Celebrities | Music | Pop Culture | 80s | 70s
The True Story Of Love And Obsession That Inspired The One Hit Wonder 'My Sharona'
Some songs seem to last for ever. They are such a hit that they are completely timeless and people will love them no matter how old they are. My Sharona is one of those songs.
The classic rock band The Knacks may have been a 'one-hit-wonder', but their one hit was pretty epic. But did you ever wonder if there really was a 'Sharona'?
Turns out, the story behind the song is just as good as the song itself! It's pretty crazy how the whole thing went down. Check out the whole story below!
The Knack was composed of four members. It was founded by singer Doug Fieger, who was later joined by Berton Averre (lead guitar/keyboard), Prescot Niles (bass), and Bruce Gary (drums). It started in 1978 and their debut album "Get The Knack" came out one year later.
The iconic song all started when Doug Fieger's girlfriend Judy Halpert invited her friends to come watch her boyfriend's band play. One of her friends was a 17-year-old retail worker named Sharona Alperin.
Alperin is now a L.A. real estate agent (who owns the domain mysharona.com), but at the time she was just excited to go see the band. She said that "I went to check 'em out, I brought some girlfriends. I ended up bringing more and more friends, and it ended up creating this crazy scene."
Shortly after their first meeting, Fieger confessed to Alperin that he was in love with her, even though both were involved with other people.
Alperin remembers the exchange well.
“Listen, I need to … I’m madly in love you.”
“Are you kidding me? I’m madly in love with my boyfriend.”
“No, someday we’re gonna be together.”
“No, of course not. I’m so happy.”
But Fieger didn't give up.
Averre, the guitarist remembered coming up with the famous riff that we all associate with the song after listening to some Elvis Costello music. He said that "I came up with that riff as a response to that kind of feeling I was getting from that album, that jungle beat, slam-your-head-against-the-wall kind of intensity."
After they had the melody, they needed the lyrics. Apparently the song came together in 45 minutes after Fieger started improvising lyrics about Sharona.
Averre reminded Fieger that his girlfriend was just in the next room but apparently Fieger said "I don't care about that kind of stuff."
Click to the next page to see how Sharona Alperin reacted to the song about her!
They had finished the song and were rehearsing one day when Alperin showed up. They decided to play the new song for her and she claims she didn't even fully comprehend what had happened until she was half way home.
Fieger finally broke up with his girlfriend after nine years as a couple, and then focused his energy on trying to convince Alperin to date him. She said that "He made it very clear he was in love with me. It wasn't like my boyfriend and the world didn't know. I always say that he was my groupie, I wasn't his!"
"My Sharona" isn't the only song about the young woman. Apparently the songs "Frustrated" and "She's So Selfish" are also about her. She said that "He'd be singing the songs live, and most of the people in the club would be looking at me."
When their album "Get The Knack" was released, it made a huge impact in the charts. "My Sharona" hit No. 1 and stayed there for six weeks, while the album went gold in 13 days.
Finally, after pinning for her for so long Alperin finally decided to give Fieger a chance. She said "By the time the American tour came, I was gone. There was too much not to go for. This man was so in love with me, beyond in love, and I just went for it."
The couple dated for four years, but when she turned 21, Alperin decided that it was move on. "I broke up with Doug because I had to. My line was, it was time to become my Sharona. It wasn't that the phenomenon of the song was something I had to escape from; our relationship was something that I had to escape from. He was overwhelming."
Doug Fieger passed away back in 2010 due to brain cancer. He was only 57 but before he died he said that "I've had 10 great lives. And I expect to have some more. I don't feel cheated in any way, shape or form."
Alperin is still grateful for the song, and said "Michelle, Yoko, Roxanne - there's maybe 40 or 50 [great] songs named after women in the history of a billion songs written. I feel incredibly fortunate that I've had this experience. It's a really exciting adventure that never leaves me."
Could you imagine having such an iconic song named after you? It must be pretty intense!