The Knack

There have been several bands with this name. 1. The Knack are a Los Angeles-based rock band, via Detroit, that rose to fame with their first single, "My Sharona", an international hit in 1979. The power pop of "My Sharona", coupled with the band's "retro" '60s new wave look, earned the band comparisons to The Beatles. Music critics hated disco, which dominated the music industry at the time, and were, at best, coolly receptive to other developing trends like punk rock, hip hop and heavy metal music. The Knack's power pop and hard rock influences earned them some critical credibility. After subsequent albums, though, the backlash against The Knack, similar to that of the Monkees a generation earlier, was strong, and the band broke up. They have since re-united and in 2001 put out their studio album Normal As The Next Guy and their live DVD Live From The Rock N'Roll Funhouse. As of 2005, The Knack are still active and play at various venues. Singer Doug Fieger, a native of Detroit, Michigan, had previously played in a country rock band called Sky. Of the three other original members of the Knack (Berton Averre - Guitar, Prescott Niles - Bass, and Bruce Gary - Drums), Averre and Niles still currently play with The Knack. Several drummers have played for the group over the years, including Billy Ward (Serious Fun album), Terry Bozzio (Zoom album), and David Henderson as 'Holmes Jones' (Normal as the Next Guy and Live at the Rock N Roll Funhouse albums). Currently Pat Torpey (Mr. Big) is playing the drums for the group. In 2005, The Knack made an appearance on the TV program "Hit Me Baby One More Time". The Knack continued to write and record new songs until the late 2000s, even after Fieger was diagnosed with cancer in 2005. Fieger successfully battled cancer until his death on Valentine's Day 2010. 2. The Knack were originally known as The Londoners, a moniker they adopted whilst paying their beat group dues in the clubs of Germany in the early 60s. Upon returning to the UK in 1965 and changing their name to the rather hipper The Knack (after the recently released Richard Lester film), they recorded half a dozen singles for Decca and Piccadilly including the mod R&B ravers "She Ain't No Good", "Time Time Time" and "Stop!". Their final single, "(Man From The) Marriage Guidance And Advice Bureau", featured a more mature acoustic sound, which nodded towards both The Kinks and the impending psychedelic explosion. They broke up in 1967 and leader Paul Gurvitz formed the band Gun.