The Cars Catalog Continues Expanded Editions

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To herald the Cars‘ induction this spring into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Rhino will kick off the celebration early with new editions for two of the band’s studio albums – Shake It Up and Heartbeat City. Both expanded titles, with previously unreleased tracks, will be released on March 30 as single CDs and 2-LP, 180-gram vinyl sets.

Each release features the original album – remastered in 2016 – expanded with rare and unreleased bonus tracks. Illustrated booklets accompany the music and contain liner notes written by rock journalist David Fricke, who details the history of each album with new interviews by band members Ric Ocasek (for Heartbeat City) and David Robinson (for Shake It Up).

Ocasek, Robinson, Elliot Easton, Greg Hawkes and Benjamin Orr recorded Shake It Up in 1981 at Syncro Sound, the group’s new studio in Boston, with producer Roy Thomas Baker. Working in their own space afforded them the time to perfect the sound of the album, which became their third-straight Top 10 album and sold more than two million copies. It features the singles “Since You’re Gone,” “Think It Over” and The Cars’ first Top 10 hit, “Shake It Up.” Several unreleased tracks make their debut on the expanded edition, including an early version of “Since You’re Gone,” the demo for “Shake It Up” and an unreleased song called “Midnight Dancer.”

Watch the video of the band’s first Top 10 single

Pre-order the Shake It Up CD or 2-LP.

In 1984, the band returned with Heartbeat City, an album produced by Robert John “Mutt” Lange, who’d worked previously with AC/DC, Foreigner and Def Leppard. The album, which peaked at #3 on the charts, went on to sell four million copies, making it the band’s fifth consecutive platinum album. An amazing success, the album launched five tracks that reached the Top 40, including the Top 10 hits “Drive” and “You Might Think.” Videos for the songs received heavy airplay on MTV, including “Hello Again,” which was directed by Andy Warhol, and “You Might Think,” which won the inaugural MTV Video Music Award for Video of the Year in 1984.

Among the expanded edition’s seven bonus tracks are unreleased versions of “Why Can’t I Have You” and “I Refuse,” as well as the demo for “Drive.” (See complete track listings for both releases below.)

Pre-order the Heartbeat City CD or 2-LP.

Listen to a previously unreleased demo version of “Drive”

Shake It Up – Expanded Edition Track Listing

1. “Since You’re Gone”
2. “Shake It Up”
3. “I’m Not The One”
4. “Victim Of Love”
5. “Cruiser”
6. “A Dream Away”
7. “This Could Be Love”
8. “Think It Over”
9. “Maybe Baby”
Bonus Tracks
10. “Since You’re Gone” – Early Version *
11. “Shake It Up” – Demo *
12. “I’m Not The One” – Remix
13. “Cruiser” – Early Version *
14. “Take It On The Run” – Early Version of “A Dream Away” *
15. “Coming Up You Again” – 1981 Version of “Coming Up You” *
16. “Little Black Egg”
17. “Midnight Dancer” *

Heartbeat City – Expanded Edition Track Listing

1. “Hello Again”
2. “Looking For Love”
3. “Magic”
4. “Drive”
5. “Stranger Eyes”
6. “You Might Think”
7. “It’s Not The Night”
8. “Why Can’t I Have You”
9. “I Refuse”
10. “Heartbeat City”
Bonus Tracks
11. “Hello Again” – Arthur Baker Remix Version
12. “Drive” – Demo *
13. “One More Time” – Early Version of “Why Can’t I Have You” *
14. “Baby I Refuse” – Early Version of “I Refuse” *
15. “Jacki” – Early Version of “Heartbeat City” *
16. “Breakaway” – B-Side of “Why Can’t I Have You”
17. “Tonight She Comes” – From Greatest Hits