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"All Mixed Up" is a song by the Cars and the final track on their 1978 self-titled debut album. It was written by bandleader Ric Ocasek.
| "All Mixed Up" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 The single release of the song in the Netherlands | ||||
| Single by the Cars | ||||
| from the album The Cars | ||||
| B-side | "You're All I've Got Tonight" | |||
| Released | 1979 | |||
| Genre | Rock, new wave | |||
| Length | 4:14 | |||
| Label | Elektra 46014 | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Ric Ocasek | |||
| Producer(s) | Roy Thomas Baker | |||
| The Cars Netherlands singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| The Cars track listing | ||||
9 tracks
| ||||
| Audio | ||||
| "All Mixed Up" on YouTube | ||||
Background
editOn the album, "All Mixed Up" is bridged together with "Moving in Stereo". Released as the B-side to the single "Good Times Roll", the song has received widespread airplay on American FM rock radio stations, and is generally played together with "Moving in Stereo" on AOR and classic rock radio stations. The song also saw single release in the Netherlands, backed with "You're All I've Got Tonight" (also from The Cars.)[1]
"All Mixed Up" features bassist Benjamin Orr on lead vocals in the studio version, though Ocasek sang lead vocals on the demo version. The song afforded Hawkes a chance to step away from his many synthesizers and play the closing saxophone solo, the only one in the Cars' discography. "All Mixed Up" also featured the Mu-Tron Octavider pedal, which Benjamin Orr recalled he "had to have."[2]
Classic Rock History critic Brian Kachejian rated "Moving in Stereo" combined with "All Mixed Up" as the Cars' all-time greatest song.[3] Classic Rock History critic Emily Fagan rated it as the Cars 4th best song sung by Orr, saying that it "exemplifies the band’s ability to blend catchy pop melodies with deeper, more introspective themes."[4] Ultimate Classic Rock critic Dave Swanson rated it as the 2nd best Benjamin Orr Cars song, saying that "The haunting mood created on this track has no equal in the band's catalog" and that "Orr's vocal is full of yearning, confusion and drama."[5]
Other versions
edit- When Cars guitarist Elliot Easton and keyboardist Greg Hawkes recruited new musicians to replace Ocasek, the deceased Orr, and drummer David Robinson, they chose Todd Rundgren as primary singer, but "All Mixed Up" and the hit ballad "Drive" were sung by bassist/vocalist Kasim Sulton.
- This song was later covered by the Red House Painters on their 1996 album, Songs for a Blue Guitar.
References
edit- ^ ""All Mixed Up"/"You're All I've Got Tonight"". 45cat.
- ^ "The Cars interview". YouTube. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21.
- ^ Kachejian, Brian (February 2024). "Top 10 Cars Songs". Classic Rock History. Retrieved 2024-09-16.
- ^ Fagan, Emily (September 2024). "Top 10 Cars Songs Sung By Benjamin Orr". Retrieved 2024-09-17.
- ^ Swanson, Dave (September 8, 2015). "Top 10 Benjamin Orr Cars Songs". UltimateClassicRock. Retrieved 2024-10-25.
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