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Happy 40th anniversary, June 11, "My Sharona."
ARTS MUSIC
Go Ahead, Ask Sharona Again About ‘My Sharona’
The woman behind the 1979 hit new-wave song by The Knack has moved on to real estate, but still answers questions about the song almost daily
By Don Steinberg
April 24, 2019 9:52 a.m. ET
Even now, approaching the 40th anniversary of the biggest single of 1979, Sharona Alperin can’t escape it.
“Oh my God, almost daily, almost anytime someone hears my name,” Ms. Alperin says. “They say ‘Oh, like ‘My Sharona?’ And then they say, ‘Oh, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to say that. You probably hear that all the time.’ ”
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Go Ahead, Ask Sharona Again About ‘My Sharona’
The woman behind the 1979 hit new-wave song by The Knack has moved on to real estate, but still answers questions about the song almost daily
By Don Steinberg
April 24, 2019 9:52 a.m. ET
Even now, approaching the 40th anniversary of the biggest single of 1979, Sharona Alperin can’t escape it.
“Oh my God, almost daily, almost anytime someone hears my name,” Ms. Alperin says. “They say ‘Oh, like ‘My Sharona?’ And then they say, ‘Oh, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to say that. You probably hear that all the time.’ ”
They have no...
TO READ THE FULL STORY
SUBSCRIBE
SIGN IN
My Sharona
Released: June 1979
Format: 7-inch single
Recorded: April 1979
"My Sharona" /ʃəˈroʊnə/ is the debut single by the Knack. The song was written by Berton Averre and Doug Fieger, and released in 1979 from their album Get the Knack. It reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart where it remained for 6 weeks, and was number one on Billboard's 1979 Top Pop Singles year-end chart.
It was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America, representing one million copies sold, and was Capitol Records' fastest gold status debut single since the Beatles' "I Want to Hold Your Hand" in 1964.
....
Inspiration
When Fieger was 25 years old, he met 17-year-old Sharona Alperin, who inspired a two-month-long run of songwriting, as well as becoming Fieger's girlfriend for the next four years. Fieger recounted that "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." Fieger and Averre worked out the structure and melody of the song. Averre was originally averse to using Alperin's name in the song, but Fieger wanted it to be a direct expression of his feelings; Averre ultimately relented. Fieger claimed that "My Sharona" was written in 15 minutes.
Fieger and Alperin were engaged at one point, but never married. In a 2005 interview, Fieger said that they remained "great friends". Alperin went on to a successful career as a realtor in Los Angeles.
Music and lyrics
The music of the song echoes many elements of songs from the 1960s. According to a Trouser Press reviewer, the song's main melodic hook is "an inversion of the signature riff" from "Gimme Some Lovin'", a 1967 song by the Spencer Davis Group. Fieger acknowledged that the song's tom-tom drum rhythm is "just a rewrite" of "Going a Go-Go", a song from Smokey Robinson and the Miracles from 1965. Drummer Bruce Gary has stated that although he did not particularly like the song when Fieger introduced it to the band, he came up with the stuttering beat for the song similar to a surf stomp. He also decided to incorporate a flam, in which two drum strokes are staggered, creating a fuller sound, which Gary considered to be crucial to the song's success.
In an interview with The Washington Post, Fieger also noted that the song was written from the perspective of a 14-year-old boy.
The song's stuttering vocal effect of the repeated "muh muh muh my Sharona" phrase is reminiscent of Roger Daltrey's vocals in the 1965 song "My Generation" by the Who.
Released: June 1979
Format: 7-inch single
Recorded: April 1979
"My Sharona" /ʃəˈroʊnə/ is the debut single by the Knack. The song was written by Berton Averre and Doug Fieger, and released in 1979 from their album Get the Knack. It reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart where it remained for 6 weeks, and was number one on Billboard's 1979 Top Pop Singles year-end chart.
It was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America, representing one million copies sold, and was Capitol Records' fastest gold status debut single since the Beatles' "I Want to Hold Your Hand" in 1964.
....
Inspiration
When Fieger was 25 years old, he met 17-year-old Sharona Alperin, who inspired a two-month-long run of songwriting, as well as becoming Fieger's girlfriend for the next four years. Fieger recounted that "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." Fieger and Averre worked out the structure and melody of the song. Averre was originally averse to using Alperin's name in the song, but Fieger wanted it to be a direct expression of his feelings; Averre ultimately relented. Fieger claimed that "My Sharona" was written in 15 minutes.
Fieger and Alperin were engaged at one point, but never married. In a 2005 interview, Fieger said that they remained "great friends". Alperin went on to a successful career as a realtor in Los Angeles.
Music and lyrics
The music of the song echoes many elements of songs from the 1960s. According to a Trouser Press reviewer, the song's main melodic hook is "an inversion of the signature riff" from "Gimme Some Lovin'", a 1967 song by the Spencer Davis Group. Fieger acknowledged that the song's tom-tom drum rhythm is "just a rewrite" of "Going a Go-Go", a song from Smokey Robinson and the Miracles from 1965. Drummer Bruce Gary has stated that although he did not particularly like the song when Fieger introduced it to the band, he came up with the stuttering beat for the song similar to a surf stomp. He also decided to incorporate a flam, in which two drum strokes are staggered, creating a fuller sound, which Gary considered to be crucial to the song's success.
In an interview with The Washington Post, Fieger also noted that the song was written from the perspective of a 14-year-old boy.
The song's stuttering vocal effect of the repeated "muh muh muh my Sharona" phrase is reminiscent of Roger Daltrey's vocals in the 1965 song "My Generation" by the Who.
MUSIC INTERVIEWS
The Woman Behind 'My Sharona'
March 6, 20102:22 PM ET
Heard on All Things Considered
Over 30 years ago, a band called The Knack catapulted to stardom with its hit, "My Sharona." It also made a star out of its muse, a woman named — not surprisingly — Sharona.
The Knack's lead singer Doug Fieger wrote the song for the then-teenager who would become his girlfriend, Sharona Alperin. Fieger died last month after a battle with lung cancer. Alperin, who stayed friends with him, was one of the people at his side during those last days.
Sharona Alperin is now a real estate agent in Los Angeles. But she still remembers when she was introduced to Doug Fieger, by his girlfriend.
"I was about 16 or 17 at the time," Alperin told host Guy Raz. "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."
Alperin remembers the day when she first heard "My Sharona" — before she and Fieger were an item.
....
The Woman Behind 'My Sharona'
March 6, 20102:22 PM ET
Heard on All Things Considered
Over 30 years ago, a band called The Knack catapulted to stardom with its hit, "My Sharona." It also made a star out of its muse, a woman named — not surprisingly — Sharona.
The Knack's lead singer Doug Fieger wrote the song for the then-teenager who would become his girlfriend, Sharona Alperin. Fieger died last month after a battle with lung cancer. Alperin, who stayed friends with him, was one of the people at his side during those last days.
Sharona Alperin is now a real estate agent in Los Angeles. But she still remembers when she was introduced to Doug Fieger, by his girlfriend.
"I was about 16 or 17 at the time," Alperin told host Guy Raz. "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."
Alperin remembers the day when she first heard "My Sharona" — before she and Fieger were an item.
....
40 YEARS AGO: THE HUGE ‘MY SHARONA’ DOOMS THE KNACK
DAVE SWANSON June 11, 2015
Loathed by critics and written off as a novelty act, the Knack were a genuine rock 'n' roll band. As the '70s drew to a close, the Knack were also simply unavoidable. Eventually that over-saturation would drown them, but for a brief shining moment, they were on top. Contrary to legend, however, they were no overnight-success story.
The Los Angeles music scene of the late '70s was overflowing with energy, attitude and great bands. Things were moving fast, and by 1978, the landscape of punk outfits like the Germs, the Bags and the Weirdos was starting to give way to the likes of the Plimsouls, the Beat and the Knack.
....
In early 1979, the band entered the studio with producer Mike Chapman to begin work on their debut. Get the Knack was wrapped up in less than two weeks. "I don't think we did two takes on any song, except for 'Maybe Tonight,'" Fieger once said. "What we had to do was make the record quickly," added Chapman, "because to labor over it would have taken that spontaneity out of it." Chapman's production here is, as always, first class.
Once Get the Knack arrived on June 11, 1979, it didn't take long for radio stations to zero in on "My Sharona." The insistent drum beat alone was one big hook, but once the guitar riff moves in, the track evolves into a massive ear worm. Soon, "My Sharona" was emanating from nearly every radio across America. It hit the top of the Billboard chart in the summer of 1979 and stayed there six straight weeks, going gold in just thirteen days. The album followed suit, holding Billboard's top spot for five weeks until Led Zeppelin's In Through the Out Door finally knocked it off.
....
DAVE SWANSON June 11, 2015
Loathed by critics and written off as a novelty act, the Knack were a genuine rock 'n' roll band. As the '70s drew to a close, the Knack were also simply unavoidable. Eventually that over-saturation would drown them, but for a brief shining moment, they were on top. Contrary to legend, however, they were no overnight-success story.
The Los Angeles music scene of the late '70s was overflowing with energy, attitude and great bands. Things were moving fast, and by 1978, the landscape of punk outfits like the Germs, the Bags and the Weirdos was starting to give way to the likes of the Plimsouls, the Beat and the Knack.
....
In early 1979, the band entered the studio with producer Mike Chapman to begin work on their debut. Get the Knack was wrapped up in less than two weeks. "I don't think we did two takes on any song, except for 'Maybe Tonight,'" Fieger once said. "What we had to do was make the record quickly," added Chapman, "because to labor over it would have taken that spontaneity out of it." Chapman's production here is, as always, first class.
Once Get the Knack arrived on June 11, 1979, it didn't take long for radio stations to zero in on "My Sharona." The insistent drum beat alone was one big hook, but once the guitar riff moves in, the track evolves into a massive ear worm. Soon, "My Sharona" was emanating from nearly every radio across America. It hit the top of the Billboard chart in the summer of 1979 and stayed there six straight weeks, going gold in just thirteen days. The album followed suit, holding Billboard's top spot for five weeks until Led Zeppelin's In Through the Out Door finally knocked it off.
....
I think I've heard it enough times, but for those of you who haven't:
4 replies
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