My Sharona
"My Sharona" is a 1979 rock song, which was the debut single by and international hit for The Knack. Written by Doug Fieger and Berton Averre, it was produced by Mike Chapman and released June 18, 1979. The single went gold in eight weeks and, on August 25 it reached number one on the Billboard Charts. Constructed around a guitar riff, "My Sharona" remains a popular song, definitive of early 1980s rock music, and the genre of power pop. It is known for its slamming drums, driving guitar work, and simple, infectious beat. The song has been subject to numerous cover versions, parodies and sampling (see list below).
Inspiration and legacy
Its easily recognizable riff that is the core of the song was written by the band's guitarist, Berton Averre, long before he ever joined The Knack. According to lead singer/guitarist Doug Fieger, he met a girl named Sharona (who was 17 at the time), and fell in love with her. Whenever he thought about her, he would think of Averre's riff. The two worked out the structure and melody from there. The girl who inspired the song is Sharona Alperin, now a real estate agent in Los Angeles, USA [1].
Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters has stated on more than one occasion that "My Sharona" is his favorite song. His earlier band Nirvana even did a rare cover of it. The original song gained some attention in 2005 when it appeared on the playlist of U.S. President George W. Bush's iPod player.[2]
In 2006 Australian TV Show 20 to 1: One Hit Wonders voted "My Sharona" as the greatest "One-Hit Wonder" in history.
Parodies, samples and covers
With both the notoriety gained from being an international hit, and its distinctive rock guitar riff, "My Sharona" has been the subject of numerous parodies, tributes, and sampling, including:
- Parodied by "Weird Al" Yankovic as "My Bologna", replacing the chorus with "Never gonna stop, eat it up, such a tasty snack I always eat too much, then throw up, but I'll soon be back my-yi-yi-yi-yi oh! My Bologna!". It appeared on his self-titled debut album.
- Run DMC used a sample from the song for their hit, "It's Tricky".
- Covered live by Nirvana
- Chicago radio personality Steve Dahl parodied the song as "Ayatollah" (following the Iranian Revolution of 1979), beginning with the lyrics "Oooh, ya' got a real nice beard, a real nice beard, you know it really caught on my Eye atollah. But you know your mind is weird your mind is weird, you really are a crazy kind of guy, atollah."
- In 2004, Michael Youn, from French tv M6, parodied it again to make the soundtrack of his movie, "Les 11 Commandements" (the 11th commandment). The title was "Comme des connards" (like morons).
- The Mexican rock group Moderatto parodied this song as "Chaperona."
- In 2005 Australian rock group Rogue Traders used the "My Sharona" riff in their song "Watching You".
- A parody on the internet titled "9 Coronas" was by John Mammoser, not Weird Al. [3]
- One year after this song first came out, The Chipmunks covered this song as the final track on their 1980 comeback album, Chipmunk Punk.
- Covered by the hardcore group The Number Twelve Looks Like You.
- Polysics, the electro-pop-punk group from Japan covered "My Sharona" on the album "For Young Electric Pop" and again on their best of "Polysics Or Die!!!!". They also performed it live on John Peel's Radio 1 show.
- The Simpsons episode Marge's Son Poisoning had "My Sharona" sung by bullies Jimbo, Dolph and Kearney at the end credits. Homer also refers to the song as a "pop music footnote".
- Veruca Salt recorded a version which was released on their EP Victrola.
- Alan Tam sang this song in Cantonese entitled Love Until You Go Mad (愛到你發狂).
- Parodied by the Dead Kennedys with the song "Pull My Strings" with the words "My Sharona" replaced with "My Payola". Although orginally intended as spoof when they were asked to appear at a music industry convention, it was released in 1987 on their rarities album Give Me Convenience or Give Me Death
- Lee Harding did a live cover version of My Sharona on Australian Idol
- Eldritch, an Italian metal band, did a well-received cover of it
- Destruction covered the song on their 1990 Cracked Brain album.
- Taco Bell had a commercial that aired on TV replacing the line "My Sharona" with "My Chalupa"
- Parodied in a flash animation by ESPN's Bristol Bob adn the Page 2 Crue as a tribute to Maria Sharapova on her 18th birthday.[4]
- Played in a commercial advertising Aquafresh Extreme Clean Toothpaste.