The New Cars

Yes, the Cars are back...sort of. A new version of the band has been launched, featuring original guitarist Elliot Easton and original keyboardist Greg Hawkes. The band's founder Ric Ocasek is not on board. Instead, the New Cars (apparently their official name) will be fronted by none other than Todd Rundgren. This could be interesting; Rundgren is quite an eccentric character and an accomplished musician/producer in his own right, although his career output has been about as inconsistent as can be. The replacement for original bassist Benjamin Orr (who succumbed to cancer in 2000) is session bassist extraordinaire Kasim Sulton, who was a member of Rundgren's band Utopia. Tubes drummer Prairie Prince appears to be the drummer for the New Cars, although it isn't clear if he will be in that position full time.

The New Cars reportedly recorded a live album in January, which will also include three new studio tracks. Next Tuesday, March 14th, they will formally announce their plans in a press conference, and they are scheduled to appear on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno that evening.

Noble PR in England has released a teaser trailer, featuring a snippet of the first single, titled "Not Tonight". You can view the trailer here:

http://www.noblepr.co.uk/let_the_good_times_roll.wmv

Here is the official New Cars website (although nothing is there yet):
http://www.thenewcars.net