Hello,
One of my favorite records of all-time is The Knack's "Get The Knack":
"Get the Knack is the debut album by the Knack, released in June 1979. At the time, the album was one of the most successful debuts in history, selling over one million copies in less than two months and spent five weeks at number one on the Billboard 200 album chart. The lead single from the album, "My Sharona", was number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for six weeks and number one on Billboard's Top Pop Singles of 1979 year end chart."
(Thanks to wikipedia.org)
"Get The Knack" blasted off in the summer of 1979. Every song on this record varies in quality from good to great. I was only 12 when this record was released and I don't remember how much attention it received. "Get The Knack" was released two years before MTV. MTV boosted many mediocre bands due to the exposure it provided. What would have happened to a great band like the Knack if MTV had started two years earlier? The best way to get word out about your music in 1979 was radio and magazines. Slowly but surely this record gained my attention. One thing that has always mystified me is why didn't the Knack go on to be superstars? I have no idea. Although the Knack didn't go on to be superstars, "Get The Knack" is one of the best debut records ever. (I refer to the format to listen to the music as records, this was before CDs. Depending on your viewpoint CDs were an upgrade.)
The Knack boys seemed to have a lot of trouble with girls, many of the songs deal with problems with love and their own sexual frustrations. Sexual frustration is a main theme running through their music. They picked covers and wrote songs that dealt with this theme extensively. Somehow The Knack were able to turn that frustration into great pop and rock hooks and make so many great delectable nuggets of music.
Here's the 12 blasts of great pop and rock from "Get The Knack". Enjoy!
They seem to have been a pretty dynamic live band. "Let Me Out":
One of my all-time favorite Knack songs is "Your Number Or Your Name". This song is one of many that deals with the many frustrations of women and love. This is one of their more innocent songs.
"Your Number Or Your Name":
"Oh Tara" "You squeeze my heart and let it go":
Another great song. "She's So Selfish":
This might be their sweetest love song. "Maybe Tonight":
"Good Girls Don't":
One of the best scenes from "Super 8" is when "My Sharona" starts playing and the kids are playing air instruments to it. Now that I look back on "Super 8", I think to myself it could have been so much better. This is "My Sharona" with "Super 8" highlights:
"My Sharona" by itself:
"Heartbeat":
"Siamese Twins (The Monkey and Me)":
"Lucinda":
"That's What The Little Girls Do":
This song sums up this whole record as well as what seemed to be the early philosophy of The Knack.
"Frustrated":
After I wrote this blog I still wasn't sure why the Knack hadn't become big stars. The mystery was resolved when I listened to their follow up CDs. (Thanks to Spotify for giving me the opportunity to do that.) "Serious Fun", "Round Trip", "Zoom" and "But The Little Girls Understand" are all hot messes. There are a few decent songs in those CDs, but there are way too few good songs.
After "Get The Knack" I can see the record company wanting to strike while the iron is hot and pressuring The Knack to put out another record as quickly as possible. Sadly that's what seems to have happened. Their second CD, "But The Little Girls Understand" isn't very good. Their third CD was "Round Trip" which is only a pale imitiation of their better earlier work. The Knack tried to make a couple of comebacks, but they were never as fresh as they were with "Get The Knack".
"Don't Look Back" is a good enough song, but the only Knack song that truly stands out after "Get The Knack" is "Africa". The Knack should have explored this funky vein a little bit more instead of trying to recreate their classic debut CD.
themusicaddict
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