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Knack Frontman Doug Fieger Dies at 57
- Posted on Feb 14th 2010 4:16PM by Steve Baltin
Former Knack frontman Doug Fieger passed away Sunday in Los Angeles at the age of 57 following a nearly five-year battle with lung cancer. As previously reported, Fieger had been suffering from numerous tumors, including two in his brain that were removed in 2006. He had been undergoing treatment at Cedars Sinai Medical Center near his home in Woodland Hills, Calif.Fieger had spoken up in recent months about his own mortality. In a January interview with the Detroit News, the singer, a Detroit native, said, "Everybody knows they're going sooner or later. I don't know any better than anyone else when I'm going." He added, "I've had 10 great lives. And I expect to have some more. I don't feel cheated in any way, shape or form."
His brother Geoffrey, a Detroit-based attorney, wrote in a touching post on his blog in December that Fieger's cancer "will likely end his life."
Certainly one of Fieger's "10 great lives" came during the height of the Knack's fame in the late '70s and early '80s. The band seemingly appeared out of nowhere, scoring a smash hit with 1979's 'My Sharona,' which blended power pop and a New Wave sensibility into an ubiquitous radio hit that became one of the defining pop songs of the era.
'Get the Knack,' the debut album that spawned the hit, was equally successful, spending six weeks atop the Billboard charts and positioning the L.A.-based quartet as rock stars. To understand how big the Knack was in 1979, one only has to look at the company they kept, which included Tom Petty, Stephen Stills and Bruce Springsteen, who jammed with the group at several shows at the Troubadour.
The Knack followed their early success with 1980's '...But the Little Girls Understand,' which went gold and hit number 15 on the charts. The band also had a modest hit with 'Baby Talks Dirty.'
But the Knack's star soon began to fade. Their third album, 1981's 'Round Trip,' barely made the charts. The band was reported to have broken up soon afterward, but in an interview with Classicbands.com, Fieger explained the band had merely taken a four-year break because Fieger no longer wanted to play with drummer Bruce Gary.
The band reunited for a tour in 1986 and went on to release three more albums over the years, the last being 1998's 'Proof.' Fieger released a solo album, ''First Things First,' in 2000.
A statement on the Knack's offical site reads simply: "Our hearts are broken, we will miss you, Doug."
Other tributes have already started appearing in the media. 'Weird' Al Yankovic, who scored a hit with his 'My Sharona' parody 'My Bologna,' tweeted: "RIP my dear friend Doug Fieger (lead singer of the Knack, and the first artist ever to approve one of my parodies)."
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Shasta
Don't just assume Doug was a smoker. A lot of people die of lung cancer who've never smoked a day in their lives.
Even if he did smoke, that doesn't make him a bad person. So many things all of us do are risky. What about people who ride motorcycles, for example?
To protect ourselves completely we'd never be able to do anything at all!
MFR
Just a thought to his family, band mates and friends. He was much more talented than the constant one reference constant 'Sharona'. He and the guys made continually terrific cds 'filled' with good songs, good fun, great playing and music worth buying, keeping and remembering. And in the end, that's what talent, music and contribution are all about.
On to a better place and thanks for the inspiration.
Ryan
I read where someone didn't know that the song was actually written about Doug's girlfriend.
According to lead singer/guitarist Doug Fieger, he met Sharona Alperin (who was 16 at the time) and she inspired a two-month-long run of songwriting. "It was like getting hit in the head with a baseball bat; I fell in love with her instantly. And when that happened, it sparked something and I started writing a lot of songs feverishly in a short amount of time." Whenever he thought about her, he would think of Averre's riff. The two worked out the structure and melody from there. Sharona appears on the picture sleeve for the single, and became a major booster of the band bringing many girls to their early shows
Daryn
I saw the Knack in Austin TX it was the second concert I went to when I was a teenager - Elvis was the first. I took a date to see the Knack and she sat on my shoulders the whole time and we had such a great time. We were invited back stage to hang out with the band. It was an event I will always remember. Thanks for the memory, the music, and the good time. You will be missed.
February 15 2010 at 1:07 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply
KAKES
Rest in peace Doug. I grew up with your music. My prayers go out to your family. Great singer. You will be missed.
February 15 2010 at 1:00 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply
HspncElvis
Rest in peace, Doug. I was a freshman in High School when My Sharona hit the charts. Remember it like it was yesterday.
February 15 2010 at 12:39 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply
EFFRIM
YOU NOT COMPOSING ANY MORE MAN...... REST NOW FOR THE LONG SLEEP.... SMOKE 'EM IF YA GOT 'EM!!!!
February 15 2010 at 12:26 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply
EFFRIM
1 reply to EFFRIM's comment
DE MAN TAKE DE CIGARETTE...... DEN
DE CIGARETTE TAKE DE MAN......
REST ME MON......... IN PEACE.......
lita
Do you know for certain that he was a smoker? (Yes, a lot of singers of all types of music, ironically, are smokers, but do you actually know?) After all, more and more people are dying of lung cancer who never smoked a day in their lives, like the late Christopher Reeve's wife, Dana, who was so afflicted. I'd be lying if I said I never used to think the same way, but I've learned a lot about this subject--more than I ever wanted to know.
February 15 2010 at 2:01 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply
darrell
I love "My Sharona" today. I loved it last year and in recent years past. However, I hated the song in 1979. Why? Because I was a disco fan, and "My Sharona" replaced one of my all-time faves, "Good Times" by Chic, at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. This event was symbolic in that it seemed to mark the official end of the disco era at its peak in 1979. However, on its own merits, I came to appreciate both "My Sharona" and "Good Girls Don't" in my adult years. "My Sharona" now ranks as one of my all-time favorite songs of the '70s and I am saddened that one of its key creators, Doug Fieger, is gone. RIP genius!
February 15 2010 at 12:23 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply
bill
I like the long version of My Sharona, but they hardly ever play it on the radio.
February 15 2010 at 11:57 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply
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