Althouse: "When you gonna give it to me, give it to me? It is just a matter of time, Sharona?"

February 15, 2010

"When you gonna give it to me, give it to me? It is just a matter of time, Sharona?"

"Is it just destiny, destiny?"

The ultimate destiny claims Doug Fieger, lead singer for The Knack. RIP.

ADDED: "... Sharona Alperin, is now a high-end real estate agent in Los Angeles."

30 comments:

XWL said...: So, we now have the same number of living Beatles and living Knack, coincidence?

(their first album holds up pretty well, for late 70s throwaway power pop, except for the constant references to bedding teen girls); 2/15/10, 3:10 PM
former law student said...: Remembering this is a legal blog, I have to point out that Doug's brother was renowned Kevorkian lawyer Geoffrey Fieger.; 2/15/10, 3:30 PM
I'm Full of Soup said...: This song was on George Bush's IPOD when he mountain biked. You may have posted about it.; 2/15/10, 3:39 PM
Anonymous said...: I hate how I was such a rock-and-roll snob back then that I wouldn't let myself appreciate fun stuff like that song.; 2/15/10, 3:43 PM
Skyler said...: I remember listening to Kasey Kasem when this was declared the number one song of the 1970's at the end of 1979. A bit hard to believe. The ultimate no talent one-hit wonder.; 2/15/10, 3:44 PM
SteveR said...: I agree with XWL about the first album.; 2/15/10, 3:46 PM
Scott M said...: "That song is a pop music footnote at best...I didn't tell you to stop!; 2/15/10, 3:51 PM
Wince said...: It's rare when an extended guitar solo inserted as an interlude so totally complements a catchy pop tune, rather than interrupt it.

You can see from the joy on Fieger's face just how well it works here as he performs with his band.

I've had 10 great lives. And I expect to have some more. I don't feel cheated in any way, shape or form.

May we all feel that way.; 2/15/10, 3:57 PM
Triangle Man said...: Skyler, I'm not sure what you're remembering, but as Wikipedia will verify and as I pointed out on this very blog Casey Kasem declared "You Light Up My Life" as the top hit of the 1970's at the end of 1979.; 2/15/10, 4:01 PM
MadisonMan said...: The ultimate no talent one-hit wonder.

Not quite just one. Good Girls Don't (But I do) got onto the charts as well.; 2/15/10, 4:14 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: I seem to remember somebody saying this song was in Bush's Ipod.; 2/15/10, 4:16 PM
Irene said...: "Everybody knows they're going sooner or later. I don't know any better than anyone else when I'm going. I've had 10 great lives. And I expect to have some more. I don't feel cheated in any way, shape or form.

:-); 2/15/10, 4:20 PM
Kev said...: (the other kev)

I haven't really been able to appreciate the song ever since I learned it was Tarantino's first choice for the rape scene in Pulp Fiction. Just a little too hard to shake the image out of my head.; 2/15/10, 4:38 PM
john said...: Come a little closer huh, ah will ya huh,
Close enough to look in my eyes Sharona
Keeping it a mystery gets to me
Running down the length of my thighs Sharona

It's that tingly thing again.; 2/15/10, 4:52 PM
KCFleming said...: I was into the punk and industrial scene back then. This was way too radio-friendly for my fringe-elitist tastes back then. I remember mocking it.

It is a nice song that held up well, as compared to some of the obnoxious shit I actually preferred.; 2/15/10, 4:59 PM
The Dude said...: I read that he wrote that about a girl who got to him like no other. I hope we all have had a Sharona or equivalent in our lives - someone that makes you want to write a song, someone who makes you crazy, someone you never quite get over. Sharonas make the world go round.

And nice Simpsons reference, Scott M - that was my reaction, too.; 2/15/10, 5:40 PM
chickelit said...: Another same era hit: Twittering Killed The Commenter Star; 2/15/10, 5:41 PM
Factory Yoyo said...: Remember all the talk in '79 about how the Knack was the heir to the Beatles impeccable songwriting?

Except, of course, they only had on hit song, as opposed to a zillion for the Beatles.; 2/15/10, 5:57 PM
Skeptical said...: Get the Knack was the first LP I owned, and of course played it over and over again. I'd love to know whether it stands up to the test of time. Time to go find it.; 2/15/10, 6:20 PM
bagoh20 said...: I remember this song being widely panned at the time by everyone who was too cool for pop, like myself.

It is a very good pop song with a lot of fun guitar.
They seemed to play it identical to the record version every time.

I'm not cool anymore, so now I like it.; 2/15/10, 6:54 PM
Eric Muller said...: Here's Sharona today. Beverly Hills real estate agent.; 2/15/10, 6:58 PM
D. B. Light said...: You kids are making me feel old -- I have no idea who these guys are and to the best of my knowledge have never heard any of their songs. They do seem to have been important to some members of your generation though.; 2/15/10, 6:59 PM
Jimmy said...: "Get the Knack" is one of the better albums of that era. RIP Doug; 2/15/10, 7:29 PM
Capt. Schmoe said...: I saw The Knack live in the fall of 1978. They opened for Boston at the Swing Auditorium in San Bernardino, CA.

They opened their set with My Sharona, we booed them from the stage after the next song.

We folks from the "Land of the Dirt People" weren't ready for anything like new wave.

We finally got it a year or two later.; 2/15/10, 7:36 PM
former law student said...: You kids are making me feel old -- I have no idea who these guys are

Other good hit songs from 1979:

Bad Company - Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy
The Cars - Let's Go
Cheap Trick - I Want You To Want Me
The Electric Light Orchestra - Don't Bring Me Down
Foreigner - Dirty White Boy and Head Games
Rickie Lee Jones - Chuck E.'s In Love
Nick Lowe - Cruel To Be Kind
M - Pop Muzik
Robert Palmer - Bad Case Of Loving You
Sister Sledge - We Are Family
Rod Stewart - Da Ya Think I'm Sexy
Supertramp - The Logical Song, Goodbye Stranger, and Take The Long Way Home; 2/15/10, 8:28 PM
Focko Smitherman said...: Funny, I loved Supercramp at the time, and, like several others here, mocked the Knack.

Reverse the polarity!

wv: surocke!; 2/15/10, 8:47 PM
D. B. Light said...: Former Law Student,

I've heard a couple of those. "We Are Family" was the Pirates' theme song that year; and I remember Ricky Lee Jones, mostly because I thought she was no-talent and wondered why people bought her stuff. The rest don't ring a bell, although I might vaguely remember them if I heard them.; 2/15/10, 9:25 PM
The Crack Emcee said...: D. B. Light:

"I've heard a couple of those. 'We Are Family' was the Pirates' theme song that year; and I remember Ricky Lee Jones, mostly because I thought she was no-talent and wondered why people bought her stuff. The rest don't ring a bell, although I might vaguely remember them if I heard them."

Dude, I yelped, because I know every song mentioned here so far - even on former law student's list - and I heard them in time, with no cool-or-not-cool barriers to assessing their worth.

I think The Knack were a decent Power Pop band (boring live) with about a half dozen good examples of their style (I've always thought "Mr. Handleman" was underrated) one smash hit, and ultimately two compelling albums. Doug Fieger wasn't "fun": he was kind of creepy on record (reflecting his underaged girl lifestyle, from what I understood) which was something I, as the listener, if I was listening closely, kind of had to get over to fully enjoy. Instead I learned to focus on his song writing methods, rather than what he was saying because, even as I look at him in this video that certain way, through the only lens I know him from, there was something seriously wrong with that man.

And Supertramp were brilliant, musically, but poison to the mind:

Now I believe that what you say/is the undisputed truth
But I have to do things my own way/to keep me in my youth"

WTF?; 2/15/10, 10:31 PM
chuck b. said...: Overshare: I experienced my first erection with associated feelings of sexuality listening to that song on the radio once. In the backset of a Camaro, at the Century Theaters on Stevens Creek Boulevard in San Jose.

Oh, yeah--I made that up!; 2/16/10, 1:32 AM
chuck b. said...: No I didn't!; 2/16/10, 1:34 AM