The Cars "Heartbeat City Live" (2026 Record Store Day vinyl release)
For Record Store Day 2026, Rhino Records is issuing a live album from the Cars, titled Heartbeat City Live. The album contains 17 songs performed by the new wave quintet on September 11, 1984 at The Summit in Houston, Texas. The 2-LP set will be limited to 3,500 copies.
This concert was part of the tour to support the band's multi-platinum 1984 album Heartbeat City. The show was recorded for broadcast by the Westwood One radio network. The Record Store Day website previously stated (but no longer states) that the concert was "previously unreleased on any audio format - physical or digital". I'm glad that text was removed, because it is not quite accurate. All 17 of the tracks were included on the recent Deluxe Edition of Heartbeat City, issued in 2025 in both physical and digital formats. 13 of the songs were issued on a home video release of the concert in 1985 -- which, I realize, is considered a video format as opposed to an audio format. That videocassette was titled The Cars Live 1984-1985, even though all of the performances were from the same date in '84. Four songs were omitted from the video release, one of them being "Magic" -- even though the packaging said that it was included in the video. And...for the serious collectors among us: there was another vinyl edition pressed, but not as a commercial item. Westwood One made a 3-LP version in 1985 for radio broadcast only, as part of its Superstar Concert Series, with guitarist Elliot Easton serving as the host of the radio program, and with the inclusion of 60-second Coke and Sprite radio commercials. Check the Cars bin next time you visit a record store; you may see one of these waiting to get scooped up!
The songs performed at the concert were selected from the first five Cars albums, except for one ("Jimmy Jimmy") from Ocasek's 1983 solo album Beatitude. Not surprisingly, the Heartbeat City album was given the most representation, with five songs. The Heartbeat City Live album is a treat for fans, with well-performed versions of the well-rounded songs, including two lesser-known tunes from Shake It Up ("A Dream Away", "Cruiser"). It's fun to hear Ric Ocasek and Benjamin Orr -- both of whom are no longer with us -- alternating on lead vocals. The understated background vocals come across better here than on some other live Cars recordings. The Cars were a band that appealed to both new wave and mainstream rock listeners, and this set gives good insight into why; Greg Hawkes' keyboards provided plenty of intriguing electronic sounds, while Elliot Easton's guitar gave the band plenty of rock and roll energy. It is sometimes questionable if some sounds were pre-recorded rather than generated in the live setting, especially during the opening number "Hello Again", but that is to be expected from a live recording by a band that used a good deal of technology in the making of their music. The concert was professionally recorded as well, with no between-song banter to be heard.
Those who own, or owned, the VHS tape might be curious about the four selections that were left out of that medium, namely "Candy-O", "My Best Friend's Girl", "Magic", and "You're All I've Got Tonight". Although the performances of those four songs are good, they do tend to possess a harder-edged guitar sound than their studio versions. Although the same might also be said for many of the other tracks as well, the denser guitar sound is particularly noticeable in these cases, and some decision-maker may have felt that those heavier guitar sounds made these selections less likely to appeal to viewers. Or, maybe someone simply thought that the length of the cassette should be kept below one hour.
In this day and age, it's easy to watch the video of the concert online. It is now mildly funny to observe the show's stage decor, and the early-MTV-era video screens and effects that were used. If you do have access to the videocassette and a machine to play it on, you might really feel like you've time-warped back to the mid-'80's! "Hello Again" and "Jimmy Jimmy" are two selections that are more interesting to watch than to simply hear.
The Cars "Heartbeat City Live" (Rhino) 2026
Track Listing:
1. Hello Again
2. It's Not the Night
3. Touch and Go
4. Candy-O
5. Good Times Roll
6. Jimmy Jimmy
7. Moving in Stereo
8. Just What I Needed
9. A Dream Away
10. Cruiser
11. Drive
12. You Might Think
13. My Best Friend's Girl
14. Magic
15. Let's Go
16. Heartbeat City
17. You're All I've Got Tonight
The Cars Live 1984-1985 (Vestron Music Video VHS MA 1018) 1985
Song Listing:
Hello Again
It's Not The Night
Touch & Go
Good Times Roll
Jimmy Jimmy
Moving In Stereo
Just What I Needed
A Dream Away
Cruiser
Drive
You Might Think
Magic -- (actually not included on the videocassette)
Let's Go
Heartbeat City
The Cars "Superstar Concert Series" (Westwood One SS85-06) 1985
3-LP promo edition for radio broadcast, with the same 17 songs as the above 2-LP set.
This concert was part of the tour to support the band's multi-platinum 1984 album Heartbeat City. The show was recorded for broadcast by the Westwood One radio network. The Record Store Day website previously stated (but no longer states) that the concert was "previously unreleased on any audio format - physical or digital". I'm glad that text was removed, because it is not quite accurate. All 17 of the tracks were included on the recent Deluxe Edition of Heartbeat City, issued in 2025 in both physical and digital formats. 13 of the songs were issued on a home video release of the concert in 1985 -- which, I realize, is considered a video format as opposed to an audio format. That videocassette was titled The Cars Live 1984-1985, even though all of the performances were from the same date in '84. Four songs were omitted from the video release, one of them being "Magic" -- even though the packaging said that it was included in the video. And...for the serious collectors among us: there was another vinyl edition pressed, but not as a commercial item. Westwood One made a 3-LP version in 1985 for radio broadcast only, as part of its Superstar Concert Series, with guitarist Elliot Easton serving as the host of the radio program, and with the inclusion of 60-second Coke and Sprite radio commercials. Check the Cars bin next time you visit a record store; you may see one of these waiting to get scooped up!
The songs performed at the concert were selected from the first five Cars albums, except for one ("Jimmy Jimmy") from Ocasek's 1983 solo album Beatitude. Not surprisingly, the Heartbeat City album was given the most representation, with five songs. The Heartbeat City Live album is a treat for fans, with well-performed versions of the well-rounded songs, including two lesser-known tunes from Shake It Up ("A Dream Away", "Cruiser"). It's fun to hear Ric Ocasek and Benjamin Orr -- both of whom are no longer with us -- alternating on lead vocals. The understated background vocals come across better here than on some other live Cars recordings. The Cars were a band that appealed to both new wave and mainstream rock listeners, and this set gives good insight into why; Greg Hawkes' keyboards provided plenty of intriguing electronic sounds, while Elliot Easton's guitar gave the band plenty of rock and roll energy. It is sometimes questionable if some sounds were pre-recorded rather than generated in the live setting, especially during the opening number "Hello Again", but that is to be expected from a live recording by a band that used a good deal of technology in the making of their music. The concert was professionally recorded as well, with no between-song banter to be heard.
Those who own, or owned, the VHS tape might be curious about the four selections that were left out of that medium, namely "Candy-O", "My Best Friend's Girl", "Magic", and "You're All I've Got Tonight". Although the performances of those four songs are good, they do tend to possess a harder-edged guitar sound than their studio versions. Although the same might also be said for many of the other tracks as well, the denser guitar sound is particularly noticeable in these cases, and some decision-maker may have felt that those heavier guitar sounds made these selections less likely to appeal to viewers. Or, maybe someone simply thought that the length of the cassette should be kept below one hour.
In this day and age, it's easy to watch the video of the concert online. It is now mildly funny to observe the show's stage decor, and the early-MTV-era video screens and effects that were used. If you do have access to the videocassette and a machine to play it on, you might really feel like you've time-warped back to the mid-'80's! "Hello Again" and "Jimmy Jimmy" are two selections that are more interesting to watch than to simply hear.
The Cars "Heartbeat City Live" (Rhino) 2026
Track Listing:
1. Hello Again
2. It's Not the Night
3. Touch and Go
4. Candy-O
5. Good Times Roll
6. Jimmy Jimmy
7. Moving in Stereo
8. Just What I Needed
9. A Dream Away
10. Cruiser
11. Drive
12. You Might Think
13. My Best Friend's Girl
14. Magic
15. Let's Go
16. Heartbeat City
17. You're All I've Got Tonight
The Cars Live 1984-1985 (Vestron Music Video VHS MA 1018) 1985
Song Listing:
Hello Again
It's Not The Night
Touch & Go
Good Times Roll
Jimmy Jimmy
Moving In Stereo
Just What I Needed
A Dream Away
Cruiser
Drive
You Might Think
Magic -- (actually not included on the videocassette)
Let's Go
Heartbeat City
The Cars "Superstar Concert Series" (Westwood One SS85-06) 1985
3-LP promo edition for radio broadcast, with the same 17 songs as the above 2-LP set.
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