Customer Reviews

Get the Knack

5 star:		(37)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Very few people today really understand this album, despite the fact that it sold over 10 million copies world wide. The knock on The Knack, primarily came from high brow music critics who dismissed the band as pale imitations of other bands they were not like at all. They were written off one hit wonders, when in fact, their first two albums were full of catchy songs, and as overnight sensations, when in fact they were seasoned veterans, who had struggled for years in the moribund LA club scene of the post disco 1970's, and through hard work, had built a huge local audience based on their energizing live shows. They were ultimately signed after as many as thirteen record companies joined in a bidding war.

The first thing to understand about this album, is that it is for all intents and purposes, a recording of the band live. It was recorded in just eleven days at the staggering cost of just $17,000, which made it one of the most successful albums in history. With substantial airplay and heat around Good girls Don't and My Sharona, the album went gold in just 13 days. The Knack embarked on a sold out national tour where they rippped through the album night after night in a way that's only possible for bands who have honed their material through years of live performance. Less than 8 months later, they recorded their second album in two weeks, and it promptly went multi platinum.

With that kind of success comes an inevitable amount of envy and naysaying. For its critics, The Knack were second class musicians, aping other better bands, and marketing themselves as a latter day Fab four. What the critics never really understood, is that success of The Knack was base on their synthesis of LA's punk scene DIY ethos, 1960's Brit Rock, and American rockabilly. After years of Disco dominating the charts, the stripped down uptempo punch of this album cut through the airwaves like a knife. The Knack blazed a trail that the new wave rock bands of the 1980's followed to fame and fortune.

Lyricist Doug Fieger focused most of his songs on teen angst from the male point of view, and in doing so, he spoke directly to a huge under served teen audience, while at the same time, sewing the seeds of The Knacks demise. No self obsessed ink merchant would ever be able to preserve his or her dignity as long as The Knack was around, with their songs about unrequited teenage lust, embarrasment, sexual frustration, and heavy petting, as if the Knack had invented the topic.

The Knack were tirelessly hounded by the press, with a venom unrivaled until the Milli Vanilli fiasco. This war culminated with the inclusion of this album on Rolling Stone's infamous "Worst #1 Albums of all time List." Would it surprise anyone to find that "Get the Knack" came in on that list at #1?

The proof as they say, is in the Vinyl. Get the Knack is one of those albums that you can put on, and play all the way through. There's not a clunker in the bunch, and many of my favorite songs on the album were never singles, including "Your Number or your name", "Oh Tara", "Maybe tonight", "That's what the little girls do", and the riproaring closer "Frustrated". The Knack was in its day, one of those rare bands where what you got on record was exactly what you got live. Its long past due time this album regained the respect that it deserves.

I've seen several negative reviews of "Get the Knack" and I really have to wonder if those reviewers even have a clue as to what real "Rock N' Roll" is. There is certainly more to this album (and the Knack) than just My Sharona. Simply put, this album is PACKED with great songs and is one of the greatest Power Pop releases of all time.

The knack scored THREE top 40 hits plus another top ten AOR hit, so the term "one hit wonder" DOESN'T apply. But when you have a hit the size of "My Sharona", it's easy to understand why some people think ONLY of that song. Sharona is still one of the biggest selling singles in the HISTORY of rock and is also one of only TWELVE songs in the HISTORY of the charts to re-enter the hot 100 - more than a decade later!

Songs like "your number or your name", "oh Tara" and "maybe tonight" are pure power pop perfection. If you don't understand what the Knack ACCOMPLISHED with this album, you'll probably want to avoid buying anything by the Beatles or Kinks as well. The huge success of this album was well deserved and reviewers from the past or present can never take that away.

On the follow up release ("...but the little girls understand"), you'll find MANY more truly great songs by the Knack, including a great cover of the Kinks "the hard way" (arguably, even better than the original)!

"Round Trip" (the third album) suffers from a few duds, but I give the Knack credit for trying to move in a new direction and NOT simply deliver another "Sharona". Worth checking out!

I also highly recommend the DVD documentary "Getting the Knack", for those interested in gaining a bit more knowledge of this group.

If you like Rock'N Roll and don't own this CD.... you've got problems!

* Special Note *

Bruce Gary, The Knack's original drummer (on the first three albums) died of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma on August 22, 2006. He was a well respected drummer in the industry, playing with artists such as George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Stephen Stills, Jack Bruce, Albert Collins, John Lee Hooker, Randy Meisner, Robby Kreiger and many others. Fans of the Knack will never forget him! Our sincere condolences to his family!

Doug Fieger, the Knack's lead vocalist and primary song writer, lost his long battle with cancer on Valentine's Day (2-14-2010). Doug was a brilliant pop song writer, coming up with some of the finest PowerPop tunes of all time. You will be missed Doug!

-JM

What a pop time capsule THIS is! Crisply performed, energetic and slightly naughty, The Knack's debut took the world by storm. This was quickly followed by a backlash heretofore unseen in pop music...a widespread resentment of the band only because we liked them too much. They didn't molest any children. They didn't offend any racial groups. We just loved them, and then hated them because we felt stupid loving them.
That's a shame, 'cause this is timeless catchy pop rock that will outlive any "knuke the Knack" memories.
By the way, "My Sharona" is STILL one of the greatest mindless pop singles ever. Admit it. You know it. You love it. Get over it.

Wow.....The album that pretty much killed Disco. GET THE KNACK is an amazing album even without one of the Top 125 songs of all-time, MY SHARONA. This album speaks to teenage boy angst as much as any LP ever recorded. A traditional 4 piece unit with a sound that is pure club/bar band. No crazy studio effects here...only straight forward Rock n' Roll. The Knack's sound got compared to the Beatles largely due to the following three Pop Gems: "YOUR NUMBER OR YOUR NAME", "OH TARA", and "WHAT THE LITTLE GIRLS DO", all Beatlesque tunes driven by the rhythm section. The bass lines are great, the drumming right on, and the harmonies very familiar. But, then comes five more pop/rock gems that can only be called "Knackesque" all characterized by a driving beat, great drum and bass work, and Doug Fieger's perfect vocal delivery: "MY SHARONA" Classic! a driving, addictive beat that does not allow you to sit still, "GOOD GIRLS DON'T" perfect pop/rock. Naughty stuff by 1979 standards. Check out the lyrics on this one. "FRUSTRATED" MY SHARONA Junior, but, does not really take much of a back seat. The Title itself tells you what the song is about. "SELFISH (SHE'S SO)" one of the best songs about a stuck-up chick you'll ever hear. Love the teasingly long intro. "SIAMESE TWINS (THE MONKEY AND ME)" deviates from the LP's "guy wants chick, needs sex theme" by discussing...what else....drugs. Listen to the drums on this one! Fieger shows his sensitive side with "MAYBE TONIGHT" A cute, underrated gem. I always viewed "LET ME OUT" "LUCINDA" and "HEARTBEAT" as being listenable filler. So...what you've got is a vintage album of 12 songs that do not [stink]. That is about 12 more than anything you'll pick up today.

Despite those who think they're too "hip" to like the Knack, this group can play. Forget the reviewers claiming they're a bunch of no-talents. They obviously don't play an instrument or appreciate how much talent it takes to make music like this. The guitar solo on My Sharona alone is something few guitarists will ever match. This is great power pop that is easy to listen to yet rocks. It's fun music with some punch. It was fashionable to hate the Knack within a couple years of their debut, but you don't sell 6 million copies if you stink. I also enjoy more "cerebral" and critically acclaimed artists like Elvis Costello, Graham Parker, and XTC, so please, spare us the "they have no talent" stuff. They blow Elvis Costello away live. This was a concept album based on the viewpoint of a 16 year old boy and played in the style now referred to as "power pop" but which is really just early Beatles style rock and roll. So, of course the songs sound the same They're supposed to!

Ah...the Summer of '79. More than 25,000 punch-drunk baseball "fans" partake in the apocalyptic mayhem known as "Disco Demolition Night" at Chicago's Comiskey Park. Disco, the antithesis of rockers everywhere, dies a symbolic death in a fiery explosion that hot July evening. Meanwhile, the Knack's "My Sharona", a naughty, blistering ode to teenage sexuality, owns the # 1 spot atop the charts for weeks on end. Unbeknownst to anyone, the hands of time were cruelly ticking and the Knack's fifteen minutes were nearly over. Call it blind optimism, but we rampaging juveniles thought these guys would rule the universe forever.

Yes, Capitol Records shamelessly cashed in on the Beatlesque qualities of this energetic L.A. quartet and yes, it was all so brutally calculated. But, who really cares? And more more importantly, who really cared in 1979 when the only two pop records that mattered were "Get the Knack" and Cheap Trick's "Live at Budokan" ? We ate this stuff up. And for good reason. It rocked. It tugged at our hearts and stroked our raging teenage hormones. And most of all, it shredded everything else in that homogenus gutter known as Top 40. It was part punk, part Liverpool and for that one glorious Summer it was all ours. "Sharona" and "Good Girls Don't" were mega-hits, but every tune on the LP (as we called them back then) is pure killer power pop. The guitars slammed, the drums were punchier than a drunk brawler in a Sunset Strip bar and the hooks were unforgetable. "Oh, Tara", "That's What the Little Girls Do" and "Lucinda" were all catchy enough to have charted. Heck, they even pulled off a dynamite Buddy Holly cover with the infectious "Heartbeat".

Twenty years later, they're are plenty of gutsy, rockin' bands just like the Knack. Problem is, no one knows about them. Record companies won't touch 'em. No, they want serious stuff. You know, stuff like rap/metal, sappy singer songwriters and teenage creampuffs. Oh well, you can't beat 'em, so go ahead and get the Knack and rejoice in the pleasure that is/was rock-n-roll. They don't make them like this anymore!

Those who have only heared the hit singles "My Sharona" or "Good Girls Dont" are in for a real treat. The majority of The Knack's 1979 debut is equally as good. Simply the best power pop album ever recorded. Besides the singles, "Oh, Tara", "Your Number or Your Name", and "Frustrated" are standouts. Buy it...NOW!

As stated in my title I own at least 2000 CD's (I used to get them for free as a reviewer) and this is in my top 5. I really love this album. It is an amazing debut record up there with Boston's first album and The Beatles first.

And boy, was I stupid to wait so long. I was in high school when this gem came out and, of course, remember the hit, "My Sharona." Like a lot of people at the time, I was a bit put off by the hype around the band (compared, in every article of the time, it seemed, to the Beatles). So, I balked.

And now, 26 years later, I realize what a mistake I made in waiting. Re-issued with excellent sound, packaging and bonus tracks, this is the Cadillac Knack. The band never sounded as perfectly pop as they do on this initial release, as their sophomore jinx lasted the rest of their brief career. If you like shimmering pop with crunchy guitars and great harmonies, then please, Get the Knack.

Knuke The Knack and you wouldn't have the pop rock movement of the late 70s and early 80s. If The Knack didn't make it big, other bands such as The Romantics or 20/20 or Paul Collins Beat would be recording for minor labels.

Certainly like y'all I did buy the album for My Sharona, to which the album version had the cool jam that was left off the 45 (edited single versions are a ripoff). 26 years later, I bought the CD to remember what was lost in the album and what really stands out that some of the songs are very cutting and mean spirited stuff. Not that it matters. Capitol released Good Girls Don't, with altered lyrics at the bridge (the 45 version has the line when she's putting you in your place-the album version has When she's sitting on your face...OW). The single version did make the top thirty here, but had they put out the album version it probaly would have been banned. But it did tell a truthful story about teenage lust during our high school years.

Side one still rocks with lead off track Let Me Out and potential single Your Name And Your Number, to which Bruce Gary does a creditable Keith Moon style of drumming. And She's So Selfish, which has a Bo Diddley style of beats before they jam out at the end. Certainly reminded me of some of the girls that I knew at my high school (and I'm sure it does to you too).
And of course, there's Good Girls Don't.

Side two leads off with My Sharona to which it did spawn Weird Al to do a parody of that song, but does anybody remember Nine Coronas, a song to which you can hear on Dr Demento's radio show. Though nothing else comes close to that My Sharona, highlights are a faithful version of Heartbeat. And I suppose if you look at Get The Knack, you might consider it a concept album of sorts, with Doug Fieger's observation of being a teenager and never really getting any. Watch out for Lucinda, she's going to hurt you, That's What The Little Girls Do (break hearts) and leave you Frustrated which concludes the album. I'm sure that as long as My Sharona gets played on the radio, that Get The Knack will still be in print, even though the other Knack albums have fallen by the wayside. In the end, The Knack should be remembered as a pretty good pop-rock band, and when they broke big, the other major labels started to sign other Pop Rock bands. And the Knack recorded some decent pop albums of the 90s, one got issued on Rhino (Zoom).

But for a definite Best Of The Knack...it has always been Get The Knack.