Doug Fieger, R.I.P.

I recently heard on Handsome Dick Manitoba's radio show that Doug Fieger, leader of The Knack, was in a bad way due to a rough combination of brain and lung cancer — a combination which sadly won out yesterday.

I have to admit that I thought The Knack were kind of jive when they first came out. That leering cover of Get The Knack, the annoying AM radio ubiquitousness of "My Sharona," and their blatant use of Beatlesque visual imagery (which no one would bat an eye at today, but which in 1979 was considered nothing short of sacrilege) all pretty much turned me off. I considered "Good Girls Don't" something of a guilty pleasure at the time, but my love for the tune had more to with its horny adolescent lyrics (which I could certainly relate to) than its innate power-pop craftsmanship.

It wasn't until about seven years later that Bob Mackay, my partner in audio crime in Voodoo Sex Party, my first college band, finally convinced me that Get The Knack was actually a really strong album, maybe even a power-pop classic. We regularly covered "Good Girls Don't" and "Your Number Or Your Name" — the latter of which subsequently wound up in the setlist of my mid-90s L.A. band The Fancy Trolls (as well as on a mixtape for at least one girl I courted), and remains my favorite Knack song to this day.

One weekday afternoon back in 1997, I was in the tiny old Guitar Center in Sherman Oaks, trying out the pink '50s Telecaster reissue that would eventually come home with me. The only other customer in the shop was Doug Fieger, who was systematically (and quite happily) pulling down every budget-priced Strat in the place and trying out licks from "Nowhere Man" on each one — trying to find a sweet-playing bargain, I guess. I wanted to say something to him about how much I loved "Your Number Or Your Name"; but since he'd come off like a pompous douchebag in just about every interview I'd read with him at the height of the Knack's fame, I decided against it.

About six months later, I was writing a big feature story on Weird Al Yankovic for the now-defunct ICON magazine, and my editor suggested that I ring up Doug to get a quote or two about "My Bologna," the "My Sharona" parody that effectively launched Weird Al's career. I did so and, much to my pleasant surprise, Doug turned out to be a really lovely, funny and self-effacing chap, who — aside from laughing all the way to the bank due to the success of both "My Sharona" and "My Bologna" — seemed genuinely amused and flattered by Weird Al's version.

I broke out of journalist mode at the end of the interview to tell him how much I loved that first Knack album, and that I'd covered a couple of his songs in bands of my own; he could have easily been dismissive of the compliment, but he was very sweet and gracious about it. The impression I took away was that of a true music fan and scholar whose own hit record dreams had come true, and who gratefully appreciated and delighted in his good fortune on a daily basis. I really regretted not striking up a conversation with him that day at Guitar Center. Maybe we could have even strummed "Your Number Or Your Name" together. But I'll bet he and George Harrison are working out that twin-guitar "Nowhere Man" lead as we speak.

(I wish there was a video of "Your Number" kicking around out there, but this'll have to do...)

Comments

[Matt P.]

I love The Knack. Them and Cheap Trick are my late 70s powerpop influences that made me the deviant I am today.

Good video, except for the Rated G lyrics (likely forced on them by their record co.)

R.I.P. Doug. Thanks for the great music that's your legacy.

[Bob MacKay]

Oh crap, just found out about this today (even though a good friend had sent me the Huffington Post obit, which I failed to open). Really one of the best lps (their second one wasn't too shabby either). I can still recall biking to the store to buy that record and spinning it endlessly even 30 years (!!) down the road.
Thanks Dan.
- Bob