Podunkian Music Club

The Knack—My Sharona

From the opening drum beat through to the high energy guitar solo that highlights the 1979 hit from the then little known Knack, My Sharona kicks it out.

The crowd favourite on college campuses and video television programs, the Beatles like looking and sounding Knack, took one hit and turned it into a pretty decent run for more than a few years.

Their Get the Knack album sold volumes based on that one song, a definitive song if ever there was for the California bar band which tapped into the new wave sounds of the late eighties and ruled the airwaves and record charts in the summer of 79. They arrived on the scene as part of the backlash to the disco era with compatriots like Blondie, The Cars and other new wave sensations they turned the music industry in a 180 degree direction as the eighties got underway.

The second release But the Little Girls do, sold a huge amount of copies, but the wave had started to crest, their hits were dwindling and the buzz was fading. Subsequent follow up releases were not quite in the same demand and as with many a one hit wonder the band would eventually fade from the ever changing musical spotlight.

However, My Sharona, would seemingly be the groove that binds, it appears on no less than four of their eight recordings and has been featured on movie soundtracks and some of the better elevators systems of the world.

They were last spotted on NBC’s retro vision program; Hit me Baby one more time, which highlighted the hit bands of the eighties, re-united back for one more time on the stage. And well, as would be expected the only song the audience really wanted to hear was My Sharona. Sadly the reality of the reality show rose up and smacked them around a bit, they lost their competition to Vanilla Ice, oh the pain of it all!

The drummer has passed away and the lead singer is recovering from a brain tumor operation, though they still list tour dates on their website. Though one wonders how long they will carry on with the project.

But they and their fans have their memories, and the summer of 1979 was when they ruled the music universe. Fire it up, tap your toes and sing along, my pretty one, there going to give us some of that Sharona.

Artist—The Knack
Recording-Get the Knack