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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Monday, June 12, 2006

'Cars' tunes not music to motor by

By BRIAN McCOLLUM
Detroit Free Press

Hanging out are, clockwise from center: Lighting McQueen, Fillmore, Sarge, Ramone, Sally Carrera, Flo, Mater, Guido, Luigi, Doc Hudson.

Walt Disney Pictures

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Doc Hudson is voiced by Paul Newman in "Cars." It's a cute flick, but the tunes reflect the cautious approach of a committee.

Walt Disney Pictures

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It's a good time to talk about car tunes, with "Cars" — a Disney film starring animated Chevrolets, Plymouths and a Hudson Hornet — in theaters now.

Songs about cars and driving have been a big part of American pop culture for more than a century — "My Merry Little Oldsmobile" was a 1905 smash, and today's rappers continue to celebrate the joy of fancy wheels.

But before we unveil some popular tunes about cars and driving, we give the "Cars" soundtrack a quick review:

Like so many modern movie soundtracks, the music accompanying "Cars" suffers the sound of executive committee. Carefully scripted, cautiously executed, it's cartoon music minus much of the color — and fun.

The film's soundtrack album, out since Tuesday, kicks off with "Real Gone," a standard Sheryl Crow original graced with a catchy hook but clogged with forced auto imagery unrelated to the film. The familiar "Route 66" appears in two forms: its vintage Chuck Berry model and an updated, musically unnecessary rendering by easygoing popster John Mayer.

Featured are a pair of warm originals by country crooner Brad Paisley, along with a limp note-for-note reading of Tom Cochrane's "Life Is a Highway" by Rascal Flatts. The disc's second half is composed of selections from the film score by Randy Newman, Disney's go-to composer, who provides a whimsical set of songs that will become memorable only to parents forced to endure endless viewings of the "Cars" DVD.

"Lightning McQueen's Fast-Tracks," a companion album emceed by the film's animated star, features a collection of songs more strictly car-oriented than the soundtrack. A handful of new compositions are joined by older material, some of it pulled from admirably obscure vaults ("Black and White Thunderbird," "My Old Car") and voiced by Disney's in-house performers in a musical set custom built for the young 'uns.

Now, with that said, when you think of cars and music, here are a few vintage tunes that may come to mind:

  • "Fast Car," Tracy Chapman.

  • "Little Deuce Coupe," the Beach Boys.

  • "My Starter Won't Start This Morning," Lightning Slim.

  • "Born to Be Wild," Steppenwolf.

  • "Mustang Sally," Wilson Pickett.

  • "Beep Beep," the Playmates.

  • "Drivin' My Life Away," Eddie Rabbitt.

  • "I'm In Love With My Car," Queen.

  • "Riding In My Car (Car Song)," Woody Guthrie.

  • "Life is a Highway," Tom Cochrane.

  • "Don't Think About Her When You're Trying to Drive," Little Village.

  • "On the Road Again," Willie Nelson.

  • "Don't Worry Baby," the Beach Boys.