OMMA Catalogue Number

OMMA-0144

Artist

The Cars

Title

“Just What I Needed / I’m in Touch with Your World”

Release Details

Issued in the U.S. by Elektra 29 May 1978 as a 7-inch single (E-45491) shortly before the band’s blockbuster self-titled debut album. Side A contains “Just What I Needed”; Side B contains “I’m in Touch with Your World.”

Edition & Variant Identification

Speciality Records Co. test pressing of The Cars’ debut single, catalogue number E-45491. The same catalogue number was used for a radio promo that featured “Just What I Needed” on both sides. OMMA’s test pressing follows the two-song commercial configuration.

Matrix & Pressing Data

Side A Runout:1-1 SRC ES-45491-ASP STERLING

Side B Runout:1-1 SRC ES-45491-BSP STERLING

Physical Description

Seven-inch black-vinyl 45 rpm record with Specialty Records Corporation factory test labels. Handwritten notes in red ballpoint ink on the A-side label designate the band name, the account (“Elek,” short for Elektra), and other identifying information. The B-side label only has the letters ESB in the same ink and hand, written on the matrix number line.  

Condition Report

A Near Mint pressing with shiny vinyl that shows little to no wear and intact test pressing labels that also show little wear.

Provenance

Acquired from Barry Wickham Rare Records (Discogs seller: bwrr) on 21 August 2026.

Market Context & Historical Notes

In 1977, Cars frontman Ric Ocasek passed the band’s demo tape to local DJs in the Boston area, which inspired tastemakers like WBCN DJ Maxanne Sartori to put the record in heavy rotation. The song became a listener favorite and was spun enough to make national tip sheets. Major labels such as Arista and Elektra took notice and made offers, with Arista landing the deal.

Arista quickly sent the band to record in London with producer Roy Thomas Baker, and the resulting single encapsulated the sound that would lift The Cars to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Featuring Ric Ocasek’s clipped songwriting, Benjamin Orr’s cool lead vocal, Elliot Easton’s precise guitar, Greg Hawkes’s synthesizer, and David Robinson’s percussion, the single merged new-wave electronic sound with American pop and nods toward classic rock. This song and the band’s later work would create a bridge between late-1970s art-rock and ’80s arena bands, establishing an approach that would shape power pop, alternative rock, and the MTV era.

“Just What I Needed” peaked at No. 27 on the Billboard charts, but the song has been exceptionally enduring. The Killers’ lead singer Brandon Flowers credited this very song for inspiring him to become a musician and the song can be found on lists of the best classic rock songs in history. The Cars’ self-titled debut album that this single introduced was eventually certified six-times platinum before being inducted into the Library of Congress’s National Recording Registry in 2024.

Canonical Status in OMMA

Although various band members had recordings prior to the foundation of The Cars, most notably Ocasek and Orr who were part of the folk-rock trio Milkwood, OMMA recognizes this test pressing of “Just What I Needed / I’m in Touch with Your World” as the commercial origin object for the band as a whole.

References and Source Documentation

Discogs, “The Cars – Just What I Needed” — test pressing release entry.

Rhino, “The Cars – The Cars”.

Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, “The Cars”.

Music Museum of New England, “The Cars”.

Classic Rock, “The Stellar Rise and Sudden Fall of The Cars, the New Wave Band Who Soundtracked America”.