Ric Ocasek, the pop genius who wrote a string of hits for The Cars, the legendary new-wave act he fronted and played guitar for through the late 1970s through the late ’80s, was found dead in his New York City apartment, according to multiple news reports. He was 75.

Record Rack: A round-up of the week’s new albums, expanded reissues and/or box sets, appearing each Monday on Slicing Up Eyeballs. All releases due out this Friday unless noted. This week’s releases include titles from The Cars, The Mission, The Damned and The Essence. Full details here.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame today announced its class of 2018, a list that includes third-time nominees The Cars alongside Bon Jovi, Dire Straits, The Moody Blues and Nina Simone. Additionally, Sister Rosetta Tharpe will receive the Award for Early Influence. Not making the cut this year? Kate Bush, Depeche Mode and Eurythmics.

Kate Bush, Depeche Mode, Eurythmics and The Cars are among the acts scoring nominations to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this week, joining a roster of potential inductees that also includes Radiohead, MC5, Nina Simone, Bon Jovi and Rage Against the Machine. See the full list of nominations here.

Record Rack: A round-up of the week’s new albums, expanded reissues and/or box sets, appearing each Monday on Slicing Up Eyeballs. All releases due out this Friday unless noted. This week’s releases include titles from Pet Shop Boys, Bronski Beat, Howard Jones, The Cars, James and more.

Rhino Records this summer will reissue The Cars’ second and third albums — 1979’s Candy-O and 1980’s Panorama — in expanded editions featuring audio remastered under bandleader Ric Ocasek’s supervision and previously unreleased tracks and mixes from those records’ sessions.

New Wave powerhouse The Cars will issue the previously unreleased 13-song in-concert set Live at the Agora 1978 on a double LP for Record Store Day next month, collecting hits like “Good Times Roll,” “Moving in Stereo” and “My Best Friend’s Girl” on three sides, with a custom “tire tread” etching on the fourth side.

Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak is helping make a feature-length documentary about the so-called ‘Woodstock of the ’80s’ — the 1982 US Festival, which featured Talking Heads, Oingo Boingo, The B-52s, The Cars, Ramones, Gang of Four and more — to be released this Labor Day weekend on the event’s 30th anniversary.

As 2011 quickly winds to an end, we’re happy to roll out our fourth and final days’ worth of results from our second-annual Slicing Up Eyeballs Readers Poll, in which nearly 500 of you cast ballots for your favorite music of the year. Today, we bring you the big one: The best albums of 2011.

Today we roll out the third of four days’ worth of results from our second-annual Slicing Up Eyeballs Readers Poll, in which nearly 500 of you cast ballots for your favorite new, reissued and freshly compiled music of the year. This time, it’s your Top 10 singles of the year.

This week’s headlines on Slicing Up Eyeballs included news of a new Kate Bush album, tour dates from X and Dinosaur Jr, new music from Simple Minds, INXS and The Waterboys, and a very cool contest for fans of The Smiths.

Reunited New Wave legends The Cars this week debuted a new music video for ‘Free,’ off their comeback album ‘Move Like This.’ Watch it right here.

Our partners at GroopEase are giving away two pairs of three-day passes along with $500 cash to see The Cars, Big Audio Dynamite, Foo Fighters and more at the massive Lollapalooza festival in Chicago’s Grant Park on Aug. 5-7.