Ocasek and I - or Why I Like The Cars (the band)

This may come as a shock to some of you, but in the not so distant past, a variety in music was not always readily available to people.  I should also note that in those days, music was also known to be more creative, skillful, and melodic... but that's a topic for another day.

Yes, in a time prior to the internets, there was no such thing as Spotify, Pandora, YouTubes or satellite radio.  We had to listen to music the old fashioned way:  FM radio.  And as modern historians will tell you, this was broadcast by cavemen playing stone records with a pterodactyl beak, (which is incidentally how the term 'rock music' was coined).

There was also a definite correlation between the the size of your town and your listening choices.  In smaller mid-western areas, too much variety, or anything new and different was often considered "devil music", and just not allowed.

One particular small town in northern Indiana is called Nappanee (current population about 6,500).  This is where my story begins.  The nearest radio station was in South Bend, Indiana.  So for popular music, I had one choice.  Some might say it was a 'Top 40' station, but it was more like Top 20.  I do recall a rival radio station became available later, but in the end, they played the same songs so everyone would just switch back and forth.  There was one other choice, but I never hung out with 'those type of kids'.  

I was aware of bands like The Cars, and I remembering hearing Shake It Up, Just What I Needed, Let's Go, Drive, and You Might Think often.  Their other songs were (probably) too extreme for regular rotation on my radio station.  No, I don't think I'm exaggerating.

The simple conclusion to this story would be, as a nerdy guy, I should instantly gravitate towards nerdy bands like The Cars.  But at that time, I just didn't care about them.  I was more obsessed with my movie soundtracks, like Ghostbusters, Fright Night, Breakin' 2, and Star Wars.  I was also into Sheena Easton, post Prince influence, mostly because she was hot.

But as with all great life changing experiences, suddenly there was this girl...

Before getting a license and a car, (or friends with a car), I took the bus home after school.  Normally it was uneventful, but on one particular day, there was an extra passenger.  She had a very nice smile, and I thought she was very pretty.  She sat alone, across from me, and I had no idea who she was.  Due to my extreme nerd status, I never socialized with anyone outside of my very small circle of friends, so I had no idea where she came from.

And because she was new, different, and alone on the bus, the other kids decided to pick on her, because as you know, kids can often be mean and stupid.  I felt bad for her and wanted to protect her, but a nerdy guy like me just wasn't brave enough to get them to stop.  I did however feel chivalrous enough to make an encouraging comment to her when the bus stopped at my house.  I said something like, "Oh they're just jealous...", or "They're mean because they really like you", or some other lame, innocent thing, knowing that I would probably never see her again.

At this point, maybe you're thinking I'm a hero and this story is soooo cute.  And maybe it would be sweet if it ended here.  But surprisingly, I did start seeing this girl in the hallways of my school regularly.  Never in person, just from afar.  I discovered she was in the same grade as me, but we didn't share any of the same classes.  I never saw her on the bus, because most likely, she had friends or family that would drive her home.

I need to remind you, I was lame.  I was insecure.  I really was clueless, uncool and girls just freaked me out because I had no idea how to talk to any of them.  It also didn't help when I learned she had a boyfriend, although I sincerely doubt I would have been brave enough to approach her even if she didn't.

So yes, looking back now, I know I had a very unhealthy infatuation.  It wasn't even unrequited love, because I didn't know anything about her.  Fortunately, I did get over her and soon after, grew out of it.
The End.

"...But Deeesher, what about The Cars!?!?"

Oh, that's right!!

During one particularly forlorn evening, while switching back and forth between my two radio stations, I heard a new song:
Why Can't I Have You, by The Cars from the album Heartbeat City.  

Holy crap, Ric wrote that song for me! 

Okay, maybe he didn't write it specifically with my situation in mind, but he most definitely understood my anguish.  I had to listen to this song often, because it helped soothe my (imagined) pain.  I listened to this song daily.  Hourly... continually.  It somehow helped me focus on the rest of my life, because my feelings were actually put to words and music.

Eventually, the cassette copy I made from the radio with slight static and a DJ talking over the intro wasn't good enough.  I had to have the absolute best quality of this song, so I bought the album Heartbeat City (aka cassette).  I don't think I listened to anything else from the album except that one song.  I mean, Drive was mildly acceptable but that's it.  And, I will go so far to say, I kind of disliked You Might Think.  Sure the video was cool, but ugh... what silly music!

Fast forward a few months... (yikes, was it a year??), and I did get mildly brave enough to talk to a few other girls.  I remember talking to one girl I was sort of interested in, and she said something silly like, "The rest of the album is pretty good too!  I like Stranger Eyes".  So from her advice, I stepped outside my comfort zone and listened to the rest of the album.  Suddenly, I realized she was right!  There actually were a lot of other good songs here!  ...Except You Might Think, of course.

Then I got curious about other Cars songs, and I remember talking to a radio DJ one morning and saying, "Do you have that one song by The Cars, something about 'ribbons in her hair...?", because I always liked that lyric.  They easily identified it as Just What I Needed, which I suddenly really enjoyed also.  So I thought, I should buy their debut album too, because maybe it has some other good songs on it.  That was when I discovered It's All Mixed Up, which seemed to sum up my general frustration about any typical girl... because they were still weird and mysterious to me.

Then I had to get Candy-O because... duh, the Vargas girl on the cover is hot!  Are you sensing a theme here?  My obsession had switched from this girl on the bus, to this band.  I had to have it all!

After getting the studio albums, I ordered the solo albums.  I loved Beatitude and This Side of Paradise from Ric Ocasek, because he wrote all The Cars songs, so it all had a familiar vibe to them.  Later I bought Change No Change from Elliot Easton, Niagra Falls from Greg Hawkes, and The Lace from Benjamin Orr, but wasn't so impressed, because the song writing wasn't quite the same.  Eventually, I managed to find a company that sold bootleg recordings, and bought a few live Cars concerts, as well as the original and rare Milkwood album (1972 Ric and Ben acoustic).

Somehow, I was fortunate to find another girl who was also quite obsessed with The Cars.  We spent quite a bit of time together, and she gave me a much needed musical education.  She would play songs for me all the time from other bands that I never heard before in my sheltered small town life.

Me: "This sounds great, who is this??"
Her:"That's a band called The Doors!"
Me: "This is awesome, what is this??"
Her: "That's a band called The Who!"
Me: "This is amazing, who is this??"
Her: "That's David Bowie!"
...etc

I had no idea there was so much awesome music in the world!  So within a year or two, I overloaded in classic rock music, that was all new to me.  I even got brave enough to listen to the local "devil music" station, which I learned was actually an AOR station, meaning they played a bit of everything new and old.

The next life changing moment for me came with the release of Door to Door in 1987.  No, I'm not talking about having a real girlfriend at the time, nor am I talking about the first speeding ticket I got on the way to their Indianapolis concert.  And I'm definitely not talking about the pain of hearing about the breakup of The Cars soon after.

I'm talking about how Ric produced this album, and how a picture of him mixing over a console was maybe one of the most inspiring moments I ever had in my life.

This awesome image meant the world to me, and I wanted to know what every button and knob did.  I suddenly knew what I wanted to do with my life.  I discovered there are actual schools that teach music production, and if I could have left home that night to start studying, I would have.

I found a school in Ft Lauderdale, Florida and eagerly signed up for it.  Well, there were schools a bit closer in Chicago, or even Atlanta, but... I sort of liked the idea of living near the beach and seeing hot girls in bikinis daily.  Looking back, I think I went to the beach only a handful of times while I lived there.

Studio work seemed to come very natural to me while studying.  I soon found out, it is in fact easy to fool with the sound.  My goal was to one day work with Ric in the studio... or at the very least, win a Grammy award for producer of the year.

My first few years in the studio will always be the best of times, and the worst of times.  I was often broke and frustrated, but through amazing luck and many long hours/days/nights/weeks, I had the opportunity to work with some fantastic, talented people.  Many of those people are still very good friends today.  I am very proud of some of the stuff I did in my early days, and I cringe thinking about other parts of it.

While studying engineering, one of my instructors, who wound up also being one of my best friends, was Eddie Mashal.  He had Grammys for his work with The Eagles on Hotel California.  He also recorded their followup album, The Long Run, and worked with many other great classic rock artists, but he never did work with anyone from The Cars.  However, Eddie was quite a nerdy guy like me, so we had a lot of great conversations about music, recording, as well as comic books, movies and television shows.  He was a fantastic mentor for me, not just in the studio, but in life too.  Sadly, he passed away a few years ago, and I miss him every day.  I wrote a bit of a eulogy to him here if you're curious.
  
So, I never did get a chance to work with Ric, despite my efforts.  I also never got my Grammy award, but that's fine.  I did however, get to work regularly in one of the top five studios in Miami, which happened to have the exact same model of recording console Ric was working on in the picture.

I guess in the end, you could say I got just what I needed.

EPILOGUE:  I'm still not a huge fan of You Might Think, but I've learned to appreciate it a bit more.  And girls still freak me out, and I still don't how to talk to them.

EPILOGUE Part 2: On September 15, 2019, Ric passed away.

 
It's been very heartbreaking, but the outpouring of love from his fans has been amazing.

But just a few months prior, I was very fortunate to have the opportunity to meet him at his art show in Ft. Lauderdale. I NEVER thought I would have a chance to meet him, so this was a very big deal for me, and even more meaningful now that he's gone. 

My conversation with him was very brief, but mostly because my brain just shut down. I shook his hand and told him what a huge honor it was to meet him. I said I became a studio engineer because of him. He was surprised, and I told him how I was inspired from the picture of him over the console in Door to Door. He asked if I was still doing it, and I told him yes, five nights a week, and I told him where I worked if he wanted to come by and visit.

I brought him his book of poetry, Lyrics and Prose, and asked if he would sign it. He looked at it a long time before signing, then added the dot at the bottom almost like an afterthought. He said, "Thank you for buying this". He seemed very honored that I had this book. I said "Thank you for..... everything.........", and suddenly became tongue-tied. His handler quickly tried to move to the next person, and there was a moment that Ric and I sort of fought over his pen. He tried to give it to me, but I said it was his and we went back and forth for a while before I think his handler took it.  

After I left, I thought of a dozen things to say. But other people were waiting so it's best I didn't swoon too much during his art show.
Just before meeting him, I accidentally took a picture of his shoes."Life's the same, except for my shoes..."

*Side note - when we took the picture together, maybe he had a nervous twitch, but his hand kept patting my back and all I could think was... is he tapping the beginning of Just What I Needed on me???

Deeesher

Brother Grimm Reunion

Everyone loves a good Tale. This particular Tale begins in 1993, when I was just a wee nerd. I was new to the big city and very new to studio recording, (for the sake of our story, in 1993, try to imagine me as a very mature looking intelligent six year old child). I was mostly clueless, and maybe more than a bit arrogant, but fortunately, I was extremely good looking.

But more importantly, I was very lucky.

I was lucky to get work at one of the bigger studios in Miami (Studio Center). I was lucky to get a job teaching audio for the Art Institute. And I was extremely lucky to work with some cool and talented people, on some very cool songs.

But the luckiest of those times, was when I began working with the band, Brother Grimm. 

Based out of West Palm Beach, Florida, the band consisted of singer Mike Roi, who mixed unique creative lyrics, with a voice that was sometimes soothing and warm, to suddenly powerful and in your face. Dan Gindin, who was an extremely talented keyboard/piano player, and a lot of fun to hang out with, despite being completely insane. Brian Shinn, who played guitar and wrote some sweet melodies adding to the unique sound of the band. Uda (aka Yehuda Ashash), who was simply amazing with his skill on bass, and overall musical genius. And Rich Veitch, who was a solid drummer who helped make every experience with the band fun and memorable.

Because of my association with the Art Institute, I needed bands to help explain the recording process to the students, and Brother Grimm were eager guinea pigs for me. Depending on availability, sometimes they sent other bands for me to work with, (Loose Association was one of the more enjoyable and memorable bands I had a chance to record, check their page out here), but for the most part, Brother Grimm was my most common go-to band.

We even got a write up for our efforts!  
Click on the image, then right click view image to read the full story
 

A couple of the earlier sessions were recorded/produced by other Art Institute instructors (with me assisting). Then later, I would use studio downtime to try to come up with a decent mix. Sometimes the band was there to oversee (overhear), and sometimes they were not. Later, when I began teaching the classes, I did a lot of experimentation with recording, and learned a lot, and hopefully the students learned something too. Eventually the band had enough material to release a cassette demo of their songs, entitled Tales. 

 

Complete with artwork from the one and only Tony DiTerlizzi, (if you've never heard of him, you really need to check out his site here!).

It really was the best of times.

So here we are twenty years later, and Brother Grimm has gently faded into the ether of time. The members have drifted to the four corners of the world to seek out their own individual adventures. I think one of them became a ninja, and another is studying to be a wizard... but I'm unsure if these reports are valid.

However, one very accurate report is that singer Mike Roi has been focusing on his new band, Roi and the Secret People (check him out here and discover he is just as awesome now as he was then). And through the miracle of modern technology, Mike has also been posting the Brother Grimm video archives here, which inspired me to start thinking (as rare as thinking can be for me).

With all these fancy new computer gadgets the kids have, and with all the advancements in my brain, can I improve on my recordings from twenty years ago? I also wondered, if maybe there are many fans of Brother Grimm that never got a copy of some of the more rare or obscure recordings from those days. Or maybe you have an old melted cassette copy of the songs that you can't listen to anymore.

So after spending the last couple of weeks, tweaking, fine tuning, changing my mind and giving up, restarting again a bit more enthusiastically, and finally reluctant acceptance... I present to you:

Tales - 20^th Anniversary Extended Edition

"Ooh Deeesher, where can I get that???"

The best thing to do is contact Mike Roi or the fan page here.  Or you can always contact me and maybe I can arrange for you to get a copy of the songs.

I have always said, I have a story for each of these songs, and since this is as close to a reunion as we are likely to get, I'll share some of my Tales of Brother Grimm with you.

*Tech notes: Most of my tweaks were simply adding volume, and maybe some highs or lows to the overall mix. I will notate any other drastic changes I made, and I sincerely hope I did manage to improve some of the work I did, even if it's just a bit. And if you never heard any problems with my mixes before, then yay for me!

Mother Tranquility - The intro was originally longer, and included a line about "where vampires weep". We all felt it was too long and unnecessary, so Mike was outvoted and the line was cut. He was brokenhearted, because he really loved that line.

*Tech notes – The “T” on “Try your hardest” was cut, so I added a “T”. I also added a bigger slam at the end. I tried adding heavy distortion to the “Wake up”, but I couldn't get the right amount of fuzz.

Shift - Most of you know this story. We recorded drums and bass in the first half of the song. But, Dan wasn't there when we did the final mix. I asked if they thought he would be happy, and everyone felt he would find something to complain about. So we joked about taking the keyboards out completely. Then someone said he would only be happy if the entire song was only keyboards. I was going to make a 'fake' mix for Dan with only keyboards but... everyone said it really sounded cool!

*Tech notes – I took out half of the 'I go insanes', and fixed the popping 'p's' in the intro.

Underside - I remember a live show, where the stage was beside the entrance to the club. People were coming in and out during the show, and I remember Mike sang, screaming the chorus at people, “Leave by the door... It's open f'in wide...!"

*Tech notes – When recording, I used the same mic to record guitars that Spinal Tap uses, (not the actual mic, but it was an AKG D12, not D112). The original mix always bothered me somehow, and finally, years later, I like it. I added an overall subtle reverb to the entire mix to give it a bit more life. I also added the cool/cheesy swirly flange effect at the very end.

Blue Ketchup – Rumor has it, this song was based on a painting by Tony Diterlizzi. When recording, we were running out of studio time, so Mike needed to record his vocals quickly. He did it all in one take, with no mistakes! He even made up a new word: Condifference. Listen for it.

*Tech notes – Recorded by the illustrious Giorgos Papabeis (aka George)

Ichabod - This was the first time I met the band, and was before Uda joined. I instantly fell in love with this song. But because I was only assisting in the recording, I wasn't there the entire time. I still remember Dan running out to tell me to come in and listen to Mike's vocals, "Dude, you have to listen to what he just did!"

*Tech notes – I was never happy with the kick drum sound when it was originally recorded. Plus I was told that (in theory), it should fade into Self Treachery. So, when mixing, I sampled the kick drum from Treachery, and replaced the recorded kick drum on Ichabod. Maybe the band didn't know I did that, but I thought it sounded a bit better, and hopefully matched with Treachery. Maybe not... oh well.

Self Treachery - Another student recording but... none of the students showed up! This was recorded maybe 6 months after Ichabod, but because they do work well together, I combined them many years ago, and now they seem inseparable to me... quite literally. I have no way of breaking them up now because of the crossfade I created.

*Tech notes – Recorded by the legendary Eddie Mashal, who you may know from such rare obscure albums like Hotel California and The Long Run.

Eve - Uda proving his talent and genius in this song! Recorded during studio downtime, Uda and I stayed up all night working on this mix. We began recording around 9pm and Uda and I finished the final mix at about 9am. While Uda was recording some of his parts, Mike, Dan and I discovered 'something' on his computer. I can't begin to describe it, but we all had a good laugh about it.

Alain - There is something about the lyrics, and the way Mike sang here, that I always loved. This is also one of my favorite Brian guitar solos.

*Tech notes – I never quite got the cool swirly flange sound on the chorus I wanted, but I guess it's okay. However, I was always happy with the 'yeah...' effect, and the '...craaaaaazzzyyy...!' effect in the second verse. I always liked how the song started a bit keyboard heavy, then accidentally got more guitar heavy.

Can't Always Get It - Young engineers, heed this advice: When someone tells you NOT to record, you should ALWAYS record! Christmas day was another day of no scheduled bookings in the studio, so I invited the band to hang out and record. This is Mike and Dan accidentally showing off how talented they really are. None of this was faked or overdubbed. If you listen closely, you hear my dorky voice in the background saying, "Okay, jam!", while I was on the phone with a friend (Francine). FYI - The only food we had in the studio, was turkey bologna...

New Orleans Moon – Also recorded on Christmas, when Brian joined (the others were unavailable). Brian got a new Line 6 guitar processor for Christmas and was eager to test out every patch in it before recording. If you listen to the rain at the end, the thunder was a very unexpected surprise that was timed perfectly.

Progress Babies – I love the simple guitar/vocal intro, and the way the rest of the band comes in always sounded so full and impressive to me. With Mike's lyrics and how he sang, this will always be one of my favorite Grimm songs.

*Tech notes – I removed clicks during the guitar intro.

Ash – Another of my absolute favorites, Brian has one of the best solos here, and Mike belts out a perfect vocal all the way. Of course Uda shows off some amazing stuff as well.

Exit 53 - The studio was renting some kind of stereo enhancer, so I tried it out. The depth of stereo it created still impresses me today.

*Tech notes – Lowered the volume of the toms.

Listen to the Toads - What a fun song! Uda and Brian showing off how talented they really are here. It was awesome to record a live horn section for this. But the best memory I have of this song, was before a live show, Mike was still trying to write lyrics for this song. I asked what he planned to sing live, and he said he always makes it up. He said, "I could sing 'watermelon' and nobody would notice. I'm going to do that tonight!". And on the 2nd verse, I clearly heard him shout, "Waaaaterrrmellonnn!" And the crowd loved it!

*Tech notes – Rich used a Dr. Pepper can during the intro and second breakdown. I used a Sennheiser 421 microphone to record it.

Your Darkness, The Dog in me has Died, Dreamcatcher – All three recorded the same day. All three had quick 'lightning mixes', and I never had the chance to take time to mix them right. While the students took a break, we recorded Dog in under an hour.

Origin of a Species – Recorded live in the studio, with only Mike recording overdubs later. Brian's amp was down the hall in an empty room with cables running back into the studio for him to play with the rest of the band. I was told, this song is different every time they played it.

New World Presence – They very reluctantly recorded this song for me. I loved the original demo version, but they weren't so eager to record it. Listening to it again, they were right. Oh well...

Terese, Pools of Blue (acoustic), Bewlay Brothers, Ash (acoustic) – The studio had a baby grand piano, and Dan loved playing it. When he wasn't talking, he was playing that piano... whether we wanted him to or not. Recorded randomly through the year, each of these are very simple and relaxing to enjoy. I still wish I had a full version of Pools of Blue. And Terese was always a very beautiful original song to me, and Mike sang it brilliantly, as always.

Self Treachery (acoustic) – I have to talk about this one separate from the other piano recordings, because of how beautiful and chilling this version really is. Mike and Dan were trying to decide what to record, and I suggested Self Treachery. They began recording, and had to restart two or three times for one reason or other. When they finally found their groove, it was simply amazing. Sitting in front of the console listening to them record this version was one of my most proudest moments in the studio. I was honored to be at the front row of this private concert.

Moonage Daydream – What a sad day! This was the last song I recorded with them before they moved away.

And we all lived happily ever after (more or less).

But I've gone on long enough, although I'm sure you've got your stories.

So what are your Tales of Brother Grimm?

Deeesher