Greatest Hits (The Cars album)

Greatest Hits is a greatest hits album by American rock band the Cars, released on October 25, 1985, by Elektra Records. "Tonight She Comes", a previously unreleased song, and a remix of "I'm Not the One" were issued as singles to support the album. It was a commercial success, going six-times platinum.

Greatest Hits
Greatest hits album by the Cars
Released	October 25, 1985
Recorded	1978–1985
Genre	New wave pop rock power pop
Length	50:15
Label	Elektra
Producer	The Cars Robert John "Mutt" Lange Roy Thomas Baker Mike Shipley
The Cars chronology
Heartbeat City (1984) Greatest Hits (1985) Door to Door (1987)
Singles from Greatest Hits
"Tonight She Comes" Released: October 14, 1985 "I'm Not the One" Released: January 13, 1986

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[2]
Robert Christgau	A−[3]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[4]

Track listing

Side one

No.	Title	Original album	Length
1.	"Just What I Needed"	The Cars, 1978	3:43
2.	"Since You're Gone"	Shake It Up, 1981	3:31
3.	"You Might Think"	Heartbeat City, 1984	3:04
4.	"Good Times Roll"	The Cars	3:44
5.	"Touch and Go"	Panorama, 1980	4:54
6.	"Drive"	Heartbeat City	3:54

All tracks are written by Ric Ocasek.

Side two

No.	Title	Original album	Length
7.	"Tonight She Comes"	Previously unreleased	3:52
8.	"My Best Friend's Girl"	The Cars	3:44
9.	"Heartbeat City" (not included on vinyl release)	Heartbeat City	4:29
10.	"Let's Go"	Candy-O, 1979	3:33
11.	"I'm Not the One" (remix)	Shake It Up	4:07
12.	"Magic"	Heartbeat City	3:57
13.	"Shake It Up"	Shake It Up	3:32

Personnel

• Ric Ocasek – lead vocals, backing vocals on tracks 1, 6 and 10, rhythm guitar
• Benjamin Orr – bass, lead vocals on tracks 1, 6 and 10, backing vocals
• Greg Hawkes – keyboards, backing vocals
• Elliot Easton – lead guitar, backing vocals
• David Robinson – drums
• George Marino – mastering at Sterling Sound, NYC
• Steve Hoffman – remastering for DCC Compact Classics CD and LP reissues

Charts

Weekly charts 1985–1986 weekly chart performance for Greatest Hits Chart (1985–1986) Peak position Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[5] 3 Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[6] 21 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[7] 2 UK Albums (OCC)[8] 27 US Billboard 200[9] 12 2023 weekly chart performance for Greatest Hits Chart (2023) Peak position Hungarian Physical Albums (MAHASZ)[10] 34

Year-end charts 1985 year-end chart performance for Greatest Hits Chart (1985) Position Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[11] 99 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[12] 48 1986 year-end chart performance for Greatest Hits Chart (1986) Position Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[5] 13 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[13] 16 US Billboard 200[14] 53

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[15]	4× Platinum	280,000^
New Zealand (RMNZ)[16]	Platinum	15,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[17]	Gold	100,000^
United States (RIAA)[18]	6× Platinum	6,000,000^
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

1. Greatest Hits at AllMusic
2. Larkin, Colin (2011). "Cars". The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th concise ed.). Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-0-85712-595-8.
3. Robert Christgau review
4. Berger, Arion (2004). "The Cars". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The Rolling Stone Album Guide. Simon and Schuster. p. 141. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
5. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
6. "Top RPM Albums: Issue 0627". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved July 31, 2021.
7. "Charts.nz – The Cars – Greatest Hits". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 19, 2019.
8. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved September 19, 2019.
9. "The Cars Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved September 19, 2019.
10. "Album Top 40 slágerlista (fizikai hanghordozók) – 2023. 41. hét" (in Hungarian). MAHASZ. Retrieved October 18, 2023.
11. "RPM's Top 100 Albums of 1985". RPM. Vol. 43, no. 16. December 25, 1985. p. 14. ISSN 0033-7064 – via Library and Archives Canada.
12. "Top Selling Albums of 1985". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved July 31, 2021.
13. "Top Selling Albums of 1986". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved January 28, 2022.
14. "Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 1986". Billboard. Archived from the original on June 3, 2021. Retrieved July 31, 2021.
15. Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010 (PDF ed.). Mt Martha, Victoria, Australia: Moonlight Publishing. p. 25, 53.
16. "New Zealand album certifications – The Cars – Greatest Hits". Recorded Music NZ. November 24, 1985. Retrieved 2024-11-20.
17. "British album certifications – Cars – Cars Greatest Hits". British Phonographic Industry. October 21, 1986. Retrieved July 31, 2021.
18. "American album certifications – The Cars – Greatest Hits". Recording Industry Association of America. December 17, 2001. Retrieved July 31, 2021.