"Magic" by the cars: Remembering my cousin's band

It just sounded interesting, and mysterious the first time I heard the name of the song. I was at a family gathering with some cousins and they were talking about going to see my cousin Carl’s band. I asked what songs he sang, and they listed some bands including the Cars.

I really liked the Cars from two songs that had come out around that time – “You Might Think” and “Drive”. So I asked what Cars' song Carl sang.

“Magic”, one of my cousins said.

"What?" I thought. I had never heard that song.

That would soon change.

Greatest hits
It was not until I joined Columbia House, and bought “The Cars Greatest Hits” that I really got a good listen to “Magic”. I hadn’t actually even heard it on the radio before then.

When I did, it instantly became one of my favourite songs.

“Magic” came out in 1984 on the Cars’ “Heartbeat City” album. It was the second single released, after “You Might Think” which reached number seven, and before “Drive” which reached number three on the Billboard Hot 100 charts. “Magic” peaked at number 12 on the Hot 100.

Getting in
Eventually, I did get to see my cousin Carl and his band Heartbeat in concert. He was playing at a bar in Lethbridge, and I was 15 years old. Yet, I looked way older than I was. Nothing has really changed. So, I went in with my parents, my sister and Carl’s parent’s Uncle Ed and Aunt Johanna, and I didn’t get ID’ed. Maybe it was because I was with all those adults, maybe it was because I looked 18 or older.

My cousin Gary was also there, and he said if I got ID’ed then Carl could just say I was with the band. My sister said, if I got ID’ed someone could just slip them a $20 to let me stay in. It was all pretty funny, almost cloak and dagger.

The other thing I remember was wearing two-inch wide, blue and white striped suspenders with my jeans. Maybe that made me look older. In any event, they felt good, and looked pretty good too.

In Concert
We took up the better part of two tables, and chatted until the band came on, which was maybe an hour later.

Eventually, Heartbeat took the stage. I could not take my eyes off Carl, who was playing guitar. By then, I had really begun to get into music, so I recognized pretty much every song they played. It was a lot of top 40 stuff, I had heard on the radio.

Then, between songs, Carl took the mike as the music slowed down. He grabbed the mike with both hands and started singing, “Just a little more time is all, we’re asking for…” It was “Never Surrender” by Corey Hart, and Carl was awesome.

Later in that set it finally came – I heard Heartbeat do “Magic” by the Cars.

It did not disappoint.

After party
Once the set was over, Carl joined us at our table to chat. I told him I was working on a play, and I was using a lot of music in it.

“You write the script, and I’ll write the tunes,” he said.

That was pretty cool. Even now, 38 years later and both of us in our fifties, every so often I still dream of doing that. He still plays and I still write.

Parting thoughts
Once I bought “The Cars Greatest Hits” I never looked back, and “Magic” became my favourite song by the band. It just has that poppy, catchy sound. It’s a bit quirky and I just love that.

Yet “Magic” is more than a song. It is a reminder of a time when a bunch of different things in my life intersected. I was writing this play, I started to like music and girls, I still idolized my cousin Carl the musician, I still loved my family, and I wanted to start doing more grown up and adult things.

That night in the bar, all those things came together, and “Magic” provided the sound track.