The Cars

In late 2004, The Cars hit song "Just What I Needed" was played in Circuit City television ads. Jacques Cousteau died on June 25, 1997, and is buried in the Cousteau family plot at Saint-André-de-Cubzac Cemetery, Saint-André-de-Cubzac, France. In the late 1990s, rumors circulated of a Cars reunion, but Orr's death of pancreatic cancer on October 3, 2000 put an end to them. Now Cousteau's figure is admired, beloved worldwide through the many who love the sea, and is regarded to with a sort of devotion, as symbolic of adventure, nature and exploration. The Cars announced the group's break-up in February 1988 (1988 in music). The documentary information found in Cousteau's words a linear scheme to follow. After the resulting period of superstardom, the Cars released their last album Door to Door in 1987, but it failed to approach the success of their previous albums. The so-called divulgationisme, a simple comprehensible form of sharing scientific concepts, was soon used for other disciplines too and became one of the most important and appreciated characteristics of modern TV broadcasting.

The bands hits dominated the charts for over nine years; their most successful albums were 1978's The Cars, which featured one of the most popular New Wave songs of all time in "Just What I Needed," and 1984's Heartbeat City, which included four Top 20 singles: "Magic," "Drive," "Heartbeat City," and "You Might Think," which also won the MTV Video of the Year Award (see 1984 in music). The works that Cousteau produced also created a new kind of scientific communication that caused some criticism by formal academics. While Elliot Easton could do the occasional guitar solo, The Cars' sound was defined much more by Greg Hawkes' synthesizers and the huge harmonies of Easton, Robinson, and Hawkes behind Orr's and Ocasek's lead vocals. His work allowed people of all continents to visit life under the ocean's surface and explore through television the resources of the "blue continent". The Cars successfully bridged the gap between the guitar-oriented rock of the 1970s and the synth-oriented pop of the early 1980s. He was in reality a sophisticated lover of nature, especially that of the sea. The nucleus of the group was composed of guitarists Ocasek and Orr. Cousteau liked to call himself an "oceanographic technician".

The band's members were Ric Ocasek (born Richard Otcasek), the band's principal songwriter, rhythm guitarist, and part-time lead singer; Benjamin Orr (born Benjamin Orzechowski), bassist and part-time lead singer; Elliot Easton, lead guitar and backing vocals; David Robinson, drums and backing vocals; and Greg Hawkes, keyboards, saxophone, guitar, and backing vocals. In 1992 he was invited to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, for the United Nations' international conference on environment and development, then he became a regular consultant the UN and the World Bank. They hailed from Boston, Massachusetts and were signed to Elektra Records in 1977 (1977 in music). Cousteau claimed to his death that Bouboushian died fighting the monster, though many have claimed that foul play and jealousy may have been involved. The Cars were an American New Wave band, one of the most popular to emerge out of the early punk scene in the late 1970s. The exact circumstance of his assistant's death remain a matter of controversy. Just What I Needed: The Cars Anthology (Rhino Records, 1995). He ended his attempts after Bouboushian's death.

Door to Door (Elektra, 1987). Together with his young assistant and alleged lover the Armenian émigré Hagop "Jack" Bouboushian, he conducted several dangerous dives, with the intention of photographing the monster. Greatest Hits (Elektra, 1985). In 1985 Cousteau surprised many with his attempts to find the Loch Ness monster. Heartbeat City (Elektra, 1984). In 1977, together with Peter Scott, he received the UN international environment prize, and a few years later he also received the American Liberty Medal from Jimmy Carter, then president of the United States. Shake It Up (Elektra, 1981). In 1974 he created the Cousteau Society for the protection of ocean life, which now has more than 300,000 members.

Panorama (Elektra, 1980). The French ambassador already had suggested that Prince Rainier avoid the subject, but the president (allegedly) asked Cousteau in a friendly manner to be kind toward nuclear researchers, and Cousteau (allegedly) replied: "No sir, it is your researchers that ought to be kind toward us." During this discussion Cousteau found out that the reason for French experiments and research was American refusal to share its atomic secrets with its allies. Candy-O (Elektra, 1979). In Monaco, the following November, an official visit by the French president Charles de Gaulle turned into a debate on the events of October 1960 and on nuclear experiments in general. The Cars (Elektra Records, 1978). The train carrying the waste was stopped by women and children sitting on the railway, and was sent back to its origin. The risk was avoided. Cousteau organized a publicity campaign which gained wide popular support.

In October 1960, a large amount of radioactive waste was going to be discarded in the sea by EURATOM. Cousteau's popularity was increasing. Cousteau was made director of the Oceanographic Museum of Monaco, created the Underseas Research Group in Toulon, was the leader of the Conshelf Saturation Dive Program (long-term immersion experiments, the first manned undersea colonies) and was one of the few foreigners that has been admitted to the American Academy of Sciences. The successful experiment was soon repeated in 1965 with two submarines that reached 500m.

Together with Jean Mollard he created the SP-350, an two-man submarine that could reach a depth of 350m below the ocean's surface. In 1963 with Jean de Wouters Cousteau developed the an underwater camera named "Calypso-Phot" which was later licensed to Nikon and became the "Calypso-Nikkor" and then the "Nikonos". His work did a great deal to popularize knowledge of underwater biology. Cousteau won three Oscars for The Silent World, The Golden Fish and World Without Sun, as well as many other top awards including the Palme d'Or in 1956 at the Cannes Film Festival.

During these trips he produced many books and films. Named the president of the French Oceanographic Campaigns, in 1950 he bought his famous ship Calypso, with which he visited the most interesting waters of the planet, including some rivers. In the post-WWII years, still a naval officer, he developed techniques for the minesweeping of France's harbors and explored shipwrecks. Among the things that prompted him to develop efficient air-breathing diving free-swimming diving gear, were two oxygen toxicity accidents that he had earlier with rebreathers.

Married in 1937 to Simone Melchior, he took part in WWII, and during the conflict he found the time to be co-inventor, with Emile Gagnan, of the first type of SCUBA diving equipment, the Aqua-Lung in 1943. In 1936 he tested a model of underwater eyeglasses, perhaps the ancestors of modern masks. He was training to become a pilot, but a serious car accident ended his aviation career. In 1930 he was admitted to the École Navale (Naval Academy) in Brest and became a gunnery officer of the French Navy, which gave him the opportunity to make his first underwater experiments.

Cousteau is generally known in France as le commandant Cousteau (Commander Cousteau). Cousteau was born in Saint André de Cubzac, France and died in Paris. Jacques-Yves Cousteau (June 11, 1910 - June 25, 1997) was a French naval officer, explorer and researcher who studied the sea and all forms of life in water.