"A Sonic Blueprint That Permeated Everything From Alt-Rock to Mainstream Pop"

"By the time the Cars formed, he had been around the block: already in his mid-30s and a father of four, he'd spent the early 70s in a Crosby Stills and Nash-esque acoustic trio called Milkwood. He loved straightforward pop music, but he loved what he called 'the left side of the music brain', too: 'My taste was to always go for that mix, even back in the 60s,' he said. 'I loved the Velvet Underground and the Carpenters'."

Alexis Petridis at The Guardian writes an appreciation for Ric Ocasek and the Cars.

As does Rob Sheffield at Rolling Stone.