My Sharona

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"My Sharona"
"My Sharona" cover
The UK picture cover of The Knack's My Sharona
Single by The Knack
from the album Get the Knack
Released June 18, 1979
Genre Power pop
Length 4:55
Label Capitol Records
Writer(s) Doug Fieger and Berton Averre
Producer(s) Mike Chapman
Chart positions
The Knack singles chronology
My Sharona
(1979)		 Good Girls Don't
(1979)

"My Sharona" is a 1979 rock song sung by Doug Fieger, which was the debut single by and international hit for The Knack. Written by Doug Fieger and Berton Averre, it was produced by Mike Chapman and released June 18, 1979. The single went gold in eight weeks and, on August 25 it reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100. Constructed around a guitar riff, "My Sharona" remains a popular song, definitive of early 1980s rock music, and the genre of power pop. It is known for its slamming drums played by Bruce Gary, driving guitar work, and simple, infectious beat. The song has been subject to numerous cover versions, parodies and sampling (see list below).

Contents

[edit] Inspiration and legacy

Its easily recognizable riff that is the core of the song was written by the band's guitarist, Berton Averre, long before he ever joined The Knack. According to lead singer/guitarist Doug Fieger, he met a girl named Sharona (who was 17 at the time), and fell in love with her. Whenever he thought about her, he would think of Averre's riff. The two worked out the structure and melody from there. The girl who inspired the song is Sharona Alperin, now a real estate agent in Los Angeles, California. [1]

Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters has stated on more than one occasion that "My Sharona" is his favorite song. His earlier band Nirvana even did a live cover of it. The original song gained some attention in 2005 when it appeared on the playlist of U.S. President George W. Bush's iPod player.[2]

In 2006 Australian TV Show 20 to 1: One Hit Wonders voted The Knack as the greatest "One-Hit Wonder" in history.

[edit] Parodies, samples and covers

With both the notoriety gained from being an international hit, and its distinctive rock guitar riff, "My Sharona" has been the subject of numerous parodies, tributes, and sampling, including:

[edit] Parodies

  • Parodied by "Weird Al" Yankovic as "My Bologna", replacing the chorus with "Never gonna stop, eat it up, such a tasty snack, I always eat too much, and throw up, but I'll soon be back for my-my-my-yi-yi, woo! M-M-M-My Bologna!". It appeared on his self-titled debut album.
  • Chicago radio personality Steve Dahl parodied the song as "Ayatollah" (following the Iranian Revolution of 1979), beginning with the lyrics "Oooh, ya' got a real nice beard, a real nice beard, you know it really caught on my Eye atollah. But you know your mind is weird your mind is weird, you really are a crazy kind of guy, atollah."
  • The Mexican rock group Moderatto parodied this song as "Chaperona."
  • A parody on the internet titled "9 Coronas" was by John Mammoser, not Weird Al Yankovic. [3]
  • Parodied by the Dead Kennedys with the song "Pull My Strings" with the words "My Sharona" replaced with "My Payola". Although originally intended as spoof when they were asked to appear at a music industry convention, it was released in 1987 on their rarities album Give Me Convenience or Give Me Death.
  • The Christian parody rock group Apologetix's version was "Babylona"
  • Comme les connards was sung by Michael Youn and the rest of Les Conards for the 2005 French film Les Onze Commandements. It caused controversy because it was performed in a Parisian street during the morning rush hour without warning.

[edit] Audio samples

[edit] Cover versions or quotes

  • One year after this song came out, The Chipmunks covered this song as the final track on their 1980 comeback album, Chipmunk Punk
  • Covered live by Nirvana
  • Quoted during "Flower Punk" in the 1984 remix of Frank Zappa's We're Only In It For The Money, in which the drum and bass tracks from the original album were replaced with overdubs recorded 16 years after the original album was released. This version is notable, as the original track was recorded 11 years before "My Sharona" was released. Arthur Barrow, who performed the bass overdub, was a friend of Bruce Gary's, and had urged Frank to do a Sharona parody. Little did he know it would end up in "Flower Punk". The notion that Barrow was not aware that "Sharona" was written after "Flower Punk" was a mistake by Barry Miles in his Zappa book. "My Sharona" was also quoted several times in live versions of songs performed during Zappa's 1980 and 1984 tours. It can also be heard during various parts of Zappa's Broadway The Hard Way album, including the song "Rhymin' Man"
  • In 2005 Australian electro/rock group Rogue Traders used the "My Sharona" riff in their smash hit song "Watching You"
  • Covered by the hardcore group The Number Twelve Looks Like You
  • Polysics, the electro-pop-punk group from Japan covered "My Sharona" on the album For Young Electric Pop and again on their compilation Polysics Or Die!!!!. They also performed it live on John Peel's Radio 1 show.
  • Veruca Salt recorded a version which was released on their EP Victrola.
  • Alan Tam sang this song in Cantonese entitled "Love Until You Go Mad" (愛到你發狂).
  • Destruction covered the song on their 1990 Cracked Brain album.
  • Covered by The Hormonauts for their 2006 single My Sharona, and later for their full album Hormonized.
  • Covered by David Hallyday on his Satellite album in 2004.
  • Covered by Towa Tei featuring Tycoon Tosh & Buffalo Daughter on his album Flash in 2005.
  • Pink Cream 69 also covered "My Sharona" in their 2004 album Thunderdome.
  • The Ramones also covered "My Sharona".
  • The main riff and melody of the song "This One" by Astralwerks artist Scanty Sandwich is My Sharona.
  • Pearl Jam covered the song at their show in Verona, Italy, on Sept 16, 2006, changing the chorus to "My Verona".
  • Eldritch, an Italian metal band, did a well-received cover of it.
  • The Instrumental Death Metal band Sleep Terror uses the signature guitar riff humorously between 1:04 and 1:09 in the song Autoerotic Spy, off of their debut album Probing Tranquility.

[edit] In movies, television, other media

Preceded by
"Good Times" by CHIC		 Billboard Hot 100 number one single
August 25, 1979		 Succeeded by
"Sad Eyes" by Robert John

[edit] External links

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