The Dangerous Types Pay Tribute to The Cars
It’s hard to think about the iconic music of the 1980’s without remembering the award-winning Mtv music video for The Cars’ number one single, “You Might Think,” where a cartoonish representation of lead singer Ric Ocasek appears to model Susan Gallagher as a submarine, a robot monster and even King Kong. The image may seem silly now, but the music of The Cars helped shape not only the sound of their own decade but has also inspired musicians ever since. The Cars tribute band, The Dangerous Types, know exactly how influential Ocasek and his crew truly were.
“All you would need to do is watch Phoebe Cates coming out of the pool in the movie ‘Fast Times at Ridgemont High,’ to the tune of ‘Moving in Stereo,’ to know just how timeless The Cars are and what a carefree time they represent to us,” Vince Votel, The Dangerous Types’ “Benjamin Orr” said during a recent interview. “How many times do you hear a Cars song and are reminded of what a great band they were?”
Named after a track off The Cars album “Candy O,” the members of The Dangerous Types include Votel (bass and Orr vocals), Korey Laughead (lead guitar), Rob Leon (guitar and Ocasek vocals), Dave McGrath (keyboards) and Tom Hogue (drums). Though each have extensive musical backgrounds in bands where The Cars songs were often played, The Dangerous Types have only been performing together as a tribute to The Cars, complete with costumes, wigs and emulation of the original members, for about three years.
“The Cars are a great band for me to imitate and they are a safe band to play for a crowd. They are even safe enough to play for mom,” Votel said. “They have always been a fun band to listen to and I listen to them as much today as I did back in the day. I have no problems sounding like either singer however I get the privilege of imitating the late-great Benjamin Orr. Each member of The Dangerous Types pays attention to their counterpart in The Cars and, thanks to YouTube, there are quite a few The Cars concerts and videos they made for MTV, which help us to capture what they were about.”
Appearing on stage at Mount Palomar Winery on Friday, October 24th, the members of The Dangerous Types promise a night filled with not only all of The Cars’ biggest hits but also some seldom heard selections from their earlier albums.
“The audience might not have had the chance to see The Cars before they broke up in the eighties so we want to make this an awesome experience for them as well as for those that did get to see them, by representing what they might have seen,” Votel said. “We do vamp it up a little more live than the original Cars did, by adding in the quirkiness of their videos they made so famous, but not overdoing it [and still] allowing the music to also represent.”
The music of the Cars has left a lasting impression on an entire neon-clad generation and Votel and his band-mates look forward to rekindling a little bit of those innocent moments for those who have the chance to see them.
“If you are a Cars fan, you do not want to miss this night,” Votel said. “The Cars were such a major force back in the carefree days of the eighties and The Dangerous Types wish to take you on a visual journey back to those times where all you needed was your nuclear boots, your drip dry gloves and who would ‘Drive’ you home, tonight.”
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