Artwork for the Cars' second album, Candy-O, by Alberto Vargas, the Peruvian-born artist who painted classic pin-up girls for Esquire and Playboy from the '40s through the '70s.

I'm breaking our no-weekend-posting rule because a song by The Cars is stuck in my head right now (I have no idea why) and I feel compelled to share:

The Cars "Let's Go" from Candy-O (1979, Elektra)

One time I was in Montreal on a press-check for the magazine I was working for at the time (that's where you go to the printer and look at proofs, and basically watch the magazine start to go through the press to make sure the color comes out right).[+] Ink and gigantic spools of blank paper
[+] Magazine pages transferred into film; printed pages going through the press

I was there for a couple days and then stayed for the weekend so I could cruise around and buy records. Montreal is always good for records — there's a whole store there that only sells French vinyl (sadly, no Cortex or Sun Palace — two French records that have been on my list forever — but I got a bunch of other stuff I was happy with). Anyway while I was driving around I heard an extended interview on the CBC about the recording of The Cars' first album (self-titled, 1978) and it kind of cemented in my mind that they were a band with great beginnings. They got sucky later and I hated those half-animated videos, but the early stuff is solid.

Anyway, now The Cars remind me of Montreal.