Ocasek vs Orr

[randy]

In honor of the Cars greatest song thread--Who's lead vocals do you prefer? Orr or Ocasek. Ocasek is the known front man for the group--but Orr's lead vocals were always my favorite.

[ben_at_work]

Yup, mine too [:D]

Not to say that Rick didn't jam though [;)]

[tha_farfetch]

Mine too.

FarFetch.

[glokstadt]

Orr actually sang over half of all the songs recorded, not Ric--maybe a little known fact, everyone just assumes Ocasek was the lead singer, and probally because "Drive" was such a big hit, and everyone went, hey look the bass player finally gets to sing lead.



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[Frau_Blucher]

Orr for me too. But it's funny that he's not even the most famous Boston-related "B. Orr"...

<img src="http://www.onlinesports.com/images/tb-1572435704.jpg">

No relation of course since Orr wasn't Ben's real name.

[Dave]

Great question Randy. FYI, the Cars wiki lists the lead singer for each of their biggest hits: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cars

Based on this list, it's a toss-up for me.

[Mathman]

Ocasek here, even though Ben Orr actually grew up in nearby Parma (in one of Cleveland's many Eastern European neighborhoods. Ben Orzechowski, I think, was his real name). We had a sub in my buidling that went to school with him, but he didn't really have much to say about what Orr was like in HS.

[Spaz]

I could be wrong, but I think that Ocasek sang 2/3 to 3/4ths of the songs. Ben sang more than people realize but I don't think it was 1/2 of the songs.

Ocasek was (and is) a great songwriter and very distinctive vocalist. Sometimes, a song just seemed perfect for Orr's voice, which is why Ocasek would have him handle it, I would reckon.

My vote is for Ocasek.

SPAZ
Born of innocence. Free of ignorance.

[glokstadt]

[quote][i]Originally posted by Spaz[/i]
<br>I could be wrong, but I think that Ocasek sang 2/3 to 3/4ths of the songs. Ben sang more than people realize but I don't think it was 1/2 of the songs.

Ocasek was (and is) a great songwriter and very distinctive vocalist. Sometimes, a song just seemed perfect for Orr's voice, which is why Ocasek would have him handle it, I would reckon.

My vote is for Ocasek.

SPAZ
Born of innocence. Free of ignorance.
[/quote]

Under "Trivia" from Dave's link above at Wikipedia:

"Despite the fact that Benjamin Orr sang almost half of the songs recorded by The Cars, many still believe Ocasek was the sole lead singer and that Orr provided the vocals on 'Drive' only."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cars




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[empyrean]

since i like DRIVE very much, it would be Orr for me

[cementkite]

Ben Orr sang about 3, sometimes 4 songs off of each Cars album. His titles still heard today are: "Just what I needed", "Bye Bye Love", "Moving in stereo", "Lets Go", "CandyO" and "Drive".