Posted on 08/26/2025 2:49:40 PM PDT by nickcarraway
The million-selling ‘My Sharona’ became America’s biggest-selling song of 1979, and one of the catchiest rock numbers in memory.
In the closing months of the 1970s, Capitol Records had its fastest-selling debut release in the US since The Beatles’ “I Want To Hold Your Hand.” It was a million-seller that went on to be America’s biggest-selling song of 1979, and one of the catchiest rock numbers in memory. On August 25, The Knack went to No.1 in the US with “My Sharona.”
Written by the Los Angeles group’s lead guitarist Berton Averre and lead singer/rhythm guitarist Doug Fieger, the track also benefited from the expert production of Mike Chapman. The Australian’s “Chinnichap” writing and production partnership with Brit Nicky Chinn had been immensely successful throughout the 1970s for such artists as the Sweet, Suzi Quatro, Smokie, Mud, and Racey.
Newly solo, Chapman was red hot as the producer who helped transform Blondie into a multi-platinum sensation with 1978’s Plastic Letters album. Late that year, with labels and producers all vying for an association with The Knack and Capitol winning the bidding war, Chapman entered the fray and let his track record do most of the talking.
An album in 11 days
Chapman read in the L.A. Times about the producers that the band were most keen to work with. He wasn’t on the list, but he won them over and adopted a back-to-basics approach for their debut album Get The Knack, reportedly recorded in 11 days on a miserly budget of $18,000. It was in direct contrast to the months and even years that other big groups of the day were taking to be creative, from Fleetwood Mac to Pink Floyd, and the power-pop immediacy of the sound was an instant success.
“My Sharona” was the obvious lead single from the album, and was based on a real person. “Berton had this lick for a long time and we never worked on it,” Fieger later told Goldmine magazine. “I had met this girl Sharona and fell very deeply in love with her. She was inspirational and moved me on a very basic level. I was just trying to put my feelings about her into the beat that Berton had come up with.”
“At least three times a day someone sings or laughs at my name,” Sharona Alperin told the Mirror. “Sometimes I make table bookings under a different name to avoid the jokes. They usually say ‘Are you really her? The Sharona? I can’t believe it’s really you.’”
Conquering charts worldwide
The urgent staccato of the production and guitar-bass combination was the perfect reflection of a song that oozed sexual tension, and audiences lapped it up. “My Sharona” entered the Hot 100 in June, went gold in 13 days, platinum in less than a month and went on to sell four million, conquering charts worldwide. It took over from Chic’s “Good Times” atop the Hot 100 and helped the album sell five million copies in the US alone.
Listen to the 70s playlist, featuring scores of landmark hits from a starry decade.
To this day, Sharona remains extremely fond of the memories. Her Twitter account summary used to announce proudly: “One of Los Angeles’ premiere real estate professionals, wife, mother, and The Knack wrote a song about me.” She now describes herself as “Your L.A. realtor,” but her website still nods to her past, with its title mysharona.com.
In another interview with the New York Post in 2021, Alperin reflected: “I guess I didn’t look at myself as a celebrity, but people were very excited when they met me. And I remember going on tour, and seeing sometimes people dress up. And I’d say, ‘What are you dressed up as?’ And they would say, ‘Sharonas.’”
I wasn’t fond of the song
And his fixation waned
But love songs then were better than now
Do folks even sing about love anymore
Do young women believe in it?
Songs I hear are about sex and rather graphic as in porn graphic
Sloppy WAP songs
And steely Dan on showbiz kids got whacked for the F bomb
Now presidential candidate women laugh about how much they liked WAP
I see Gauls outside the perimeter for sure and the gate is wide open culturally
No question of that
Maybe whimsical but man woman love us as much the mortar of civilization as a morality grounded by belief in a creator is
I just learned that he died in 2010 from lung cancer.
Only 47 years old.
Same here.
Heh... have you seen the “Middle Aged Dad Jam Band” videos with Weird Al?
You misspelled scrotum.
He probably preferred PYT. Pretty Young Thing.
Knuke the Knack!
Who?
I'm unfamiliar with that one, but I love this version--brought to us by the great songwriting team of Ernö Rapée and Lew Pollack, with Nat Shilkret's Victor Orchestra performing under a pseudonym.
Diane--The Troubadours (1928)
👊
I got into a fight at Hüsker Duat the Ritz in Manhattan late 87
Wall Street type drunk grab assed my almost wife
He got tossed
Some girl opened
Maybe Julianne Hatfield ?
I think Jesus and Mary Chain no showed
Anyhow
“ Only 47 years old.”
Don’t you remember 47-50 years ago, listening to our favorite bands on the radio and saying, “ I can’t wait till those guys are in their 80’s and we can watch them in concert”!
Said no one ever!!
I like both of those songs. They have a good beat and they’re easy to dance to.
My name is Lorraine and back in the day I was often serenaded by “Sweet Lorraine.” Never liked that song in the first place, but it was an ice breaker for sure.
It always made me think of riding in the desert on a horse with no name...
We always sang “My Scrotum”.
Just read the lyrics. Sophomoric.
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