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Greg Hawkes

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Greg Hawkes (born October 22, 1952[1]) is musician best known as the keyboardist for the New Wave group The Cars.

Hawkes, a native of Fulton, Maryland, attended Atholton High School where he played in a band called Teeth. He then attended Berklee College of Music for two years, majoring in composition and flute. He left to play in various bands, including Martin Mull and his Fabulous Furniture, where he played flute, saxophones and clarinet. He also played in a band called Richard and The Rabbits, which included future Cars bandmates Ric Ocasek and Benjamin Orr.

The Cars

Greg Hawkes' most notable involvement was with The Cars. Hawkes pushed the limits of available technology and sequencing helping to forge the sound of the 1980s. His signature sounds include the Prophet-5 "touch sync" sound heard on "Let's Go" and "Hello Again" as well as arpeggiated and syncopated synth lines such as on "Shake it Up" and "Heartbeat City".

Other

Hawkes also played with Ric Ocasek as a solo artist, often playing both keyboards and bass guitar. He also recorded a solo album, Niagara Falls, which was released in 1983. He also plays guitar, percussion instruments, saxophone, clarinet and ukulele. He recently came out with a solo album on the ukulele, The Beatles Uke.


Current

Hawkes lives in Lincoln, Massachusetts, where he works as a session musician. He was also a member of The New Cars[1], a quasi-reformation of The Cars also featuring original guitarist Elliot Easton. Filling in for other original Cars members are singer/guitarist Todd Rundgren, Utopia bassist/vocalist Kasim Sulton and former Tubes drummer Prairie Prince. Atom Ellis fills in at bass when Kasim is touring with Meatloaf. The band toured through the 2006–2007 season. A new live album with three studio tracks, It's Alive!, was released in June 2006.

Since 2001 Hawkes' has been playing and experimenting with the Ukulele.

Hawkes' ukulele renditions of The Cars songs can be heard here:

  1. "My Best Friend's Girl" ukuleledisco.com/bestgirl
  2. "Drive" ukuleledisco.com/drive
  3. "Tonight She Comes" ukuleledisco.com/shecomes
  4. "You Might Think" ukuleledisco.com/youmightthink

In 2008, Greg Hawkes[2] released “The Beatles Uke” CD (Solid Air Records), with instrumental versions of 15 Beatles classics (over 45 minutes of music) in what he calls a “UKEsymphonic” style, using multi-tracked recordings to create a ukulele orchestra. The CD is testimony to the influence that Paul McCartney and the Beatles have had on Hawkes’ music and career.


Recently Greg has been playing with The Turtles (starring Flo and Eddie),



Solo Album/Singles

  • Niagara Falls (1983 Passport Records)
  • "Jet Lag" (1983)
  • "The Beatles Uke" (2008 Solid Air Records)


References

  1. ^ http://bittersuiteband.com/music_birthdays-october.htm


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