You Might Think
"You Might Think" | ||||
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Single by the Cars | ||||
from the album Heartbeat City | ||||
B-side |
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Released | March 13, 1984 | |||
Recorded | 1983–1984 | |||
Studio | Battery (London) | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 3:04 | |||
Label | Elektra | |||
Songwriter(s) | Ric Ocasek | |||
Producer(s) |
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The Cars singles chronology | ||||
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Music video | ||||
"You Might Think" on YouTube |
"You Might Think" is a song by American rock band the Cars from their fifth studio album, Heartbeat City (1984). The track was written by Ric Ocasek and produced by Mutt Lange and the Cars, with Ocasek also providing the lead vocals.
The song was released on March 13, 1984, as the first single from Heartbeat City. "You Might Think" peaked at number seven in the United States and number eight in Canada. It also reached number one on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart in the US, the band's first song to do so. In the United Kingdom, the song reached number 88. It was featured heavily, and served as a plot device, in the 2016 American television series BrainDead.
Music video[]
The music video is one of the first to use computer graphics. The video features Ocasek and model Susan Gallagher in a series of quirky encounters.[2] Ocasek appears in her bathroom mirror, inside a large periscope that pops up in her bathtub, in her mouth, as a fly, as King Kong on top of the Empire State Building and as the Robot Monster, among other incarnations. The rest of the band appears together and separately throughout the video; after they all appear in the movie-theater scene, keyboardist Greg Hawkes plays the dentist in the scene in which Ocasek is jackhammering a tooth in the girl's mouth. In the King Kong scene, the other three members, guitarist Elliot Easton, bassist Benjamin Orr and drummer David Robinson, are paired off in the two planes flying around Ocasek.
"You Might Think" won the first MTV Video Music Award for Video of the Year and was nominated for five more awards (Best Special Effects, Best Art Direction, Viewer's Choice, Best Concept Video and Most Experimental Video) at the 1984 MTV Video Music Awards. The video also won five awards (Best Video, Best Conceptual, Most Innovative, Best Editing and Best Special Effects) at Billboard's 1984 Video Music Awards and four awards (Best Achievement In Music Video, Best Editing In Music Video, Best Engineering In Music Video and Best Camerawork In Music Video) at the Videotape Production Association's 1985 Monitor Awards.[3][4]
Robin Sloane of Elektra Records creative directed the video after director Jeff Stein (of the Who's The Kids Are Alright) showed her samples from New-York-based visual-effects company Charlex. The firm was nationally known for the innovative weekly advertisements that it was producing the National Enquirer. The commercials featured the first use of the Quantel Paintbox, the first tool for artists to use directly on the video screen. Stein, along with Charlex founders Alex Weil and Charlie Levi, directed and produced the video. Danny Rosenberg and Bill Weber served both as editors and video engineers, Kevin Jones was the lighting director, Danny Ducovny the cinematographer and Bob Ryzner the art director.[5][6] The video cost $80,000 to produce, which was almost triple the average music-video budget of the time.[7]
Track listings[]
- 7-inch single
- A. "You Might Think" – 3:04
- B. "Heartbeat City" – 4:30
- 12-inch single
- A. "You Might Think" – 3:04
- B1. "Let's Go" – 3:33
- B2. "I Refuse" – 3:16
Credits and personnel[]
- Ric Ocasek – lead vocals, rhythm guitar
- Ben Orr – backing vocals, bass gutiar
- Elliot Easton – lead guitar, backing vocals
- Greg Hawkes – keyboards, backing vocals, Fairlight CMI
- David Robinson – drums
Charts[]
Weekly charts[]
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Year-end charts[]
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References[]
- ^ Gerard, Chris (August 12, 2014). "Classic Album Revisited: The Cars, "Heartbeat City"". Metro Weekly. Retrieved February 13, 2021.
- ^ "the Cars – You might think". mvdbase.com. Archived from the original on December 22, 2018. Retrieved December 22, 2018.
- ^ "Cars' Five Awards Tops at Billboard Video Music Meet". Billboard. Vol. 96 no. 47. November 24, 1984. p. 1. ISSN 0006-2510 – via Google Books.
- ^ "Monitors: Charlex Big Win". Billboard. Vol. 97 no. 27. July 6, 1985. p. 48. ISSN 0006-2510 – via Google Books.
- ^ Heartbeat City video compilation, Warner Home Video, 1984
- ^ "Finalists Announced for Monitor Awards". Billboard. Vol. 97 no. 20. May 18, 1985. p. 32. ISSN 0006-2510 – via Google Books.
- ^ "Charlex & Jeff Stein: "You Might Think"". Frederator Blogs. January 2, 2007. Archived from the original on August 5, 2018. Retrieved December 22, 2018.
- ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
- ^ "Top RPM Singles: Issue 6730." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved February 25, 2020.
- ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – The Cars – You Might Think" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved February 25, 2020.
- ^ "The Cars – You Might Think" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved February 25, 2020.
- ^ "Charts.nz – The Cars – You Might Think". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved February 25, 2020.
- ^ "Swedishcharts.com – The Cars – You Might Think". Singles Top 100. Retrieved February 25, 2020.
- ^ "Cars: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved February 25, 2020.
- ^ "The Cars Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved February 25, 2020.
- ^ "The Cars Chart History (Dance Club Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved February 13, 2021.
- ^ "The Cars Chart History (Mainstream Rock)". Billboard. Retrieved February 25, 2020.
- ^ "Cash Box Top 100 Singles – Week ending May 5, 1984". Cash Box. Retrieved December 22, 2018.
- ^ "The Cars Chart History (Rock Digital Song Sales)". Billboard. Retrieved February 13, 2021.
- ^ "Top 100 Singles of 1984". RPM. Vol. 41 no. 17. January 5, 1985. p. 7. ISSN 0033-7064 – via Library and Archives Canada.
- ^ "Hot 100 Songs – Year-End 1984". Billboard. Archived from the original on February 25, 2020. Retrieved February 25, 2020.
- ^ "The Cash Box Year-End Charts: 1984 – Top 100 Pop Singles". Cash Box. December 29, 1984. Retrieved November 18, 2017.
External links[]
- 1984 songs
- 1984 singles
- The Cars songs
- Elektra Records singles
- MTV Video of the Year Award
- Song recordings produced by Ric Ocasek
- Song recordings produced by Robert John "Mutt" Lange
- Songs from Cars (franchise)
- Songs written by Ric Ocasek