As we've mentioned before, The Cars appeared to be running out of steam by the mid-1980s, which led to three of the five member releasing solo albums. ERV has previously featured work by guitarist/singer Ric Ocasek ("Emotion in Motion") and by bassist/singer Ben Orr ("Stay the Night") both of which came out in 1986. However, The Cars' lead guitarist, Elliot Easton released his only solo album the prior year.
Easton's solo album was titled Change No Change and was co-written with Jules Shear. If Shear's name sounds familiar, it's because he wrote Cyndi Lauper's "All Through the Night" and The Bangles' "If She Knew What She Wants."
The resulting record was neither a commercial nor a critical success. While Easton is undoubtedly a gifted guitarist, the songs don't highlight this, and there was criticism of his voice, as well. The album peaked at #99, and while "(Wearing Down) Like a Wheel" picked up a modicum of airplay, it did not chart. It is a solid, if unspectacular song, and a nice rare video too.
In addition to the videos linked above, Ric Ocasek's earlier (and excellent) "Something to Grab For" was featured on ERV early on, in September 2011. We also posted The Cars "Since You're Gone" in May 2014. [Yes, The Cars are well-represented on ERV.]
Cool trivia fact: Elliot Easton's given name was Elliot Steinberg.
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