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Walt's Vinyl Albums
Walt's Vinyl Albums is about vinyl albums from the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. I have rebranded and changed the name from Vinyl Bound. In it, I explore the creation of some of the most iconic albums ever created. Just like before, I dive deep into the passion behind the music. Welcome.
Walt's Vinyl Albums
Uncovering "My Sharona": The Knack's Meteoric Rise, Musical Legacy, and Personal Stories
Unlock the secrets behind one of rock's most iconic hits, "My Sharona," as we uncover how The Knack shot to stardom in 1979. You'll hear the story of their rise to fame, the creative whirlwind that birthed their legendary debut single, and the band's tumultuous journey through the music industry with disbandments and reunions. We promise a closer look at the personal tale woven into the fabric of the song—Doug Fieger's muse and namesake, Sharona Alperin, who generously shares her unique perspective. Sharona's reflections provide a heartfelt glimpse into her role as an unexpected pop culture figure and her enduring friendship with Fieger.
Join us on a nostalgic journey as Sharona Alperin recounts her surreal experience of hearing "My Sharona" for the first time and the unexpected celebrity status that followed. Her relationship with Doug Fieger unfolds in a touching narrative, revealing her presence during his final days. We also explore how "My Sharona" has left an indelible mark on music history, and invite our listeners to contribute insights on navigating the world of music copyright, enriching our collective exploration of the era's unforgettable soundscape.
Walt's Vinyl Albums podcast is on 14 other podcast stations including, iHeart Radio, Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Podcast Addict, Deezer, and many more. You can contact us via email at: walter@waltsvinylalbums.com
Today we're going to talk about a rock group that most of you probably haven't heard of and their number one hit song that most of you have probably heard of. Now, the rock group that I was mentioning that you probably most people probably haven't heard of, they're called the Knack and this is their first album're called the Knack and this is their first album, called Get the Knack. They put out a first album which was well-received. I mean, everybody loved it, and when you hit stardom that quickly, you do really well. But the inside scoop on the song my Sharona, which was their number one hit for that album and is still a number one hit today, because a lot of people love that song.
Speaker 1:Now, because of copyright laws, I can't play any of their music, which sucks. I don't know how people upload music on YouTube and get away with it. They upload entire songs. Could be because they let all the royalties go to the artist or whatever, but I'm not going to take any chances of having any part of this video reduced to nothing or part nothing and have a bunch of blank sound, because that wouldn't be professional. So we'll just leave it the way it is and we will not play their music. If anybody has advice on how I can play a small clip of, you know, a song that I am introducing or a song that I'm bringing up, because I take care of albums from the 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s and I'd surely love to play just a small clip of it to kind of give people an example of what I'm playing, that would be nice, but so far I haven't seen any avenue that I can take to do that without getting dinged by YouTube. So we'll just keep it the way it is for now. But if you have any information, send it to me. I'll put my email down below. It's a Gmail, but it's a good Gmail and you guys can send that to me and let me know. I would sure appreciate it.
Speaker 1:Now, the Knack was an American rock band based in Los Angeles that rose to fame with its first single, my Sharona, and then, after the single, they put out the album called Get the Knack. And, and after the single, they put out the album called Get the Knack, and it was an international number one hit in 1979. Now, the Knack was founded in 78 with the original and classic lineup of Doug Feiger, lead vocals, rhythm guitar, burton Aver, I guess you would call it he was the lead guitar and the backing vocals, prescott Niles he was the bass and Bruce Gary was on the drums. It was this lineup that recorded the group's first three albums and it's spearheaded by the success of my Sharona Single. Their first album, get the Knack, 1979, reached number one on the charts of several countries. However, the next two albums did not do that well and they were called but the Little Girls Understand, 1980, and Round Trip, 1981. And they were significantly less successful. And since they were faced with diminishing success, the group disbanded in 1982. Now the band reunited in 86 and released their fourth album, serious Fun, in 1991, before breaking up again the following year After a brief reunion in 1994, the Knack reunited again in 1996, recording two more albums called Zoom in 98 and Normal as the Next Guy in 2001.
Speaker 1:Now Figer died in 2010, and that is when National Public Radio, npr, found the gal that Doug Figer was singing about in my. Sharona found her and decided to interview her and at that time this was a few months after Doug's death they found her and did an interview and found out that she was a real estate agent in West Los Angeles, so pretty close to where I was raised, because I was born in Culver City and raised in West Hollywood, and I lived on Genesee 1012 North Genesee, about three quarters of a block south of Santa Monica, so I'm real familiar with Santa Monica, hollywood Boulevard, vine, you know, sepulveda, melrose, all them places out there. We used to ride around on our bikes as kids all the time, but the singer Doug Figer, he had passed away. And NPR interviewed Sharona Operon and I want you to hear part of these clips because it explains how she first found out about the song being written about her. She is also, of course, on the cover, the song being written about her. She is also, of course, on the cover.
Speaker 1:The big complaint was that this girl was 16 or 17 at the time when he started dating her. Now their relationship only lasted four years, you know. After that they kind of went their separate ways. They did keep in touch for quite a few years and even up until his death, when he got sick, she went and visited him a lot, which she'll explain in the interview. She was there before his passing or just right at his passing, so that was good for him as well. So they did keep a really good relationship. And it says when Doug Figer was 25 years old, he met 17-year-old Sharona Alperin Now I think she was 16. She can't even remember and I think the report was back in the day was 16. They could be wrong, she could have been a few days shy or she could have just turned 17. And they say it inspired a two-month long run of songwriting, as well as eventually becoming his girlfriend for the next four years. Figer recounted that it was like getting hit in the head with a baseball bat.
Speaker 1:I fell in love with her instantly and when that happened it sparked something that I started writing a lot of songs feverishly. In a short amount of time, figer and Aver worked out the structure and melody of the song. Aver was originally averse to using Alprian's name in the song, but Figer wanted it to be a direct expression of his feelings and Avere ultimately relented. Figer claimed that my Sharona was written within 15 minutes. Moreover, it was purportedly mixed in an additional 15 minutes after. The recording of the song was made in a single take, not including the background vocals which were added later.
Speaker 1:And in my future videos I'm going to tell you the difference, a significant difference the way people have recorded albums back in the day compared to today. I don't buy new albums. I will buy one under special circumstances, which I did for Terry Clark. She didn't become a country star until the 90s and they were already on CD and I wanted to own. She always wanted to have one of her songs put on an album. Well, she ended up putting all of her greatest hits on an album. Terry Clark did so. I did buy, I broke down and bought a new album. But I love the quality of the 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s albums and we'll get into more of why that quality is so much higher than it is today and a lot of people will try and dispute me on this, but I'm telling you with my ears. It is a fact and with all the study, and I'll show you all that information when I do that video.
Speaker 1:Feiger and Alperin were engaged at one point, but never married, and in a 2005 interview, figer said that they remained great friends. Additionally, she would visit him frequently as Figer was dying of cancer, and I believe the interview was 2010, so they may have got that date wrong. Alperin went on to have a successful career as a realtor in Los Angeles, which I said earlier was in West Los Angeles. If you get a chance to get this album, get the knack, get it, because I believe and this is my personal opinion, but I honestly believe that his explosive personal, loving relationship with Sharona gave them the energy and the drive necessary to make such wonderful music. And we're looking at Let Me Out your Number or your Name. Oh, tara, she's so Selfish. Maybe Tonight Good Girls Don't my Sharona, which is to this day, their number one hit Heartbeat Siamese Twins, the Monkey and Me, lucinda that's what the Little Girls Do and the song Frustrated.
Speaker 1:If you get a chance and you can find this on Discogs D-I-S-C-O-G-S. I believe it is. I'll put it on the front of the screen as I'm putting this video up. Go there, put in, get the knack, get the album. Make sure it's in great shape. You don't want to buy a piece of junk or something that's all scratched up. Make sure whoever you're buying it from on Discogs has a high rating, because there's a lot of good people out there and they will not steer you wrong. They won't send you junk and tell you that it's mint condition. Be very careful of those people out there that do that and normally if discogs find out about it, they'll remove them.
Speaker 2:Tell me how you met Doug Feiger and the Knack.
Speaker 3:I was introduced by his girlfriend. At the time, I was about 16, 17 years old, wow.
Speaker 2:You were in high school.
Speaker 3:Yes, and he was nine years older than me, and within a month or two later, he told me that I'm in love with you, you're my soulmate, you're my other half, we're going to be together one day. And I was madly in love with my boyfriend at the time, and so it took a year for me to leave my boyfriend.
Speaker 2:So when did you first hear the song that became so famous?
Speaker 3:We weren't together yet, but we were friends. And one day on my lunch break from my clothing store I went to their rehearsal and I saw maybe Burton or Doug say, should we play it? Should we play it? All right, let's play it for her. And I sat down, cut to. I'm driving back to the clothing store and I'm thinking did I just hear a song with my name in it? Was my name in that song? It was, you know. I just couldn't believe that.
Speaker 2:I heard that are asked to be on the cover of the single wearing this very sort of tight tank top, these tight jeans, and you become a celebrity as well.
Speaker 3:That was like my normal outfit, what I wore all the time. By the way, you know, I guess I, you know I didn't look at myself as a celebrity, but people were very excited when they met me and I remember going on tour and seeing sometimes people dress up and I'd say, what are you dressed up as? And they would say Sharona's. Not everybody knew that Sharona was a person or they thought maybe it was a thing. I think in Japan they might have thought it was like the male organ. That's what I heard. But you know it's been great.
Speaker 2:Sherwin Alperin. You eventually, of course, got married. So did Doug Feiger, and you were with him, I understand, during his final days before he passed away last month. Can you tell me about that?
Speaker 3:Well, he died on Valentine's Day. That was very fitting for him and the day before February 13th I went to be with him. I had started to see him a lot in the last few months and a lot of his idols people that meant so much to him in the music industry, people that meant so much to him in the music industry came to pay their respects to him and it was really beautiful. And then he died Sunday morning on Valentine's Day.
Speaker 1:You get a chance to get Get the Knack and even get the original the Knack my Sharona single, which they put out first. Then they put out the album. That's what you want to do, because this is perfect for anybody's collection and, like I said, I've got probably close to 500 albums and 99% of my albums are originals from the 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s.