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Rock and Roll Hall of Famer and former member of The Cars, Greg Hawkes will be coming to the Robins Theatre with Eddie Japan to play the music of The Cars on October 10.  We had the chance to talk with Greg to discuss his career and his upcoming show in Warren.  You can watch the entire Zoom call at the end of the article.

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Greg Drugan: You have a lot of Cleveland connections throughout your career. You started your career working with Martin Mull, who grew up in Cleveland.  How did you end up working and touring with him?

 

Greg Hawkes:  Wow, this was a year or two before The Cars. I knew this guy, Richard Adelman who was a drummer in Martin’s band. At the time, Martin was just using a piano player, a drummer and a bass player and Martin played guitar and sang.  He wanted to expand the band because he had a concert in Central Park. So Richard asked me if I would do it and we got another guy, Brian Cummings. I was hired to play woodwinds, saxophone and clarinet. Brian played saxophone and guitar, so we dabbled in extra instruments. Martin liked the band so much that he just kept us on for the next year, year and a half. 

 

So Martin was from Cleveland and Ben (Orr) obviously was from Cleveland. Actually I think Ric and Ben met in Cleveland. So that’s the Cleveland connection.

 

GD:  Exactly! Ric did live in Cleveland for a while.  That was my next question.  You end up joining a band with Ric and Benjamin.  Ric and Ben were in Cleveland, then went to Columbus and eventually went to Boston.  Were you in a band called Richard and the Rabbits with them?

 

GH:  Yes. In fact, that would have been right before Martin Mull. That would have been two years before The Cars. That would have been ‘75 because The Cars started in ‘77.That band had Ric and Ben and myself and a drummer and another guitar player. The drummer was Ron Riddle and the guitar player was Fusby. 

 

GD:  Look at you with the memory!

 

GH:  In some things. Ask me what I did yesterday and I’m not sure I could tell you.

 

GD:   Eventually when Elliot Easton and David Robinson joined the band, thus forming The Cars, did you realize you had something special with that combination?

 

GH:  Ahh, maybe.  Not right away. Elliot and David were already in the band. The band had just started as The Cars.  Elliot was a holdover from Ric and Ben’s previous band called Cap’n Swing and David had been the drummer for The Modern Lovers. David was already like a Boston celebrity by being in bands. I do remember Ric and Ben coming over to my apartment and playing me songs.  I heard “Just What I Needed” and I thought “Wow, that song could be a hit.” But what did I know.  The Cars first show was New Years Eve going into ‘77 and I joined in February. I knew that their keyboard player was already leaving. Ric and Ben came over to see if I was interested.  The thing about The Cars that was different from other bands is it seemed like we were building up a local following. We started getting airplay on the radio, it was just a demo tape with “Just What I Needed” and maybe “You’re All I Got Tonight.” Then we had a record deal with Electra by the end of the year. So things happened fast. 

 

GD:  The Cars created a very distinctive blend of rock guitars and synthesizers. How did you approach developing your keyboard sound  alongside Elliot’s guitar work?

 

GH:  I had just gotten a synthesizer the year before. It was the one I used on all The Cars records although I would get new ones and add to it. We had a sense just working with each other, arrangement wise, if there was going to be a guitar riff between the vocals, I wouldn’t be putting a keyboard part in the same spot. We had a knack for leaving each other space. I learned a lot of my keyboard approach from The Beatles. The way they used things in “Strawberry Fields Forever”, I loved the Melotron.  When they started using synthesizers a little bit on the Abby Road record. On the early records, a piano would come in just on the chorus’ and then leave for the verses. That really affected my approach. That’s what I do on “Just What I Needed.” 

 

Other keyboard influences, I just started listening to Devo before that first Cars record came out. Kraftwerk, the German synthesizer group was another big influence. 

 

GD:  Devo, another Akron band that’s local!

 

GH:  That’s right! 

 

GD:  You mentioned “Just What I Needed,” as you were recording the first record, which is considered one of the best debut’s of all time.  Did you know that this album was going to be big when you were working on it besides that one song?

 

GH:  I knew that it was really good when it was all done. I thought it would at least be a regional hit in New England. It did take off right away in Boston and New York. Then it took a while to spread across the country. The west coast was next to pick it up then areas like Cleveland and Chicago. Then we went out on tour and opened for a lot of other bands to support the record. It seemed like it took a year for it to really spread across the country. 

 

GD:  You were the only other member of The Cars to get a writing credit on Cars records besides Ric.  Do you think Ric should have given more credit to others since all of you guys worked on the songs together?

 

GH:  In my opinion, I think that would have helped balance the inequity that happened that led to the band's demise. Quite frankly. In my opinion, it would have been a good thing and musically, we deserved it for our contributions. The arrangements because we all came up with our own parts. That’s where it got into that conflict of is that composing or is that arranging? Ric was on the side of its arranging. There were arguments to be made. 

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GD: You worked with Roy Thomas Baker for several years, what made the band decide to work with Mutt Lange on Heartbeat City and how was that experience different?

 

GH:  I think at that time Roy had taken an A and R job with Electra. I’m not sure that he was actually available for the next record. I think he might have suggested Mutt Lange. I know Ric liked Mutt’s production work with AC/DC’s Back in Black kind of stuff. He liked the guitar sounds and drum sounds and stuff. Once we started working with Mutt, he had just finished doing a couple of those Def Leppard records and he was used to programming and drum samples. That caused for some friction and that record took a long time. Some people in the band felt like they had less to do, which they did. That started the fracturing of The Cars. 

 

GD:  That was a huge record.  I have to tell you.  I was supposed to see you guys in Cleveland I think it was the Shake It Up tour. We were outside the Richfield Coliseum and a guy came out and said, “The good news is The Cars are here.” Everyone was like “yea!” Then he said, “The bad news is their equipment is stuck in Pennsylvania in a snow storm.”  You had to cancel that show.

 

GH:  Wow! I remember that! I think that was the only time that that happened. I do remember the trucks being stuck in a snow storm and couldn’t get there. 

 

GD:  I did finally get to see you guys perform at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame but I’ll talk about that later. But you got to perform at Live Aid in Philadelphia in 1985. Do you have any memories of that day, and did you have any encounters with other artists backstage?

 

GH:  I remember hanging out backstage with Paul Schaffer from David Letterman’s band and stuff. We were watching Madonna.  Yeah, it was just huge. All I remember thinking about was that it was really hot and hoping that all of the equipment (would work) and nothing would break down. There were a couple of minor mishaps. I think during our performance of “Drive,” some of David’s drum pads started randomly activating from the sun. I was just hoping we get through these four songs. 

 

GD:  And you did, what a performance!  After The Cars broke up in the late ‘80s y ou and Elliot Easton formed The New Cars with Todd Rundgren, Kasim Sultan and Prairie Prince.  I thought the band sounded great.  What was it like playing with those guys?

 

GH:  I really enjoyed it.  That situation, we just had a lot of bad luck with it. Elliot broke his collarbone, so we had to cancel shows. Then we lost the momentum and business wise, it just didn’t work out. But, it got me playing with Todd and Kasim and Prairie. From that New Cars situation, I ended up playing in Todd’s band, off and on for 15 years. Which is longer than I was in The Cars! (laughs)

 

GD:  Yeah, I’ve seen you a couple of times with Todd when you came through town.  What was that like touring with Todd because sometimes he would do off the wall stuff and other times he would do the hits?

 

GH:  Yeah, it seemed like he resisted doing the hits for a long time. Finally, he did the Individualist Tour, where he had a book out and he was kinda recapping his history. That was great. The thing with Todd is that every tour would be different, with different sets. I enjoyed working with Todd.  He was somewhat of a perfectionist. Then getting to work with Kasim and Kasim’s going to be at our show in Warren. He’s doing an opening set and then we will do a couple of numbers together. 

 

GD:  That’s great.  I just saw that he said he’s got some new material that he’s working on and he’s going to open the show. 

 

Finally, The Cars finally got inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2018 in Cleveland.  I was there and you guys had the best performance in my opinion.  You totally blew me away when you did “Moving In Stereo,” I finally got to hear that live. What was that night like for you and what does it mean to be a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? 

 

GH:  It gives you a certain validity. I found that it was a lot more emotional than I was expecting it to be. It seemed like there had been a lot of people that were associated with The Cars history that were there. In fact, I saw Paul Schaffer there that night. It was a touching moment. 

 

GD:  Since you are a member of the Rock Hall, you get a vote.  Is there somebody you would like to see get inducted that hasn’t gotten in yet?

 

GH:  Devo!  Devo and The Turtles. I also worked with Flo and Eddie through the years.  Even if I hadn’t, I think The Turtles should be in there. “Happy Together” and "Elenor" alone! They had plenty of other hits. To wrap up these coincidences, I did a TV show, going back to Martin Mull, we went to Chicago to do a TV show called Sixty Minutes To Kill on Soundstage, it was PBS.  Flo and Eddie were the guests and I got to play with them there. Martin’s band became Flo and Eddie’s band there. I got to know them and we stayed in touch. Before I started playing with Todd, I played with them for a few years.

 

GD:  Full circle!   You’ve developed a great relationship with Boston’s Eddie Japan and have performed Cars songs with them. How did that  come about?

 

GH:  In 1980 on the Panorama tour, The Motels opened for The Cars. I can’t remember when, but The Motels were playing in a club in Sommerville and I went to see Martha and Marty. Eddie Japan was opening for The Motels. I had known one of them from a previous Boston band he had been in, Eric. I met the band afterwards and we got along. I ended up co-producing some songs for them in a studio and it was their idea to put this together and do Cars material. I was somewhat resistant. Finally I agreed to do one show to see how it went. I had such a good time that we’ve continued to do it for now, what is it, seven or eight years.  We do Cars songs and I talk about them and my history in the music business. 

 

GD:  When you play Cars songs with Eddie Japan, are there particular songs that you approach differently than you did when The Cars originally recorded or performed them?

 

GH:  Arrangement wise, they do a heck of a job. They really nail ‘em. Eddie Japan has two singers, a male singer and a female singer. Emily sings lead on some of them and it twists the perspective.  For instance, she sings “Just What I Needed” and “You’re All I Got Tonight” which flips the perspective

 

GD:  Very cool  So, you and Eddie Japan will be playing in Warren at The Robins Theatre, which is a beautiful theater on October 10.  What can fans expect from the show?  I know your friend Kasim Sultan will be there as well! 

 

GH:  We do the history of The Cars plus some of my own history.  We don’t do a Martin Mull song but we do a Turtles song and we do a Motels song. Every two or three songs I tell an anecdote about what we just heard or what we’re about to play.  Since it is in the Cleveland area, it’s going to be special just because it’s Ben’s neighborhood. 

 

GD:  Absolutely! I have to tell you, there are a lot of coincidences here, the first band I ever saw in concert was The Motels.  They opened up for The J. Geils Band in 1982. We have a lot of connections!

 

GH:  You know what?  There’s another band who should be in the Hall of Fame, J. Geils Band! 

 

GD:  I agree! Another Boston band!  Greg, I thank you for your time this morning. We are going to pack the Robins Theatre for you and Eddie Japan.

 

GH:  Hope to see you there!

 

GD:  I will be there for sure!

 

GH:  Ok, thank you Greg! 

 

Come out to the Robins Theatre on Saturday October 10 to see Greg Hawkes perform music of The Cars with Eddie Japan.  Tickets start at $45 and can be purchased  here. 

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