Chuck Nowlin

Chuck Nowlin

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The Cars "Candy-O" Album Came Out 40 Years Ago Today!

Via UltimateClassicRock.com. A lot of bands struggle to come up with material after their first album takes off. For The Cars it was the opposite. They were ready to go, but their debut album was still sitting high on the charts and getting tons of radio play. The former house band at The Rat in Kenmore Square was on fire. Their sophomore album "Candy-O" was released on June 13, 1979, racing up the Billboard chart to number 3 and spawning the hits, "It's All I Can Do," "Let's Go," and "Dangerous Type," leading to a string of albums that kept them at the top in the 1980's.

In an interview, Ric Ocasek talked about some on the road growing pains from touring to promote the first album, ""We played one gig with Styx, which I can't f---in' handle. All we did for two weeks after that was sing to each other in fake-operatic voices, back in the dressing room," he snickered. "We did open for Foreigner - not that we particularly care for their music, either, but at least they were nice guys. They were the only band to give us a sound check."

The cover art was as famous as the music. Painted by artist Alberto Vargas, who was known for his paintings of pin-up girls that appeared in Esquire and Playboy magazines. The 83-year-old Vargas had retired several years earlier but was persuaded to take the assignment by his niece, who was a fan of the Cars. The painting, depicting a woman sprawled across the hood of a Ferrari 365 GTC/4 was based on a photo shoot directed by drummer David Robinson at a local Ferrari dealership. And the model's name? Candy Moore.


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