The Cars’ Deep Influence on the Future of Music

It was a moment like so many others in the history of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. A rock star in his 30s was onstage saying nice things about a band whose members were now in their 60s and 70s. As is custom, the guy onstage wore a sparkly jacket, and the men waiting to be inducted sported semi-convincing dye jobs and Austin Powers–looking suits. In this specific instance, the toastmaster was Brandon Flowers of the Killers, and the subject of his speech was one of the most popular (if not among the most acclaimed) groups of the late 1970s and early ’80s, the Cars.