The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 67, No. 3, Ed. 1 Friday, August 24, 1979 Page: 9 of 12
twelve pages : ill. ; page 20 x 14 in.View a full description of this newspaper.
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Knuke the Knack this week
ret The Knack
Los Angeles has long been
associated with the 'laidback'
music of Linda Ronstadt, The
Eagles, Jackson Browne, Dan
Fogelberg and the rest of the
cocaine country set. It has been
many years, however, since the
Malibu mellow clique stopped
playing in local bars and clubs and
retired fo the simple life of $ 1,200K
oceanfront homes, BMW 633csi's,
nostril cauterizations, and the
singing of dubious harmonies on
each other's albums.
The last couple of years have
witnessed a decidedly unmellow
live music boom in Los Angeles,
fueled by high octane local
powerpop bands like The Knack.
Major record labels had shied
away from backing any of the
several thousand bands on their
own doorstep until The Knack
conquered the LA circuit by
getting droves of fourteen year old
girls to stop staring at their mirrors,
dreaming of the day they'll look
old enough to slip into discos, and
to start frequenting rock and roll
clubs. When I saw the group last
year, I was rather alarmed by the
way Dougie Fieger and Co. could
turn jaded Hollywood High types
into raving Budokaners.
Fieger doesn't look much like a
teenybopper's heartthrob. Strip
him of his oh so chic post-punk
clothes (cowboy boots, tight black
pants, IBM salesman's long-
sleeved white shirt, and the
mandatory skinny tie), dress him
in an electric green Dacron suit,
and he'd be indistinguishable from
a typical 35-year-old car salesman.
1 suspect, though, that Fieger
would be huckstering Hondas, not
Chryslers. That carnivorous grin
on the album cover doesn't belong
to another Los Angeleno posing as
an introspective, thoughtful,
sensitive, environmentally-
concerned singer-songwriter. No,
Fieger obviously intends to be as
rich as Crown Price Fahd, and he
writes crassly tasteless, single
entendre lyrics that should send
the Women's Lib Thought Police
into a tizzy. Apparently, however,
that's what the little girls like:
Capitol Records has announced
that Get The Knack has gone gold
faster than any album of theirs
since...Meet th't Beatles.
We ever-so-sophisticated
college types automatically deride
teenage dance music. Of course,
The Kinks, The Who, The Stones,
and the Fab Four themselves got
their starts cranking out 45s for the
high school hop crowd.
Still, this doesn't condone
Capitol's ham-handed million-
dollar promo campaign that's
trying to convince us The Knack is
the new Beatles. (In response, the
ultratrendy are now sporting
Part-time Secretary/
Typist needed at
Marketing Research/
" Consulting firm on
Kirby Drive. Work two
afternoons per week
and all day Friday.
Ideal schedule for
student. Full time
employment potential.
$4.50 per hour. Require
60 WPM. Call Tim
Sharum, Gelb Consult-
ing Group, 526-5711.
"Knuke the Knack" T-shirts.) All
right, The Knack is as good as the
Beatles were in 1962. They'll
probably reach an Abbey Road
level of brilliance about the same
time as Herbert von Karajan
announces he's leaving the Berlin
Philharmonic to avail himself of
the greater artistic opportunities
open to him as conductor of the
Van Halen Symphony Orchestra.
Each summer one song emerges
as the hit that everybody
remembers the season by—e.g.,
The Stones' "Miss You" in '78, or
the Lovin' Spoonful's "Summer in
the City" in '65. It appears now
that "My Sharona" will edge out
Donna Summer's terrific "Hot
Stuff for this year's title.
Yet, I find the song's lack of
originiality worrisome. From
whom did they swipe that classic
riff that anchors the guitar solo in
"My Sharona"? Highly embar-
assing that I don't remember. This
less than rigorous attitude toward
the copyright laws seems to
characterize The Knack and many
other LA bands. But you can judge
for yourself, because you'll be
hearing a lot more of the authentic
Los Angeles sound
The House of Blue Leaves
The Rice Players will repeat last year's
comedy performance on August 29-
September 1 in Hamman Hall. The Players
are considered one of the best drama groups
in Houston, and their shows are not to be
missed. New students will be admitted free
to Blue Leaves - the first production of the
year.
MA: Space-Time in Japan
This exhibit of Japanese art/philosophy
at the Contemporary Arts Museum is
leaving on September 2. It is a monumental
project that goes beyond a mere display of
visual arts. MA attempts to demonstrate
Japanese thought processes through several
Scene from The House of Blue Leaves
cultural media—architecture, sculpture,
painting, music, drama, even Japanese
kitsch. Although the casual museum-goer
will hardly emerge an expert on the subject,
MA is nevertheless a useful and stimulating
experience.
Steve Sailer C.A.M.'s MA models
YOU ARE INVITED
^)n addition to pctsonalizituj. yowt
complexion caw program ute also
creative make -up consultations; at ...
THE PLACE FOR THE CUSTOM FAC
mERLE noRmnn
10—(>
2f>0f> R;,,. ftivj.
Some of our classrooms
aren't classrooms
Mili 101a
Orienteering. Rappelling. River rafting. Back
packing. Water survival. Mountaineering.
First aid.
Army ROTC is an excellent course in leader-
ship development. But, it's also adventure
training, where you learn to lead in an envi-
ronment that challenges both your physical
and mental skills.
Unlike strictly academic subjects, Army
ROTC will teach you to think on your feet. To
make important decisions quickly. And it will
help you develop your confidence and stamina
in the classroom or out.
Add Army ROTC to your program, and you
automatically add a new dimension of excite-
ment to your campus life.
For full details call:
Major Dave Sawyer
Ext. 3302/3303- or stop by the
Army ROTC facility in the
basement of the Central Kitchen.
ARMY POTT
LEARN WHAT ITTAKESTO LEAD.
The Rice Thresher, August 24, 1979, page 9
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Muller, Matthew. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 67, No. 3, Ed. 1 Friday, August 24, 1979, newspaper, August 24, 1979; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth245409/m1/9/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.