Come with us Omnivorians.

Take a step back from our previous adventures with The Knack (the sold out Record Store Day, 2012 10″ E.P. Live In Los Angeles, 1978 and full-length album Havin’ A Rave-Up! Live In Los Angeles, 1978), and chart a course even earlier in time, as we continue to tell the story of The Knack. Consisting of demo recordings made in 1973 and 1975, Rock & Roll Is Good For You: The Fieger/Averre Demos takes listeners to the genesis of Doug Fieger and Berton Averre’s songwriting and recording partnership, one that lasted nearly four decades until Fieger’s tragic passing in 2010.

Rock & Roll Is Good For You: The Fieger/Averre Demos is be available as a 16-track CD and digital album, as well as a 14-track vinyl LP (the LP includes a download card for the full 16-track CD/digital program). The initial LP run issued in a limited-edition of 1,000 pressed on clear vinyl, with future pressings to be made available on black vinyl. In addition, Omnivore Recordings is offering an exclusive LP/7″ vinyl bundle available in a run of 500 copies in our web store only. The 7″ features two unreleased tracks only found on this single: “Midnight Misogynist,” recorded 1975 c/w “Lucy Ride,” recorded 1973.

These 16 tracks are all previously unissued and feature versions of songs known (“Good Girls Don’t” and “That’s What The Little Girls Do) and unknown. There are songs Knack fans will recognize in different versions, reworked or rewritten for later projects. A riff here, a hook there, it’s a scavenger hunt for some, and a blissful pop experience for others. Get The Knack before The Knack!

 

Rock & Roll Is Good For You: The Fieger/Averre Demos

Available September 11, 2012
 
Here’s a first listen/viewing of “(Here On This) Lonely Night.”
Doug and Berton shot this video back in ’75, a real time-capsule video!

 

 
 
 
In 1978, radio and retail were engulfed in disco, and it seemed that the momentum wouldn’t stop.

The year’s number one single was “Night Fever” by the Bee Gees, and their younger brother, Andy Gibb, ruled that summer with his own “Shadow Dancing.” But, something else was happening in the clubs of Los Angeles. People were dancing, but to a different beat. By May of that year, Doug Fieger, Berton Averre, Prescott Niles and Bruce Gary decided to take their act public. Calling themselves The Knack, they first took the stage at, of all places, the infamous Whisky a Go-Go on the fabulous Sunset Strip. The date was June 1, 1978. What happened over the following months was that of legend. The Knack sold out clubs all over Los Angeles. Guests like Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty, Stephen Stills, Eddie Money and The Doors’ Ray Manzarek joined them on stage—and every record label in the country wanted to sign this phenomenon. The Knack’s appeal was a one-two punch; not only did they have great songs, but they were an amazingly tight live band.

The Knack’s legendary gigs during the summer of 1978 had fans packing the clubs and record labels throwing contracts at them. This release is a fantasy compilation of two of those performances; a trip back in time on a ribbon of acetate. For all of you who were not lucky enough to hear them live, raw and unsigned, this is your chance to experience the electric thrill of those days when The Knack was havin’ a rave-up.
 
 

 
For more information please visit TheKnack.com.