The Knack -- "My Sharona" (1979)

In a way, The Knack was like rock and roll version of the Bee Gees -- for a short while, they absolutely ruled the music charts and radio DJ's, only to be turned on with such ferocious backlash. For the Bee Gees, it didn't kill their careers, but certainly cooled it down while they focused on writing and producing for others. For The Knack, it was practically the knockout blow.

The Knack arrived in what could only be called the most perfect timing. Disco was going full steam in the late 70's. I was heading off for a summer studying journalism at Northwestern University in Evanston, IL. Little did I know I was veering right into Anti-Disco Central, lead by Chicago radio jock Steve Dahl.

Dahl would count down the top 10 records that week, most of them disco, and while the single was playing, he'd scratch it very slowly with the needle, then slam it into a million pieces against his desk. Dahl led the charge of playing rock and roll, adding in what was becoming New Wave music and then-current hard rock. His radio station sponsored Anti-Disco Nights all around Chicago, and when I stopped by one of them at a bar, the place was filled with cocktail napkins that read: "Kill The Bee Gees."

Rock and rollers were getting kicked off charts and radio by disco. California rock band The Knack is released and all the pieces fall into place for them to lead that backlash against disco. An album full of hyper-sexualized Beatles-influenced rock songs, all immensely catchy with harmonies, snappy musicianship and humor. They dress in the then-requisite skinny ties. They are on the same label as The Beatles -- Capitol -- and the black and white thematic artwork only connect them further with the Fab Four.

With English pop producer Mike Chapman at the helm, who knew a few things about power pop (Blondie, The Sweet, Nick Gilder), The Knack unleash their "My Sharona" single and it's like a nuclear missile on the disco movement. Based on an up and down octave bass riff with Bruce Gary's drums slamming away in precision time, it's an exhausting workout of young lust and innuendo, singer Doug Fieger practically going nuts for the mysterious "Sharona."

"My Sharona" climaxes in Berton Averre's meticulously arranged guitar solo, surely one of the all time great ones in rock and roll. He and the rhythm section play off each other as he goes all over the fretboard until they are one big force ready to explode... then pause... then right into that up and down bass riff... pow! Fieger is audibly panting over the beat that he seems about to explode any second.

"My Sharona" proved that you didn't have to have that 4/4 disco beat and hi-hat to dance -- this was rock music that encouraged those who were staying off the dance floor to come back on. The Knack was the unlikely saviors of rock and roll, saving the world from Sister Sledge, The Village People and Cher.

Carried by an album of great songs, including the second hit single "Good Girls Don't," The Knack were an international sensation. Even Weird Al Yancovic made it official with his parody, "My Bologna." Everything seemed sweet for The Knack until their second album, Even The Little Girls Understand, and then somebody just pulled the plug on them. Suddenly, everything The Knack did seemed cocky and ripped off. Nothing on this record came close to the first. Ah, the sophomore slump.

Years later in 1994, the song was rereleased to some success when it was featured on the soundtrack to the Ben Stiller film "Reality Bites."

YouTube is littered with amateur guitarists doing note for note renditions of Berton Averre's astonishing guitar solo, such as here and here. "My Sharona" appears in the video game "Guitar Hero 2," bringing the song deservedly to a whole new generation.

While I believe "My Sharona" is absolutely a classic and very influential for power pop acts in years to come, The Knack were no ordinary band for that brief shining time when this was their hit.

Below are two "My Sharona" videos -- first is the original 1979 one, followed by a March 2007 appearance by the band on Italian television. What is strange is that they are lip-synching to a song that was almost 25 years old, when they've always been known as a crack live band. However, you have to love all the hot babes dancing with guitars around the stage and the audience wildly up on their feet dancing.

The Tubes -- "White Punks On Dope" (1975)

While rock acts have been playing it safe for years with their content and shows, you rarely find one that truly set out to tip the boat from the start. The last act that I can think who set out to provoke outrage and buzz from the starting gate and had great commercial success was probably Frankie Goes To Hollywood ("Relax," "Two Tribes").

In the 70's decade, one of the most head-turning rock acts to climb on the national stage was The Tubes. While their most commercially successful work was in the early 80's when they decided to forgo their outrageousness for actual record sales, you'd find it hard to believe that the band that had the hit singles "Talk To Ya Later" and "She's A Beauty" started off in a completely different direction.

Bursting out of San Francisco with a tailwind of buzz, The Tubes infused heavy satire and theater into rock, casting their targets at the media, consumerism, rock genres and sexual deviancy. The stage was surrounded by a number of actual TV sets, like something out of Max Headroom, where the large band would change costumes frequently between songs.

With dozens of performers, The Tubes staged a mini-musical around each song, a concept that pre-dated MTV music videos and set them squarely ahead of their time. The Tubes was my first rock concert ever when I saw them in Buffalo in 1975, and you just didn't know where to look first.

A paen to S&M, "Mondo Bondage," featured some serious whip action from model-ish backup Re Styles on lead singer Fee Waybill. The marvelous "What Do You Want From Life" mocked social career climbing and blatant consumerism, with all kinds of crazy product props the cast would whip out in synch to the list that "every American citizen" is entitled to, including "a new Matador, a new mastadon, a Maverick, a Mustang, a Montego, a Merc Montclair, a Mark IV, a meteor, a Mercedes, an MG, or a Malibu, a Mort Moriarty, a Maserati, a Mack truck, a Mazda, a new Monza, or a moped, a Winnebago... hell, a herd of Winnebago's... we're givin'em away!" And for a real curve ball, they'd do a fairly straight cover of The Captain and Tenille's "Love Will Keep Us Together."

Every concert's grand finale was Waybill getting into his cross-dressing, drugged-up glam rock character Quay Lude, in sky-high heels, crazy big hair, tight pants with his butt cheeks hanging out, and a huge guitar shaped like the letter Q, all meant to mock David Bowie, Alice Cooper and The New York Dolls. The band broke out into what is certainly their classic anthem, "White Punks on Dope," lampooning bored rich heroin-taking Hollywood kids. Of course, at the number's end, Quay Lude OD's and keels over for good.

Teenage had a race for the night time
Spent my cash on every high I could find
Wasted time in every school in L.A.
Getting loose, I didn't care what the kids say

We're white punks on dope
Mom & Dad moved to Hollywood
Hang myself when I get enough rope
Can't clean up, though I know I should
White punks on dope
White punks on dope

Somehow, legendary producer Al Kooper had to rope this all in to their debut album. The songs were a mixed bag, but a few of them really rose to the occasion like "White Punks On Dope," which was the ideal climatic album closer. In keeping with the band's edginess, a number of lyrics had curses, so they had to be edited down to get some kind of radio play.

You're in for a special treat with Tubes videos because you're never going to see anything like this again. Below is the band performing "White Punks On Dope" on the great British TV series "Old Grey Whistle Test" -- in full costume and props. It's amazing to see this many people on stage playing this song. Then an amazing 1976 local San Francisco news report about the band, and a lengthy wonderful archival montage of early concert performances.

Rare Earth -- "Get Ready" (1970)

As time goes on, it seems appreciation for some of the great Motown artists is fading. Not only did Rare Earth have a phenomenal run of hits in 1970 and 1971, but ten years later, I remember playing them at parties and getting a huge reaction. I wonder if that would happen now?

Rare Earth was the first "rock" band signed by Motown, although that label is a misnomer. Just like Santana, Rare Earth combined rock with other genres, but the emphasis here was definitely on 70's funk and jazz. Motown even gave their label the Rare Earth name to emphasize rock acts (or white boys, who knows?).

Look at that album cover and you're not thinking rock band at all. They are so clean cut behind that gauzy lens, you would think they were some pop vocal act singing Paul Anka covers.

Don't judge this book by its cover. These guys totally cooked. Exhibit A is the 21 minute cover version of The Temptations' "Get Ready" that takes up side two of this first Motown album. Rumored to not have enough material, they performed what was their usual final jam from their live show. When the song was released as a single, it was drastically edited down to three minutes or so and became a true smash hit. I think it did even better than the Temptations version (which was released in 1966 and written by Smokey Robinson).

On both the album and single versions, there's a lot of audience noise, screaming and whistling, but I was never quite sure if that was real. I don't believe the album mentions a live venue location, which probably means it was dubbed on.

Motown was constantly recycling its own song catalog for its artists. Even if a song flopped, they'd reuse it with at least another artist to see if it would fly right this time. For example, both "I Heard It Through The Grapevine" and "Ain't Mountain High Enough" were huge hits twice for different Motown artists. Rare Earth had success with two Temptations hits -- "Get Ready" and "(I Know) I'm Losing You" -- by radically re-arranging the songs.

One of the cooler things about Rare Earth is that the drummer, Pete Rivera, was also the lead singer, and you can see him doing both simultaneously in the early 70's video below. Rivera had a very deep soulful voice that was immediately commanding and irreplaceable when he left the band in 1975.

Below are three videos of "Get Ready." The first is the 45 being played on a turntable, so you can here how this epic jam session was cut down to three minutes of party time soul/rock.

The second is Rare Earth performing the song live in 1973, now with an additional Latino percussionist, firing up a storm as electric as any early Santana show. I'm knocked out by Rivera, who is totally zoned in to his drumming with his eyes closed, singing at the same time, completely getting into the sweaty groove.

Boy, I would have loved to have seen these guys in concert back then. You have to love the days when popular rock acts would perform with their shirts off, like the keyboardist does here (and seems to in just about every Rare Earth video I've found), while Rivera is all muscle shirt. And I'm just digging that whole crowd dancing to the song.

The third is a knockout black and white clip of The Temptations performing "Get Ready" in 1966. Check out the Temps' dance moves, Eddie Kendricks singing lead, and the girls going crazy in the upper part of the stage.

As far as I'm concerned, these last two videos are mandatory viewing.