| Get the Knack | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | June 11, 1979 (1979-06-11) | |||
| Recorded | April 1979 | |||
| Studio | TheRecord Plant (New York) | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 40:58 | |||
| Label | Capitol Records | |||
| Producer | Mike Chapman | |||
| The Knack chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Get the Knack | ||||
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Get the Knack is the debut album by Americanrock bandThe Knack, released in June 1979. At the time, the album was one of the most successful debuts in history, selling over one million copies in less than two months and spending five weeks at number one on theBillboard 200 album chart.
The lead single from the album, "My Sharona", was number one on theBillboard Hot 100 for six weeks and number one onBillboard's Top Pop Singles of 1979 year-end chart. The follow-up single, "Good Girls Don't", reached number 11 on the Hot 100 and followed "My Sharona" to number one on theCanadian Singles Chart. InBillboard magazine's year-end charts,Get the Knack ranked at #16 for 1979,[4] and #72 for 1980.[5]
The Knack formed inLos Angeles in May 1978, and after shopping their demo tape to various record labels without success, the band began playing the local club circuit beginning in June, playing over 50 gigs in the next six months. The band quickly gained a following as word of mouth spread about their energetic shows and musicians such asRay Manzarek,Tom Petty andBruce Springsteen came to their shows and joined the group on stage. By December, thirteen record labels, including some that previously rejected them, were offering recording contracts and the group signed withCapitol Records in January 1979.[6]
Get the Knack was recorded in just two weeks at a cost of only $18,000, an extremely quick and inexpensive recording at a time when many established artists were spending months and several hundred thousand dollars to record an album. The album was produced byMike Chapman, who had written hits forSweet in the early 1970s and most recently producedBlondie's breakout albumParallel Lines.[7]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [8] |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide |  [9] |
| Smash Hits | 5/10[10] |
| The Village Voice | B−[11] |
Get the Knack was released in June 1979 and became an immediate success, thanks in part to an intense promotional campaign by Capitol Records. The Knack's image was largely influenced bythe Beatles. The album cover imitates the Beatles' first Capitol LP,Meet the Beatles!, and the back cover photo depicts a scene from the Beatles' filmA Hard Day's Night. To complete the Beatle imagery, the 1960s Capitol rainbow label adorned the LP, a detail the band had written into its contract. The album obtained a goldcertification from theRecording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in just 13 days, becoming Capitol Records' fastest selling debut LP sinceMeet the Beatles! in 1964. In August, the album reached number one on theBillboard 200, where it remained for five weeks, and was certified platinum by the RIAA for one million copies sold. The lead single, "My Sharona", also met with immediate success, becoming Capitol's fastest selling debut single since the Beatles' "I Want to Hold Your Hand" and staying at number one on theBillboard Hot 100 for six weeks.[12]
A backlash against the Knack's overnight success formed among critics who found the band's image too contrived and their attitude too brash.San Franciscoconceptual artist Hugh Brown, who had designedthe Clash'sGive 'Em Enough Rope album cover, started a "Knuke the Knack" campaign complete with T-shirts, buttons and bumper stickers. Some music writers began to criticize the band for what they perceived as arrogance, hype and amisogynist attitude expressed in their songs.[13][14] The band's refusal to do interviews was also viewed negatively by the music press. One entertainment weekly,Scene magazine, refused to publish a review of the Knack's concert inCleveland due to what it called "attempts at censorship" by the band's management.[15]
Robert Christgau ofThe Village Voice was critical of the album's misogynistic themes and remarked that if the Knack "felt this way about girls when they were unknowns, I shudder to think how they're reacting to groupies." However, Christgau countered critics who had dismissed the band on "purely technical terms", arguing that "if they're less engaging musically than, say,the Scruffs, they have a lot more pop and power going for them than, say,the Real Kids."[11]Billboard critic Dick Nusser was particularly complimentary of tracks such as "Let Me Out", "Maybe Tonight" and "That's What the Little Girls Do", while noting that the pleading song "Oh Tara" indicates that the Knack "aren't strict girl haters."[16]
In a retrospective review,AllMusic critic Chris Woodstra wrote that the Knack's attempt to "update the Beatles sound for thenew wave era" was "a good idea that was well executed", describingGet the Knack as "at once sleazy, sexist, hook-filled, and endlessly catchy – above all, it's a guilty pleasure and an exercise in simple fun."[8]Trouser Press noted the negative portrayal of the female protagonists of certain songs and singled out "Maybe Tonight" as "bottom-of-the-barrel sap", but praised "My Sharona", "Let Me Out" and "Frustrated" as "tight guitar pop."[17] In 2016,Paste rankedGet the Knack at number 39 on its list of the 50 best new wave albums.[1]Nirvana frontmanKurt Cobain listedGet the Knack as one of his 50 favorite recordings.[18]
When the album was initially released on CD in 1989,[19] the song "(She's So) Selfish" had vocals different from the original release, with lyrics like "coming from thequaalude scene" changed to "...lame'o scene". Capitol Records used a censored, alternate version of the track which was requested in certain countries.
The album was re-issued on CD in 2002 as a remastered version true to the original vinyl release. This version included bonus demos of "My Sharona" and "That's What the Little Girls Do", as well as a rehearsal take of "Maybe Tonight". It also included a cover ofBruce Springsteen'sDarkness on the Edge of Town outtake "Don't Look Back", which the Knack recorded in 1979 but was left off theGet the Knack LP, and a cover ofNick Lowe's "I Knew the Bride".[20][21][2] A subsequent CD re-issue was remastered by Iconoclassic Records in 2011. Unlike the previous remaster, the 2011 release contains no dynamic range compression.
In April 2017,Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab released an audiophile version of the album onhybrid SACD.[22] This release, like the 2002 Capitol and 2011 Iconoclassic versions, utilizes the original, un-censored mixes.
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Let Me Out" | Doug Fieger,Berton Averre | 2:20 |
| 2. | "Your Number or Your Name" | Fieger, Averre | 2:57 |
| 3. | "Oh Tara" | Fieger | 3:04 |
| 4. | "(She's So) Selfish" | Fieger, Averre | 4:30 |
| 5. | "Maybe Tonight" | Fieger | 4:00 |
| 6. | "Good Girls Don't" | Fieger | 3:07 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7. | "My Sharona" | Fieger, Averre | 4:52 |
| 8. | "Heartbeat" | Bob Montgomery,Norman Petty | 2:11 |
| 9. | "Siamese Twins (The Monkey and Me)" | Fieger, Averre | 3:25 |
| 10. | "Lucinda" | Fieger, Averre | 4:00 |
| 11. | "That's What the Little Girls Do" | Fieger | 2:41 |
| 12. | "Frustrated" | Fieger, Averre | 3:51 |
| Total length: | 40:58 | ||
The Knack
| Chart (1979–80) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[23] | 1 |
| Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[24] | 1 |
| Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[25] | 36 |
| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[26] | 24 |
| New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[27] | 2 |
| Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[28] | 39 |
| UK Albums (OCC)[29] | 65 |
| USBillboard 200[30] | 1 |
| Chart (1979) | Position |
|---|---|
| New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[31] | 34 |
| Billboard Magazine (USA)[4] | 16 |
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| Australia (ARIA)[32] | Gold | 20,000^ |
| Canada (Music Canada)[33] | 4× Platinum | 400,000^ |
| New Zealand (RMNZ)[34] | Gold | 7,500^ |
| United States (RIAA)[35] | 2× Platinum | 2,000,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. | ||
