After a long, bitterly cold and snowy winter, the South Fork is slowly awakening to the promise of spring. With the warm weather, of course, comes late nights, live music, and more cars on the road.
And live music by cars? Well, yes. The popularity of tribute bands is evident at local venues, including the Stephen Talkhouse in Amagansett: Lez Zeppelin, a female quartet who play the music of Led Zeppelin with impressive accuracy and passion, perform every summer, this year on June 13. Streetfighter, a Rolling Stones tribute band, is booked on May 1, Echoes of the Eagles will play on May 21, and Mamma Mania, an ABBA tribute band, will perform on June 30. Another regular act, Rubix Kube, claims to be “the most original ’80s tribute band of all time.”
New to the Talkhouse is Drive — the Cars Tribute, who will bring the music of the 2018 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees on Saturday at 8 p.m.
For those who remember the Cars during the band’s life span, Drive is likely to be a welcome reminder of its greatness. The band, which seamlessly melded guitar-oriented rock-and-roll with the quirky sounds and synthesizers of new wave, scored many hits, particularly from their eponymous 1978 debut (“My Best Friend’s Girl,” “Just What I Needed,” “Moving in Stereo”), 1979’s “Candy-O” (“Let’s Go”), and 1984’s “Heartbeat City” (“Magic,” “You Might Think,” and, yes, “Drive”).
In Boston, Ric Ocasek and Benjamin Orr, who had met in Cleveland, joined with Elliot Easton and Greg Hawkes, both of whom had studied at Berklee College of Music, and David Robinson, who had been a member of the Modern Lovers. They caught the attention of a D.J. at the legendary WBCN, and by 1978 were named best new artist in a Rolling Stone magazine readers’ poll.
Drive is not the only group paying tribute to the Cars, said the band’s Mary Beth Cronin, but when the group was founded some 20 years ago, it was very likely the first. Its genesis, she recalled, was unlikely. Fronting a Pretenders tribute band called Talk of the Town, she was standing outside between sets at a Fire Island gig.
“I was dressed in a top hat and tails, but it was very sunny and hot,” she said. “I threw on my Ray-Bans, and some guy came walking by and said, ‘You know who you look like?’ ”
I know, she replied: Chrissie Hynde, the Pretenders’ frontwoman.
“He said, ‘No, Ric Ocasek! You should do a Cars tribute.’ ”
“At first,” she said, “I thought, ‘This wise guy,’ but I thought about it, and thought this would be really cool.”
The band added the Cars’ music to the repertoire, “but the Cars seemed to get more popularity. We were getting more work. There was no one anywhere doing this, that I’m aware of.”
Along with their pioneering status, Drive adds an unlikely twist to paying tribute to the Cars: Ms. Cronin plays the role of Ocasek, who died in 2019. “I can’t book a Cars tribute band with a female singer,” a booking agent told her early in the band’s existence. “I wasn’t really dressing in any costume at the time,” she said, but a visit to a men’s clothing store, a photo of Ocasek in hand, yielded an oversized jacket, shirt, and “a couple of skinny ties.”
“I can play guitar,” as Ocasek did, Ms. Cronin said, “but my thing is, I love to entertain people. I like to get them involved and singing along, so I would much rather not play guitar because it limits you to be able to do that. Now, I can go into the audience with a wireless mic and get people to sing with me and run around.” Fans familiar with the Cars’ videos will recognize Drive’s exacting reproduction of the Cars’ look as well as its sound.
The band also includes Jay Sharkey on drums, who has been with Drive from its inception, Pat (Batman) Ruhlman on bass, Bob Gallo on guitar, and Rick Chiarello on keyboards.
“I sing and play tambourine,” Ms. Cronin said. “I try to convey, to the best of my ability, vocally and visually, the persona of Ric.”
Ocasek, by the way, personally endorsed Ms. Cronin’s passion: The two met at a SiriusXM satellite radio “Town Hall” event, thanks to a friend who had won tickets to it. Telling him about Drive, “He said, ‘That’s really cool, what do you do in the band?’ I said, ‘I’m you!’ He said, ‘Wow,’ and smiled and said, ‘That’s really creative. You have my blessing.’ ”
The band is also close with Orr’s family (the bassist died in 2000). “They support what we do, because we pay homage to their Uncle Ben,” she said. “They’re wonderful people. We just played in Ohio not long ago, and they loved the band.”
How many Cars tribute bands can make such claims? Regardless, “It’s not about competition,” Ms. Cronin said. “It’s about the love of playing the music for people who love hearing it. We like to pay tribute to the music, and hope that people will enjoy it.”
Tickets for Drive — the Cars Tribute on Saturday at 8 p.m. at the Stephen Talkhouse are $20 and available at stephentalkhouse.com and at the door.
