Can't Put a Price on Love

"Can't Put a Price on Love" is a 1980 song written by Doug Fieger and originally released by The Knack on the group's second album, ...But the Little Girls Understand. It was the second song released from that album that was released as a single, reaching #62 on the Billboard Hot 100, falling short of the performance by its preceding single, "Baby Talks Dirty", which reached #38.^[1] Overall, it was the 4th single released by The Knack, and the first not to reach the Top 40.^[2]

In his scathing review of ...But the Little Girls Understand, Rolling Stone Magazine critic Dave Marsh wrote "All of Fieger's lyrics finally boil down to one sentiment: f - - - me, honey. (When he's feeling ambitious, he writes something like 'Can't Put a Price on Love,' which translates: f - - - me for free, babe.)"^[3] Other critics have commented on the similarity between "Can't Put a Price on Love" and the 1978 Rolling Stones' song "Beast of Burden".^[4][5] However, in an interview, Fieger denied that the song is a homage to "Beast of Burden," stating "The reality to that is that it was a homage to any number of Steve Cropper songs which 'Beast of Burden' was a homage to."^[6] Fieger has acknowledged that, like many songs on The Knack's first two albums, "Can't Put a Price on Love" was written about the same Sharona Alperin who inspired "My Sharona".^[7]

Subsequent to its appearance on ...But the Little Girls Understand, "Can't Put a Price on Love" was released on a number of Knack compilation albums, including The Retrospective: The Best of the Knack (1992), Very Best of The Knack (1998) and Best of The Knack (1999).^[8] The version released on Very Best of The Knack was the single edit rather than the original album version.^[9]

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