The Knack

Seven years after it's last album, four years after it's first tour following the resurrection of "My Sharona" in the film Reality Bites, The Knack is back. The band that had burned hotter than a comet, influencing an entire generation of rockers, but disappearing nearly as fast, has returned. "We've already had the success you dream about," says lead singer Doug Fieger. "But we've never played our music for that. We play it because this is the only worthwhile pop music to make - fun and sad, silly and smart, explosive but sweet, snide but vulnerable. It's not about being cool but about being goofy and having a great time. We didn't invent this, but it's what we do. I get the feeling that sense of fun isn't seen by most people who go to concerts these days." What goes around surely comes around. In the audience in April 1997 at the Viper Room on LA's Sunset Strip for The Knack's surprise return performance was Harold Bronson, who as a music journalist 20 years earlier introduced the band to it's then-producer. Bronson was so excited by what he saw and heard, he invited the band to record a new album for Rhino Records, the label he cofounded. "It's not that he isn't used to seeing Rhino acts live, it's that he's not used to seeing them alive at all," quips guitarist Berton Averre. "We didn't stick a finger in the wind and say the time is right again. But with all the dark colors in music today, the ‘who gives a shit' angst and post-modern depression, we strike a chord. Having fun and sometimes grabbing someone's heart enough that they say, ‘Me too,' is a noble pursuit." So too is ZOOM (Rhino Records), produced by Richard Bosworth (Don Henley, Steve Perry) and The Knack. On songs such as "Can I Borrow a Kiss," "Harder On You," and "Pop Is Dead" (with the next line being "bring your shovel"), The Knack shows it hasn't lost, well, it's knack for penning pop songs. It's often said that the most difficult achievement is simplicity. Beneath the ease of The Knack is the musicianship of Averre, who can rip a one-not guitar harangue as well as an amazingly fast flurry of perfect notes, and the storytelling of Fieger. "Can I Borrow A Kiss," for instance, refers to when he was 14 visiting a friend in Santa Clara, California, and spent the summer as a hippie in Haight-Ashbury. At a Be-In, a girl said to him, "Can I borrow a kiss?" Says Fieger with a laugh, "This does not happen in Oak Park, Michigan." With Fieger, Averre, and Prescott Niles on bass, The Knack lineup also now includes drummer Terry Bozzio (replacing Bruce Gary). Bozzio played with Frank Zappa, was a member of Missing Persons, and is enormously respected in both rock and jazz circles. Says Averre, "One of the heartening things that's happened is that a Terry Bozzio says he likes what we do and wants to be a member. That says something to us and maybe to other people too." When Fieger first called Bozzio about that possibility, the drummer replied, "That sounds like fun." It was the sort of answer Fieger hoped for: We have not done this band when it hasn't been fun to do. We want to enjoy ourselves. Terry's a great musician and a great guy. He's kicked us in the ass and made this a better band." The Knack most recently resurfaced in 1994 after "My Sharona" was heard on the Reality Bites soundtrack. The band had been offered two films in one day and had to choose between them. "One was for this hip comedy starring Winona Ryder," says Averre, "and the other was for the homosexual rape scene in Pulp Fiction. Hmmm, that's a tough choice." Suddenly, teenagers too young to remember the song the first time around fell in love with it and "My Sharona" became only the 10th former #1 hit to chart again. It also prompted a tour of 32 cities. Despite no new songs to offer, the response was phenomenal. A couple of years later, with a handful of new songs at the ready, Fieger broached the idea of truly reviving The Knack. Averre recalls that when the band gathered together, their creative impulses "kicked into a gear reminiscent of our earlier partnership. The tunes felt more and more like Knack songs, and each one made us more confident about our values of fun, immediacy, aggression and melody, and an unabashed celebration of the music we love the most." The Knack initially formed in May 1978. Fieger had arrived in L.A. in 1971 with the band Sky and began writing with Averre a few years later. Its first performance, June 1, 1978, at the Whisky-A-Go-Go, was a sensation. Amid the heyday of disco, here was a melodic rock band that could knock your socks off. Being a Knack fan was a sign of true hipness and allegiance to the rock ‘n' roll dream. Subsequent shows at clubs such as the Troubadour found The Knack jamming with Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty, Ray Manzarek, and Eddie Money. Courted by 13 record labels, The Knack signed to Capitol. Producer Mike Chapman (Blondie) recorded and mixed its debut album in 13 days on a $17,000 budget. The album was largely recorded live, one take, with overdubs on the occasional background vocal and lead guitar (not so coincidentally, just how ZOOM was recorded). Though its music was the antithesis of punk, the band itself embraced the punk ethic of D.I.Y. and a self-admitted "snot-nose attitude." Get The Knack (1979) had one of the biggest commercial debuts in rock history. It rocketed to #1 for six weeks, went gold, and sold 10 million worldwide. "Good Girls Don't" reached #11. But while once praised for its combination of ballsy rock and classic pop, such enormous success instigated a backlash. Some critics opined that musicians who were this smart and this good couldn't possibly be serious about pop music and therefore were insincere and manipulative. With the "hip factor" eroding, the band's sophomore album, ...peaked at #15, with "Baby Talks Dirty" barely Top 40 and "Can't Put A Price On Love" just Top 100 - though the album went gold and sold two-and-a-half million copies worldwide. Round Trip (1981) and its "Pay The Devil (Ooo Baby, Ooo)" were only Top 100. The Knack disbanded a few weeks later. Now back in the spotlight once more, the band is grateful for it's audience, both old and new. Says Averre, "I always thought the audience was more important than the artist. After all, the audience is why we're here." In a way, that's precisely why The Knack is back - not just that they care about their music and the craft of pop songwriting, but so do others. It's also why rock bands who found pop success in the ‘90s, such as Nirvana, publicly admired what The Knack had accomplished. Says Fieger, "We refuse to go away. There are musicians who say they don't want to do this when they're 40. I've always said I hoped I was still doing this when I was 40. We love this music." Rhino has also released a greatest hits compilation, PROOF: THE VERY BEST OF THE KNACK. But for The Knack, as ZOOM proves, the best is back - and there's more to come.