Foreword by Greg Hawkes -- Author's note -- Prologue: Rock 'n' roll hair: 1978 -- Show me what's about to happen -- Misfit kids -- I'm in love with Massachusetts -- Milkwood -- Greg and Richard and the rabbits -- Elliot and Cap'n Swing -- David and The Cars -- The rat and the deal -- Recording The Cars -- 1978: The year new wave broke -- Candy-O - I like the nightlife, baby -- Panorama -- Shake it up -- Beatitude -- Heartbeat city -- You might think I'm crazy -- Live Aid -- Door to door -- Since you're gone -- Drive back -- Move like this -- Hall of fame -- Epilogue: Let them say what they want -- Acknowledgments -- Notes -- Selected bibliography -- Index

The Cars formed in the late 1970s as an alliance of five journeymen musicians with roots in Maryland, Ohio, New York, and New England. They had each performed in a series of bands before finding one another--along with the right sound at the right time. That sound, soon fortified by their iconic imagery, turned them into Rock and Roll Hall of Famers. Biographer, critic, and musician Bill Janovitz explores the musical, cultural, and commercial impact of the band with articulate and knowing insights. He draws on his own exclusive new reporting along with the enthusiastic participation of the surviving members of the band, as well as nearly everyone who surrounded them over the years. The band's unusual providence is fully explored here for the first time, and each of their landmark albums is masterfully chronicled and dissected, as is their profound support of the Boston music scene that has reverberated around the world and throughout the decades. Yet, with all of the success, there were also significant conflicts within the band, which led to an untimely end. Janovitz reveals the stories of each member, and of the group as a whole, with great care and understanding. To paraphrase The Car's own lyrics: Hello again, you might think this is just what you needed. It's magic. Let's shake it up and let the good times roll