Niagara Falls ~ Greg Hawkes

Niagara Falls is the first solo album released by Greg Hawkes, best known as an original member of the Cars. It was released in 1983 by Passport Records. Hawkes plays all instruments (with one exception—see below), with programmed drums and multiple layers of keyboard parts, as well as rhythm guitar. It was recorded at Syncro Sound, then The Cars's private recording studio. Tuneful and not overly experimental, it sounds (despite the instrumental nature of the material) very much like the Shake It Up era of The Cars.
"Jet Lag" and "Voyage Into Space" are the only tunes to feature lyrics: "Jet lag / It's a real drag" and "Voyage into space / Check out some other place"—sometimes processed through a vocoder. "Voyage Into Space" also features the artist's wife, Elaine Hawkes, on flute.
Hawkes would not release another solo album for 25 years. His second solo album, though also instrumental, was very different in sound than this, his first: The Beatles Uke (2005) featured Hawkes playing instrumental versions of Beatles songs on the ukulele.
Tracks:
1. Niagara Falls 00:00
2. Twenty-Seven Shirts 01:49
3. Ants in Your Pants 03:38
4. Llamas 07:34
5. The Missing Link 10:46
6. Block Party 14:34
7. Jet Lag 18:26
8. Beep Beep 21:24
9. Bee System 23:05
10. Voyage into Space 27:35
11. Let There Be Lights 31:13
12. Modern Lunch 35:08
13. Backseat Waltz 37:24