Ric Ocasek

Richard Theodore Otcasek (March 23, 1944 – September 15, 2019), known as Ric Ocasek (/oʊˈkæsɪk/ oh-CASS-ik), was an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He was the co-lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, songwriter, and frontman for the American new wave band the Cars. In addition to his work with the Cars, Ocasek recorded seven solo studio albums. Ocasek's 1986 single, "Emotion in Motion", was a top 20 hit in the United States.

Ocasek also worked as a record producer for artists such as Bad Religion, Motion City Soundtrack, Suicide, Bad Brains, Weezer, Nada Surf, Guided by Voices and No Doubt. In 2018, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Cars.

Ocasek was born on March 23, 1944, in Baltimore. His paternal side was of Czech descent, and he grew up Catholic. When he was 16 years old, his father moved the family back to the Ocasek hometown of Cleveland, Ohio, where his father worked as a systems analyst with NASA at the Lewis Research Center. Ocasek graduated from Maple Heights High School in 1963. He briefly attended Antioch College and Bowling Green State University, but dropped out to pursue a career in music.

Ocasek met future Cars bassist Benjamin Orr in Cleveland in 1965 after Ocasek saw Orr performing with his band the Grasshoppers on the Big 5 Show, a local musical variety program. He reconnected with Orr a few years later in Columbus, Ohio, and the two began performing in and booking bands together. They formed a band called ID Nirvana in 1968 and performed in and around Ohio State University.

After performing in various bands in Columbus and Ann Arbor, Michigan, Ocasek and Orr relocated to Boston in the early 1970s. There they formed a Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young-style folk rock band called Milkwood. They released one studio album, How's the Weather, on Paramount Records in early 1973 but it failed to chart. Future Cars keyboardist Greg Hawkes played on Milkwood's album. After Milkwood, Ocasek formed the band Richard and the Rabbits, which included Orr and Hawkes. Ocasek and Orr also performed as an acoustic duo during this period. Some of the songs they played became the early Cars songs.

Biography summary from English Wikipedia, photograph via Wikimedia Commons.