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Just weeks after debuting the previously unissued Live At The Agora, 1978 on vinyl for Record Store Day, Rhino Records is preparing for two expanded editions of classic albums by The Cars this summer. Reissues of their second and third albums, Candy-O and Panorama, will bow in July.

With The Cars’ 1978 self-titled debut, the Boston quintet (singer/guitarist Ric Ocasek, singer/bassist Benjamin Orr, lead guitarist Elliott Easton, keyboardist Greg Hawkes and drummer David Robinson) became one of the first bands in America to fuse traditional rock with the rising trends of synth-based New Wave pop. The Cars found a home on the Billboard 200 for 139 weeks, making hits out of “Just What I Needed,” “My Best Friend’s Girl” and “Good Times Roll.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOyLNI4SYV8

Just 53 weeks after The Cars was released, Candy-O, also recorded with producer Roy Thomas Baker, was in record stores. While some critics noted little growth of The Cars’ sound (“It’s what they do best–rock and roll that is definitely pop without a hint of cuteness,” noted Robert Christgau), the consensus was that the album was bound to work the same way its predecessor did. Indeed, “Let’s Go” became the group’s first Top 20 hit, and the album, with a distinctive sleeve design by pin-up artist Alberto Vargas, peaked at No. 3, shipping gold within a month (and now certified 4x platinum).

While Baker was back in the studio with the band for 1980’s Panorama, their third album was a decided break from the upbeat pop craft of the first two records; only “Touch and Go” dented the lower reaches of the U.S. Top 40. But fans were still hooked, giving The Cars another Top 5 album that went platinum.

A total of 11 rare and unreleased bonus tracks will grace the reissues of Candy-O and Panorama (the original albums of which will be sourced from the new masters overseen by Ocasek for the group’s recent The Elektra Years box set). Seven are included on Candy-O including outtakes from Northern Studios (including the unreleased “They Won’t See You,” heard in demo form on a 2003 reissue of The Cars), early mixes of “Let’s Go” and “Lust for Kicks” and the non-LP B-side “That’s It,” unissued since 1995’s Just What I Needed: The Cars Anthology. Panorama includes three unreleased outtakes and another non-LP B-side, “Don’t Go to Pieces.”

Both albums will feature liner notes by David Wild, including new interviews with Easton (in Candy-O) and Hawkes (in Panorama). CD and double LP versions (in gatefold sleeves, featuring three sides of music and an etching on the fourth side) will be available. It all kicks off July 28!

Candy-O: Expanded Edition (Elektra/Rhino, 2017)

CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon Canada (TBD) / Amazon U.K.
2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon Canada (TBD) / Amazon U.K.

1. Let’s Go
2. Since I Held You
3. It’s All I Can Do
4. Double Life
5. Shoo Be Doo
6. Candy-O
7. Nightspots
8. You Can’t Hold On Too Long
9. Lust for Kicks
10. Got a Lot on My Head
11. Dangerous Type
12. Let’s Go (Roy Thomas Baker Monitor Mix)
13. Candy-O (Northern Studios Version)
14. Night Spots (Northern Studios Version)
15. Lust for Kicks (Roy Thomas Baker Monitor Mix)
16. Dangerous Type (Northern Studios Version)
17. They Won’t See You (Northern Studios Version)
18. That’s It

Tracks 1-11 released as Elektra LP 5E-507, 1979
Tracks 12-17 previously unreleased
Track 18 from “Let’s Go” single – Elektra E-46063, 1979

Panorama: Expanded Edition (Elektra/Rhino, 2017)

CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon Canada (TBD) / Amazon U.K.
2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon Canada (TBD) / Amazon U.K.

1. Panorama
2. Touch and Go
3. Gimme Some Slack
4. Don’t Tell Me No
5. Getting Through
6. Misfit Kid
7. Down Boys
8. You Wear Those Eyes
9. Running to You
10. Up and Down
11. Shooting for You
12. Be My Baby
13. The Edge
14. Don’t Go to Pieces

Tracks 1-10 released as Elektra LP 5E-514, 1980
Track 14 from “Don’t Tell Me No” single – Elektra E-47080, 1980