The Knack – Live At The House Of Blues (CD)

Recorded at the House of Blues in Los Angeles at the launch for the power pop label, Smile Records

In the summer of 1979 The Knack broke big with their debut single, ‘My Sharona’. Written by band members Doug Fieger (lead vocals, rhythm guitar) and Berton Averre (lead guitar, vocals), this power pop nugget was Capitol Records’ fastest-selling gold single since The Beatles’ ‘I Want to Hold Your Hand’. The song appeared at peak position on Billboard’s Top Pop Singles year-end chart for 1979, while its accompanying album, ‘Get the Knack’, sold over one million copies in less than two months and spent five weeks at #1 on the Billboard album chart.

Five additional studio albums followed ‘Get the Knack’ before The Knack officially ended with Fieger’s death in 2010. Recorded in Hollywood on September 25, 2001 — just two weeks after the events of 9/11 – ‘Live At The House Of Blues’ captures a 70-minute set bristling with urgency and undeniable hooks. In his liner notes, Smile Records President Tony Valenziano writes, “I was happy and thankful we got to do that night just two weeks after we had been attacked. The event shaped all of us in different ways but all these years later I can still recall, especially when I listen to the concert, how that night buzzed — not just for the show that was being put on, but more because we were all in accord about being strong and united…we were all in this together.”

‘Live At The House Of Blues’ features The Knack’s founding trio of Fieger, Averre, and bassist Prescott Niles, alongside drummer Dave Henderson. Henderson also appears on the band’s ‘Normal as the Next Guy’ and ‘Live From the Rock ‘n’ Roll Fun House’ albums.

TRACKLISTING

– Pop Is Dead
– Siamese Twins (The Monkey And Me)
– Baby Talks Dirty
– Seven Days Of Heaven
– Oh Tara
– Tequila / Break On Through (To The Other Side)
– Another Lousy Day In Paradise
– That’s What Little Girls Do
– Good Girls Don’t
– Frustrated
– One Day At A Time
– (She’s So) Selfish
– It’s Not Me
– Let Me Out
– Harder On You
– Last Train To Clarksville