New Wave Wednesday: "My Sharona" by The Knack (music video)

During my freshman year of college, the song, My Sharona was all over the radio. It was one of those songs that first got your attention with its signature guitar riff, and simple, catchy chorus, but after hearing it several times a day, you just wanted to pierce your own ear drums. At the time I didn't know about the somewhat creepy history of the song and how it was inspired by the 25-year-old lead singer's 17-year-old girlfriend.

From Wikipedia:
"My Sharona" is the debut single by The Knack, released in 1979 from their album Get the Knack. It reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart where it remained for six weeks and was #1 on Billboard's Top Pop Singles of 1979 year-end chart. It was certified gold (one million units sold) by the Recording Industry Association of America.

Lead singer/guitarist Doug Fieger was 25 when he met Sharona Alperin, who was 17 at the time. She inspired a two-month-long run of songwriting, as well as becoming Fieger's girlfriend for the next four years. "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." Whenever Fieger thought about Alperin, he would think of Berton Averre's guitar riff. The two worked out the structure and melody from there.

Lead Singer Doug Fieger passed away on February 14, 2010 of cancer.

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