Making Music Videos - Greg Hawkes, Keyboardist and co-founder, The Cars (1977 - 1987)
Greg Hawkes is the famed keyboardist and co-founder of The Cars (1977-1987), who helped define the sounds of the 80's with his signature keyboard style heard on The Cars' "Let's Go" and "Just What I Needed," as well as his arpeggiated and syncopated synth lines on "Shake it Up" and "Heartbeat City."
The Cars were pivotal in the shaping the genre of music videos - their best known videos You Might Think and Drive were both ground-breaking for their time, showing what could be done with music videos and just how important this could be in contributing to the success of a band. The video to You Might Think won the MTV music video of the year in 1984.
Watch the music video to You Might Think:
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoID=1242434569
Watch the music video to Drive:
http://www.casttv.com/video/xiisd/the-cars-drive-music-video
Greg's music took an exciting new direction in 2001 when his wife gave him a "Fluke" as a gift. He has been hooked on Ukulele ever since. "It made playing music fun again" he says.
Greg started collecting Ukuleles and getting involved in the ‘Uke' scene in and around Boston. Greg's experimental nature led him to try duplicating Beatles string parts on Ukulele. Longtime friend, Elliot Easton of the Cars, heard his Uke recording of "Eleanor Rigby" and suggested he send it to Dick Boak, Artist Relations, at The Martin Guitar Company for their "My Favorite Martin Series." Dick Boak loved it, and introduced him to James Jensen at Solid Air Records who suggested doing a whole CD of Beatles songs. Greg turned to friend and music producer Perry Geyer at Cybersound in Boston. Together, they produced 15 Beatles song instrumentals (over 45 minutes of music), using multi-tracked "UKEsymphonic" recordings to create a Ukulele orchestra style.
The release of The Beatles Uke CD (2008-Solid Air Records) - a cover of Greg's favorite Beatles classics - is timeless testimony to the inspiration and influence Paul McCartney and the Beatles have had on Greg's music and career. "They got me interested in music," Greg says. A Beatles concert in 1964 was the first concert he ever experienced.
