Like David Byrne and Paul Westerberg, Ric Ocasek has had a tough time staking his claim as a solo performer. The lanky, bushy-haired singer may be recognizable as the brains behind the Cars, but even fans of the group would be hard-pressed to name a single album or song its former frontman has recorded since he released his first of six solo records 14 years ago. His 1991 album, "Fireball Zone," is currently out of print; "Quick Change World," released two years later, lacked the multimedia fireworks (it wasn't accompanied by a book of poetry, collection of photographs, performance art piece or rock concert) and label support from Reprise that Ocasek had originally called for, and last year's "Getchertiktz," a collection of stark, profanity-laced poems read by Ocasek and two others and set to music, was apparently the straw that broke the post-punk poster boy's back.

\\Had it not been for Ocasek's thriving career as a record producer, the allure of a Cars reunion might have been too much to resist. While his solo work went unnoticed, Ocasek stayed behind the scenes -- this time on purpose -- producing albums for Weezer, Nada Surf and D Generation, among others. And though some of the resulting records sold better than his own releases, Ocasek got more media attention for his continued marriage to supermodel Paulina Porizkova.

\\While most men would give an appendage to be Ocasek, or rather be *with* Paulina for one night, he's always been rather blase about his marital conquest -- a nonchalance that has somehow carried over to "Troublizing." "Even when you're producing yourself, you sometimes get wrapped up in your own folly," he says. Co-produced by Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan and featuring Corgan, Hole bassist Melissa Auf Der Maur and Cars keyboardist Greg Hawkes, "Troublizing" recreates the combination of glossy instrumentation, linear rhythms and odd imagery that made magic for the Cars.

\\This album sounds like it could have been the next Cars release.

\\It probably could have been. If those guys were playing on it, it would have been. Any record I ever did could have been if the Cars were playing on it, 'cause it's always the same songs. Sometimes you get different musicians and you get a bit of differentness in that, but you don't really get a different song from that. You just get different embellishments musically.

\\Changing musicians doesn't really change the songs. They [the rest of the band] were unique musicians and it was a unique sound that you couldn't just throw together with other people. [The Cars were] unique and the people were unique that made it unique. Everybody was kind of stylized in a way that lent itself to having that particular [Cars] sound without really trying to have a sound.

\\The Web site you're using to promote "Troublizing" has some unreleased poetry on it.

\\I thought that could be downloaded in a little book. I printed [them] out myself once just to see how it would [look].

\\I printed out "Used Cars."

\\[Taking the poem out of my hands] "Used Cars" is exactly what you think [it is]. It's what I almost think happened to the Cars.

\\So it's a metaphor for the band's break-up?

\\I would think so. What happens to cars is what happens to rock groups too. [Reading from "Used Cars"] "The clogged intake valve...the traffic jam...people stole its parts."

\\What does "Took the side roads to someplace" mean?

\\That represents not just taking the highway roads. You never discover anything going down the main street unless you take that alley on the side. Like in New York, if you don't take 17th Street between 7th and 8th, you just go, 'Oh, look at all this, I would have never seen this if I didn't just make this left.' And a lot of people don't ever wanna make the left or they just wanna stay on the main highway. I had another poem that said, "Don't show me maps, I'd rather get lost." I'd rather be lost because that's when you're gonna discover something.

\\People thought they were discovering something about you when they saw the "You Might Think" video way back when. It showed you with an earring in your right ear and, at the time, an earring in that ear generally meant you were gay.

\\I remember people talking about it. I didn't even know if that was the *thing* yet. If it was, I didn't know anything about it. I just thought, 'Well, I'll probably just put it in this ear.' I think I had it done in a shopping center or some weird place. I didn't even think about it and I still don't think about it. But it's funny that people would think that that made any difference. I've been married most of my life.

\\It's funny what an earring can do.

\\A few years ago, you were on a "Saturday Night Live" skit where you were mistaken for Keith Richards. Does that ever happen in real life?

\\Oh yeah. Construction guys always yell out when I'm walking down the street. They either think I'm Joey Ramone, Howard Stern or Alice Cooper. Those three because we all have black hair, we're all skinny, we all have big noses.

\\Do people who think you're someone else ever ask you to sign autographs?

\\I've had people ask me to sign autographs when they think I'm someone else, and I sign that person's name. Not very often. Maybe a few times I've done that.

\\Whose autograph have you given?

\\I've signed as people who look nothing like me. Like if you have an old lady who wants to get an