The Cars: “My Best Friend’s Girl” (1978)
Retro rock ‘n’ roll collides with the future on The Cars’ second single.
Kronomyth 1.2: The girls are always greener on the other arm.
I missed Beatlemania, but the arrival of The Cars felt the same: it was fresh, cool, full of personality and everything they touched turned to gold. Their second single, My Best Friend’s Girl, was a brilliant pastiche of retro rockabilly (most notably in Elliot Easton’s lead guitar) transported into the future. Ric Ocasek was old enough to remember both The Beatles and Elvis Presley in their respective heydays, and it’s not a stretch to say that “My Best Friend’s Girl” is merely a modern update on “(Marie’s the Name of) His Latest Flame.” And what was Ocasek if not a cross between Elvis and David Bowie, a stylish alien among us? So, everything old is new again, old wine in new wineskins, la la la. None of this detracts from the fact that The Cars were an artfully constructed vehicle for modern rock. Even their product was stylish, represented in a 7-inch picture disc single for U.K. audiences. Those listeners got Moving in Stereo on the B side, a song tailor-made for headphones, while US listeners were treated to the frenetic Don’t Cha Stop. I’ll tell you, between The Cars, Cheap Trick, Elvis Costello and The Clash, you can C why people have a certain nostalgia for the late 70s.
Original 7-inch single version
A1. My Best Friend’s Girl (Ric Ocasek) (3:40)
B1. Don’t Cha Stop (Ric Ocasek) (3:01)
Original 7-inch single version (UK)
A1. My Best Friend’s Girl (Ric Ocasek) (3:44)
B1. Moving in Stereo (Ric Ocasek/Greg Hawkes) (5:15)
Back-to-Back Hits 7-inch single
A1. Let’s Go (Ric Ocasek) (3:32)
B1. My Best Friend’s Girl (Ric Ocasek) (3:44)
Back-to-Back Hits 7-inch single
A1. My Best Friend’s Girl (Ric Ocasek) (3:44)
B1. Just What I Needed (Ric Ocasek) (3:44)
The Plastic
Released on 7-inch and 7-inch picture disc single in October 1978 in the US (Elektra E-45537) and the UK (Elektra, K 12301). Also released as promotional 7-inch single in 1978 in the US (Elektra, E-45537) featuring A stereo and mono. Reached #35 on the US charts (charted on October 21, 1978 for 15 weeks) and #3 on the UK charts.
- Re-packaged w. “Let’s Go” on back-to-back hits 7-inch single in the US (Elektra Spun Gold, E-45118).
- Re-packaged w. “Just What I Needed” on B2B hits 7-inch single in the US (Elektra Gold Standard, GS-45506).
