I was sad to hear that Doug Fieger of the Knack passed away. He wrote some great pop songs, and in “My Sharona,” a bonafide classic.
In 2001, MOJO asked me to track him down for one of their Phone Home features.
Here’s Doug, in his own words:
After the Serious Fun album in 1991, we took some time off. Then a few years later, My Sharona was used in the film Reality Bites. That soundtrack album went on to be a hit and My Sharona became the first single. I think it’s one of ten number one hits that have re-charted. Suddenly we were current again. Around the same time, I worked with Ringo Starr on the Time Takes Time album – me and Burton [Averre] did background vocals on one song, then I did backgrounds with Brian Wilson on another song. Ringo’s become a good buddy. He’s a wonderful guy.
After that we did a couple of surprise shows at The Viper Room. Harold Bronson, who runs Rhino Records, saw us, and said, ‘We have to do a new record together.’ And that was Zoom! which came out in ‘98. I think it’s the best thing we’ve done.
Since then, I’ve continued to build and race vintage cars, my hobby, and I finished my solo album, First Things First, which is available through our site, www.knack.com. And last year, Taco Bell used My Sharona for their My Chalupa TV commercial. They presented an idea to us that we thought was clever and funny. As long as there’s humor involved and as long as we’re not selling death or hate, I have no problem with it. They also paid us very well. Since this is what I do for a living, that’s a good thing.
I just finished producing an album on a band called Mystery Pop, and we’re three quarters of the way through a new Knack album, which we’re recording in my home studio. We’re going to be recording a live album and DVD in the next two months. Then there’ll be a big tour this summer with some other acts from our era called The Rock N’ Roll Funhouse.
Basically now, I’m in a wonderful position. I work at this because I love to do it. I don’t have to do it. It’s something that I really enjoy, and I do it for the fun, and the music that we’re making is the best stuff we’ve ever done.