Ric Ocasek and the Cars Reunite, Work on New Album

The rumors floating around since July have finally been confirmed: After a 23-year break, the Cars have reunited with original frontman/songwriter Ric Ocasek and are working on their first album together since 1987's Door to Door. On on their Facebook page the band recently posted a 73-second clip of themselves in the studio working on a new track called "Blue Tip," and Billboard reports that the Cars are recording a new album and may be planning tour dates.

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In July the Cars hinted at a possible reunion with Ocasek, who previously said he'd never take part in one, when they posted a photo of the four surviving bandmembers together in a Boston studio. In 2005, keyboardist Greg Hawkes and guitarist Elliot Easton launched the New Cars with Todd Rundgren at the microphone, but that project ended in 2007. Any hopes for a full Cars reunion ended in 2000 when bassist-singer Benjamin Orr passed away from pancreatic cancer. The Cars' official website is currently "under construction," so more information is likely to come.

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Song Stories

“(We're Not) The Jet Set”

George Jones and Tammy Wynette | 1973

George Jones and Tammy Wynette were still married when they recorded the tongue-in-cheek "(We're Not) The Jet Set." The lyrics, written by Nashville songwriter Bobby Braddock, who also penned Wynette's "D-I-V-O-R-C-E" and Jones' "He Stopped Loving Her Today," make fun of the good life by declaring, "We're not the Jet Set/We're the old Chevrolet set." Braddock recalled that while writing the song, he needed the name of a city that evened out the rhyme he had with "Riviera" and "Missourah." “I got out a Rand McNally atlas," he said. "In the first part are the maps. The last part is an alphabetical listing of cities. I wanted a rustic, small-time sound. I went to the listing for Missouri. And I found 'Festus.' I loved the sound of it."

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