It was destined to become one of the big hit albums of 1978 - but the band had no real sense of its potential.
The Cars, a five-piece group from Boston, recorded their self-titled debut in London with English producer Roy Thomas Baker, best known for his work with Queen.
The Cars' album would go on to sell six million copies, powered by the hit singles Just What I Need (number 27 in the US, number 17 in the UK) and My Best Friend’s Girl (number 35 in the US, number three in the UK).
Amazingly, the album would also stay on the US Billboard 200 chart for 139 weeks.
But as the band’s lead guitarist Elliot Easton now tells MusicRadar: “We didn’t know what was going to happen.
“It was our first record. It was all brand new.
“We didn’t know if the record was going to be a hit or not. And I don’t think any of us thought in those terms.”
My Best Friend’s Girl, the second single off the album, was a perfect example of The Cars’ talent for new-wave-meets-pop mastery.
Like most of the band’s songs, it was written by Ric Ocasek, lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist.
But Easton’s twangy guitar playing was a key part of the song’s appeal - inspired, perhaps subliminally, by a deep cut off The Beatles’ White Album.
“I remember Ric bringing in a demo and presenting it to the band,” Easton says. “It didn’t have any parts yet, so I made a cassette out of our rehearsal and started thinking of parts.
“Nothing about it suggested rockabilly or Chet Atkins, but for some reason that’s what I heard.
“When I came up with the main hook of the song I realised that it was reminiscent of The Beatles' song I Will.
“But what I did wasn’t that static,” he explains. “The chords are going E, A, B, and I’m playing through E, C, F-sharp minor, and B-sharp minor, so it gives it a little melodic sense, and contour.
“So I was really happy with the chords, and next was the solo.
“I don’t know why, but for some reason, I heard it as a Telecaster song. I was playing it, came up with that little lick, and I knew it needed a solo.
“I’m very influenced by the West Coast [sound] and Bakersfield country [music], and I wanted to do that kind of solo. So, I just composed it bit by bit.”
He describes this process.
“I was like, ‘Okay, how am I going to start the solo?’ Then, I’d get to the next chord of the solo and just play something over that chord.
“I was moving between the chords, and basically the solo goes between A and B, and I’m playing it that way by walking between those two chords, playing different things.”
He remembers the band’s reaction to his input.
“When I had it all ready, at our next rehearsal, I came in, we played that song, and I played my new part, and all the guys had big smiles on their faces!
"They couldn’t believe what I’d done. It was so unexpected. They were really supportive and seemed to like it.”
Ultimately, My Best Friend’s Girl would become one of The Cars’ signature songs.
“We didn’t know if people would like it or not,” Easton says. “If people knew what a hit was going to be, they’d write a hit every time!
“That’s kind of the magic and the mystery of it all, like, ‘What’s a hit? What’s going to capture people’s imaginations?’
“It’s not always easy, and it’s not the sort of thing you can really predict. We just tried to do good work.”
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