His "official" was 1949, which would make him 70. It wouldn't be a big shock, though, to hear he had postdated himself in the effort to get signed in the late 70's, which was pretty much the era when A&R people started trying to pick winners by spreadsheet rather than trying to hear what John Hammond or Sam Phillips heard.
Time flies. Per Wiki, they played their first show in December '76, and released The Cars in June '78. Ocasek was 32 and 34. It's not all that uncommon for the members of a band to be a decade older than their new fans when they hit it big, and the Cars actually got there pretty fast. RIP, Ric. You formed an extremely good band playing cool stuff.
Cokie Roberts from NPR. She was a good one. Its a loss for 'the interview' https://abcnews.go.com/US/legendary...tator-cokie-roberts-dies-75/story?id=65633507
Here's what George Will said about her. "If you don't like the game of politics, I don't see how you write about it well," he said. "She liked the game of politics and she understood that it was a game." I can't think of a worse thing to say about someone in public life.
Terrific article on Ocasek by Matthew Caws of Nada Surf, whose first album was produced by Ocasek. https://www.npr.org/2019/09/18/761688937/the-time-ric-ocasek-helped-my-band-make-its-first-record One night in early summer, we went to see Blonde Redhead at the Knitting Factory, when it was still on Leonard Street. As I was walking out, I spotted Ric walking in — I approached him and gave him a demo tape. (I'd seen the producer Mitch Easter on the subway a few weeks before and had been too shy to talk to him and had vowed to never let that happen again.) Ric was very gracious and asked me if my phone number was on the cassette. The next day I excitedly told friends what had happened, though the idea of his actually listening, liking it and getting in touch seemed out of the realm of the possible. But two weeks later, I came home from a weekend away to find my roommate with a huge grin on his face, saying I should listen to the answering machine. I called Ric back, and he invited me to his home in Gramercy Park. I biked up from Sullivan Street in the summer evening air and arrived at his elegant, white, double-wide townhouse, where he opened the door and greeted me warmly. Ric and his wife, Paulina Porizkova, and I stood around the kitchen table for a few minutes talking and I remember being struck by how down-to-earth they both were, and how quickly they put me at ease. She and I sat down while he made us coffee. She said, "He likes your phrasing." It felt like the first time someone from outside the band and our circle of friends had seen something in me.. . . ... A couple of weeks before {going into the studio}, Ric invited me to his house again. We sat upstairs in his comfortable, book-filled study and talked about the music he loved, discovering that we had a mutual affinity for The Modern Lovers, Bob Dylan and Buddy Holly. Here was someone I felt so much in common with — but the songs he'd written told me that his knowledge was so much deeper than mine. He had a confidence and calm that were wonderful to be around. He talked about the Beat poets. I wasn't familiar with them, and he lent me two volumes of Lawrence Ferlinghetti poems. Then, he walked me through the basement storage space where he kept his equipment, showing me the '61 Gibson SG and Marshall amplifier that he'd used together to create the tight, palm-muted rhythms on those early Cars albums (you can hear it clearly on "My Best Friend's Girl"). He called it the "clicking" sound, and said he'd bring them to the studio for me to use. That was cool of him! And I either didn't know or had forgotten gow much producing he did. From the Bad Brains to Romeo Void to Weezer and many others, Ric produced many talented artists very early on their careers. I think he had a particular knack for making young artists comfortable; he had a gentle and accepting manner, and may have stopped many young singers and players from overthinking, just like he helped me.
When I was a young person, I thought that pundits - even when I disagreed with them - were some higher class of deep thinker who used the greatest education, a lifetime of experience, and endless free time to think about the non-obvious but meaningful principles underlying current events. The modern version of the philosopher whispering in the ear of the king. And then I was watching the The McLaughlin Group and Cokie Roberts said "Thirty thousand people are dead. How is this going to affect the president's poll numbers?" (I forgot the context; just the line stuck with me.) It was like a slap in the face. I realized these were just people, and like most people they were full of it. So, thank you Cokie Roberts for opening my eyes to that. I never watched that show again. I heard Cokie on NPR many times, of course, but I always saw right through her knowledgeless play-acting.
Robert Hunter, 78. Now I'm really old... "In the end there's still that song comes crying like the wind down every lonely street that's ever been" "Let it be known There is a fountain That was not made By the hands of men."
RIP RIc Ocasek, a true rock legend. The Cars, along with the Police, were the best of the new wave bands, and remain the most influential to the present day. I've always wished him and Benjamin Orr would have had one more album together in them.
Sid Haig, Horror Actor and Cult Figure, Dies at 80 - N.Y. Times https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/23/movies/sid-haig-dead-captain-spaulding.html Sid Haig, a Hollywood character actor who for more than 50 years played thugs, villains and, most famously, a psychotic clown named Captain Spaulding, died on Saturday. He was 80. His wife, Susan L. Oberg, announced his death on the actor’s Instagram account on Monday, writing, “He adored his family, his friends and his fans. This came as a shock to all of us.” No other details were given. Mr. Haig, who lived in Los Angeles, played bit parts in more than 350 television shows and 70 movies, notably Quentin Tarantino's “Jackie Brown” and the James Bond thriller “Diamonds Are Forever.” Mr. Haig was a hulk of a figure whose lanky, long body towered over fellow actors. In the 1968 cult classic “Spider Baby” he played a brother who cooks a cat, He was in the 1974 blaxploitation film “Foxy Brown” with Pam Grier. He had become a cult figure among horror fans, who reveled in his portrayal of the murderous clown who terrorized people in the 2003 Rob Zombie film “House of 1000 Corpses.” He would go on to play Captain Spaulding in two other films from the director. In “House of 1000 Corpses,” Captain Spaulding runs the Museum of Monsters and Madmen housed in a run-down gas station on a barren stretch of Texas. There, the clown shoots a man after being attacked. Mr. Haig reprised the role two years later in “The Devil’s Rejects.” He also acted in a number of other horror films directed by Rob Zombie, including the 2007 remake of “Halloween.” He was back as Captain Spaulding in “3 From Hell,” a sequel to “The Devil’s Rejects,” which was released this month.
Karel Gott, sometimes called the Sinatra of Central Europe in international press, passed away at age 80. Sold between 50 - 100 Million albums despite mostly being famous in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Germany and Austria. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-czech-gott/karel-gott-the-czech-sinatra-dies-at-80-idUSKBN1WH13H
Rip Taylor - 84 https://deadline.com/2019/10/rip-tayler-dead-hollywood-comedy-icon-obituary-1202753636/
Oh wow, I just heard the son by Average White Band " Pick Up The Pieces" on the radio and even looked it up! RIP!
Alexey Leonov (the first human to walk in space) - 85 https://www.cbsnews.com/news/alexei...ge-85-cause-of-death-not-released-2019-10-11/
I have a signed print (499/500) of this painting by Leonov. It has a pencil inscription in Russian "I was going nowhere, to eternity"