“We were getting gold records from countries around the world. I had a DJ tell me that when he put it on for the first time, the phones lit up after 20 seconds”:Berton Averre on writing My Sharona – and why the Knack were never the next Beatles

A black-and-white live shot of Berton Averre playing a Les Paul with the Knack.

For the last six months of the 1970s, the Knack had it made. The Los Angeles-based power pop quartet consisting of singer-guitarist Doug Fieger, lead guitarist Berton Averre, bassist Prescott Niles, and drummer Bruce Gary saw their debut album, Get the Knack, blast to the top of the charts, thanks to its high-energy, irresistibly catchy lead single, My Sharona.

The speed of which it all happened took the record industry by surprise. At the time of the album’s release in June 1979, few people outside of L.A. had heard of the band; within months, Get the Knack was selling 300,000 copies a week, becoming Capitol Records’ fastest-selling debut album since 1964’s Meet the Beatles!