“After every take, Mutt would say, ‘Check the tuning, man!’ This went on and on for almost a year. One day, I just gave him the guitar and said, ‘You tune it. I can’t take this anymore!’”: How legendary producer Mutt Lange drove the Cars half-mad

The Cars.

PRODUCER WEEK 2025: When Elliot Easton, former guitarist for the Cars, looks back on the album the band made with producer Mutt Lange in the early ’80s, he says with a wry smile: “There was some friction there.”

The album was Heartbeat City, released in 1984, and featuring the band’s biggest hit, Drive.