The Apple LISA II Macintosh XL home computer, 1985.
On January 7, 1985, my almost 18-year-old self couldn’t even begin to fathom what life would be like 35 years later, as an almost 53-year-old, on January 7, 2020. Blogging wasn’t a thing, MacBook Pros (like the one I’m typing on) didn’t exist (the Apple LISA II Macintosh XL home computer, released January 1, 1985, was a whopping $3,995 at the time of release), I had yet to become a radio DJ (that reality wouldn’t happen for another eight months), and I wasn’t one of the cool kids (far from it), and madly in love with my best friend (who I wouldn’t meet — and meeting through the wonders of community radio — for 21 years).
Me and Maryhope, WMPG-FM, Portland, Maine, 10.23.2019.
And, on January 7, 1985, I certainly wouldn’t have been thinking about The Cars’ then 40-year-old Ric Ocasek not being around anymore (Ric passed away at the age of 75 on September 15, 2019). He’s surely missed, but I take comfort in the fact that the music of Ric and The Cars will drive up and down the radio dials forever.
January 7, 1985 was also the release date of “Why Can’t I Have You,” the fifth single from one of The Cars’ biggest and highest-charting albums ever, HEARTBEAT CITY. Released in mid-March 1984 to much acclaim, HEARTBEAT CITY was certified Platinum in New Zealand and certified Gold in the U.K., sold four million copies in U.S. alone, reached No. 3 on BILLBOARD’s album chart, and was one of the 50 biggest albums in America for both 1984 and 1985.
Half of the gatefold artwork for the cover of HEARTBEAT CITY.
“Why Can’t I Have You” followed the singles “You Might Think,” “Magic,” “Drive” and “Hello Again,” all Top 20 singles on the BILLBOARD Hot 100. If my nerdy singles chart math is correct, HEARTBEAT CITY was just the second album by a group (followed by the Huey Lewis & The News album, SPORTS) and just the fourth artist overall (following Michael Jackson, Lionel Richie, Huey Lewis & The News and Cyndi Lauper) to produce five Top 40 singles from one album.
The U.K. 12″ version of “Why Can’t I Have You.”
Entering the BILLBOARD Hot 100 about three weeks after its release, “Why Can’t I Have You” debuted on the chart at No. 79. Five weeks later, in early March 1985, “Why Can’t I Have You” reached the Top 40 of the Hot 100, wedged in between the wonderful “This Is Not America” by David Bowie and Pat Metheny, and the (well, not so wonderful, but extremely popular) “Rhythm Of The Night” by DeBarge.
By the end of March 1985, “Why Can’t I Have You” spent a week at No. 33, fell out of the Top 40 a couple weeks later, and hung around the Hot 100 for a respectable 17 total weeks, ending its run in mid-May 1985, more than a year after the release of HEARTBEAT CITY.
NERDY HEARTBEAT CITY FUN FACT: The second song on the album, “Looking For Love” (written by Ric Ocasek and not a cover of the 1980 Johnny Lee hit from URBAN COWBOY), was actually covered later in 1985 by the pride of Austria, Falco, as “Munich Girls,” a German-language version of “Looking For Love.” I never made the connection until researching for this blog post. Holy cats! I mean, Heilige Katzen!
NERDY HEARTBEAT CITY FUN FACT No. 2: For the cover art of the album, The Cars (having fun with their namesake) used a 1972 piece of artwork by English artist Peter Phillips called Art-O-Matic Loop di Loop, and features the 1971 Plymouth Duster 340.
The full gatefold cover art for HEARTBEAT CITY.
The Cars have so many incredible and infectious songs they’ll always be remembered for, so many still thankfully being played on the radio today, I don’t know if I could even put together a list of my 10 favorites, but I do know that if I could, “Why Can’t I Have You” would definitely be in that Top 10, if not the Top 5.
In the 1984 ROLLING STONE review for HEARTBEAT CITY, writer Don Shewey wrote, “‘Why Can’t I Have You’ is easily the LP’s most affecting song, because Ocasek drops his usually chilly persona and, against a gorgeous whispered chorus, sings with plaintive desperation.”
The cover art for the Germany version of “Why Can’t I Have You.”
The only known cover of “Why Can’t I Have You” that I have ever heard is this stunning version by Brooklyn, NY Folk / Americana singer-songwriter-musician Kris Delmorst, who in 2011 put together a collective of singers and musicians from the Boston / Cambridge, Massachusetts area (including The Cars’ own keyboardist, Greg Hawkes) for her album of entirely Cars covers, appropriately titled, CARS. Her version of “Why Can’t I Have You” is one of the best covers I’ve ever heard.
I think why I love “Why Can’t I Have You” so much is because it’s gorgeous, haunting, not quite like the rest of HEARTBEAT CITY, but yet still belonging to the essence of the overall feel of the album, and though it didn’t match the success the album’s other singles, I love how the band took a chance with this different, non-trad Cars Pop/Rock/Punk/New Wave offering, and still managed to reach the Top 40 anyway.
And, as I blog about this 35 years later, I’m hoping a new generation of Cars fans will read this post and listen to “Why Can’t I Have You” and fall in love with song they’ve prolly never heard on the radio before, and if some members of this new generation of Cars fans are radio DJs, maybe they’ll end up loving the song as much as I do, and they’ll play this gorgeous treasure on the radio themselves…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxGO23cI92U
FOREVER YOUNG 