This 1981 fourth studio album from The Cars would feature the title track as the hit single, making it #4 on the single charts, ‘Shake It Up’ moves the band into quirky pop territory.
Written by: gdmonline
ARTIST: The Cars
ALBUM: Shake It Up
LABEL: Elektra
SERIAL: 5E-567
YEAR: 1981
CD REISSUE: Discogs Reissue List
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: USA
LINEUP: Benjamin Orr – lead vocals, bass * Ric Ocasek – rhythm guitar, vocals * Elliott Easton – lead guitar * Greg Hawkes – keyboards * David Robinson – drums
TRACK LISTING: 01 Since You’re Gone * 02 Shake It Up * 03 I’m Not The One * 04 Victim Of Love * 05 Cruiser * 06 A Dream Away * 07 This Could Be Love * 08 Think It Over * 09 Maybe Baby
WEBLINK: Site Link
Background
This album review is the last in the series for the band from Boston called The Cars. For some reason, we have written about this band all over the time scale but we’ve left this 1981 album for last, very strange. Maybe it was the album cover?
Leading up to 1981, The Cars had released three albums but for me personally, I really only enjoyed the debut which was simply a classic, but I wasn’t that keen on ‘Candy-O’ nor ‘Panorama’, which took the new wave thing to another level, and at the time that was a place I was not prepared to go to.
Thankfully, ‘Shake It Up’ moved the band into happy holiday pop-friendly land, and appealed far more to the LP buying audience than the dark and icy oppressive vibe of ‘Panorama’. The album would feature producer Roy Thomas Baker for the last time, finally landing in early November 1981.
The Songs
There are only 9 tracks on the album so it’s not overly long. The opener ‘Since You’re Gone’ is a slightly humorous tune about the after-effects of someone leaving a relationship, check the video out below.
The title-track ‘Shake It Up’ sees the band heading into quirky pop territory, something that fellow Bostonians the J Geils Band did earlier in the year with their ‘Freeze Frame’ and ‘Centerfold’ hit singles. This song made it to number 4 on the Billboard singles charts, it was The Cars highest-ranking track up to that point.
‘I’m Not The One’ with its plinky-plonk synth lines is a rather subdued affair, the lyrics on the chorus ‘going round and round’ might bring back reminders of this track from back in the day. I didn’t find anything captivating on tracks such as ‘Victim Of Love’ nor ‘Cruiser’. Maybe they were listening to a few Gary Numan albums for inspiration?
‘A Dream Away’ was insipid, with dreary lyrics, electronic percussion and handclaps ensuring this never leaves the 1981 timeframe. ‘This Could Be Love’ is filled to the brim with synth parts that suffocated the song. The tempo heats up for ‘Think It Over’, the verses remind me of the title track heard earlier in the track order. ‘Maybe Baby’ is perhaps the odd-man-out track, as it isn’t so synth-heavy, dominated instead by a rollicking drum pattern from David Robinson.
In Summary
Was this really a great album? In my summation – no, but it’s not their worst. I used the term above, this is ‘plinky-plonk pop’ of the first order and it’s the reason I never bought the album – ever, and this despite the album making it to #9 in the Billboard album charts, so what would I know? Lol.
However better things would come in the future with the 1984 hit album ‘Heartbeat City’. Now that was a good album.
The Cars on Video
Click to go to YTM album page.
