Unlike drummer David Robinson, The Cars' frontman, Ric Ocasek, is sure that all the members of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's Class of 2018 are worthy of induction.
He tells Rolling Stone, "I'm a fan of The Moody Blues. I also like Dire Straits. All the bands that got in are definitely worthy of getting in. If you were asking me what music I'd listen to out of those, the ones I'd listen to most would be The Moody Blues since I remember them from the 1960s."
And unlike Jon Bon Jovi, who felt his band should have been inducted back in 2009, Ocasek is humbled by the honor. "I don't know if every band thinks they'd like to be in it... I kind of used to think we were a pretty good candidate. It wasn't until a few years ago when we first got nominated that I thought, 'Wow, we kind of are a candidate.' The first year I was very apprehensive about it, whether we'd get in or not, and we didn't. The second year I pretty much ignored it. This year I was ignoring it as well, so it was kind of a surprise we got in. There were a lot of bands on the list to get in that didn't get in."
Asked if it will lead to another reunion, he says, "Maybe this will be a good reason to do it again, though I really miss [late bassist] Ben [Orr] as part of the thing. As much as I want it to be The Cars and I love everyone so much in The Cars, without him it just feels different." But he does believe that bringing it to an end at the ceremony in Cleveland would be a fitting way to wrap it up. "This could be the bookends. One guy on a guitar playing bad songs and then I'm in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 45 years later."
Ocasek expects the band will perform at the ceremony on April 14th.