
THE
KNACK'S GOT IT...
IMAGE ENTERTAINMENT TO RELEASE
THE KNACK: LIVE FROM THE ROCK N' ROLL FUN HOUSE ON DVD, VHS AND CD APRIL
23
***
Band to launch summer-long U.S. tour at Tampa's Bayfest May 4th Capitol/EMI
to release four remastered studio albums May 7th
***
DirecTV to broadcast "Fun House" concert as free view events
in May
Summer is heating up early
for The Knack, and there's so much happening that even they need
a scorecard. The band, which boasts three of its four original members
from its late '70s inception, has teamed up with Image Entertainment,
long recognized as the market leader in licensing, distribution and production
of music video long forms and DVDs, to release The Knack: Live from
the Rock n' Roll Fun House on DVD, VHS and CD, on April 23.
The month of May not only marks
the band's send-off on a summer-long national tour starting with Tampa's
Bayfest on the 4th, but also on the agenda is Capitol/EMI's May 7 release
of The Knack's four mega-selling studio albums they recorded for the label
- Get The Knack (1979), But The Little Girls Understand (1980),
Round Trip (1981) and Serious Fun (1991) - all digitally
remastered and featuring bonus tracks of rare and previously unreleased
material, including a songwriting demo of the six-week Billboard chart-topper,
"My Sharona."
The Knack singer/guitarist
Doug Fieger states, "This is the first time that all of the original
masters will be available. They're also 24-bit digitally remastered; the
sound is pristine. We've worked really hard to make sure it sounded as
good as the master tapes did."
To celebrate the live album,
the tour and the classic reissues, satellite programmer DirecTV will broadcast
the "Fun House" concert as a free view event every weekend in
May.
On top of all this, the classic
Knack hit "Good Girls Don't" can be heard in Buena Vista Pictures
college comedy Sorority Boys out now through the summer. Fans will immediatley
recognize this song as the follow up hit to the ever popular My Sharona,
both released in 1979 to a pop hungry public who embraced both with
open arms.
The Knack: Live from the
Rock n' Roll Fun House, was recorded in front of a studio audience,
as they say on TV, and, in fact, simulates a '60s TV show in the spirit
of Hulla Baloo, Shindig and Ed Sullivan with a host and The Knack
as the musical guest. All formats feature the hits, as well as compelling
new material that underscores the band's staying power.
"We didn't want to do
another concert movie," Fieger explains. "We did it 23 years
ago with The Knack Live at Carnegie Hall. Since we'd already done
a regular concert - and how can you do better than Carnegie Hall - I came
up with an idea that was different. Image liked our idea and gave us the
money to do it. "
We delivered it to Image and
they got it. Image thinks in creative terms, as well as in business terms.
They want to promote the vision, rather than hinder it, and we've been
having fun because of that."
Though The Knack's original
three members, Fieger, Berton Averre (lead guitar) and Prescott Niles
(bass), will rock the "Fun House" with signature Knack tunes
"My Sharona," "Good Girls Don't," "Oh Tara,"
and "Baby Talks Dirty," plus many more, the revolving door behind
the drum kit has captured yet another victim, this time, Holmes Jones,
a.k.a. David Henderson. He took over the skins halfway through Normal
as the Next Guy, kept the beat on Live from the Rock n' Roll Fun
House, and is already packing for the upcoming tour.
"We've had five different
drummers in 15 years, kind of like Spinal Tap," Fieger jokes. "They
keep exploding. As a result, there are only three official Knacks.
"The way we tour now is
different from the way we used to tour," he continues. "We'd
go out for months on end. Now we go out on weekends and come back and
have a life. It's a lot more manageable, saner and fun. 'The road,'
as Robbie Robertson said, 'is a damn impossible life.' Because our whole
ethic is fun, it's got to start with us. The audience is the most important
element when we're on stage. We play the songs that people want to hear."