redd granite

Never was a Knack fan, but the industry lost another one…this time to cancer:

Doug Fieger, leader of the power pop band The Knack who sang on the 1979 hit “My Sharona,” died Sunday. He was 57.Fieger, a Detroit-area native, died at his home in Woodland Hills near Los Angeles after battling cancer, according to The Knack’s manager, Jake Hooker.

Fieger formed The Knack in Los Angeles 1978, and the group quickly became a staple of Sunset Strip rock clubs. A year later he co-wrote and sang lead vocals on “My Sharona.”

Fieger said the song, with its pounding drums and exuberant vocals, was inspired by a girlfriend of four years.

“I had never met a girl like her — ever,” he told The Associated Press in a 1994 interview. “She induced madness. She was a very powerful presence. She had an insouciance that wouldn’t quit. She was very self-assured. … She also had an overpowering scent, and it drove me crazy.”

“My Sharona,” an unapologetically anthemic rock song, emerged during disco’s heyday and held the No. 1 spot on the Billboard pop chart for six weeks, becoming an FM radio standard.

It became a pop culture phenomenon, parodied by Weird Al Yankovic and others and sampled by rap group Run DMC.

In 1994, “My Sharona” re-entered the Billboard chart when it was released as a single from the soundtrack of the Ben Stiller film “Reality Bites.”

“My Sharona” gained attention again in 2005 when it was reported that George W. Bush had the song on the presidential iPod.

Their songs, about young love and teenage lust, included the hits “Good Girls Don’t,” “She’s So Selfish” and “Frustrated.”

The Knack continued to release albums and tour through the mid-2000s but they never replicated the success they enjoyed with their first two albums, “Get the Knack” and “… But the Little Girls Understand.”

Fieger battled cancer for six years. In 2006 he underwent surgery to remove two tumors from his brain.

He is survived by a sister, Beth Falkenstein, and a brother, attorney Geoffrey Fieger of Southfield, Mich., who is best known for representing assisted suicide advocate Jack Kevorkian.

A Los Angeles memorial service for friends and family is being planned.

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So I find myself this time of the year on the road back and forth in Central Texas attending BU basketball. With a round trip drive totalling nearly 250 miles by the day’s end, I spend a lot of time in the car driving, so I find the need for entertainment.  The wife unit works on the way down and often on the way back, so I am on my own. Now most of you know my musical tastes as hard rock, with a heavy emphasis on the 80′s hair bands. But this, like any other form of music, can get old real quick.  Thank God for Satellite Radio. With the nearly 200 channel offering, I can tune into most anything I wish.  So what, pray tell, is the music/content that I listen to?  It may surprise many of you:

• Spa Channel.  Yes, you heard it.  This station plays nothing more than the unusual, but relaxing music you would get during a massage….(OK, no jokes here)
• Jazz Channels.  There are several on Sirrius. While I tire of them quickly, they are always enjoyable for a bit.
• Classical Channels. Again, there are several choices here.  I stay away from the opera channel, (considered and grouped with the classical channels on Sirrius).  I would rather be shot.
• Comedy Channels. A good change from music, and generally very funny.  They play clips of many varieties, and each clip lasts generally no longer than 3-5 minutes, perfect for my Adult Attention Deficit Disorder
• Coffeehouse Channel. This is for singer, songwriters doing mostly accoustical sets of music. I leave this station when they start doing covers of Beatles songs, because, as most of you know, communist me hates the Beatles, in any form

If you see a trend of music that generally relaxes, congratulations, you got the word! What I do not listen to may surprise you as well:

• Playboy Channel. Because there is only so much of chicks talking about going down on eachother that you can take before it gets very old.  I guess I never did understand the allure of the 1.900….chat lines
• Country Stations.  And there are a shit load.  Just say “no” to country
• Classic Rock Stations. This is largely because classic rock was/is so overplayed, its like, enough already!
• Howard Stern. Consider him very funny, and as you know, I love irreverant humor, but he too is over-exposed and it gets old. o much of anything just gets old…and he has been out there a long time now talking about fake jugs, midgets, and fart jokes. Let it go Howard.

So that is a little summary of my Sirrius radio tastes.  We have a total of three lines for our cars and home system….I just like the product.  Oh yeah, I really appreciate that you can pick up BU men’s basketball on 161 for the away, non-televised games.  Oh yeah, I really like not being bombarded by commercials as we as Americans have way too many commercials thrown at us daily. (Check out the Sirrius radio ad at the end of this post….lol)

Peace Hippies

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Funny thing happened on the way to the dirt tracks to watch some sprint car races on Friday, 16 October…..after much rain during the week, and even though we had nearly two days of sunshine, I guess the track just didn’t dry out enough to run a show that night.  A friend and myself went tot he track only to see it dark.  Clearly we needed a quick Plan B….you don’t burn kitchen passes! He quickly suggested seeing the Black Crowes at the Palladium Ballroom, Dallas, Texas. I think he wanted to do this that night all along, but he was being flexible going to the dirts.  You see, I am a big fan.  See another post on this subject on www.hybriddebateblog.com. That post captures my interest. Well the Palladium is a general admission venue that holds about 1500.  Great place to see a concert.  Its dog eat dog in getting as close to the stage as you dare. We arrived in plenty of time. Not sure who the warm up band was, did not stick inside to listen.  Night was beautiful, and this venue overlooks down town Dallas sky line.  So we took our refreshments and hung out there. Black Crowes came on about 10p. This is a straight up jam band with commercial appeal.  Chris Robinson’s voice was in good form, and fine control. Without being too lengthy on the musical part, these guys seemed to focus on jamming, but staying commercial as most audience does not appreciate too much jamming.  they were fairly tight.  Unpretentious. Not much interaction with the audience, which for the most part is a good thing. The set lasted easily over 1.5 hours before the encore. I am not that into this group, I own no cd’s from them. I consider them a middle of the road group with decent song writing skills and rock appeal. I listen in concerts very closely to the music and how tight the group is.  These guys get a A for this, very tight. I wish I could remember individual songs and comment, but really, I just am not that familiar with the music outside of the normal hits.  They closed with “She Talks To Angels” which is by far my favorite song of theirs.  Great lyrics…..and I get into lyrics as I know that truly insightful ones are hard to come up with. ‘ The age of the crowd averaged about 35.  This is a result of the length of time this band has been around. Difficult to imagine they go back nearly 15 years. The crowd was decently enthusiastic, fairly controlled. But gauging by the less popular songs, which is always a true measure, the crowd was fairly into them, again, a signal of their musical tightness. With the celebrated relationships in the entertainment circle that Robinson has had, I found it interesting, as he looked no different than the grunge of Kurt Kobain, and truly his southern dirt upbringing was reflected. Again, unpretenious, and this is good Overall, very glad I went.  Final grade for the night: B. Go see them if you enjoy this kind of music and experience, but I would not knock myself out doing so if not. Next review: Alice In Chains, Chevelle, Puddle Of Mudd, Saving Abel, October 23.  Posting soon.