Get the Knack
Encyclopedia
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 (one million units sold) in just two months and spent five weeks at #1 on the Billboard 200
album chart. The lead single from the album, "My Sharona
", was #1 on the Billboard Hot 100
for six weeks and #1 on Billboard's Top Pop Singles of 1979 year end chart. The LP also featured the second single "Good Girls Don't
" which peaked at #11 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Other cuts that received significant airplay on AOR radio were: "(She's So) Selfish" and "Frustrated", and a cover version of the Buddy Holly
song "Heartbeat
".
The album was recorded in two weeks at a cost of just $18,000 and became an instant success, thanks in part to an intense promotional campaign by Capitol Records
. It sold two million copies in the United States and six million worldwide. The Knack's image was largely influenced by The Beatles
: the album cover imitates The Beatles
' first Capitol LP Meet the Beatles!
and the back cover photo depicts a scene very close to a shot from The Beatles' film A Hard Day's Night
. To complete the Beatle imagery, the 1960s Capitol rainbow label adorned the LP, a detail the band had written into its contract.
The album presented a raw energetic sound with fast cuts from song to song that helped establish the new wave
trend. It also featured lyrics that were quite raunchy for a pop album in a time before warning labels. In a negative review of the album for the Los Angeles Times
, Kristine McKenna found the lyrics particularly objectionable because the band's music appealed to listeners that were younger and more impressionable than the fans of most other rock groups. While the album was extremely popular, there was also an intense negative backlash spearheaded by the "Knuke the Knack" campaign that was partly in response to the controversial lyrics. However, Dick Nusser of Billboard Magazine praised many of the songs. Besides the big hits, he noted that the album opener "Let Me Out" is a "teen anthem delivered at full speed" with "delightful backing harmonies, singing, slapping guitars and perfectly tuned drumming," that the quiet ballad "Maybe Tonight" is "a potential standard," and that the pleading song "Oh Tara" indicates that The Knack "aren't strict girl haters." Nasser also called "That's What the Little Girls Do" a "classic," remarking on its "strong melody" and remarked on the Bo Diddley
-like riff
on "(She's So) Selfish."
Allmusic critic Bruce Eder referred to The Knack's version of Buddy Holly cover "Heartbeat" as "a ballad played with a lot of '70s attitude," and that "it does give a fresh take on the song." Trouser Press
referred to "Maybe Tonight" as "bottom-of-the-barrel sap" but praised "My Sharona," "Let Me Out" and "Frustrated" as "tight guitar pop." Trouser Press also commented on the negative portrayal of the woman protagonists of "She's So Selfish," "Frustrated" and "That's What the Little Girls Do."
When the album was released on CD in the 1990s, lyrics on the song "(She's So) Selfish" were significantly altered, with lines like "coming from the quaalude scene" changed to "...lame'o scene". The album was re-released on CD in 2002 as a remastered version true to the original vinyl release, and included bonus demo tracks of "My Sharona" and "That's What The Little Girls Do," as well as a rehearsal track of "Maybe Tonight." It also included a cover of Bruce Springsteen
's Darkness on the Edge of Town
outtake "Don't Look Back," which The Knack recorded in 1979 but left off the original Get The Knack album, and a cover of Nick Lowe
and Dave Edmunds
' "I Knew the Bride
".
Singles
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
by The Knack
The Knack
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.-Founding :...
, released in June 1979. The album was the fasting-selling debut album on Capitol Records since Meet the Beatles in 1964. It went platinum (one million units sold) in just two months and spent five weeks at #1 on the Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
album chart. The lead single from the album, "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...
", was #1 on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
for six weeks and #1 on Billboard's Top Pop Singles of 1979 year end chart. The LP also featured the second 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...
" which peaked at #11 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Other cuts that received significant airplay on AOR radio were: "(She's So) Selfish" and "Frustrated", and a cover version of the Buddy Holly
Buddy Holly
Charles Hardin Holley , known professionally as Buddy Holly, was an American singer-songwriter and a pioneer of rock and roll...
song "Heartbeat
Heartbeat (Buddy Holly song)
"Heartbeat" is a rockabilly song written by Bob Montgomery and Norman Petty and recorded originally by Buddy Holly in 1958. The B side of the single was "Well.....
".
The album was recorded in two weeks at a cost of just $18,000 and became an instant success, thanks in part to an intense promotional campaign by Capitol Records
Capitol Records
Capitol Records is a major United States based record label, formerly located in Los Angeles, but operating in New York City as part of Capitol Music Group. Its former headquarters building, the Capitol Tower, is a major landmark near the corner of Hollywood and Vine...
. It sold two million copies in the United States and six million worldwide. The Knack's image was largely influenced by The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
: the album cover imitates The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
' first Capitol LP Meet the Beatles!
Meet the Beatles!
-External links:*Bruce Spizer's *Bruce Spizer's *...
and the back cover photo depicts a scene very close to a shot from The Beatles' film A Hard Day's Night
A Hard Day's Night (film)
A Hard Day's Night is a 1964 British black-and-white comedy film directed by Richard Lester and starring The Beatles—John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr—during the height of Beatlemania. It was written by Alun Owen and originally released by United Artists...
. To complete the Beatle imagery, the 1960s Capitol rainbow label adorned the LP, a detail the band had written into its contract.
The album presented a raw energetic sound with fast cuts from song to song that helped establish the new wave
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...
trend. It also featured lyrics that were quite raunchy for a pop album in a time before warning labels. In a negative review of the album for the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
, Kristine McKenna found the lyrics particularly objectionable because the band's music appealed to listeners that were younger and more impressionable than the fans of most other rock groups. While the album was extremely popular, there was also an intense negative backlash spearheaded by the "Knuke the Knack" campaign that was partly in response to the controversial lyrics. However, Dick Nusser of Billboard Magazine praised many of the songs. Besides the big hits, he noted that the album opener "Let Me Out" is a "teen anthem delivered at full speed" with "delightful backing harmonies, singing, slapping guitars and perfectly tuned drumming," that the quiet ballad "Maybe Tonight" is "a potential standard," and that the pleading song "Oh Tara" indicates that The Knack "aren't strict girl haters." Nasser also called "That's What the Little Girls Do" a "classic," remarking on its "strong melody" and remarked on the Bo Diddley
Bo Diddley
Ellas Otha Bates , known by his stage name Bo Diddley, was an American rhythm and blues vocalist, guitarist, songwriter , and inventor...
-like riff
RIFF
The Resource Interchange File Format is a generic file container format for storing data in tagged chunks. It is primarily used to store multimedia such as sound and video, though it may also be used to store any arbitrary data....
on "(She's So) Selfish."
Allmusic critic Bruce Eder referred to The Knack's version of Buddy Holly cover "Heartbeat" as "a ballad played with a lot of '70s attitude," and that "it does give a fresh take on the song." Trouser Press
Trouser Press
Trouser Press was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow Who fan Dave Schulps and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press" ...
referred to "Maybe Tonight" as "bottom-of-the-barrel sap" but praised "My Sharona," "Let Me Out" and "Frustrated" as "tight guitar pop." Trouser Press also commented on the negative portrayal of the woman protagonists of "She's So Selfish," "Frustrated" and "That's What the Little Girls Do."
When the album was released on CD in the 1990s, lyrics on the song "(She's So) Selfish" were significantly altered, with lines like "coming from the quaalude scene" changed to "...lame'o scene". The album was re-released on CD in 2002 as a remastered version true to the original vinyl release, and included bonus demo tracks of "My Sharona" and "That's What The Little Girls Do," as well as a rehearsal track of "Maybe Tonight." It also included a cover of Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen , nicknamed "The Boss," is an American singer-songwriter who records and tours with the E Street Band...
's Darkness on the Edge of Town
Darkness on the Edge of Town
Darkness on the Edge of Town is the fourth album by Bruce Springsteen, released in the late spring of 1978. The album marked the end of a three year period of forced hiatus from recording brought on by contractual obligations and legal battling with former manager Mike Appel...
outtake "Don't Look Back," which The Knack recorded in 1979 but left off the original Get The Knack album, and a cover of Nick Lowe
Nick Lowe
Nicholas Drain "Nick" Lowe , is an English singer-songwriter, musician and producer.A pivotal figure in UK pub rock, punk rock and new wave, Lowe has recorded a string of well-reviewed solo albums. Along with vocals, Lowe plays guitar, bass guitar, piano and harmonica...
and Dave Edmunds
Dave Edmunds
David 'Dave' Edmunds is a Welsh singer, guitarist and record producer. Although he is primarily associated with Pub rock and New Wave, and had numerous hits in the 1970s and early 1980s, his natural leaning has always been towards 1950s style rock and roll.-Early bands:As a teenager Edmunds first...
' "I Knew the Bride
I Knew the Bride
"I Knew the Bride " is a song written by Nick Lowe and first popularized by Dave Edmunds. It was released on Edmunds's 1977 album Get It and a year later in a live version by Nick Lowe's Last Chicken in the Shop for a compilation released by Stiff Records.Lowe performed the song during a Stiff...
".
Side 1
- "Let Me Out" (Doug FiegerDoug FiegerDouglas 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...
, Berton AverreBerton AverreBerton 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...
) – 2:20 - "Your Number or Your Name" (Fieger, Averre) – 2:57
- "Oh Tara" (Fieger) – 3:04
- "(She's So) Selfish" (Fieger, Averre) – 4:30
- "Maybe Tonight" (Fieger) – 4:00
- "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...
" (Fieger) – 3:07
Side 2
- "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...
" (Fieger, Averre) – 4:52 - "HeartbeatHeartbeat (Buddy Holly song)"Heartbeat" is a rockabilly song written by Bob Montgomery and Norman Petty and recorded originally by Buddy Holly in 1958. The B side of the single was "Well.....
" (Bob MontgomeryBob Montgomery (musician)Bob Montgomery is an American singer, songwriter, and music producer/publisher.Montgomery was born in Lampasas, Texas. He was a songwriting partner and best friend of Buddy Holly, performing together as the duo "Buddy and Bob" while teenagers in high school...
, Norman PettyNorman PettyNorman Petty was an American musician, songwriter, and pioneer record producer who helped shape modern popular music, including pop and rock....
) – 2:11 - "Siamese Twins (The Monkey and Me)" (Fieger, Averre) – 3:25
- "Lucinda" (Fieger, Averre) – 4:00
- "That's What the Little Girls Do" (Fieger) – 2:41
- "Frustrated" (Fieger, Averre) – 3:51
Personnel
- Doug FiegerDoug FiegerDouglas 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...
– rhythm guitar, lead vocals - Berton AverreBerton AverreBerton 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 - Bruce GaryBruce GaryBruce 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 - Prescott NilesPrescott NilesPrescott 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
Chart positions
Album| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1979 | Billboard 200 Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
1 |
| 1979 | Kent Music Report Kent Music Report The Kent Music Report was a weekly record chart of Australian music singles and albums which was compiled by music enthusiast David Kent from May 1974 through to 1998... (Australia) |
1 |
| 1979 | UK Album Chart | 65 |
Singles
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | "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... " |
Billboard Hot 100 Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
1 |
| 1979 | "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... " |
Kent Music Report Kent Music Report The Kent Music Report was a weekly record chart of Australian music singles and albums which was compiled by music enthusiast David Kent from May 1974 through to 1998... (Australia) |
1 |
| 1979 | "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... " |
UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The 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 ... |
6 |
| 1979 | "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... " |
Billboard Hot 100 Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
11 |
| 1979 | "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... " |
UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The 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 ... |
66 |