Door to door --- The Cars --- 1987 (Elektra)
The swansong from a band who had brought us the likes of “My best friend's girl”, “Shake it up” and “Just what I needed”, “Door to door” was the follow-up to the multi-platinum “Heartbeat City”, which gave the Cars almost total dominance of the charts in 1983, with its smash hit singles “Drive”, “You might think” and “Magic”. “Heartbeat City” was always going to be a very tough act to follow, and the boys did not rush out a sixth album, taking instead three years to produce what to these ears was their most fitting finale.
It's full of both the quirky, upbeat songs that characterised the Cars in the early 80s, as well as a decent few ballads, with some surprises in store too. Opener “Leave or stay” gets things moving, with some typical cars “talking” keyboard/vocoder, which has become their signature sound , and is a boppy, upbeat number, while “You are the girl”, slightly slower but not much, keeps things rolling in a very pop-oriented way. Both songs in their own way recall elements from the hit single “Magic” from the previous album, while “Double trouble” goes for a much harder approach, very rock with its growling guitars and snarling keyboards, both Elliot Easton on the former and Greg Hawkes on the latter in fine form: three years away from recording does not seem to have dulled their proficiency with their instruments. The songs on “Door to door” are generally short, very little over five minutes and not too many over four --- some in fact less than three --- so there are no epics here, but then that's not the Cars' style. “Heartbeat City” had no songs over five minutes, and many under four. That's what the Cars do – snappy, short, catchy tunes that radio Djs and record labels alike love. A song may be the greatest ever recorded, but if it's six or seven minutes long it's unlikely to get real airplay or chart success, unless as a very truncated version. Pretty much all of the tracks from this album could have been released as singles.
Things slow way down then for “Fine line”, a smouldering little ballad on which we really get to hear the bass work of Benjamin Orr, as well as the drumming talents of David Robinson. Of course, riding high over everything is the ever-distinctive voice of Ric Ocasek, able to go from hyperactive rocker or popstar to moody balladeer at the drop of a hat. Hawkes' pan-pipe-style keyboard work also contributes a lot to this track, and it is in fact the longest on the album, clocking in at 5:22. It's pretty much the one melody throughout, which does not detract from the song at all.
Then it's pedal to the metal again for “Everything you say”, a pleasant, jaunty little rocker with some nice jangly guitar from Easton, almost veering into Country territory, but staying just shy enough of it not to be considered a country song. All songs on the album are written by Ocasek, bar the penultimate one, on which he collaborates with Hawkes. He certainly knows how to write a hit song: he's the Cars' equivalent of Jeff Lynne, and almost everything he turns his hand to turns out well. But what can you say about “Ta ta wayo wayo”, the next one up? Total lunacy, a crazy song which surely must have started out as a jam, it's just great fun and allows the band to blow off some steam, kicking the pace up several notches and showing that the Cars know how to laugh at themselves and have a good time in a way some bands would do well to emulate.
It's back to business then for “Strap me in”, another slowburner, which was actually the highest charting single from the album. I don't personally feel it's better than, say, “Leave or stay”, “Double trouble” or even “Everything you say”, none of which were released as singles, but it's a good track, with quite a heavy vibe, good heavy guitar from Easton, and it leads into a much ligher and boppier “Coming up you” before things slow down completely for “Wound up on you”, another ballad in the vein of “Fine line”. The boys then revisit “You are the girl” for “Go away”, a pleasant track that hops along at a nice mid-pace, almost on cruise control, and could perhaps have been the closer. But it isn't.
Probably poking gentle fun at the punk rock scene, the Cars go wild with the final, and title, track, Easton hammering his guitar like a lunatic, Robinson pounding his kit like Keith Moon at his most frenetic, and Ocasek singing like a cultured Rotten. It's a hilarious end to the album, and as it was to be their last as a band together, a great one to bring down the curtain. As the track crashes to a close, there's even the sound of a slamming door to denote the end. Brilliant.
Although the Cars broke up after this album, they did reform in 2010 and have in fact a new album out this year. However, in the interim Benjamin Orr was taken ill, diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, and died in 2000, so for the new album the guys are down to a four-piece, Greg Hawkes taking on bass duty as well as keys. The album was dedicated to Orr's memory, which is only as it should be.
Whether this will be a one-off or a new revival of the Cars remains to be seen, but what is not in doubt is that the original Cars left us a great legacy and a fine final album.
TRACKLISTING
1. Leave or stay
2. You are the girl
3. Double trouble
4. Fine line
5. Everything you say
6. Ta ta wayo wayo
7. Strap me in
8. Coming up you
9. Wound up on you
10. Go away
11. Door to door
Suggested further listening: “Heartbeat city”, “The definitive Cars”, also Ric Ocasek's “This side of Paradise” and Benjamin Orr's “The lace”