American band The Cars were at the vanguard of a fresh movement - a so-called new wave of bands bent on cribbing what it could from each genre to draw in the widest possible audience and take command of the airwaves.
By pushing the right buttons, they would make quirkiness acceptable, catchiness cool and crunchy guitars the hormone-scramblers of choice for punters of all backgrounds.
Their 1978 self-titled debut album still drip-feeds radio play lists to this day. Leadoff single Just What I Needed with its clipped guitars, spacey synths and shout-along chorus is the most muscular of the hits, but few tracks drop the ball at any stage.
Album opener Good Times Roll is a tightly bound lesson in build-and-release tension control and My Best Friend's Girl hooks cleverly into the vibe of '50s-era rockabilly, the sweetness of bubble-gum pop and the silvery sheen of futuristic electronica.
There's a heavy touch of glam in the thumping drums and densely layered backing vocals of You're All I've Got Tonight, while By Bye Love is another neatly trimmed, radio-friendly slice of guitar-based rock.
It helped that The Cars had two front men, each appealing to a different set of fans. Guitarist/songwriter Ric Ocasek's Czechoslovakian heritage gave him an exotic look, geeky and unconventional, while bass player Benjamin Orr had the hooded eyes and shaggy-dog hairstyle of a more orthodox rock god.
They and their band mates wore the bright colours, bug-eye glasses and pipe-cleaner pants of a new brand of plastic-worshippers but carried it off by tethering themselves to the organic sounds of beefy guitar rock.
Smart move, that. It made it impossible to hate The Cars.
