Soccer Dad

Fieger and the flam

By now you've probably seen that Douglas Fieger died. (via memeorandum) Don't recognize the name?

He was the lead singer of the Knack that had the #1 single for 1979, My Sharona.

Another name you may not know is that Bruce Gary. He was the original drummer of the Knack. After he passed away a few years ago, the Washington Post carried an appreciation of him and his contribution to the song.

"The way I approached that beat was very much like a surf stomp," he said. "Surf bands play lots of songs with no cymbals, just toms and snare drum." He also borrowed from "Going to a Go-Go," by Smokey Robinson and the Miracles. Then he added something he considered central to the song's success, something called a flam.

A flam is when two drum strokes are slightly staggered, first one drumstick, then the other, just barely apart. It gives a fuller sound. And that's the sound at the beginning of "My Sharona," a ditty that like certain tropical parasites burrows under your skin, lays its eggs and never really goes away.

Apparently Gary and Feiger didn't get along and there was a dispute as to who's idea the opening beat.

Still, in all this this, there's one name that's well known. Sharona Alperin. She's now a real estate agent to the stars with her own domain, appropriately called mysharona.com. Entertainment Weekly interviewed her after Fieger died.

I didn't know that the Knack had a third album.