Show Notes
It's the tail end of the 70s, and top 40 music is heavily leaning to disco and AOR. Sure there's plenty of other things out there, but the charts point not only to disco artists, but pop singers jumping on board the disco train (Barbara Streisand, Kiss, Paul McCartney and Wings).
Then 4 guys based in Los Angeles recorded and mixed a powerful rock and roll album in a little over 10 days, and for a brief time, the world couldn't get enough of them.
Welcome to episode 157 of Love That Album.
It seemed that you couldn't turn on the radio without hearing that flammed drum beat that held together a song as lustful as anything in rock music, My Sharona. Doug Fieger, Berton Averre, Prescott Niles and Bruce Gary released their debut album Get The Knack and music fans went crazy. Of course, things turned sour with fickle fans and the media who had to take these guys down a peg or two. That's not the story (in the main) that this episode is about.
I am hugely privileged to have Knack bassist Prescott Niles join me to talk about the 6 albums the band released over their career, putting paid to the lie that My Sharona is all they accomplished....but this episode is about more than just The Knack. Prescott talks about his music life starting in Brooklyn, and his time working with musicians like Velvet Turner, Arthur Lee, and George Harrison. He also talks about Fillmore East and Woodstock, and tells some interesting tales about Jimi Hendrix, and a few others.
This is a mammoth conversation we recorded over two sessions (one wasn't enough to get all these stories out). I am hugely grateful to Prescott for taking the time to join me on the show – something 15 year old me who played Get The Knack to death on original release could never have imagined. I'd also liked to thank Randy Haecker who hooked me up with Prescott.
So put on your skinny ties and download the show.
Download this episode of LTA from your podcast app of choice.The wider back catalogue of episodes can also be found at http://lovethatalbumpodcast.blogspot.com
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