on this sad day, a man by the name of Doug Feiger lost his battle to Cancer. he was only 57, which to you young grasshoppers may seem old, but hell.. i ain’t THAT far behind him. you probably are thinking to yourself, “Okay, i will just go to Perez’ website and find out about him..” you aren’t gonna find anyone in THAT world will probably give two shits about the powerpop genius of Doug. you see, when i was in about..um… 5th or 6th grade, i remember bringing my 45 vinyl single to school with a really hot, dirty slutty looking girl in a wifebeater on the sleeve jacket. she was holding a full length vinyl album under her arm and had no bra on.. this was pretty racy for the time, considering my church..er.. i mean school was VERY conservative and religious. the song was called “My Sharona”. i am only to assume that said girl on the cover of the single was Sharona. i was really jealous that the album she was holding had 4 guys faces on it (none of which were mine) and they were called The Knack. the name of the album was… get this… “Get The Knack”. they looked so cool. i remember i would stare at the album at home all the time, as the shot of them on the back was taken when they shot the “promo” video (this was pre-MTV and videos were shot merely as press kit fanfare) for the single “My Sharona”. they were very Beatles looking. a 50s meets 60’s vibe with an all white wall behind them, as they were all dressed in monochrome glory with matching black pants, white shirts, and black skinny ties.

this look and sound would transpire throughout rock n roll history as a very staple “glam meets garage” look that would inherently shape a lot of modern artists that you see and listen to today. there’s not a day that goes by that i don’t hear a nod on the radio to the famous guitar riff from “My Sharona” or the kik and snare beat. it was primitive. it was simple. it was dirty. and it was good… i don’t know a single person who knows the song that doesn’t love it and everyone goes ape shit when it comes on in a bar or club. This album was recorded in like 3 days or something like that, and it sounds better than most records that take a month. the Guitar solo alone in “My Sharona” by guitarist Berton Averre is the most hook-laden, singable guitar solo i have EVER heard. and it’s long as fuck. that would never fly today on radio. Hell, ask Steve Jones from the Sex Pistols who Doug Feiger is and you will get a spillage of compliments to him and his genius. Little Steven would say the same.

there was a lot more to Doug. he also wrote a slew of other great songs that would help shape my adolescence and make me question my purity as a wee lad. i remember my teacher at school asking me if i knew what they meant when in the song “Good Girls Don’t” they sang “until she sits on your face”. i said, “it’s a wrestling move, right?” and my teacher wiped the sweat from her forehead and grinned and said “yes, Bradley..”

it’s not that i am trying to compare Doug to Tom Waits here. but everyone knew this guy could and would help glorify a neglected genre of misunderstood music known as Power-Pop or (Indie-Pop or Garage Rock as you little hipster shits like to call it now). either way, he will be missed. i remember meeting him for the first time a year ago, and he was secretly dealing with his 6 year battle with Cancer. we met at a music expo thing, and i just walked up and said, “Doug, i want to thank you for inspiring the look and sound of a genre.. and not being afraid to get it heard by the masses. hell, The Marvelous 3 was, if anything, a tribute to you. thank you for your music and spirit”. i saw him hold his heart and a tear welled up in his eye. he just nodded a “thank you” to me and never lost eye contact with me until i was out of the room. i have to think that Doug, like so many others, never got his due or respect, and he knew it. i could tell by the body language from a guy who knew he was going to die within a year and leave his family behind to mourn his loss. i could see it in his eyes. i bet he would lie awake at night and be sad sometimes that they never broke the stereotype of “one hit wonder” status, and i could just see his friends or family telling him “No Doug… You are different”. one day, all the bands are gonna be dressed and sounding like you guys. i hope i am wrong, and that he just had a grin all the time for knowing what a bad-ass album “Get The Knack” was.

Rest in Peace, Doug. not only did YOU “Get The Knack”…. I Got them too….

Butch