Ric Ocasek

Born in Baltimore, Maryland USA on March 23, 1949, singer+guitarist & songwriter Richard Otcasek was part of a strict Catholic family who lived in Baltimore until 1965, moving to Cleveland when he was 16. In the early '70s, Otcasek relocated to Boston where formed his first band with Benjamin Orzechowski; the two later shortened their names to Ric Ocasek and Benjamin Orr, respectively and in 1976 formed one of the most successful American New Wave Rock band, The Cars.

In the early '80s Ric Ocasek developed his skills as a producer working with Iggy Pop and in 1982 released his solo debut, "Beatitude", which peaked at #28 on the U.S. Top 200 LPs & Tapes chart; the first single, "Jimmy Jimmy", became a Mainstream Rock top 30 hit and was followed by "Something To Grab For", which rose to #5 in the same chart.
Two years later he returned with The Cars for their fifth and most successful album, "Heartbeat City".
In 1986, Ocasek released his second solo effort, "This Side Of Paradise"; it reached the #52 on The Billboard Top 200 list while the main track, "Emotion In Motion" soared to the top spot of the Mainstream Rock chart and peaked at #15 on The Billboard Hot 100, the follow-up single, "True To You", climbed the Billboard's Airplay Rock chart peaking at #9.
After the dissolution of The Cars, Ocasek went on hiatus, however he received most media attention for his relationship with supermodel Paulina Porizkova; they finally got married in August 1989.
By the fall of 1990 Ric Ocasek released his third solo album, "Fireball Zone", it was less popular than the previous releases, though it generated the single "Rockaway" which hit #11 and #19 spots respectively on Mainstream Rock and Modern Rock Tracks charts.
His next LP, "Quick Change World", arrived nearly three years later but failed to recapture his former audience.
Ocasek stayed busy as a producer during the second half of the '90s working with bands like Weezer, Hanson, No Doubt and Nada Surf; in September 1997 he released his fifth album, "Troublizing", with The Smashing Pumpkins' frontman Billy Corgan co-producing.

Ric Ocasek resurfaced in September 2005 with his first album in eight years, "Nexterday"; the record includes the radio single "Bottom Dollar".

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Beatitude

(1982)

1. Jimmy Jimmy
2. Something To Grab For
3. Prove
4. I Can't Wait
5. Connect Up To Me
6. A Quick One
7. Out Of Control
8. Take A Walk
9. Sneak Attack
10. Time Bomb

 

This Side Of Paradise

(1986)

1. Keep On Laughin'
2. True To You
3. Emotion In Motion
4. Look In Your Eyes
5. Coming For You
6. Mystery
7. True Love
8. P.F.J.
9. Hello Darkness
10. This Side Of Paradise

 

Fireball Zone

(1990)

1. Rockaway
2. Touch Down Easy
3. Come Back
4. The Way You Look Tonight
5. All We Need Is Love
6. Over And Over
7. Flowers Of Evel
8. They Tried
9. Keep That Dream
10. Balance
11. Mister Meaner
12. Fireball Zone

 

Quick Change World

(1993)

1. The Big Picture
2. Don't Let Go
3. Hard Times
4. A Little Closer
5. Riding Shotgun
6. Feeling's Got To Stay
7. She's On
8. I Still Believe
9. Come Alive
10. Quick Change World
11. What's On T.V.
12. Hopped Up
13. Help Me Find America

 

Troublizing

(1997)

1. The Next Right Moment
2. Hang On Tight
3. Crashland Consequence
4. Troublizing
5. Not Shocked
6. Situation
7. Fix On You
8. People We Know
9. Here We Go
10. Society Trance
11. Asia Minor

 

Nexterday

(2005)

1. Crackpot
2. Bottom Dollar
3. Don't Lose Me
4. Little In A Bit
5. Silver
6. Come On
7. I'm Thinking
8. Carousel
9. Heard About You
10. Please Don't Let Me Down
11. It Gets Crazy

 

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