Joe Milliken - Lets Go!: Benjamin Orr and The Cars

Lets Go!

Lets Go!

Benjamin Orr and The Cars

Joe Milliken

ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD

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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Milliken, Joe, 1966 author.

Title: Lets go! : Benjamin Orr and The Cars / Joe Milliken.

Description: Lanham : Rowman & Littlefield, [2018] | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2018026463 (print) | LCCN 2018027733 (ebook) | ISBN 9781538118665 (electronic) | ISBN 9781538118658 (cloth : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781538143186 (pbk. : alk. paper)

Subjects: LCSH: Orr, Benjamin. | Cars (Musical group) | SingersUnited StatesBiography. | Rock musiciansUnited StatesBiography. | Bass guitaristsUnited StatesBiography.

Classification: LCC ML420.O8136 (ebook) | LCC ML420.O8136 M56 2018 (print) | DDC 782.42166092/2 [B]dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018026463

The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information SciencesPermanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.

Foreword

I grew up a very lucky kid. My dad was a TV producer with a nationally syndicated show called Upbeat . From the beginning of the show, I had the job of writing and holding the cue cards for the host, and I also got to hang out with rock stars, from Otis Redding to Simon and Garfunkel.

My journey in music really started on Upbeat , moving from cue card kid to associate-producer of the show at age fifteen. I started in radio at eighteen with WNCR, moving over to help launch what became one of the biggest FM stations in the country, WMMS. I moved on to artist management, working with Joe Walsh, Yusuf (Cat Stevens), Dickey Betts from The Allman Brothers, Kenny Loggins, The Michael Stanley Band, and others.

But Upbeat also had a house band that would back up these artists as they lip-synced their records. Leslie Gore, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, and dozens more stood in front of this local band called The Grasshoppers. This band also had a couple of regional hits, like Who Wears Mod Socks, a takeoff on the old hit Who Wears Short Shorts, and Pink Champagne and Red Roses, a ballad sung by a guy named Benny Eleven Letters, so named because no one could pronounce his real name. Benny was the McCartney of the Grasshoppers, who had gained enough fame from the TV show to open for The Dave Clark Five. I got to know Benny quite well over the years; I even chose his band to play my bar mitzvah. My friends and I spent most weekends going from club to club to see The Grasshoppers perform. Benny always had me on the guest list, which was a big deal for my pals. Id always hang out with him between sets because, well... yes, he was a good friend, but he also attracted all the girls!

I grew up and became a local disc jockey; we stayed in touch. Benny called me one day to tell me that he had a new band called The Cars and he was now calling himself Ben Orr. Because of our friendship, I played their record. What I didnt realize was that this was a Hall-of-Fame-caliber band that would change the world. Whenever he came to town, he would come in for an interview on my radio show and we always found time to share a meal or two. I always got to eat. Benny basically just signed autographs and had his picture taken.

Ben visits David Spero at the M105 Studios in Cleveland.

Photo by Bob Ferrell, courtesy of David Spero

In many ways, he never left Cleveland, returning to sing on local records to raise money for different causes, always giving a shout-out to his hometown and never forgetting where he came from.

I ran into Ben at the grand opening of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1995, and we shared a table for dinner. We caught up on the years that had passed. The event took place under a giant tent on the Cleveland lakefront. Many of the rock royalty were there; Dylan, Springsteen, Aretha, Lou Reed, The Kinks, Jerry Lee Lewis, and many more. Yet all night long the Clevelanders, among many others, stopped to say hi to Benny. Its funny because I dont remember him even once mentioning that he thought that someday The Cars would be inducted.

The next call I got from him was to tell me that he had pancreatic cancer. I realized this was a call to say good-bye. Benny sounded very weak, but his sense of humor was still intact. We talked about pride in our city, the mark he had made in music, and his love for my father, Herman Spero, and for Joe Mayer. I could hardly breathe when I got off the phone. Though it took a lot out of me emotionally, it meant the world to me that he had called. A few days later he was gone. He was one of my oldest friends, and to die so young and at the top of his game was truly a devastating loss.

I helped put together a celebration of Bens life at the Rock Hall theater and gave a eulogy that Im not sure how I got through. Our Benny Eleven Letters was gone, but will never be forgotten. And as his life story is told here by music journalist and author Joe Milliken, Ben and The Cars have finally been inducted into the 2018 class of The Rock & Roll Hall of Famea fitting tribute to the man that helped make Cleveland The Rock and Roll City.

David Spero, 2018

Timeline of Bands