Wednesday, March 15, 2006

Utopia + Cars + Tubes = New Cars

I wasn't sure what to think when it was announced that Todd Rundgren (one of my all-time favorite artists) would be fronting a reunited version of The Cars (another fave) after Ric Ocasek declined the invitation. (He's working on a Cars documentary from what I hear.)

In reality the pairing works pretty well. Rundgren's an excellent guitarist and knows the new wave rock angle back to front thanks to his days in Utopia. He's also a vocal and musical chameleon, so hearing him belt out the old tunes will probably be like seeing Ian Astbury front the 21st Century Doors. In other words, I'm figuring it'll be like seeing the world's greatest Cars cover band.

While searching for footage of last night's Tonight Show performance I found the video below and noticed that in addition to Rundgren and original Cars members Elliot Easton and Greg Hawkes, the band features Tubes drummer Prairie Prince and what appears to be Utopia bassist Kasim Sultan. The new tune is a catchy rocker, just the kind of track you'd expect from a collision of Utopia and the Cars.

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