B5Erik

Doug Fieger died today due to cancer.

Bummer. I always liked his songwriting (and his singing). The Knack was an underrated band and could never get past that one huge hit.

R.I.P.

B5Erik

This may be the last song Doug ever recorded (and it's a great song)...

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Here's an article about Doug from last month...
http://detnews.com/article/20100111/...ders-mortality

B5Erik

And, of course, who could forget...

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JasonF

R.I.P., Doug. I never realized it until I read an obituary, but I was 3 degrees of separation from him (my cousin used to be his brother's law partner).

Hokeyboy

I've always enjoyed the song, even if the bassist falls backwards off his riser at the end of the video.

Anyway, RIP Fieger. The Knack *were* an underrated Power Pop band, lost somewhere between the Disco late 70s and the New Wave early 80s. Great hooks, catchy riffs, cool lyrics, and a pretty nifty band all around. I've always been a fan.

nodeerforamonth

wow... that is pretty great!

Rocketdog2000

Couldn't have said it better, myself.

I've always loved The Knack, and that's two down from the band now - drummer Bruce Gary passed away in 2006. "My Sharona" (the full length LP version) also has one of my Top 3 favorite guitar solos by anyone, ever.

Anyone wanting to know more about the band would do well to check out the excellent 2004 documentary Getting The Knack - which you can pick up on DVD for $10, or less.

R.I.P. Doug. I'll miss ya!

Chrisedge

Completely agree, one of my double dips in CD for their 1st album when they remastered and added some new tracks. I saw them a few years back (8-9 years ago) and I thought they were still great. Very underrated and totally talented.

Groucho

RIP.

Thanks for the song, B5Erik -- that was a good listen.

Hokeyboy

It's also available as INSTANT VIEWING from NETFLIX. The wife and I just finished watching it. Great documentary.

johnbook

Wow living in Michigan my whole life now, never knew his brother was Lawyer "Geoffrey Feiger", for all of you not in these parts Geoffrey is pretty popular around here.

The Infidel

Weird. I was just thinking about "My Sharona" on the way home from work in the car. I heard another song that reminded me of it.

atlantamoi

They certainly were reviled by music critics for their lyrics back in the day. I don't really give a crap because their debut album is simply fantastic. Very sad to hear this news.

TomOpus

Damn.

Pointyskull

Sad news.

I still think "Good Girls Don't" is one of the great underrated pop songs of that era.

Hokeyboy

That documentary brings this up. It's fascinating. They were initially LOVED by critics. Then they got huge and their dipshit management instructed them to eschew typical interviews/press engagements and the critics turned on them to the point where pretty much all news was derogatory. Of course, years later the musical press LOVED them again.


Good music will last and go on forever. Music critics die early, alone, in pain and unloved.

Numanoid

My Sharona is one of the top three best rock songs ever, to me. Perfection. The rest of that album is pretty great, too. And Doug always seemed like a really cool, down-to-earth guy. Sad news.

rexinnih

You'll be missed. Thanks for the music.

Jack Straw

Just a side-note of trivia. Doug's brother is the attorney Geoffrey Fieger.

Hokeyboy

JumpCutz

RIP

I never thought My Sharona was a great pop song and the hook was very pedestrian.

B5Erik

Here's a song I was blasting out a lot in 1991...

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atlantamoi

That's quite horrible compared to the early tunes.

atlantamoi

Some of my favorite songs of all time are probably pedestrian or at least not very complex. Although I'd like to see you try and play the solo in this tune.

B5Erik

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Really? I rather like that one. It was a big FM Rock Radio hit in '91. A lot of people really liked it - both critics and fans.

Oh, well. To each his own. I think Fieger was a darned good songwriter, and I'd use that song as an example of some of his better work.