It’s so heartwarming to hear him get lost in describing how he first met his talented best friend, completely forgetting the original question. I love them so much.
Personally have never heard an interview where Rick has ever been anything but praising Ben's talent and great vocals. Ben was a great musician all around. The members of this band think highly of each other .
And even though the front have passed, I would love to hear the rest of the guys carry on! Becauuuuuuse, they will live forever in the annals of rock & roll.
I talked about this interview to my friend yesterday. Ben seemingly had it all. No one on Earth does tho. People saw him from outside. His looks his talent his success. They did not see his pain.
I agree 100% with what Ric said about the different sounds and styles of Benjamin's and Ric's vocals. Personally I could never understand how anyone could think there was only one singer in the band. The difference in their voices as well as their singing styles is so different to me like seeing 2 totally different colours. Say bright vivid sky blue versus a dark orange sunset. I do see music in colours at times so this sort of explains it best. I also think Benjamin's intonation was so different. Thank you for sharing this, it is very moving to hear Ric speak with such warmth about Benjamin.
I think it's not fair for Ben saying that he brought his "looks". I prefer the term "attitude" he was a class act, a solid bass player and he had a distinctive voice!
Ben' had a great voice but his bass playing get's overlooked,he had a unique muted/stumpy/stacato approach,it really fit the song and was an important part of that band's sound.
@wildcatter63 Multi instrumentalists are often something like a Swiss knife. They can be used as a screw driver or to pull out corks out of wine bottles, but they're neither a screwdriver or corkscrew.
@wildcatter63 Hmmm OK, and he certainly made very decent solo albums. However, I still find it difficult to see him as a "phenomenal" bass player, and on a scale from 1 to 10, his performances on other instruments won't put him among the top brass of each section: he may play drums, but of course he ain't no Ian Paice or Phil Collins, etc. That is also not necessary, as if someone would play this way on his solo albums, it probably would have ruined these delicate ballads. "Keep it simple" sometimes is the best option. But it is difficult to judge what he could do instrumentally, based on the Cars or his solo output. There's not really a Cars song that proves that he's an amazing bass player. There are here and there hints (the first seconds of "Bye bye love" are interesting), he certainly used some techniques (staccato playing etc.), but if he was "brilliant" or "phenomenal" in this league, what word is left to describe Geddy Lee or John Entwistle ? I'm just trying to keep things into perspective. I think he was an excellent singer, with tons of stage charisma, a decent bass player who played in a very efficient way within the Cars, and who also played a number of other instruments sufficiently well, he was completely selfsufficient on his first 4 solo albums. Does that sound fair ?
@wildcatter63 best description ever. Price's hijacking of while my guitar gently weeps". That song is on my playlist, but I often have to watch the actual video and it just kills me how he appears from the sidelines and kills it, all while making it look like it's child's play to him.
@wildcatter63 McCartney's first album was simply McCartney(it has the dumped over bowl of cherries on the cover). RAM is great though, that's his second solo album, he hired session musicians(and Linda) for that. He recorded McCartney in the living room of his house(a couple songs were finished up in the studio) and played all the instruments. Purposely loose and stripped down. There are even some Beatles songs where he played all or almost all the instruments. He's got a couple other solo albums that he plays all the instruments on. And the Band on the Run album? The only people he had in the "band" at the time it was recorded, were himself, Denny Laine and Linda. He ended up playing most of the instruments on that as well. As well as having to recreate all the songs in the studio from memory because his demo tapes got stolen when he got mugged in Lagos, where he was recording. I think Benjamin did a great job on bass. I listened to the isolated bass tracks for a couple of songs and I really like the sound he gets from the bass. He has some really cool basslines, particularly on their first few albums, esp considering I don't think he actually loved it. From what I've heard it was a more a necessity thing being the bassist for The Cars than because he loved playing bass. As for being like Geddy Lee and Entwhistle? I think a good question is did Cars songs call for bass playing like Lee and Entwhistle or would it have sounded out of place? I think there are definitely songs where his bassline really adds something to the song, like Bye Bye Love for example.
@@randombotdude2083 so underrated that they're in rock and roll hall of fame, some bands with even more music and longevity are still waiting, not underrated at all ! But you are highly overrated so I hear 😂
Ben Nailed everything he did , this guy said Drive was the most memorable song to remember him by but theirs , Lets Go! Bye Bye Love ! Just what I needed! Cruiser! All mixed up ! Moving in stero !
@@bconner6171 I wouldn't say garbage. Good pop song but I agree with you. The first two albums stand alone and are The Cars at their peak. Panorama had one song, Touch and Go, that was up to par with the first two albums but the rest was all drum machines and effects. They really lost their signature sound when they started using drum machines and heavier synths. David Robinson is so good on the first two albums. Ric and then Mutt Lange really changed their sound in the MTV/video era of the 80's and while there are some good songs none of them come close to the first two albums in my opinion.
2:10 of course we never knew there was another singer bcz Ric ocasek created all media, videos, promotions, and pictures with himself front and center. How in the hell would I have known until UA-cam revealed Ben, standing behind Ric
@Lisa Surlie I've been saying that for the last year, I had no idea Ric ever kind of, sort of admitted it! Thanks for the info. I'd see these comments saying "oh isn't it nice Ric let's Ben sing" and "Ben copied Ric's way of singing" and even as a relatively new fan listening to the various pre-Cars things on youtube I was like "um...Ben sang that way before RIC did, Ric copied HIM".
@Lisa Surlie I know, like I said anyone who listened to that pre-Cars stuff should have been able to tell that Ric was copying Ben's voice, not the other way around. I've heard Milkwood, Cap N Swing, I think there is a Richard and The Rabbits song and a couple of Ocasek and Orr songs. Plus of course there are a few songs from Ben when he was with his pre-Ric bands. Ben was always more experimental with his vocals, he could do quirky, he could croon, he could high or low.
Ben was and is legendary. Phenomenal is right. These 5 guys made up the whole. THE CARS-. Immortal on film and recordings forever. Thank God generations can be exposed to the good stuff. The real stuff. THE CARS:. THANK YOU RIC. BEN. GREG. DAVID. ELLIOTT.
This is what Ric truly thought of Ben. There's a lot of people out there who act like he was always a jerk to him and pushed him aside. Maybe toward the end the two did have some kind of a feud but overall Ric always thought very highly of Ben and vice versa.
I was under the impression that Ocasek didn't allow Benjamin more space and songwriting license in the band. Generally, the financial ground rules in many bands is that if your song makes the album, there is a royalty or extra share if you will. You can see Benjamin giving Ocasek the evil eye in a few songs, and it doesn't appear as though Ocasek was freelancing the live version. Check it out in "Just What I Needed" on The Midnight Special.
I think their relative net worth bears it out. Benjamin was reportedly worth $4m in 2000, and Ocasek is worth $30m today, probably $10m in 2000. Fine writer to be sure, but so was Benjamin.
fastcarlady There was tension because Ric didn’t allow Ben to write any new songs on the new album with his girlfriend. They barely spoken each other towards the end of the Cars. Fortunately they made up when Ben was sick
People can say what they want but Ric loved Ben. They were together a very long time. Ric always knew Ben's talent, make no mistake. If you listen to interviews, you can hear the pain in Ric's voice about Ben's passing.
I agree. It's not very well known now, but Ric did try to work things out with Ben in the 90's, but Ben refused to speak to him. This was written about in the Boston Globe at the time. The truth seems to be that Ric always loved Ben, and was even haunted by him after he died.
@@msm7809 Yeah I agree with both of you. Even the best of friends have tensions & fall-outs sometimes. They made up in the end & gave that moving interview. Let's remember them with love & not drag up all this negative stuff. Thank you for the music Ric & Ben.
@@MissJensk1 I don't agree at all. The bad stuff was the truth and their lives and their history. It should not be washed away. Neither should the closeness of their early friendship be covered up which many try to do. The real truth should continue to be told, both good and bad. Again, that was their lives and their history and the truth.
I agree with Taygi777. Ric Ocasek is and was a good guy. He and Ben were the best of friends. I think a lot of people made up stuff about them. To be honest, when I was younger and The Cars were hitting the charts, I kind of thought Ric was an asshole for some stupid reason. This interview was good to hear, and Ric I am sorry that I ever doubted your sincerity and kindness. Thumbs up Ric and RIP Ben.
Ben is buried close to where I live here in Ohio. I finally stopped by his grave site the other day. He's buried out in the middle of nowhere on a country dirt road near family members.
Most of this video is foolish. Ric wasn't the good friend as he states. He was a bully to his band mates. He said he took Benjamin in , but it was half and half. Any time the other guys wanted to give ideas they were shot down. Ric acted like the boss and Benjamin wait to write and Ric said the Cars were over. I know there was a little more to it, but not much. Ric even said in an interview that Benjamin was jealous of Ric. There would be no Cars if it wasn't for Benjamin. The others guys knew what was going on, but let Ric get away with it. Ric didn't want them to think for themselves because Ric liked making all the royalties. Benjamin was hurt and I don't think he really recovered. He never had a mean thing to said about it. It was stupid on Ric's part to split up a great band. Benjamin we will never forget you 💯💔💔💔💔💔💔💔🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏
Found it. I had a whole reply typed up and youtube lost it. I'll respond again tomorrow, don't feel like retyping it right now. However I did just read Ric completely cut Paulina out of his will for "abandoning me". I mean she doesn't need the money, she made millions of her own modeling but it's almost funny how petty that is, the will was signed like a month before his death, i guess because he knew the surgery was coming up. There she was helping him, checking on him, taking care of him while he was recuperating and he knew he was screwing her over in the will. He was a 40 year old man dating an 18 year old beauty with daddy issues(read about her background), they had an almost 30 year marriage, you'd think he'd have realized how much he lucked out.
@@GizziesGirl2 I had a faze I never forgot. It's all about the Benjamins . It's funny how that fits on so many levels. He was lucky to have her. Talk tomorrow.
@@VUrban-yr5ch Yes, it's all about the Benjamins to some people(unfortunately apparently that was the case with Ric). And to some others, it's about a very specific Benjamin. I feel this sort of shows that isn't all "just fan partisanship". There's an old Japanese article that was translated online and the interview was with Ric and Benjamin from about 1980. At the end of it the interviewer wrote their impressions of the two men's personalities and its really seems to be strangely accurate, taking into consideration they barely knew them. Much simplified of course but I feel like the essence was there. I think Electric Angel Rock N Roller's facebook page is where it originated(she has a youtube channel too)
@@GizziesGirl2 I'll look that up. I think Ric got away with things because social media wasn't like it is today. He made sure he got the attention back then. The more I read it seems like it was Ric and the Cars. People comment how they didn't know that Benjamin sang so many songs heck they didn't even know his name. That proofs how selfish he was. I was kinda shocked, but not when you said about Paula cut out of the will.
@@GizziesGirl2 I was wondering if you read the comments on ( just knew it) were he said he's got Benjamins spirit in him. He said Benjamin what's everyone to be forgiven.
It's a shame and a bit selfish that Ric flat out rejected Ben's request to contribute songwriting to The Cars later on in their career after everything they did together. It ruined their friendship for many years but I'm glad they reconciled just before Ben so tragically passed away.
I agree. I think Ben was incredibly hurt & frustrated that Ric wouldn't consider it at all. But I think it broke his heart when Ric ended the band. Ric eventually acknowledged that he was 'maybe too controlling' but too little, too late, sadly.
Most know who see this video how close they were. Did you know however the biggest Cars hit was sung by Ben Orr? Drive made it to #3 in 1984. You Might Think hit #4 in 1984. So did Shake it Up in 1982. Both were good singers in their own right, and Ocasek wrote all the Cars music but it is interesting how that turned out.
Only found out about this town hall three weeks after they stopped playing it. Tried to contact XM and no one writes back with respect to hearing it again. Do you have it in its entirety? If so, can you please give us some more content? Thanks so much for this! XM are jerks for not having this on-demand!
Brad K Exactly, this video edit makes it seem like he spoke more about Ben, but it’s all he said regarding Benjamin!!!! So don’t throw hate on this video, because the whole interview was painfully self absorbed and downright horrible!!!
Ric was very insecure inside, confused and pained. Maybe power and money became some sort of compensation for him. But he truly loved Ben in all ways. They were soulmates.
Sometimes you meet someone at a bar and the next thing you know your running like a penguin through the parking lot chasing her saying, "Wait! Where's my happy ending!" "Give me back my twenty buck!"
Ric and Ben were the best of friends from their first meeting in the 60's until the mid 80's. There is no evidence that Ric was ever jealous of Ben. Ben stopped talking to Ric for reasons that were never explained. The last tour was reportedly miserable, the stadiums were empty and the tour was canceled. Then Ric broke up the band. But again, there is zero evidence that Ric ever held any jealousy towards Ben at all.
BS. Look what this guy did to his own wife. Control freak all the way. When publishing checks come in, everything changes. How many bands were torn apart by this? The Band comes to mind first to me. Robbie made the big bucks and the others didn't. Money changes and fucks up everything.
Yep, it was all about the Benjamins, unfortunately not the human Benjamin who was his friend. He was so damn concerned that he got nearly all the songwriting money he'd rather break up the band than let anyone else contribute songs. Really what he did to his wife says it all, sure they were separated, but he let his last words(his will, which was done just a couple weeks before he died) to her and the world be an untrue accusation that she abandoned him? She spent 30 years of her life, from the time she was a teenager for goodness sake, with him. She was still taking care of him when he died. He was kind of a petty bastard when you come down to it.
Dooo tcchhhh tchhh dooooo tchhhhh tchhhhh......Drive certainly was a very nice song, but the best Orr songs to me are Bye bye love and Just what I needed. To bad his main contribution is always - even jokingly - reduced to his looks, because he "nailed" those two songs also very well. Too bad no other similar songs were recorded by the Cars, which became rather a pop singles band. Fine singles for sure, but something different as the two earlier mentioned songs. The weakest point of The Cars was their logo (terrible). I'm also not really convinced Orr was a "phenomenal" bass player: that certainly can't be really illustrated by Cars-music. Well, he was no Geddy Lee or Chris Squire, was he ?
One of the most underrated bands ever. Rest In Peace Ben. ♥️
Saw them in Vegas on the SHAKE IT UP tour. Amazing show
The Cars was s HUGE band in the late 70's, and 80's.
@@ianhumphry1 I saw the Shake It Up Tour in Atlanta too.
Sadly one of the most underrated and Benjamin Orr is alive in my parallel reality.
It’s so heartwarming to hear him get lost in describing how he first met his talented best friend, completely forgetting the original question. I love them so much.
Ben gave a different account of their meeting - he didn't audition, Ric saw him on a TV show and contacted him.
And I was fine with that too. The story was intriguing until the guy told Ric he was getting off-topic 😠
@@williamhucker7797 Ric didn't say Ben auditioned anyway.
Personally have never heard an interview where Rick has ever been anything but praising Ben's talent and great vocals. Ben was a great musician all around. The members of this band think highly of each other .
And even though the front have passed, I would love to hear the rest of the guys carry on! Becauuuuuuse, they will live forever in the annals of rock & roll.
Iris Watts You’re right! The Cars are one of the greatest rock bands of all time...🤟🎶🎸🎉
The Cars were incredibly unique. All had talent.
Ben was a BRILLIANT talent, gone WAY too soon.
I talked about this interview to my friend yesterday.
Ben seemingly had it all.
No one on Earth does tho.
People saw him from outside.
His looks his talent his success.
They did not see his pain.
I agree 100% with what Ric said about the different sounds and styles of Benjamin's and Ric's vocals. Personally I could never understand how anyone could think there was only one singer in the band. The difference in their voices as well as their singing styles is so different to me like seeing 2 totally different colours. Say bright vivid sky blue versus a dark orange sunset. I do see music in colours at times so this sort of explains it best. I also think Benjamin's intonation was so different. Thank you for sharing this, it is very moving to hear Ric speak with such warmth about Benjamin.
The cars live were incredible ! Ben was always perfect . Great band
Thank you SO much for sharing this. It is very precious and moving to hear Ric talk about Benjamin with such sweetness.
sweetpurplejune %u
Definitely one of the top ten for me in high school!!!
Read the book
This is just great. Loved how Ric knew the year 1967 so quickly, as well as all the great things he says about Benjamin. Thank you.
The CARS are soo underrated.... I saw them in '77 & '79 and they were Incredible!! R.I.P. Ben Orr, you are missed.
I love Benjamin Orr!!!! ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Im obsessed. I only found out about him through youtube, since videos i saw as a kid never really showed ben
I really miss Ben.
I think it's not fair for Ben saying that he brought his "looks". I prefer the term "attitude" he was a class act, a solid bass player and he had a distinctive voice!
Ben' had a great voice but his bass playing get's overlooked,he had a unique muted/stumpy/stacato approach,it really fit the song and was an important part of that band's sound.
@wildcatter63 Multi instrumentalists are often something like a Swiss knife. They can be used as a screw driver or to pull out corks out of wine bottles, but they're neither a screwdriver or corkscrew.
@wildcatter63 I was rather thinking about Mike Oldfield actually. On what song does Prince play several instruments again ?
@wildcatter63 Hmmm OK, and he certainly made very decent solo albums. However, I still find it difficult to see him as a "phenomenal" bass player, and on a scale from 1 to 10, his performances on other instruments won't put him among the top brass of each section: he may play drums, but of course he ain't no Ian Paice or Phil Collins, etc. That is also not necessary, as if someone would play this way on his solo albums, it probably would have ruined these delicate ballads. "Keep it simple" sometimes is the best option. But it is difficult to judge what he could do instrumentally, based on the Cars or his solo output. There's not really a Cars song that proves that he's an amazing bass player. There are here and there hints (the first seconds of "Bye bye love" are interesting), he certainly used some techniques (staccato playing etc.), but if he was "brilliant" or "phenomenal" in this league, what word is left to describe Geddy Lee or John Entwistle ? I'm just trying to keep things into perspective. I think he was an excellent singer, with tons of stage charisma, a decent bass player who played in a very efficient way within the Cars, and who also played a number of other instruments sufficiently well, he was completely selfsufficient on his first 4 solo albums. Does that sound fair ?
@wildcatter63 best description ever. Price's hijacking of while my guitar gently weeps". That song is on my playlist, but I often have to watch the actual video and it just kills me how he appears from the sidelines and kills it, all while making it look like it's child's play to him.
@wildcatter63 McCartney's first album was simply McCartney(it has the dumped over bowl of cherries on the cover). RAM is great though, that's his second solo album, he hired session musicians(and Linda) for that. He recorded McCartney in the living room of his house(a couple songs were finished up in the studio) and played all the instruments. Purposely loose and stripped down.
There are even some Beatles songs where he played all or almost all the instruments. He's got a couple other solo albums that he plays all the instruments on. And the Band on the Run album? The only people he had in the "band" at the time it was recorded, were himself, Denny Laine and Linda. He ended up playing most of the instruments on that as well. As well as having to recreate all the songs in the studio from memory because his demo tapes got stolen when he got mugged in Lagos, where he was recording.
I think Benjamin did a great job on bass. I listened to the isolated bass tracks for a couple of songs and I really like the sound he gets from the bass. He has some really cool basslines, particularly on their first few albums, esp considering I don't think he actually loved it. From what I've heard it was a more a necessity thing being the bassist for The Cars than because he loved playing bass. As for being like Geddy Lee and Entwhistle? I think a good question is did Cars songs call for bass playing like Lee and Entwhistle or would it have sounded out of place? I think there are definitely songs where his bassline really adds something to the song, like Bye Bye Love for example.
When I worked with the Cars Ric brought in the demo cassette for Drive and played it for us. TOTALLY different groove.
How did it sound
The Cars and all members way underrated.
By the Brits, not by American fans.
Nor the french fans...
Debbbb not really, they’re still completely underrated as a rock band in america. No one hardly remembers it.
The Cars aren't underrated, I hear a Cars song on the radio almost every day great band and some the nicest guys to have graced the music industry
@@randombotdude2083 so underrated that they're in rock and roll hall of fame, some bands with even more music and longevity are still waiting, not underrated at all ! But you are highly overrated so I hear 😂
Ben Nailed everything he did , this guy said Drive was the most memorable song to remember him by but theirs , Lets Go! Bye Bye Love ! Just what I needed! Cruiser! All mixed up ! Moving in stero !
Agreed, but when you see the record sales as argument, Drive was the most succesful.
think it over was my favorite.
@@Retroscoop
That was video garbage, the first two albums were the most important.
@@bconner6171 I wouldn't say garbage. Good pop song but I agree with you. The first two albums stand alone and are The Cars at their peak. Panorama had one song, Touch and Go, that was up to par with the first two albums but the rest was all drum machines and effects. They really lost their signature sound when they started using drum machines and heavier synths. David Robinson is so good on the first two albums. Ric and then Mutt Lange really changed their sound in the MTV/video era of the 80's and while there are some good songs none of them come close to the first two albums in my opinion.
Ric and Ben were absolutely superb together. RIP
2:10 of course we never knew there was another singer bcz Ric ocasek created all media, videos, promotions, and pictures with himself front and center. How in the hell would I have known until UA-cam revealed Ben, standing behind Ric
You would have known it if you had bought the first piece of vinyl.
I mean, I always knew half the songs couldn’t be Ric, it had to be Ben.
@Lisa Surlie I've been saying that for the last year, I had no idea Ric ever kind of, sort of admitted it! Thanks for the info. I'd see these comments saying "oh isn't it nice Ric let's Ben sing" and "Ben copied Ric's way of singing" and even as a relatively new fan listening to the various pre-Cars things on youtube I was like "um...Ben sang that way before RIC did, Ric copied HIM".
@Lisa SurlieYeah I think we can agree Ric couldn't copy Prince. LOL
@Lisa Surlie I know, like I said anyone who listened to that pre-Cars stuff should have been able to tell that Ric was copying Ben's voice, not the other way around. I've heard Milkwood, Cap N Swing, I think there is a Richard and The Rabbits song and a couple of Ocasek and Orr songs. Plus of course there are a few songs from Ben when he was with his pre-Ric bands. Ben was always more experimental with his vocals, he could do quirky, he could croon, he could high or low.
Ric is a class act and so glad his band was finally inducted into the HOF!
What a great band! So polished, this band was so great live!
Rick and Ben so beautiful and awesome...
We love you Ben we miss you
Benjamin Orr inspired me to play bass...I pay Drive everyday..
pay ? Like in a taxi cab ?
He,s uber good at it as well 😕
Brilliant live! Always superb live!
Ben was and is legendary. Phenomenal is right. These 5 guys made up the whole. THE CARS-. Immortal on film and recordings forever. Thank God generations can be exposed to the good stuff. The real stuff. THE CARS:. THANK YOU RIC. BEN. GREG. DAVID. ELLIOTT.
This is one of the best interviews I have heard! Thanks for posting!
RIP Ben and Ric 💔
You are and will always be missed ! 💜 The Cars
Awesome, enjoyed this history. Always hungry for more of anything Cars. Made my day!
This is what Ric truly thought of Ben. There's a lot of people out there who act like he was always a jerk to him and pushed him aside. Maybe toward the end the two did have some kind of a feud but overall Ric always thought very highly of Ben and vice versa.
Ask Ric sometime why VH1 never did a Cars Behind the Music.
I was under the impression that Ocasek didn't allow Benjamin more space and songwriting license in the band. Generally, the financial ground rules in many bands is that if your song makes the album, there is a royalty or extra share if you will. You can see Benjamin giving Ocasek the evil eye in a few songs, and it doesn't appear as though Ocasek was freelancing the live version. Check it out in "Just What I Needed" on The Midnight Special.
Your`re right about the financial aspect. Publishing rights on some of the songs was a main point of contention.
I think their relative net worth bears it out. Benjamin was reportedly worth $4m in 2000, and Ocasek is worth $30m today, probably $10m in 2000. Fine writer to be sure, but so was Benjamin.
To: Rick C -I am curious ... why do you think that is?
So Very, Very missed. Even to this day. 💔😢 ~Repose En Paix forever Ben.
Whatever happened between them, whatever rivalry they might've had at one point, or fallout, it was obvious these two were tremendous friends.
fastcarlady There was tension because Ric didn’t allow Ben to write any new songs on the new album with his girlfriend. They barely spoken each other towards the end of the Cars. Fortunately they made up when Ben was sick
☆☆☆Touches the hearts of all bandmembers & fans across the World.☆☆☆
People can say what they want but Ric loved Ben. They were together a very long time. Ric always knew Ben's talent, make no mistake. If you listen to interviews, you can hear the pain in Ric's voice about Ben's passing.
I agree. It's not very well known now, but Ric did try to work things out with Ben in the 90's, but Ben refused to speak to him. This was written about in the Boston Globe at the time. The truth seems to be that Ric always loved Ben, and was even haunted by him after he died.
@@msm7809 Yeah I agree with both of you. Even the best of friends have tensions & fall-outs sometimes. They made up in the end & gave that moving interview. Let's remember them with love & not drag up all this negative stuff. Thank you for the music Ric & Ben.
@@MissJensk1 I don't agree at all. The bad stuff was the truth and their lives and their history. It should not be washed away. Neither should the closeness of their early friendship be covered up which many try to do. The real truth should continue to be told, both good and bad. Again, that was their lives and their history and the truth.
@@msm7809 Blah blah blah
@@MissJensk1 Lol, so intelligent. Have a nice day.
✨💖Love The Cars Forever💖✨
🌹💔💙 To Ric 2019
🌹💔💙 To Ben 2000
Thanks so much...so appreciated 💓
To right Benjamin ! his looks RIP Benjamin and Ric.......Hello again"
one of the best interviews with Ric!
Wish we could've heard the rest. Great though, w what Ric said about Ben.
Jennifer C I heard the rest, nothing more regarding Ben at all!!!! Ric is very self absorbed.
GO here....ua-cam.com/video/mWjlsbrBNdE/v-deo.html
Hows that, he was asked various questions and he answered them...???
@@RaiderfaninNM1 youre right
Ric and Ben gone to Soon,but their memories live on in there Music and their talent and Rock star good looks.
I agree with Taygi777. Ric Ocasek is and was a good guy. He and Ben were the best of friends. I think a lot of people made up stuff about them. To be honest, when I was younger and The Cars were hitting the charts, I kind of thought Ric was an asshole for some stupid reason. This interview was good to hear, and Ric I am sorry that I ever doubted your sincerity and kindness. Thumbs up Ric and RIP Ben.
Mike Maxwell No, Ric is all ego.
A Boston Boy vs a Cleveland Guy. A New Englander & a Midwesterner. A PERFECT combination of accents!
R.I.P. Ric and Ben. 💔 🙏
LOL - the picture of the keyboard
I ❤ Cars
RIP Ben Orr 🌹🙏⭐🕶️ 🎸🌏💫🇺🇸👁️
🎸🎵🎶🎤🎸✝️✝️✝️♥️
so sorry, Ben I love you,
Ben is buried close to where I live here in Ohio. I finally stopped by his grave site the other day. He's buried out in the middle of nowhere on a country dirt road near family members.
Awesome interview!....❤️👍
I Loved Benjamin!!!!💕💕💕😘😘😘
Ric Ocasek interviewed by Chris Farley.
david w by Mark Goodman... from MTV...
Por favor traducir en Español para poder opinar gracias Benjamin es mi cantante preferido
Most of this video is foolish. Ric wasn't the good friend as he states. He was a bully to his band mates. He said he took Benjamin in ,
but it was half and half. Any time the other guys wanted to give ideas they were shot down. Ric acted like the boss and Benjamin wait to write and Ric said the Cars were over. I know there was a little more to it, but not much. Ric even said in an interview that Benjamin was jealous of Ric. There would be no Cars if it wasn't for Benjamin. The others guys knew what was going on, but let Ric get away with it. Ric didn't want them to think for themselves because Ric liked making all the royalties. Benjamin was hurt and I don't think he really recovered. He never had a mean thing to said about it. It was stupid on Ric's part to split up a great band. Benjamin we will never forget you 💯💔💔💔💔💔💔💔🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏
Found it. I had a whole reply typed up and youtube lost it. I'll respond again tomorrow, don't feel like retyping it right now. However I did just read Ric completely cut Paulina out of his will for "abandoning me". I mean she doesn't need the money, she made millions of her own modeling but it's almost funny how petty that is, the will was signed like a month before his death, i guess because he knew the surgery was coming up. There she was helping him, checking on him, taking care of him while he was recuperating and he knew he was screwing her over in the will. He was a 40 year old man dating an 18 year old beauty with daddy issues(read about her background), they had an almost 30 year marriage, you'd think he'd have realized how much he lucked out.
@@GizziesGirl2 I had a faze I never forgot. It's all about the Benjamins . It's funny how that fits on so many levels. He was lucky to have her. Talk tomorrow.
@@VUrban-yr5ch Yes, it's all about the Benjamins to some people(unfortunately apparently that was the case with Ric). And to some others, it's about a very specific Benjamin. I feel this sort of shows that isn't all "just fan partisanship". There's an old Japanese article that was translated online and the interview was with Ric and Benjamin from about 1980. At the end of it the interviewer wrote their impressions of the two men's personalities and its really seems to be strangely accurate, taking into consideration they barely knew them. Much simplified of course but I feel like the essence was there. I think Electric Angel Rock N Roller's facebook page is where it originated(she has a youtube channel too)
@@GizziesGirl2 I'll look that up. I think Ric got away with things because social media wasn't like it is today. He made sure he got the attention back then. The more I read it seems like it was Ric and the Cars. People comment how they didn't know that Benjamin sang so many songs heck they didn't even know his name. That proofs how selfish he was. I was kinda shocked, but not when you said about Paula cut out of the will.
@@GizziesGirl2 I was wondering if you read the comments on ( just knew it) were he said he's got Benjamins spirit in him. He said Benjamin what's everyone to be forgiven.
It's a shame and a bit selfish that Ric flat out rejected Ben's request to contribute songwriting to The Cars later on in their career after everything they did together. It ruined their friendship for many years but I'm glad they reconciled just before Ben so tragically passed away.
I agree. I think Ben was incredibly hurt & frustrated that Ric wouldn't consider it at all. But I think it broke his heart when Ric ended the band. Ric eventually acknowledged that he was 'maybe too controlling' but too little, too late, sadly.
Most know who see this video how close they were. Did you know however the biggest Cars hit was sung by Ben Orr? Drive made it to #3 in 1984. You Might Think hit #4 in 1984. So did Shake it Up in 1982. Both were good singers in their own right, and Ocasek wrote all the Cars music but it is interesting how that turned out.
Rip Ben and Ric
Ric and Ben were closer than anyone knows. Man I really liked hearing Ric, he was so cool 😭😭
Only found out about this town hall three weeks after they stopped playing it. Tried to contact XM and no one writes back with respect to hearing it again. Do you have it in its entirety? If so, can you please give us some more content? Thanks so much for this! XM are jerks for not having this on-demand!
Ron Stubbings 0
It’s online on UA-cam, but he never talks about anything important nor talks about Ben again throughout the entire hour...
Who’s gonna drive you home tonight. ❤️
Well I wish it was Ben, tbh!
Just heard...R I P Ric Ocasek 09-16-2019
I didn’t realize it either
Good interview, the video editing, not so much.
Brad K Exactly, this video edit makes it seem like he spoke more about Ben, but it’s all he said regarding Benjamin!!!! So don’t throw hate on this video, because the whole interview was painfully self absorbed and downright horrible!!!
Who else laughed because of Ric's beatboxing? 😂
Great To ear you Ric! *
Ric was very insecure inside, confused and pained. Maybe power and money became some sort of compensation for him. But he truly loved Ben in all ways. They were soulmates.
OMG... BAR SONG... YES!
Sometimes you meet someone at a bar and the next thing you know your running like a penguin through the parking lot chasing her saying, "Wait! Where's my happy ending!" "Give me back my twenty buck!"
They were friends but I wouldn't say best friends. Ric was very jealous of Ben and it caused problems but they eventually worked it out.
Ric and Ben were the best of friends from their first meeting in the 60's until the mid 80's. There is no evidence that Ric was ever jealous of Ben. Ben stopped talking to Ric for reasons that were never explained. The last tour was reportedly miserable, the stadiums were empty and the tour was canceled. Then Ric broke up the band. But again, there is zero evidence that Ric ever held any jealousy towards Ben at all.
thanks. interesting !
😭😭🌹🌹🌹🌹🙏
On which Cars-song is Orr's bass considered to be the most impressive of the total output of the band ?
Moving in stereo
Its all i can do, and think it over. Try singing and playing bass to either of those at the same time.
Very mowing!
what happened to Ben Orr? I saw that he lost so much weight, he was so sweet and sexy! his eyes haunts me.
He died.
He passed away from pancreatic cancer.
pancreatic evil cancer took that amazing soul.
Haunted ??? With such a nick name ????
@@sherryjohnson2152 Yeah. Same thing killed my Dad.
BS. Look what this guy did to his own wife. Control freak all the way. When publishing checks come in, everything changes. How many bands were torn apart by this? The Band comes to mind first to me. Robbie made the big bucks and the others didn't. Money changes and fucks up everything.
Yep, it was all about the Benjamins, unfortunately not the human Benjamin who was his friend. He was so damn concerned that he got nearly all the songwriting money he'd rather break up the band than let anyone else contribute songs. Really what he did to his wife says it all, sure they were separated, but he let his last words(his will, which was done just a couple weeks before he died) to her and the world be an untrue accusation that she abandoned him? She spent 30 years of her life, from the time she was a teenager for goodness sake, with him. She was still taking care of him when he died. He was kind of a petty bastard when you come down to it.
Dooo tcchhhh tchhh dooooo tchhhhh tchhhhh......Drive certainly was a very nice song, but the best Orr songs to me are Bye bye love and Just what I needed. To bad his main contribution is always - even jokingly - reduced to his looks, because he "nailed" those two songs also very well. Too bad no other similar songs were recorded by the Cars, which became rather a pop singles band. Fine singles for sure, but something different as the two earlier mentioned songs. The weakest point of The Cars was their logo (terrible). I'm also not really convinced Orr was a "phenomenal" bass player: that certainly can't be really illustrated by Cars-music. Well, he was no Geddy Lee or Chris Squire, was he ?
What'd you think of Ben's contributions? Yeah, good looking dude with a good voice(I wrote the songs fuckers).