It’s hard to think of a more striking example of the perils of overexposure than those LA power pop rockers in the Knack.
For about six months after the arrival of 1979’s Get the Knack, this band was just about as prevalent as the Ed Sullivan-era Beatles. (They looked like them too, although the Knack’s crunchy, direct brand of rock mimicked the Kinks more than their more famous British contemporaries.)
“My Sharona” went to No. 1 on Aug. 25, 1979, and remained there for an incredible six weeks. The song that everyone loved that summer has now become the one everyone hates. “My Sharona” was followed by the lesser hit “Good Girls Don’t” – and both had irresistible hooks. But resistance stiffened up after the songs got more worn than brake shoes with 150,000 miles on ’em.
Perhaps that’s why you have to go to one of the deep cuts of the Knack’s blockbuster debut album to figure out if they were really a good band or not. Like, say, “Frustrated.” It’s got a huge backbeat, a lively bass line and a thick slab of guitar riffs. Top it off with lead singer Doug Fieger’s impishly sung lyrics of lead-on and turn-off, and “Frustrated” makes a perfect danceable tough rocker for any party, even today.
“Frustrated” didn’t get spun off as a single as I think it should have, but got some decent airplay on the album-rock stations. Maybe the backlash that was in full swing by the time the second single “Good Girls Don’t” started sliding down the charts had the public crying “enough,” and so there were no more hits for the Knack.
Ah, well. At least that means the “woulda-coulda-shoulda-been” hits from Get The Knack like “Frustrated” can be enjoyed without that jaded feeling you get from an overplayed song like “My Sharona.”
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