Founding (1977–1978) Singer
Doug Fieger was a native of
Oak Park, Michigan, a northern suburb of
Detroit,
Michigan, and grew up in the 9 Mile/Greenfield area. The brother of attorney
Geoffrey Fieger (later known for representing
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. Shortly after arriving in L.A., Fieger met
Berton Averre (lead guitar, backing vocals and keyboards), and the two started a songwriting partnership. Fieger had also known
Bruce Gary (drums) for years before forming the Knack in 1978 with Prescott Niles (bass). 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. Some of these songs later made up the band's debut album
Get the Knack, and included "
Good Girls Don't".
Get the Knack Within months of their live debut, popular club gigs on the Sunset Strip, as well as guest jams with musicians such as
Bruce Springsteen,
Tom Petty and
Ray Manzarek, led to the band being the subject of a record label bidding war. The band was pursued by ten record labels, but decided on
Capitol Records; at the time, the Knack was given the largest signing sum in the label's history.
A&R executives Bruce Garfield and Bruce Ravid are credited with signing the band. The band's debut album,
Get the Knack, was one of the year's best-selling 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. The lead single, "
My Sharona", was a No. 1 hit in the US, and became the
number-one song of 1979. The follow-up single "
Good Girls Don't" peaked at No. 11 in the US, and reached No. 1 in Canada. However, the band's 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! with 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,
The follow-up albums (1980–1981) The Knack quickly recorded a follow-up album
...But the Little Girls Understand, which was released in early 1980. Though the album went gold in the US and Japan, and platinum in Canada, Fieger left amidst internal squabbles on December 31, 1981, just months after the release of
Round Trip. Averre, Niles, and Gary briefly continued with former
Roadmaster vocalist Stephen 'Mac' McNally as "The Game" after the Knack's initial break up. By mid-1982, the Knack had split up while Fieger formed a new band, "Doug Fieger's Taking Chances".
Return of the Knack and final album (1986–2010) 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.). The Knack continued as a touring and recording act through the late 1990s and into the 2000s. The four original members, with special guest Irvin "Magic" Kramer (keyboards, guitar), reunited for a one/off at
The Roxy in
Hollywood, California on April 28th, 1988. But
Terry Bozzio took over as drummer for 1998's
Zoom then 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. Drummer Pat Torpey 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, performing "My Sharona" and
Jet's "
Are You Gonna Be My Girl". In 2006 Doug Fieger and Berton Averre filed a lawsuit against the hip hop 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, effectively bringing the band to an end. ==Outside the Knack==