The Knack

Los Angeles-based power pop quartet the Knack scored an indelible and enduring hit with their first single, the hormonally charged "My Sharona," in 1979, and struggled to live up to that initial success over the course of the next four decades. The Knack was forged in 1978 by the union of singer/guitarist Doug Fieger, who had recorded two albums with the band Sky as a teenager in his hometown of Oak Park, Michigan; Southern California-based drummer Bruce Gary, who had played with such veteran musicians as Albert Collins, Cream bassist Jack Bruce and former Rolling Stones guitarist Mick Taylor, all before his 25th birthday; guitarist/keyboardist Berton Averre; and bassist Prescott Niles. After relocating to Los Angeles, Fieger completed a brief run as a member of the Sunset Bombers before teaming with Averre and Gary to write songs and record demos. Among these efforts was an urgent paean to Fieger's 17-year-old girlfriend, Sharona Alperin; with the addition of a stuttering guitar line from Averre and Gary's insistent beat - which he acknowledged as a "rewrite" of the drum line from Smokey Robinson and the Miracles' "Going to a Go-Go" - the band had what would become its signature single, "My Sharona." The trio added Niles in June of 1978, three weeks before its first live performance in Los Angeles; positive response led to more shows on the fabled Sunset Strip, including live performances with Bruce Springsteen and Tom Petty, which in turn generated a fierce bidding war for the band's debut album. Capitol Records was ultimately chosen as the home base for the Knack, and the label issued its debut album, Get the Knack, in June of 1979. The album reached gold sales status in just 13 days and remained at the top of the Billboard 200 for more than five weeks, while its lead single, "My Sharona" - a near-perfect union of the "maximum R&B" sound of vintage acts like the Kinks and the Who and the more polished power-pop drive of the Raspberries - stayed at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 for more than six weeks and netted one of two Grammy nominations for the band that year (the other being Best New Artist). A second single, "Good Girls Don't," also performed well, reaching No. 11 on the U.S. Singles chart, but no sooner had the Knack risen to fame than they began to fall out of favor with listeners and critics. The band's refusal to do interviews proved calamitous for their image, and critics honed in on perceived issues of misogyny and sexism, especially in regard to the teenaged inspiration for "My Sharona." A "Knuke the Knack" campaign began to gain traction among rock and pop fans, and by the time the band had issued its second album, But the Little Girls Understand (1980), the Knack had been branded as passé. The LP reached gold sales status, but paled in comparison to the rabid reception for Get the Knack, while its lead single, "Baby Talks Dirty," barely cracked the Top 40. After a year of relentless touring, the Knack retired to the studio for a year to record its third album, but Round Trip (1981), was regarded as a considerable failure by only reaching No. 93 on the Billboard 200. After logging just a handful of live concerts - which featured a new member, keyboardist Phi Jost - to promote the new album, Fieger left the group in 1981. The remaining members attempted to soldier on with former Silverhead/Detective frontman Michael Des Barres, but the new lineup failed to gel, and by 1982, the Knack had called it quits. Fieger formed a new act, Doug Fieger's Taking Chances, and provided vocals for tracks by Was (Not Was), while Gary was a much in-demand session drummer for Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Harry Nilsson and others. In 1986, the Knack's original line-up -sans Bruce Gary, who was replaced by Pat Torpey and then Billy Ward - reunited to perform at a benefit concert. Response was positive - fueled in no small part by "Sharona's" enduring presence on radio as well as film soundtracks and rock compilations - and the band signed with Charisma Records to record Serious Fun (1991). But its lead single, "Rocket O'Fun," received only modest airplay, and when Charisma itself collapsed after the death of founder Tony Stratton-Smith, the Knack also came to a close for the second time. But the popularity of "My Sharona" refused to die, and Fieger, Averre, Niles and Ward reunited again in 1994 to capitalize on renewed interest in the song thanks to its return to the charts -at No. 93 - after its inclusion on the "Reality Bites" (1994) soundtrack. Various iterations of the Knack would remain active for the better part of the next decade, though the original line-up with Gary would briefly reunite to record a track for a Badfinger tribute album in 1996. Missing Persons/Frank Zappa drummer Dale Bozzio would join the act for its 1998 album Zoom, while Duane Leinan took over for Niles as bassist and David Henderson replaced Bozzio for 2001's Normal as the Next Guy and Live at the Rock N Roll Funhouse (2001). In 2006, Gary died from lymphoma at the age of 55, while that same year, Fieger became disoriented during a performance in Las Vegas and was subsequently diagnosed with brain tumors. He would continue to perform with the group in 2010, when he succumbed to brain and lung cancer at the age of 57. A collection of '70s demos by Fieger and Averre, titled Rock and Roll is Good for You, was issued in 2012. Averre returned to his second career as a composer and lyricist for various stage musicals, while Niles played for Missing Persons and Mike Pinera's Classic Rock All-Stars.