The Knack
Encyclopedia
The Knack was an American New Wave
rock quartet based in Los Angeles that rose to fame with their first single, "My Sharona
", an international number one hit in 1979.
was a native of Oak Park, Michigan
, a northern suburb of Detroit, Michigan
, and grew up in the 9 Mile/Coolidge area. The brother of attorney Geoffrey Fieger
, best known for representing Dr. Jack Kevorkian
in a series of assisted suicide cases, Fieger had previously played in an eclectic rock band called Sky
as well as the Sunset Bombers. Although Sky had received a modest amount of acclaim, including being produced by Rolling Stones producer Jimmy Miller, the band broke up without having any chart success. As a result, Fieger made the decision to move to Los Angeles and start another band.
Fieger met the three other original members of The Knack in 1977 and 1978: Berton Averre
(lead guitar, backing vocals and keyboards), Prescott Niles
(bass), and Bruce Gary
(drums). Niles was the last to join, a week before the band's first show in June 1978. In the meantime, Fieger had been doubling on bass on a series of demos that the group had shopped to several record labels, all of which were rejected. Ironically, these were the same songs that would later make up the band's debut album Get The Knack
, and included "My Sharona
".
, Tom Petty
and Ray Manzarek
, led the band to be highly prized in a record label bidding war (Bruce Gary was well known in the LA session scene, this would become a source for later tensions). They ultimately signed to Capitol Records, the same label that released the Beatles' records in the United States, which later became problematic.
The band's debut album, Get The Knack
, was one of the year's biggest albums, holding the number one spot on Billboard magazine's album chart for five consecutive weeks and selling two million copies in the United States. Lead single "My Sharona" was a No.1 hit in the US, and became the number one song of 1979. Follow-up single "Good Girls Don't
" peaked at #11.
However, the band's meteoric rise to the top of the charts also precipitated a backlash. Capitol's packaging of Get The Knack, included a perceived cover likeness to Meet The Beatles, and the record's center label being the same design and style as The Beatles' early 1960s LPs. Coupled with the band's "retro" 1960s look and pop/rock sound, the company's stylings led detractors to accuse them of being Beatles rip-offs, which the band and their record company vehemently denied. Nonetheless, this perception, as well the acknowledgment that the object of some of the Knack's songs were teenaged girls, when the band were years older, quickly led to a "Knuke the Knack" campaign led by San Francisco artist Hugh Brown.
Furthermore, when the band's management told Fieger to avoid giving interviews, the band was perceived as being arrogant and snobbish, as well as being unable to address the negative criticism against them.
, which was released in early 1980. Though the album went gold in the US and Japan, and platinum in Canada, it didn't meet with the same level of commercial success as their debut. Fieger claimed in later interviews that all of the tracks for Get the Knack and ...But the Little Girls Understand
were written before the first LP was recorded and were intended to be put out as a double album. Additionally, the lead single "Baby Talks Dirty
" only briefly made the US Top 40, stalling at #38; follow-up single "Can't Put a Price on Love
" missed the top 40 altogether, peaking at #62.
After nearly a year of relentless touring in the US, Canada, Europe, New Zealand, Australia, and Japan, starting in April 1980 the band took a year off because of exhaustion and "internal dissent". They reconvened in the summer of 1981 to record their third album, Round Trip. However, the record (which came out in October 1981) was a serious commercial disappointment, only reaching No.93 on the US charts, selling a mere 150,000 copies. As well, lead single "Pay The Devil" topped out at a mere No.67 on the Billboard Hot 100. The group made several concert appearances during 1981 to promote Round Trip. Keyboardist Phil Jost was brought into the lineup at this time to enable the band to duplicate the more heavily layered sound of their new release.
With The Knack experiencing rapidly diminishing chart success, and mounting critical backlash against them Fieger left amidst internal squabbles on December 31, 1981, mere months after the release of Round Trip. The band rehearsed briefly with Michael Des Barres
as their new frontman in early 1982, but this line-up never gigged or recorded. By mid-1982, The Knack had splintered for good.
of Mr. Big
).
In 1998- 2010, Duane Leinan played bass guitar in the studio and on tour with the band tell Dougs passing on February 14 and Duanes dad Ron Leinan on the 28 of February 2010.
In 1990 The Knack signed with Charisma Records and recorded the album Serious Fun
which was released in February 1991. Lead single "Rocket O' Love" was a top 10 hit on US AOR stations. To promote the song, they released a music video loaded with visual innuendo thematic to the song. Charisma collapsed after the death of the label's founder, Tony Stratton-Smith
, and the group broke up again in 1992.
In 1994, with Ward back on drums, the band reunited to make some concert appearances to captilize on "My Sharona"'s new popularity after its appearance in the movie Reality Bites
.
In 1996 all four original band members, including Bruce Gary, reunited in the studio one last time to record a track for a multi-artist compilation album
saluting the British band Badfinger
(where the band covered Badfinger's hit "No Matter What").
The Knack continued on in 1997 as a touring and recording act through the late 1990s and into the 2000s. Terry Bozzio
replaced Ward as drummer for 1998's Zoom album, and David Henderson (as "Holmes Jones") took over on drums for 2001's Normal as the Next Guy and Live at the Rock N Roll Funhouse albums. Pat Torpey then returned to take over for Henderson and played with the group until Fieger's death in 2010.
In 2005 The Knack made an appearance on the TV program Hit Me, Baby, One More Time.
In 2006, Doug Fieger and Berton Averre filed a lawsuit against the rap music group Run–D.M.C. for copyright infringement. The lawsuit alleges that the defining guitar riff from "My Sharona" was used without permission in the Run-D.M.C. track "It's Tricky
" from their 1986 album Raising Hell.
In 2006, during a performance in Las Vegas, Fieger became disoriented, developing a dull headache, and grasping for the words to the songs that he had written and performed for years. Diagnosed with two brain tumors, Fieger underwent surgery and radiosurgery and returned to performing. However, he still continued to battle brain and lung cancer until his death on February 14, 2010, in Woodland Hills, California, at the age of 57.
. (Fieger had grown up with band member Don Was
; Was would later produce the Knack's album Serious Fun.) Fieger also recorded a solo album in 2000, and appeared as a solo artist in the Countdown Spectacular
2 concert series in Australia between late-August and early-September 2007. He sang The Knack favourite "My Sharona
" only. Averre, Niles and Gary briefly continued on with former RoadMaster vocalist Stephen 'Mac' McNally as "The Game" after the Knack's initial break up.
Bruce Gary
became a respected producer (archive recordings of Jimi Hendrix
and new recordings of The Ventures
) and a very successful sideman performing live and on studio sessions with artists such as Jack Bruce
, Mick Taylor
, Bob Dylan
, George Harrison
, Cherie Currie
, Robby Krieger
, Spencer Davis
, Stephen Stills
, Rod Stewart
, Emmett Chapman
, and Sheryl Crow
. He died from lymphoma
on August 22, 2006 at the age of 55.
Live album released on CD and DVD
Live concert released on laserdisc
Live concert released on DVD
Compilation albums
Documentary DVD
Singles
New Wave music
New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...
rock quartet based in Los Angeles that rose to fame with their first single, "My Sharona
My Sharona
"My Sharona" is the debut single by The Knack, released in 1979 from their album Get the Knack. It reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart where it remained for six weeks and was #1 on Billboards Top Pop Singles of 1979 year-end chart. It was certified gold by the Recording Industry...
", an international number one hit in 1979.
Founding (1977–1978)
Singer Doug FiegerDoug Fieger
Douglas Lars "Doug" Fieger was an American singer-songwriter-musician. He was the lead singer of the power pop band The Knack, and co-wrote "My Sharona", the biggest hit song of 1979 in the USA, with lead guitarist, Berton Averre.-Life and career:Fieger's father was Jewish, and his mother of...
was a native of Oak Park, Michigan
Oak Park, Michigan
As of the census of 2000, there were 29,793 people, 11,104 households, and 7,595 families residing in the city. The population density was 5,863.8 persons per square mile . There were 11,370 housing units at an average density of 2,263.9 per square mile...
, a northern suburb of Detroit, Michigan
Detroit, Michigan
Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...
, and grew up in the 9 Mile/Coolidge area. The brother of attorney Geoffrey Fieger
Geoffrey Fieger
Geoffrey Fieger is an American attorney based in Southfield, Michigan. Fieger is the senior partner at the law firm of Fieger, Fieger, Kenney, Johnson & Giroux and is an occasional legal commentator for NBC and MSNBC...
, best known for representing Dr. Jack Kevorkian
Jack Kevorkian
Jacob "Jack" Kevorkian , commonly known as "Dr. Death", was an American pathologist, euthanasia activist, painter, composer and instrumentalist. He is best known for publicly championing a terminal patient's right to die via physician-assisted suicide; he said he assisted at least 130 patients to...
in a series of assisted suicide cases, Fieger had previously played in an eclectic rock band called Sky
Sky (US band)
Sky was an American rock power trio active in the early 1970s, based out of Detroit, Michigan. It released two albums with RCA before breaking up in 1973. It's mostly known today as an early point in musician Doug Fieger's career, later the frontman of The Knack.-History:The group started out as...
as well as the Sunset Bombers. Although Sky had received a modest amount of acclaim, including being produced by Rolling Stones producer Jimmy Miller, the band broke up without having any chart success. As a result, Fieger made the decision to move to Los Angeles and start another band.
Fieger met the three other original members of The Knack in 1977 and 1978: Berton Averre
Berton Averre
Berton Averre is the guitarist with the Los Angeles rock band The Knack. They had a #6 UK/#1 US hit with "My Sharona", which sold 10 million copies in the US...
(lead guitar, backing vocals and keyboards), Prescott Niles
Prescott Niles
Prescott Niles is an American rock bassist. He is best known as bassist with The Knack, who had a #1 US/#6 UK hit with My Sharona.-References:...
(bass), and Bruce Gary
Bruce Gary
Bruce Gary was best known as the drummer for the music group The Knack. He was nominated for two Grammy Awards as a stage performer, producer, and recording artist....
(drums). Niles was the last to join, a week before the band's first show in June 1978. In the meantime, Fieger had been doubling on bass on a series of demos that the group had shopped to several record labels, all of which were rejected. Ironically, these were the same songs that would later make up the band's debut album Get The Knack
Get the Knack
Get Knack is the debut album by The Knack, released in June 1979. The album was the fasting-selling debut album on Capitol Records since Meet the Beatles in 1964. It went platinum in just two months and spent five weeks at #1 on the Billboard 200 album chart...
, and included "My Sharona
My Sharona
"My Sharona" is the debut single by The Knack, released in 1979 from their album Get the Knack. It reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart where it remained for six weeks and was #1 on Billboards Top Pop Singles of 1979 year-end chart. It was certified gold by the Recording Industry...
".
Get The Knack and instant stardom (1979)
Within months of their live debut, popular club gigs on the Sunset Strip, as well as guest jams with musicians such as Bruce SpringsteenBruce Springsteen
Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen , nicknamed "The Boss," is an American singer-songwriter who records and tours with the E Street Band...
, Tom Petty
Tom Petty
Thomas Earl "Tom" Petty is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He is the frontman of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and was a founding member of the late 1980s supergroup Traveling Wilburys and Mudcrutch. He has also performed under the pseudonyms of Charlie T...
and Ray Manzarek
Ray Manzarek
Raymond Daniel Manzarek, Jr., better known as Ray Manzarek , is an American musician, singer, producer, film director, writer, co-founder and keyboardist of The Doors from 1965 to 1973, Nite City from 1977–1978 and Manzarek-Krieger since 2001.Manzarek is listed #4 on Digital Dreamdoor's "100...
, led the band to be highly prized in a record label bidding war (Bruce Gary was well known in the LA session scene, this would become a source for later tensions). They ultimately signed to Capitol Records, the same label that released the Beatles' records in the United States, which later became problematic.
The band's debut album, Get The Knack
Get the Knack
Get Knack is the debut album by The Knack, released in June 1979. The album was the fasting-selling debut album on Capitol Records since Meet the Beatles in 1964. It went platinum in just two months and spent five weeks at #1 on the Billboard 200 album chart...
, was one of the year's biggest albums, holding the number one spot on Billboard magazine's album chart for five consecutive weeks and selling two million copies in the United States. Lead single "My Sharona" was a No.1 hit in the US, and became the number one song of 1979. Follow-up single "Good Girls Don't
Good Girls Don't (song)
"Good Girls Don't" is a 1979 hit single written by Doug Fieger and released by the rock band The Knack, off their album Get the Knack. It was the follow-up to the group's No. 1 single, "My Sharona." It reached #11 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and #66 on the British charts. It also reached #20...
" peaked at #11.
However, the band's meteoric rise to the top of the charts also precipitated a backlash. Capitol's packaging of Get The Knack, included a perceived cover likeness to Meet The Beatles, and the record's center label being the same design and style as The Beatles' early 1960s LPs. Coupled with the band's "retro" 1960s look and pop/rock sound, the company's stylings led detractors to accuse them of being Beatles rip-offs, which the band and their record company vehemently denied. Nonetheless, this perception, as well the acknowledgment that the object of some of the Knack's songs were teenaged girls, when the band were years older, quickly led to a "Knuke the Knack" campaign led by San Francisco artist Hugh Brown.
Furthermore, when the band's management told Fieger to avoid giving interviews, the band was perceived as being arrogant and snobbish, as well as being unable to address the negative criticism against them.
The follow-up albums (1980–1981)
The Knack quickly recorded a follow-up album ...But the Little Girls Understand...But the Little Girls Understand
...But the Little Girls Understand is an album by power pop/new wave group The Knack released by Capitol Records in February 1980. The album reached the number 15 spot on the Billboard 200 album chart in 1980. The singles "Baby Talks Dirty" and "Can't Put a Price on Love" both charted on the...
, which was released in early 1980. Though the album went gold in the US and Japan, and platinum in Canada, it didn't meet with the same level of commercial success as their debut. Fieger claimed in later interviews that all of the tracks for Get the Knack and ...But the Little Girls Understand
...But the Little Girls Understand
...But the Little Girls Understand is an album by power pop/new wave group The Knack released by Capitol Records in February 1980. The album reached the number 15 spot on the Billboard 200 album chart in 1980. The singles "Baby Talks Dirty" and "Can't Put a Price on Love" both charted on the...
were written before the first LP was recorded and were intended to be put out as a double album. Additionally, the lead single "Baby Talks Dirty
Baby Talks Dirty
"Baby Talks Dirty" is a 1980 Top 40 single written by Doug Fieger and Berton Averre from The Knack's second album, ...But the Little Girls Understand. Like the album it was taken from, "Baby Talks Dirty" fell short of the success of its predecessors...
" only briefly made the US Top 40, stalling at #38; follow-up single "Can't Put a Price on Love
Can't Put a Price on Love
"Can't Put a Price on Love" is a 1980 song written by Doug Fieger and originally released by The Knack on the group's second album, ...But the Little Girls Understand. It was the second song released from that album that was released as a single, reaching #62 on the Billboard Hot 100, falling...
" missed the top 40 altogether, peaking at #62.
After nearly a year of relentless touring in the US, Canada, Europe, New Zealand, Australia, and Japan, starting in April 1980 the band took a year off because of exhaustion and "internal dissent". They reconvened in the summer of 1981 to record their third album, Round Trip. However, the record (which came out in October 1981) was a serious commercial disappointment, only reaching No.93 on the US charts, selling a mere 150,000 copies. As well, lead single "Pay The Devil" topped out at a mere No.67 on the Billboard Hot 100. The group made several concert appearances during 1981 to promote Round Trip. Keyboardist Phil Jost was brought into the lineup at this time to enable the band to duplicate the more heavily layered sound of their new release.
With The Knack experiencing rapidly diminishing chart success, and mounting critical backlash against them Fieger left amidst internal squabbles on December 31, 1981, mere months after the release of Round Trip. The band rehearsed briefly with Michael Des Barres
Michael Des Barres
Lord Michael Philip Des Barres is a British actor and rock singer. He is known for playing the recurring role of Murdoc on the television show MacGyver and for replacing the late Robert Palmer in the band Power Station, fronting the band at the 1985 Live Aid concert...
as their new frontman in early 1982, but this line-up never gigged or recorded. By mid-1982, The Knack had splintered for good.
Reunions (1986–2010) and final album
The Knack reunited in November 1986, to play a benefit for Michele Myers, who had been the first person to book the band for a show in 1978. They subsequently stayed together to play club gigs for the next several years. In July 1989 Billy Ward replaced Bruce Gary as the band's drummer (after a brief interim by Pat TorpeyPat Torpey
Pat Torpey is an American rock and roll drummer, known as the drummer of the hard rock band Mr. Big. He has also played for Impellitteri, The Knack, David Lee Roth Band and the Exile Social Club. He is noted by Neil Peart for composing unique rhythms such as that of "Take Cover", a rock song from...
of Mr. Big
Mr. Big (band)
Mr. Big is an American rock supergroup, formed in Los Angeles, California in 1988. The band is a quartet composed of Eric Martin , Paul Gilbert , Billy Sheehan , and Pat Torpey ; Mr. Big also included Richie Kotzen, a reputable blues-based guitarist who replaced Gilbert in 1999...
).
In 1998- 2010, Duane Leinan played bass guitar in the studio and on tour with the band tell Dougs passing on February 14 and Duanes dad Ron Leinan on the 28 of February 2010.
In 1990 The Knack signed with Charisma Records and recorded the album Serious Fun
Serious Fun (The Knack album)
Serious Fun is an album by power pop/new wave band The Knack released by Charisma Records on January 16, 1991. It was their fourth record- a comeback after a decade long separation- and was accompanied by a public reunion and tour...
which was released in February 1991. Lead single "Rocket O' Love" was a top 10 hit on US AOR stations. To promote the song, they released a music video loaded with visual innuendo thematic to the song. Charisma collapsed after the death of the label's founder, Tony Stratton-Smith
Tony Stratton-Smith
Tony Stratton-Smith was an English rock music manager, and entrepreneur. He was best known as founder of London based independent record label Charisma Records which he began in 1969. Groups he managed included The Nice , Bonzo Dog Band and Van der Graaf Generator...
, and the group broke up again in 1992.
In 1994, with Ward back on drums, the band reunited to make some concert appearances to captilize on "My Sharona"'s new popularity after its appearance in the movie Reality Bites
Reality Bites
Reality Bites is a 1994 American romantic comedy-drama film written by Helen Childress and featuring the directorial debut of Ben Stiller. It stars Winona Ryder, Ethan Hawke and Stiller, with major supporting roles played by Janeane Garofalo and Steve Zahn. The film was shot on location in Austin...
.
In 1996 all four original band members, including Bruce Gary, reunited in the studio one last time to record a track for a multi-artist compilation album
Compilation album
A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...
saluting the British band Badfinger
Badfinger
Badfinger were a British rock band consisting originally of Pete Ham, Ron Griffiths, Mike Gibbins and Tom Evans, active from 1968 to 1983, and evolving from The Iveys, formed by Ham, Griffiths and David "Dai" Jenkins in Swansea, Wales, in the early 1960s. Joey Molland joined the group in 1969,...
(where the band covered Badfinger's hit "No Matter What").
The Knack continued on in 1997 as a touring and recording act through the late 1990s and into the 2000s. Terry Bozzio
Terry Bozzio
Terry John Bozzio is an American drummer best known for his work with Missing Persons and Frank Zappa.-Biography:Terry Bozzio was born December 27, 1950 in San Francisco, California. He started at age 6 playing makeshift drum sets. At the age of 13 he saw The Beatles premier performance on The Ed...
replaced Ward as drummer for 1998's Zoom album, and David Henderson (as "Holmes Jones") took over on drums for 2001's Normal as the Next Guy and Live at the Rock N Roll Funhouse albums. Pat Torpey then returned to take over for Henderson and played with the group until Fieger's death in 2010.
In 2005 The Knack made an appearance on the TV program Hit Me, Baby, One More Time.
In 2006, Doug Fieger and Berton Averre filed a lawsuit against the rap music group Run–D.M.C. for copyright infringement. The lawsuit alleges that the defining guitar riff from "My Sharona" was used without permission in the Run-D.M.C. track "It's Tricky
It's Tricky
"It's Tricky" is the final single released from Run-D.M.C.'s third album, Raising Hell. It was released late in 1987 through Profile Records and was co-produced by Rick Rubin and the group themselves. The song peaked at No. 57 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 21 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. Two...
" from their 1986 album Raising Hell.
In 2006, during a performance in Las Vegas, Fieger became disoriented, developing a dull headache, and grasping for the words to the songs that he had written and performed for years. Diagnosed with two brain tumors, Fieger underwent surgery and radiosurgery and returned to performing. However, he still continued to battle brain and lung cancer until his death on February 14, 2010, in Woodland Hills, California, at the age of 57.
Outside the Knack
In the interim between the Knack's break-up and 1986 reunion, Doug Fieger worked as a guest vocalist on a few tracks by Was (Not Was)Was (Not Was)
-Studio albums:-Compilation albums:-Singles:-Contributions:* A Christmas Record - "Christmas Time In The Motor City"* That's The Way I Feel Now: A Tribute to Thelonious Monk - "Ba-Lue-Bolivar-Ba-Lues-Are"...
. (Fieger had grown up with band member Don Was
Don Was
Don Was is an American musician, bassist and record producer.-Life and career:Was was born in Detroit, Michigan. He graduated from Oak Park High School in the Detroit suburb of Oak Park, then attended the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor but dropped out after the first year...
; Was would later produce the Knack's album Serious Fun.) Fieger also recorded a solo album in 2000, and appeared as a solo artist in the Countdown Spectacular
Countdown Spectacular
The Countdown Spectacular is a series of concerts reviving the nostalgia of the Australian music television series Countdown.-Countdown Spectacular:...
2 concert series in Australia between late-August and early-September 2007. He sang The Knack favourite "My Sharona
My Sharona
"My Sharona" is the debut single by The Knack, released in 1979 from their album Get the Knack. It reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart where it remained for six weeks and was #1 on Billboards Top Pop Singles of 1979 year-end chart. It was certified gold by the Recording Industry...
" only. Averre, Niles and Gary briefly continued on with former RoadMaster vocalist Stephen 'Mac' McNally as "The Game" after the Knack's initial break up.
Bruce Gary
Bruce Gary
Bruce Gary was best known as the drummer for the music group The Knack. He was nominated for two Grammy Awards as a stage performer, producer, and recording artist....
became a respected producer (archive recordings of Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
and new recordings of The Ventures
The Ventures
The Ventures is an American instrumental rock band formed in 1958 in Tacoma, Washington. Founded by Don Wilson and Bob Bogle, the group in its various incarnations has had an enduring impact on the development of music worldwide. With over 100 million records sold, the group is the best-selling...
) and a very successful sideman performing live and on studio sessions with artists such as Jack Bruce
Jack Bruce
John Symon Asher "Jack" Bruce is a Scottish musician and songwriter, respected as a founding member of the British psychedelic rock power trio, Cream, for a solo career that spans several decades, and for his participation in several well-known musical ensembles...
, Mick Taylor
Mick Taylor
Michael Kevin "Mick" Taylor is an English musician, best known as a former member of John Mayall's Bluesbreakers and The Rolling Stones...
, Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
, George Harrison
George Harrison
George Harrison, MBE was an English musician, guitarist, singer-songwriter, actor and film producer who achieved international fame as lead guitarist of The Beatles. Often referred to as "the quiet Beatle", Harrison became over time an admirer of Indian mysticism, and introduced it to the other...
, Cherie Currie
Cherie Currie
Cherie Currie is an American singer, actress and chainsaw artist. Currie was the lead vocalist of The Runaways, a hard rock band from Los Angeles in the mid-to-late 1970s.-Life and career:...
, Robby Krieger
Robby Krieger
Robert Alan "Robby" Krieger is an American rock guitarist and songwriter. He was the guitarist in The Doors, and wrote some of the band's best known songs, including "Light My Fire," "Love Me Two Times," "Touch Me," and "Love Her Madly."...
, Spencer Davis
Spencer Davis
Spencer David Nelson Davis is a British musician and multi-instrumentalist, and the founder of the 1960s rock band, the Spencer Davis Group.-Early life:...
, Stephen Stills
Stephen Stills
Stephen Arthur Stills is an American guitarist and singer/songwriter best known for his work with Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills & Nash . He has performed on a professional level in several other bands as well as maintaining a solo career at the same time...
, Rod Stewart
Rod Stewart
Roderick David "Rod" Stewart, CBE is a British singer-songwriter and musician, born and raised in North London, England and currently residing in Epping. He is of Scottish and English ancestry....
, Emmett Chapman
Emmett Chapman
Emmett Chapman is a jazz musician best known as the inventor of the Chapman Stick and maker of Chapman Stick family of instruments.Originally a guitarist, Chapman began recording and performing beginning in the late 1960s...
, and Sheryl Crow
Sheryl Crow
Sheryl Suzanne Crow is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, musician, and actress. Her music incorporates elements of rock, folk, hip hop, country and pop...
. He died from lymphoma
Lymphoma
Lymphoma is a cancer in the lymphatic cells of the immune system. Typically, lymphomas present as a solid tumor of lymphoid cells. Treatment might involve chemotherapy and in some cases radiotherapy and/or bone marrow transplantation, and can be curable depending on the histology, type, and stage...
on August 22, 2006 at the age of 55.
Discography
Studio albums- 1979: Get The KnackGet the KnackGet Knack is the debut album by The Knack, released in June 1979. The album was the fasting-selling debut album on Capitol Records since Meet the Beatles in 1964. It went platinum in just two months and spent five weeks at #1 on the Billboard 200 album chart...
No.1 (5 weeks) US, No.65 UK 2x Platinum - 1980: ...But the Little Girls Understand...But the Little Girls Understand...But the Little Girls Understand is an album by power pop/new wave group The Knack released by Capitol Records in February 1980. The album reached the number 15 spot on the Billboard 200 album chart in 1980. The singles "Baby Talks Dirty" and "Can't Put a Price on Love" both charted on the...
No.15 US Gold - 1981: Round Trip No.93 US
- 1991: Serious FunSerious Fun (The Knack album)Serious Fun is an album by power pop/new wave band The Knack released by Charisma Records on January 16, 1991. It was their fourth record- a comeback after a decade long separation- and was accompanied by a public reunion and tour...
- 1998: ZoomZoom (The Knack album)Zoom an album released by The Knack in 1998. It marked a second comeback attempt by The Knack, after their attempted comeback in 1991 with Serious Fun fizzled. Terry Bozzio served as the drummer on the album in place of The Knack's original drummer Bruce Gary...
- 2001: Normal as the Next Guy
- 2003: Re-Zoom (Zoom with bonus tracks)
Live album released on CD and DVD
- 2001: Live from the Rock n Roll Funhouse
Live concert released on laserdisc
- 1979: The Knack Live at Carnegie Hall
Live concert released on DVD
- 2007: World Cafe Live: The Knack in Concert
Compilation albums
- 1995: My Sharona
- 1992: Retrospective
- 1998: Proof: The Very Best of The Knack
Documentary DVD
- 2004: Getting The Knack
Singles
- 1979: "My SharonaMy Sharona"My Sharona" is the debut single by The Knack, released in 1979 from their album Get the Knack. It reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart where it remained for six weeks and was #1 on Billboards Top Pop Singles of 1979 year-end chart. It was certified gold by the Recording Industry...
" No.1 (6 weeks) US, No.6 UKUK Singles ChartThe UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
, No.1 Australia (5 Weeks) - 1979: "Good Girls Don'tGood Girls Don't (song)"Good Girls Don't" is a 1979 hit single written by Doug Fieger and released by the rock band The Knack, off their album Get the Knack. It was the follow-up to the group's No. 1 single, "My Sharona." It reached #11 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and #66 on the British charts. It also reached #20...
" No.11 US, No.66 UK - 1980: "Baby Talks DirtyBaby Talks Dirty"Baby Talks Dirty" is a 1980 Top 40 single written by Doug Fieger and Berton Averre from The Knack's second album, ...But the Little Girls Understand. Like the album it was taken from, "Baby Talks Dirty" fell short of the success of its predecessors...
" No.38 US - 1980: "Can't Put a Price on LoveCan't Put a Price on Love"Can't Put a Price on Love" is a 1980 song written by Doug Fieger and originally released by The Knack on the group's second album, ...But the Little Girls Understand. It was the second song released from that album that was released as a single, reaching #62 on the Billboard Hot 100, falling...
" No.62 US - 1981: "Pay the Devil" No.67 US
- 1991: "Rocket O' Love" No.9 US (album rock tracks)