Among the many tributes to the late Ric Ocasek you'll see today (Sept. 16), this one from Blink-182's Mark Hoppus is among the more interesting. The vocalist revealed in a new posting that he once covered The Cars' "Just What I Needed" for a television show, but the brevity of the show's run kept it from ever surfacing.

In a posting about the song, Hoppus states, "A couple years ago, I was asked to record a creepy cover of 'Just What I Needed' for a TV show. They wanted moody and strange, dark and drony, with space for dialogue to go over it. I went into the studio with my friend James Ingram and this is what we came up with."

He continues, "The show was cancelled so quickly the episode never aired, but if you can imagine a grim and grizzled detective determinedly working a murder case that shook them to the very core of their being, this is the music the show requested. It’s been sitting on a hard drive ever since, and with the sad news of Ric Ocasek’s passing, I thought I’d put it up here. Enjoy it. And go listen to The Cars."

For fans of both Blink and The Cars, the cover may be a bit of a surprise as it's far from the upbeat original or Blink's typical sound. But with Hoppus' description, we can imagine the idea the show was going for.

As for Hoppus' suggestion, you can head over to Spotify to check out as much Cars music as you'd like today. You can also dig into Blink-182's catalog as well.

Mark Hoppus, "Just What I Needed"