In the late 1970s, The Cars shared the stage with some of the biggest acts in the country. But there was one arena rock group they couldn’t stand, and frontman Ric Ocasek was vocal about it years later. The band was Styx.
Fresh off back-to-back mega-hit albums The Grand Illusion (1977) and Pieces of Eight (1978), Styx hit the road in the fall of 1978, inviting up-and-comers The Cars to open for them on their Pieces of Eight Tour and later for their Paradise Theater tour. It should have been a dream come true for the Boston-based new wave band, whose self-titled debut album had just been released that summer. But Ocasek, who died in 2019, hated every minute of it.
“We played one gig with Styx, which I can’t f—in’ handle,” Ocasek once said in an interview, per Ultimate Classic Rock. “All we did for two weeks after that was sing to each other in fake-operatic voices, back in the dressing room.”
“We did open for Foreigner – not that we particularly care for their music, either, but at least they were nice guys,” he added. “They were the only band to give us a sound check.”
Ocasek further explained that when The Cars opened for established bands like Styx, Foreigner, and Cheap Trick, they found that the headlining band’s fans were more into their music, which didn’t go over so well.
“We opened for about anybody in the beginning; we opened for bands that we really hated, like Styx,” Ocasek once told Classic Rock magazine. “Most of those bands would go watch us on the side of the stage to see what the f— was going on. And it seemed that the people were relating to us and not relating to them. So they got a little pissed.”
Of course, the Styx tour helped The Cars debut album soar up the charts. The singles “Just What I Needed,” “My Best Friend’s Girl,” and “Good Times Roll” all became Billboard Hot 100 hits.
Decades later, Styx frontman Dennis DeYoung found out about Ocasek’s feelings about his band—and he countered some of The Cars singer’s comments.
Describing The Cars as “very tasteful musicians” who produced “catchy pop tunes,” DeYoung wrote on Facebook, “Really didn’t know they hated us but that’s not unusual for new bands who are trying to take the mantel from the reigning chart toppers. It’s as old a story as you can get. “
RELATED: Styx Legend Blasts ‘Shameful’ Rock Hall
“However the nonsense about us being pissed about our fans relating to them more than us was the real knee slapper,” the “Come Sail Away” singer added. “We were as big as it gets and the idea that our fans were anything more than polite to them is ludicrous. Because I liked their music, I watched part of one of their shows from the wings and realized they were better to listen to than watch. The idea that we would be envious of them is silly. We didn’t give them a second thought much less a first.”
DeYoung then gave a cordial shoutout to The Cars’ Elliot Easton and Greg Hawkes.
Nearly 50 years after sharing the bill, both The Cars and Styx stand as two of the era’s biggest hitmakers that brought fans together—even if backstage, they couldn’t have been any further apart.
Related: 1979 The Cars Song, Never Released as a Single, Remains a Fan Favorite 47 Years Later
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