I have to admit here that I was never a huge fan of the Knack. It would be accurate to say that in 1979, ‘My Sharona’ was nothing less than a blight on my senior year of high school, the kind of song that sent me flying to change the radio dial whenever it came on. It wasn’t until a few years later, when I heard their cover of the Kinks’ ‘The Hard Way’ that I softened in my appraisal of the band (which would have happened eventually since they were right up my power pop alley).
Anyway, it was early last year, on a digging/DJing trip to Washington DC that my man DJ Birdman turned me on to the fact that the Knack wasn’t Doug Fieger’s first band. That honor goes to the group you’re hearing today, Sky.
Fieger came of age in Detroit, where in the late 60s, he apparently sent a letter off to uber-producer Jimmy Miller (Rolling Stones, Traffic among many others) and suggested that if he were ever to come to the Motor City, he should drop in and hear Fieger’s band, that being Sky. Miller took him up on his offer, and at the ripe old age of 17, Fieger and his bandmates were spirited off to the UK where they recorded their debut album, ‘Don’t Hold Back’ in 1970. They would record a second LP with Miller (this time back in the States) before breaking up in 1972.
I grabbed the Sky album out of sheer curiosity, but was blown away when I actually heard it. Doug Feiger and his bandmates were making music with the same kind of proto-power pop sting as contemporaries like Big Star and the Raspberries. This is not to suggest that they sound anything like either of those bands, but rather that the benefit of hindsight suggests that they were all sailing in the same general direction.
The sound of Sky is a mix of 1970-appropriate heavy guitars, mixed with some great hooks. They were clearly ahead of their time, which is probably what doomed them to obscurity.
The three tunes featured today are fairly representative of the sound of that first album. ‘Goody Two Shoes’, ‘How’s that Treating Your Mouth Babe’ and ‘One Love’ all have the same tight, choppy guitar riffs that with a tiny bit less of the ‘stadium filling’ vibe would resurface as the decade progressed with Grin, Dwight Twilley, and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers i.e. the earlier, rockier end of what would eventually morph into new wave and power pop.
I don’t know if any of the Sky material has ever been reissued on CD, but it ought to, since it’s quite good.
I hope you dig it, and you raise a glass in memory of Doug Fieger. [ larry ]
Sky - Dont Hold Back - `70 - RCA Records
all trax from wax - akashaman - 2010
MP3 @ 320 kbps
- includes high rez cover scans
Goodie Two Shoes
Take Off And Fly
Rockin' Me Yet
I Still Do
Make It In Time
One Love
There In The Greenbriar
How's That Treating Your Mouth Babe
Homin' Ground
Feels Like 1000 Years
DOWNLOAD -- HERE --
6 comments:
I always forget that the guys from the Knack were just a little bit older than their other new wave buddies.
Thanks for this one.
It's so shocking about the health/death of Doug. His music lives on.
true dat ! this one goes good with -wait for it------------"my corona" - :)
Hey Akashaman. I really like Sky.Wow that's one that flew under my radar. Thanks for this post..regards,John.
Thank you sooo much! How much i missed to listen to this album even when Greenbriar is still on my lips sometimes. :-) Owned a Promo Copy that was stolen with my collection back in the 80ties.
Joerg from Germany
Nice to see this digitised, I've still got the vinyl. I thought the group was really good. Thanks.
Ive had this LP since it came out. My sister won it on the radio and gave it to me. I loved it and it's been in rotation on my turntable ever since. I remember buying The Knack and being thrilled to see Doug Feiger was a member
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