Just What I Needed - wikipedia Just What I Needed This article is about the song. For the compilation, see Just What I Needed : The Cars Anthology. `` Just What I Needed '' Single by The Cars from the album The Cars B - side `` I 'm in Touch with Your World '' Released May 29, 1978 ( 1978 - 05 - 29 ) Format 7 - inch single Recorded AIR Studios, London, February 1978 Genre Rock new wave power pop Length 3 : 44 Label Elektra 45491 Songwriter ( s ) Ric Ocasek Producer ( s ) Roy Thomas Baker The Cars singles chronology `` Just What I Needed '' ( 1978 ) `` My Best Friend 's Girl '' ( 1978 ) `` Just What I Needed '' ( 1978 ) `` My Best Friend 's Girl '' ( 1978 ) The Cars track listing 9 tracks Side one `` Good Times Roll '' `` My Best Friend 's Girl '' `` Just What I Needed '' `` I 'm in Touch with Your World '' `` Do n't Cha Stop '' Side two `` You 're All I 've Got Tonight '' `` Bye Bye Love '' `` Moving in Stereo '' `` All Mixed Up '' `` Just What I Needed '' is a song by American rock band the Cars, released as their debut single from their self - titled debut album, released in 1978 on Elektra Records. After achieving exposure as a demo, the song became a successful single for The Cars, hitting the top 30 in America. Appearing on numerous compilation albums, it has become one of the band 's most popular songs. Contents 1 Background 2 Release 3 Reception 4 Chart performance 4.1 Weekly charts 4.2 Year - end charts 5 References 6 External links Background `` Just What I Needed '', like many other tracks on The Cars, originated as a demo tape recorded by the band in 1977. This song first appeared in 1977 on Boston radio stations WCOZ and WBCN from the said demo tape, along with its future follow - up single `` My Best Friend 's Girl ''. Shortly thereafter, it became one of the stations ' most requested songs. The opening riff of `` Just What I Needed '' was borrowed from `` Yummy Yummy Yummy '', a song by the Ohio Express. It also features a prominent keyboard riff performed by Greg Hawkes. The song was sung by the Cars ' bassist Benjamin Orr. Release `` Just What I Needed '' was released as a single in 1978 prior to the release of The Cars, backed with `` I 'm in Touch with Your World ''. The song peaked at number 27 in the US and number 17 in the UK. It also reached # 38 in New Zealand. The single was the Cars ' most successful of the songs on The Cars in America, with follow - up singles `` My Best Friend 's Girl '' and `` Good Times Roll '' resulting in slightly worse chart positions. `` Just What I Needed '' appeared on multiple compilation albums, among them being Greatest Hits, Just What I Needed : The Cars Anthology, Shake It Up & Other Hits, Complete Greatest Hits, The Essentials, and Classic Tracks. It also appeared on the soundtracks for the films Over the Edge and 200 Cigarettes. Reception AllMusic reviewer Donald A. Guarisco praised it as `` a clever pop song '', commenting that `` Elliot Easton 's fiery guitar leads duel with Greg Hawkes ' icy synth lines over a throbbing pop / rock backbeat while Benjamin Orr lays down a fey, detached vocal that captures the sarcastic edge of the lyrics with skill. '' The song has a minimalistic power pop sound, although has been described as having a hard rock punch by Legends of Rock Guitar : The Essential Reference of Rock 's Greatest Guitarists when talking about the band 's lead guitarist Elliot Easton, and his notoriety as a rock guitarist. Chart performance This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. ( December 2017 ) Weekly charts Chart ( 1978 -- 79 ) Peak position Australia 96 Canada 35 France New Zealand 38 UK 17 Ireland 27 US Billboard Hot 100 27 U.S. Cash Box Top 100 24 Year - end charts Chart ( 1978 ) Rank U.S. ( Joel Whitburn 's Pop Annual ) 169 References ^ Jump up to : Milano, Brett. Just What I Needed : The Cars Anthology. Rhino. Jump up ^ Scott, Jane. `` The Cars take off fast in record derby '' The Plain Dealer June 9, 1978 : Friday 28 Jump up ^ `` Just What I Needed ''. Hung Medien. Archived from the original on 2014 - 05 - 01. Retrieved 2012 - 04 - 19. Jump up ^ Guarisco, Donald A. `` The Cars : Just What I Needed ''. AllMusic. Retrieved February 20, 2011. Jump up ^ Pete Prown, Harvey P. Newquist, Jon F. Eiche. `` The essential reference of rock 's greatest guitarists ''. Books.Google.com. Jump up ^ `` The Cars - Charts & Awards - Billboard Singles ''. AllMusic ( Rovi Corporation ). Retrieved 2009 - 11 - 04. Jump up ^ `` Archived copy ''. Archived from the original on 2015 - 01 - 18. Retrieved 2015 - 11 - 03. Jump up ^ Whitburn, Joel ( 1999 ). Pop Annual. Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin : Record Research Inc. ISBN 0 - 89820 - 142 - X. External links Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics The Cars Ric Ocasek Elliot Easton Greg Hawkes David Robinson Benjamin Orr Studio albums The Cars Candy - O Panorama Shake It Up Heartbeat City Door to Door Move Like This Compilations Greatest Hits Just What I Needed : The Cars Anthology Shake It Up & Other Hits Complete Greatest Hits The Essentials Classic Tracks The Elektra Years 1978 -- 1987 Singles `` Just What I Needed '' `` My Best Friend 's Girl '' `` Good Times Roll '' `` Let 's Go '' `` It 's All I Can Do '' `` Double Life '' `` Touch and Go '' `` Do n't Tell Me No '' `` Gimme Some Slack '' `` Shake It Up '' `` Since You 're Gone '' `` Victim of Love '' `` Think It Over '' ( UK only ) `` You Might Think '' `` Magic '' `` Drive '' `` Hello Again '' `` Why Ca n't I Have You '' `` Heartbeat City '' ( UK only ) `` Tonight She Comes '' `` I 'm Not the One '' `` You Are the Girl '' `` Strap Me In '' `` Coming Up You '' `` Sad Song '' Other songs `` I 'm in Touch with Your World '' `` Do n't Cha Stop '' `` You 're All I 've Got Tonight '' `` Bye Bye Love '' `` Moving in Stereo '' `` All Mixed Up '' `` Candy - O '' `` Night Spots '' `` Dangerous Type '' `` Panorama '' `` Cruiser '' `` Blue Tip '' Concert tours North American Tour Spring 2011 Related articles Discography Substitution Mass Confusion : A Tribute to The Cars The New Cars Todd Rundgren Kasim Sulton Atom Ellis Prairie Prince It 's Alive ! Utopia Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Just_What_I_Needed&oldid=816002907 '' Categories : The Cars songs 1978 songs 1978 singles Song recordings produced by Roy Thomas Baker Songs written by Ric Ocasek Elektra Records singles Debut singles Hidden categories : Music infoboxes with deprecated parameters Articles with hAudio microformats Articles needing additional references from December 2017 All articles needing additional references Talk Contents About Wikipedia Español Français Norsk Edit links This page was last edited on 18 December 2017, at 16 : 36. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution - ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia ® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization. About Wikipedia

Question: who sings just what i needed by the cars
Answer: Ric Ocasek