112: It's Not the Ribbons In Your Hair

112. "Just What I Needed" by the Cars {#27; 6/78} [iTunes? Yes] {Video: Nope. All I found was an old blurry one with the singing and lip movements totally out of synch.}

I will posit that this song has one of the best beginnings of any rock or pop song ever!

The guitar goes: "da-da-da-da-da-da-DJUH! da-da-da-da-da-da-DJUH! da-da-da-da-da-da-DJUH! da-da-da-da-da-da-DJUH! da-da-da-da-da-da-DJUH-DJUH! da-da-da-da-da-da-DJUH-DJUH! da-da-da-da-da-da-DJUH-DJUH! da-da-da-da-da-da-DJUH-DJUH!"

When I'm listening to this song, every time I hear a "DJUH!", I have an "involuntary" convulsion. There aren't many songs that "make" me actually physically move every time I hear them. The opening of this song is one of them. (Off the top of my head, the only other two I can think of are when that one note hits during "Owner of the Lonely Heart" by Yes, and the spastic piano-pounding bits in "All For Leyna" by Billy Joel, which "force" my hands to uncontrollably pound the steering wheel as if it were a piano.)

Unfortunately, this is the only song from The Cars on the HondoJoe Top 200. They had a lot of honorable mention songs, like "Tonight She Comes," "Shake It Up," "You Might Think," among others. They also came out with a new album a couple of years ago which was surprisingly good, full of nice riffs and fun hand-claps. I like The Cars. (Their debut album is one of the best debut albums of all time!)

Also, Ric Ocasek gives me hope that I don't have to be handsome to be successful.

Hey Ric, why the long face?

[NOTE: This post was edited to change the guitar sound effect of "DJAH" to "DJUH," because I idiotically didn't know how to correctly spell the sound a guitar makes.]

COMING UP NEXT: Lions and tigers and bears! Oh my!