocasek was also releasing some solo albums. Today's song comes from his second solo work: 1986's This Side of Paradise. "Hello Darkness" is the only song on the album that Ric cowrote with his Cars bandmate/keyboard player Greg Hawkes, and you can certainly hear the moody/synthy crossover. Ric said it's about his love of darkness, which of course makes it perfect Halloween listening. Slip on a pair of black shades in Ric's honor and dig!  

Ric Ocasek grew up in Baltimore, so naturally he ended up in a John Waters movie!