In praise of The Knack (R.I.P., Doug Fieger)

[Bad Bishop]

Doug Fieger of The Knack passed away a few days ago at the age of 57 after a long battle with cancer. The American Spectator pays tribute to Fieger, The Knack and the song that made them famous. The article begins by describing the pop music scene in 1979, when everyone seemed to be on the disco bandwagon:

To the frustration of their hardcore fans, established rock acts adopted an if-you-can't-beat-'em-join-'em approach to prevailing trends. Rod Stewart found number one again with "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?," the most maligned rock crossover, rivaled only by Kiss's shameless 1979 hit "I Was Made for Loving You." Musical chameleons The Rolling Stones, who had earlier aped Gram Parsons on "Honky Tonk Woman" and T. Rex on "It's Only Rock ‘n' Roll," enjoyed their final stay at the top of the singles chart with 1978's disco-infused "Miss You." Incorporating a rollicking high-hat and tight, chicken-scratch chords ensured that Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)" enjoyed four weeks at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 in early 1980. Blondie, coming out of New York's punk scene, ironically lost little in street credibility when they hit #1 with the 1979 disco song "Heart of Glass."

Partly on the strength of the disco-drenched "(I Wish I Could Fly Like) Superman," The Kinks scored the highest charting studio album of their career with "Low Budget." ELO for all intents and purposes became a full-fledged disco act for several years. The disco-ball mesmerized Queen, David Bowie, and Roxy Music into embracing the latest musical fad.

[...]

So, in the summer of 1979, an oversaturated public was rife for a rebellion against the gods of pop culture. Aggressive shirts, boasting such slogans as "Disco Sucks" and "Death to Disco," began appearing on young inebriated mustachioed ruffians. On June 12, 1979, the pandemonium at Disco Demolition Night at standing-room-only Comiskey Park became so uncontrollable that the Chicago White Sox forfeited the second game of a double-header against the Detroit Tigers.

Riding this cultural tsunami, The Knack's "My Sharona" hit number one on August 25, 1979. It stayed there through September, making it Billboard's top song of 1979.

Outside of the context of the late 1970s, there is little remarkable about the song Doug Fieger sang and co-wrote. It offers an infectious bass line, a slightly less catchy guitar riff, and universally accessible lyrics about the pursuit of a pretty girl that together occasionally erupt in a saccharine power-pop crescendo ("My, My, My...Wooo!"). You could dance to it, just not in a leisure suit beneath a mirror ball amidst a cloud of amyl nitrate.

But in the context of the late 1970s, a lust song backed by simple guitar, bass, and drums stood out. The Knack eschewed not only the pretentiousness that led pop musicians to compose "rock operas" about King Arthur, but the amateurism that resulted in a "punk" movement of nasty untalented dilettantes more interested in insulting the mainstream than in producing listenable music. "My Sharona" was as much a rebellion against stale rock as it was against vapid disco. The Knack aimed for the mainstream that disco had captured and rock had abandoned. Capitol Records, which had marketed them as the next Beatles, was only too happy to aid The Knack in their commercial crusade to conquer the music world.

 

[Nerys Myk]

But the little girls understand.

 

[RJDiogenes]

RIP, Doug Fieger.

Memory plays tricks on you, I guess. I could have sworn "Good Girls Don't" came out before "My Sharona." Doesn't matter, both were a breath of fresh air in those horrible Disco days-- right between the prime time of mid-70s variety and the brief Renaissance of Top 40 brought on by the infusion of New Wave. I definitely remember The Knack being hailed as the new Beatles-- and then fading with barely a ripple when their second album came out (they should have learned with the Bay City Rollers).

Another member of my generation has passed on. The world, it turns and turns.

 

[J.T.B.]

Nice article, and I remember those days well, as a grade school kid beginning to put together my musical opinions. Disco dominated at the roller skating rink, but I recall distinctly how catchy "My Sharona" was, the skating kids all shouting "Woo!" along with the tune.

I would mention that the Knack wasn't alone in putting non-disco pop/rock on the charts around that time. The Cars' debut album came out earlier and had a string of unpretentious, catchy hits. Cheap Trick's brand of retro-ish pop had done pretty well, too, assisted by their eccentric looks. And Blondie, though their biggest hit was disco all the way, also had the punky "One Way or Another" on the charts that year, followed by the thundering power-pop blast of "Dreaming."

My respects for Mr. Fieger; even if other hits eluded him, his big single left many pleasant memories.

--Justin