Published on Mar 20, 1997
Before I read all about it in the
National Enquirer or some other rag like that, I should
probably state this in public: I’ve always kind of considered
myself to be a dirty old man trapped in a twenty-something body.
(Or, as Jack Nicholson said in one of his films, “I’m a dirty young
man.”) I ignore the stories that claim I passed my sexual peak at
the age of 18, and I continue to think of ways to display my
prowess. (My wife, however, draws the line when it involved vinyl,
Marshmallow Fluff and a water slide. But I digress.)
So why should it surprise people when I tell them that I happen
to like The Knack, a band generally reviled amongst rock fans. Some
people may consider buying one of their albums equivalent of
heading to the local peep show in broad daylight.
But ignore the hype (or, in this case, anti-hype) and listen to
the music. Their 1979 debut,
Get The Knack, is a damn fine pop album with catchy hooks
(and poor production) that has held up well and become a cult
favorite.
Doug Fieger leads this quartet, sounding kind of like what The
Wonders (from the movie
That Thing You Do!) would sound like with raging hormones.
At the start, they sound like a harder-edged Cheap Trick with their
song “Let Me Out.” The next cut, “Your Number Or Your Name,” is
what makes me think of The Wonders – it’s a light, poppy number
that would have easily fit on AOR radio at the time.
The first hints of The Knack being “pop perverts” comes on “Good
Girls Don’t,” a dirty little ditty about teenage lust. Fieger et
al. are able to pull this off very well, making this a guilty
pleasure on
Get The Knack.
And then, there is the song that made the band infamous – “My
Sharona.” Recently brought back to the forefront in the movie
Reality Bites, this song is not as annoying as we were led
to believe back in 1979. Instead, this song has retained its
freshness through its simplicity, and a hot lead guitar solo.
Despite what the song is supposed to be about, it isn’t devious or
evil – rather humorous, in a sense. This song will not make you go
out and chase after teenage girls – Moral Majority, relax.
The power of the material on
Get The Knack is what supports this effort – “That’s What
Little Girls Do,” “She’s So Selfish,” “Heartbeat,” “Frustrated”…
Fieger and band are excellent artisans of their craft. Only
“Siamese Twins (The Monkey And Me)” disappoints – and even that
grows on you after a while.
The story of The Knack is a sad one – a band shot down before
their own time by their own publicity – but after the hype has died
down (and the reunion attempt, albeit a good one, failed), we’re
left with the music.
Get The Knack is about as sinister as an episode of a
television sitcom, and as good an album as any I’ve heard in a
while. Indulge yourself on this one – it’s less embarassing than
getting caught reading
Penthouse by your wife or kids.