''This Side of Paradise'' is the second solo studio album released by

Ric Ocasek Richard Theodore Otcasek (March 23, 1944 – September 15, 2019), known as Ric Ocasek, was an American singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. He was the primary co-lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, songwriter, and frontman for the rock ...

, lead singer and songwriter of

the Cars The Cars were an American rock band formed in Boston in 1976. Emerging from the new wave scene in the late 1970s, they consisted of Ric Ocasek ( rhythm guitar), Benjamin Orr (bass guitar), Elliot Easton (lead guitar), Greg Hawkes ( keyboard ...

. It was released in 1986 by

Geffen Records Geffen Records is an American record label established by David Geffen and owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M Records imprint. Founded in 1980, Geffen Records has been a part of Interscope Geffen A&M since 1999 and h ...

. Though it was a solo album, other members of the Cars played significant roles.

Greg Hawkes Gregory A. Hawkes (born October 22, 1952) is an American musician best known as the keyboardist for the rock band The Cars. Hawkes, a native of Fulton, Maryland, United States, attended Atholton High School where he played in a band called Teet ...

plays keyboards and bass throughout the album (he appears on most of Ocasek's solo albums), and also co-wrote "Hello Darkness" (most Cars albums feature one Ocasek/Hawkes tune). Benjamin Orr is on backing vocals for three songs. Along with Hawkes and Orr, the track "True To You" also features

Elliot Easton Elliot Easton (born Elliot Steinberg, December 18, 1953) is an American guitarist. He played lead guitar and sang backing vocals for The Cars, and his guitar solos are an integral part of the band's music. Easton has also recorded music as a so ...

on guitar. Both production and drumming were by

Chris Hughes Chris Hughes (born November 26, 1983) is an American entrepreneur and author who co-founded and served as spokesman for the online social directory and networking site Facebook until 2007. He was the publisher and editor-in-chief of ''The New R ...

(formerly known as "Merrick", drummer for

Adam and the Ants Adam and the Ants were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. The group existed in two incarnations, both fronted by Adam Ant, over the period 1977 to 1982. The first, founded in May 1977 and known simply as The Ants until November of t ...

). Hughes was the recent producer of

Tears for Fears Tears for Fears are an English pop rock band formed in Bath, England, in 1981 by Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith. Founded after the dissolution of their first band, the mod-influenced Graduate, Tears for Fears were associated with the new ...

Promotion

Guitarist G.E. Smith's involvement with the album proved convenient when Ocasek assembled a backing band (including Greg Hawkes on keyboards) to appear as musical guest on ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock (streaming service), Peacock. ...

'', mostly using the Saturday Night Live Band, which then featured Smith as bandleader. Appearing on Episode 3 of Season 12, Ocasek performed "Emotion in Motion" and "Keep on Laughin'". Ric also appeared in a comedy sketch starring Dana Carvey's

recurring character A recurring character is a fictional character, usually in a prime time TV series, who frequently appears from time to time during the series' run. Recurring characters often play major roles in more than one episode, sometimes being the main f ...

the Church Lady Enid Strict, better known as The Church Lady, is a recurring character from a series of sketches on the American television show, ''Saturday Night Live'', that appeared from 1986 to 1990, and again in 1996, 2000, 2011, and 2016. She also appeared o ...

, who incorrectly introduced him as

Keith Richards Keith Richards (born 18 December 1943), often referred to during the 1960s and 1970s as "Keith Richard", is an English musician and songwriter who has achieved international fame as the co-founder, guitarist, secondary vocalist, and co-princi ...

. After Ocasek corrected her, she then addressed him as "Ricky". In her typical way, the Church Lady piously criticized the sensuality of his rock and roll music.

Title

This is the second consecutive Ocasek album to derive its title from an indirect poetry reference. In this case, ''This Side of Paradise'' shares its title with 1920

debut novel A debut novel is the first novel a novelist publishes. Debut novels are often the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to p ...

F. Scott Fitzgerald Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald (September 24, 1896 – December 21, 1940) was an American novelist, essayist, and short story writer. He is best known for his novels depicting the flamboyance and excess of the Jazz Age—a term he popularize ...

, which in turn took its title from a line of the Rupert Brooke poem "Tiare Tahiti".

Song details

The album begins with various sound-effects, including a woman's voice speaking a foreign language, and the musical theme of "Look in Your Eyes", before "Keep on Laughin'" begins. "Coming for You" features a recurring motif previously heard on "Nightspots" from the Cars' album ''

Candy-O ''Candy-O'' is the second studio album by American rock band the Cars, released on June 13, 1979 by Elektra Records. Produced by Roy Thomas Baker, the album spawned two singles, " Let's Go" (number 14 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100) and " It's ...

'': Under an E minor chord, B-C-B-A-E.Ric Ocasek, ''This Side of Paradise'' Songbook, (c) 1986 by Lido Music, Inc. Published by Warner Bros. Publications Inc., 265 Seacaucus Road, Seacaucus NJ 07094, Catalog number VF1323 "True Love" features a classical-styled solo on nylon-stringed acoustic guitar, played by Steve Stevens, who was then better known for the bombastic

electric Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by ...

style that he brought to Billy Idol's material. "P.F.J." is a character sketch of a young man called "Pink Flag Joe". It features Greg Hawkes on clarinet and harmonica, as well as keyboards and bass. The second chorus to "Hello Darkness", beginning with ''"Hello darkness / You are my friend"'', could be a reference to the well-known

Simon and Garfunkel Simon & Garfunkel were an American folk rock duo consisting of the singer-songwriter Paul Simon and the singer Art Garfunkel. They were one of the best-selling music groups of the 1960s, and their biggest hits—including the electric remix of " ...

song " The Sounds of Silence", which begins ''"Hello darkness, my old friend"''. Ocasek has long had a habit of using well-known titles and lyrical references, such as the Cars songs "

Good Times Roll "Good Times Roll" is a song by American rock band the Cars released as the first track from their 1978 debut album ''The Cars''. Written by Ric Ocasek as a sarcastic comment on rock's idea of good times, the song features layered harmonies courte ...

", " Bye Bye Love", " Think It Over" and "Maybe Baby", among others. Before the last song, the title track, has quite faded away, it abruptly switches to an

instrumental An instrumental is a recording normally without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through semantic widening, a broader sense of the word song may refer to inst ...

, synthesizer-dominated

reprise In music, a reprise ( , ; from the verb 'to resume') is the repetition or reiteration of the opening material later in a composition as occurs in the recapitulation of sonata form, though—originally in the 18th century—was simply any repe ...

of "True Love", which gradually fades out to end the album.

Track listing

All tracks composed by Ric Ocasek except as noted. # "Keep on Laughin'" – 4:36 # "True to You" – 3:59 # " Emotion in Motion" – 4:41 # "Look in Your Eyes" – 6:00 # "Coming for You" – 5:34 # "Mystery" – 4:20 # "True Love" – 4:23 # "P.F.J." – 3:39 # "Hello Darkness" (Ocasek,

) – 4:52 # "This Side of Paradise" – 8:04

Personnel

*Ric Ocasek – vocals, bass, guitar, keyboards *

– guitar *

– guitar on "P.F.J." *Sandy McLelland – background vocals *

- guitar *

– bass, keyboards, background vocals *

– drums *

– stick bass * Benjamin Orr – background vocals *

– guitar, background vocals *

G.E. Smith George Edward Smith ('' né'' Haddad; born January 27, 1952) is an American guitarist. Smith was the lead guitarist for the duo Hall & Oates during the band's heyday from 1979 to 1985, playing on five number one singles. After Hall & Oates went ...

– guitar *Andy Topeka – programming, synclavier, technical maintenance Technical *Ross Cullum – engineer *Joe Barbaria – mixing *

Nick Egan Nick Egan (born 4 July 1957 in London, England) is a visual design artist and director of music videos, commercials and film. He graduated from the Watford College of Art and Design with a DGA in 1976. While attending college, he created cover ...

– design *Arthur Eigort – photography

Charts

Notes

{{Authority control 1986 albums Ric Ocasek albums Albums produced by Ric Ocasek Geffen Records albums Albums produced by Chris Hughes (musician)