C/D: The Knack: "Get The Knack"

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GET THE KNACK

A monster record that ranks up there with the most monumental debut records in rock history. The Knack, considered by many to be simply wankers who capitalized on sounding like someone else, created a set of tunes while they might not be timeless, they are undeniably tight and catchy as hell.

Also, the band didn't hide their influences. From the tongue-in-cheek cover parodying the Beatles to the Kinks, Monkees and Buddy Holly nuances throughout, I think it was pretty damn perfect.

The albums that followed were all good in different ways, but there was no following up their initial impact. A largely unheard record by the reunited band called "Serious Fun" was released in 1990 and produced by Don Was. It seemed to find a renewed Doug Fieger- Berton Averre creative pinnacle, but it was a bit too late.. Sharona had long moved on.

CLASSIC.

― ZionTrain, Thursday, 10 March 2005 21:28 (twenty years ago)

A monster record that ranks up there with the most monumental debut records in rock history.

A dubious claim, this.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Thursday, 10 March 2005 21:33 (twenty years ago)

Isn't this still the fifth biggest selling debut album of all time?

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Thursday, 10 March 2005 21:33 (twenty years ago)

"She's So Selfish", classic, try saying the title five times in a row really fast.

― dave q (listerine), Thursday, 10 March 2005 22:20 (twenty years ago)

The bridge in "My Sharona" is classic.

― ffirehorse (firehorse), Thursday, 10 March 2005 23:45 (twenty years ago)

Burton Averre is one of my favorite guitarists in rock and roll history!

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Thursday, 10 March 2005 23:49 (twenty years ago)

good, but not as good as STP core, purely on hit density.
very creepy cover photo bonus, though. diane arbus?

― fie sharona, Thursday, 10 March 2005 23:52 (twenty years ago)

good, but not as good as STP core

Has ILM completely lost its fuckin' marbles?

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Friday, 11 March 2005 00:18 (twenty years ago)

SOMEONE out there owns "...But the Little Girls Understand", right?

― Alfred Soto (Alfred Soto), Friday, 11 March 2005 00:31 (twenty years ago)

"Siamese Twins" is a good (if strange) song beyond the hits.

I had a tape dub of "...But The Little Girls Understand," which must be in the dictionary under "Sophomore Jinx." "Baby Talks Dirty" was a slightly more ribald "Sharona" rewrite.

― mike a, Friday, 11 March 2005 02:32 (twenty years ago)

C, C, a thousand times C. The ca. '97 reunion record _Zoom_ was much better than it had a right to be.

― Jeff Wright (JeffW1858), Friday, 11 March 2005 03:08 (twenty years ago)

Lucinda & Frustrated are two good tracks that I can remember from their debut. Yeah, I'll give it a C.

It's also good to see that Alex is feeling better.:)

― jim wentworth (wench), Friday, 11 March 2005 03:35 (twenty years ago)

Definite C. I'm partial to "Oh Tara" and "Your Number Or Your Name."

― John Fredland (jfredland), Friday, 11 March 2005 14:32 (twenty years ago)

The guitar solo in "My Sharona" is devastating!

― Brooker Buckingham (Brooker B), Friday, 11 March 2005 15:39 (twenty years ago)

Berton Averre is definately underrated as an guitarist. The "My Sharona" solo was flashy, and Averre sometimes was, but I feel he never came across as clumsy. Re-listen to tunes like "Let Me Out" and "Siamese Twins." Some real great playing there.

I'm actually surprised he never ended up guesting on people's records.
Is there truth to Averre's power riffage being sampled on Run DMC's "It's Tricky?"

― ZionTrain, Friday, 11 March 2005 23:02 (twenty years ago)

About ten times as good as *Nevermind* by Nirvana.

― xhuxk, Friday, 11 March 2005 23:03 (twenty years ago)

When I first got DirecTV, one of the free shows I got was a recentish (late 1990s) Knack live gig and I was surprised at just how good they were in it.

And for Cthulhu's sake people Get The Knack was produced by Mike Chapman - you can't get any better power pop bubblegum

― Elvis Telecom (Chris Barrus), Friday, 11 March 2005 23:13 (twenty years ago)

"Good Girls Don't" (the version w/ the dirty lyrics) is def. classic.

― Naive Teen Idol (Naive Teen Idol), Friday, 11 March 2005 23:14 (twenty years ago)

SOMEONE out there owns "...But the Little Girls Understand", right?

Had it on vinyl as a VERY wee'un, like age 5 or so. My memories of it are kinda fuzzy, but it explains my appreciation of tuneful guitar pop.

― Tantrum (Tantrum The Cat), Friday, 11 March 2005 23:39 (twenty years ago)

.. But The Little Girls Understand is solid and in retrospect, very smart. It wasn't broke. They didn't fix it. The cuts weren't AS strong but they were still pretty tight. (Check out "I Want Ya" and "Mr. Handleman") In retrospect it bought the band a bit more time to reap the tour revenues, dodge panties and catch room keys. By the time the Jack Douglas-produced "Round Trip" hit shelves in '81.... the original skematics were lost. No fix. How many bands have followed this same exact road map?

― ZionTrain, Saturday, 12 March 2005 01:27 (twenty years ago)

Has anyone ever noticed how the awesomeness of "Good Girls Don't" is not just its power pop awesomeness but the fact that it manages to be power pop awesomeness and A LITTLE BIT COUNTRY at the same time? It's got the harmonica part, low range guitar licks that are like George Harrison doing Buck Owens or something, and Fieger sings in the lower part of his register at points and with a country drawl!

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Tuesday, 15 March 2005 05:43 (twenty years ago)

One of the great "worst" LPs of all time, right alongside Bat Out Of Hell and Metal Machine Music and Attila. Way-sexist, true, but "What's wrong with bein' sexy?" "Good Girls Don't" and "Your Number Or Your Name" and "Oh Tara": power pop perfection. "Let Me Out": great Cheap Trick clone. "The Monkey And Me": just plain weird. Plus a uniquely dry live-in-the-studio sound and one great overlooked drummer in Bruce Gary. (And, yeah, the followup was pretty good too!)

― Myonga Von Bontee (Myonga Von Bontee), Tuesday, 15 March 2005 06:34 (twenty years ago)

two months pass...

So, after last night's pretty solid performance on NBC.. How poised is this for another reissue..

― ZionTrain (ZionTrain), Friday, 10 June 2005 17:29 (twenty years ago)

Dee to thread!

― Ian Riese-Moraine. Exposing ambitious careerists as charlatans since 1986. (East, Friday, 10 June 2005 18:34 (twenty years ago)

Classic, classic, classic.
(I don't think Dee comes over here)

― Orbit (Orbit), Saturday, 11 June 2005 02:06 (twenty years ago)

She did for the Hit Me Baby One More Time thread!

― Ian Riese-Moraine. Exposing ambitious careerists as charlatans since 1986. (East, Saturday, 11 June 2005 02:09 (twenty years ago)

hahaha!

― Orbit (Orbit), Saturday, 11 June 2005 02:09 (twenty years ago)

hey, how is that rubber city rebels lp produced by doug fieger?

― metal assembly (Jody Beth Rosen), Saturday, 11 June 2005 05:31 (twenty years ago)

Being a powerpop fan, I still feel like this is mostly a dud. A powerpop band needs good songs, and The Knack had maybe one ("Good Girls Don't"). Plus the fact that The Knack turned most people against a great genre of music makes them even more dud.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Saturday, 11 June 2005 20:56 (twenty years ago)

I wish I could go back in time and prevent this album being made. Hopefully it would involve shooting the band members.

― Sa, Sunday, 12 June 2005 03:34 (twenty years ago)

Geir, I'm surprised that you don't like "My Sharona," particularly for its structural aspects.

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Sunday, 12 June 2005 04:22 (twenty years ago)

"My Sharona" = repetitive, boring and harmonically uninteresting and oversimple.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Sunday, 12 June 2005 11:19 (twenty years ago)

No use for "Oh Tara" or "Your Number Or Your Name" either?

― Myonga Von Bontee (Myonga Von Bontee), Sunday, 12 June 2005 12:13 (twenty years ago)

I wish I could go back in time and prevent this album being made. Hopefully it would involve shooting the band members.

Bahahahahahahahahahahaha

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Sunday, 12 June 2005 16:49 (twenty years ago)

What If.....the Knack's debut Had Never Existed.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Sunday, 12 June 2005 17:07 (twenty years ago)

one year passes...

:-(

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 24 August 2006 13:14 (eighteen years ago)

...and the onslaught of '06 continues unabated, another good man down, damn. I've already mentioned how much I admired Bruce Gary's drumming on those first coupla Knack records (and elsewhere.) Nobody needs to be told how iconic that "My Sharona" intro is.

RIP

― M. Agony Von Bontee (M. Agony Von Bontee), Thursday, 24 August 2006 15:28 (eighteen years ago)

Neither C nor D, just a very solid power pop LP that aged surprisingly well once all the off-putting hype was forgotten. And yeah, that solo in "Sharona" (stupidly cut from the single) is one for the archives.

Sad about Bruce Gary indeed; he also did the A&R on a number of Hendrix comps MCA put out in the '90s ('Voodoo Soup,' 'Blues,' etc.). Didn't I recently hear that Doug Fieger is sick, too?

― Dan Heilman (The Deacon), Thursday, 24 August 2006 15:45 (eighteen years ago)

Didn't I recently hear that Doug Fieger is sick, too?

He just had two brain tumors removed, but he's doing fine.

― Elvis Telecom (Chris Barrus), Friday, 25 August 2006 05:16 (eighteen years ago)

R.I.P.

Good appreciation article in the Washington Post

― John Fredland (jfredland), Friday, 25 August 2006 23:26 (eighteen years ago)

three years pass...

His brother has announced that Doug Fieger has succumbed to cancer. Full statement from the family later today.

― Ned Raggett, Sunday, 14 February 2010 20:03 (fifteen years ago)

hey, how is that rubber city rebels lp produced by doug fieger?

Prior to the Knack, Fieger was in a band with Brandon Matheson of the RCR.

More info here: http://powerpopcriminals.blogspot.com/2010/02/sky-1970-1971-doug-fieger-i-grew-up-in.html (and d/l's of Fieger's previous bands).

I like this story:

Doug Fieger: "I grew up in Detroit, yeah. I had a band called Sky, which I have a funny story about. I wrote a letter to the producer of The Rolling Stones and Traffic and Blind Faith, a guy named Jimmy Miller, when I was in high school. I said if you're ever in Detroit, come and hear my band. He answered the letter and came to my house and signed us. A week after I graduated from high school, he took us to London and we recorded our first album. About six months later, he took us back and we recorded our second album and it was pretty great. That's how I got into show business. I was seventeen years old. That band broke up unfortunately and it took me a number of years before I put The Knack together."

― Elvis Telecom, Wednesday, 17 February 2010 20:53 (fifteen years ago)

two years pass...

>I like this story:

a different time, man

― Poliopolice, Friday, 30 November 2012 00:07 (twelve years ago)

five years pass...

On How quickly it fell apart.

― morning wood truancy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Sunday, 4 February 2018 04:32 (seven years ago)

six months pass...

Idk if I've ever listened to the whole album before, despite owning the LP for probably 18 years or so. It's really solid!

― No purposes. Sounds. (Sund4r), Friday, 10 August 2018 17:27 (six years ago)

My Sharona is a masterpiece

― Οὖτις, Friday, 10 August 2018 17:50 (six years ago)

It's kind of like a '70s "Crimson and Clover."

― timellison, Friday, 10 August 2018 17:51 (six years ago)

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