The title is a play on the term “beat”, but also an homage to the 1950s poetry magazine Beatitude, which featured work by, among others Allen Ginsberg. The brave, experimental nature of his first solo album, since he wrote all The Cars songs, it would have been quite easy for Ocasek to keep in that creative vein, crank out a few more radio-friendly hits and bank all the proceeds for himself. Thankfully, this was not the path trodden. Wellllll, except for that lead-off single “Something To Grab For” is basically Cars-by-numbers (yes, Ric wants again wants something he can’t have!), save for the stop/start beat of the chorus, vaguely reminiscent of Panorama’s “Touch & Go”. Two more singles were released to try to shore up the project, . “Connect Up To Me” and “Jimmy Jimmy” was a departure, since it focused on someone other than the narrator (!), in this case the boredom of disaffected Reagan-era teens, with the line “Nobody’s Gettin’ Off” summing it all up. The electro-pulse of the track is quite different than the Cars sound, emphasizing the dancier aspects of the song.
01. Jimmy Jimmy (Ric Ocasek) - 4:57
02. Something to Grab For (Ric Ocasek) - 3:43
03. Prove (Ric Ocasek) - 3:56
04. I Can’t Wait (Ric Ocasek) - 3:43
05. Connect Up to Me (Ric Ocasek) - 7:37
06. A Quick One (Ric Ocasek) - 3:37
07. Out of Control (Ocasek, Greg Hawkes) - 4:41
08. Take a Walk (Ric Ocasek) - 4:38
09. Sneak Attack (Ric Ocasek) - 3:55
10. Time Bomb (Ric Ocasek) - 5:03
Credits
Ric Ocasek – vocals, guitar, keyboards
Jules Shear, Steve Cataldo, Antonio DePortago – vocals
Roger Greenawalt, Casey Lindström – guitar
Fuzzbee Morse – guitar, keyboards
Greg Hawkes – keyboards
Stephen Hague – keyboards
Akio Akashi, Darryl Jenifer – bass
Deric Dyer – saxophone
Stephen George, “Miss Linn” – drums
Notes
Released: December 30, 1982
Recorded at: Electric Lady Studios
Genre: Pop, Rock
Length: 45:50
Producer: Ric Ocasek
Engineer: Ian Taylor
Assistant Engineer: Walter Turbitt
Mastering: George Marino
© 1982 Geffen Records
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