Doug Fieger of The Knack Passes Away

Sad news yesterday as it was announced that Doug Fieger, lead singer of The Knack, passed away at the age of 57 after an extended battle with cancer.

The Knack burst onto the scene in 1979 with their debut album "Get the Knack" and the mega-hit of that year - "My Sharona." I was just a teenager at the time and one of those dopey kids who was addicted to his radio, and took it with me everywhere. I loved music and was always running up and down the dial listening to whatever I could find. While "My Sharona" is now considered to be pop music by today's standards - as someone who was there, let me tell you - it was everywhere. The single got equal massive play on not just the top 40 stations, but also the rock, disco (there were still a few left) and the R&B stations.

Back in those days of the dueling rock giants of Philadelphia, WMMR and WYSP used to have entire weekends dedicated to single musical groups. While Yes and Genesis often had to share the spotlight for a weekend, even though together they had dozens of albums to their credit - The Knack, with only one album, was featured with their own weekend on more than a few occasions. That is how big The Knack was.

Also, if you watch VH-1 with any regularity with their multiple nostalgia countdowns, they'll tell you that The Knack was a one-hit wonder with "My Sharona." Nothing could be farther from the truth. "Get the Knack" also featured the follow-up single "Good Girls Don't," which topped the request lines all during 1979 as well. The Knack's second album "...But the Little Girls Understand," borrowing from an old Doors lyric which itself borrowed from an even older blues tune, was one of 1980's most anticipated albums. It only managed to put one single, "Baby Talks Dirty" on the charts however. From there, Doug Fieger and The Knack faded into obscurity.

They didn't disappear completely though. Doug Fieger showed up by himself on the "Born to Laugh at Tornadoes" album by Was (Not Was) in 1983 doing lead vocals on two tracks. The Knack resurfaced briefly in 1991 with the rock single "Rocket O' Love," a song that I was quite fond of. "My Sharona" also popped back into the charts twice since its initial release after being used in movies.

Doug Fieger, and The Knack, were a major part of music in the 1980s, a slice of time in between the rock and disco of the 1970s and the new wave that was to come. Another rocker has passed on and will be missed.