Have You Discovered The Knack? EDITOR'S NOTE:  The Knack.  Those who have heard them are intrigued.  Those who haven't heard them invariably confuse them with the like-named '80's "My Sharona" group.  Either way, the Knack we're interested in was a polished '60's pop combo whose music is worthy of much greater investigation.  Therefore, much like our Trolls' retrospective, we've provided the lowdown on the Knacks' four released singles in the hope of encouraging further discussion on another very underrated group. Since originally printing our singles review, however, we've located Bobby Cochran and were contacted by Michael Chain and both filled in the gaps on several previously speculated areas of information. By Fogey McOldster    "What's this?!" screams the agitated reader.  "The Knack? THE KNACK?! This is a site for '60's garage bands, Fogey!  Have you finally flipped your gourd?"  Wishful thinking on your part that I would be carted off to a padded cell somewhere (and don't think that your attitude will deter me from further rants and raves...many have tried, all have failed).  Keep yer shirt on, 'cause I sure as sharona ain't talking about the Knack from the turn of the '80s you all know and love/hate. Mike Chain and Girlfriend Listen carefully...there was another Knack!  Has your head stopped spinning?  Feel free to sit down, gather your wits and hold on fast.  Now, as I was saying, believe it or not, there was a Knack back in the '60s.  The only thing the two groups have in common is that they both recorded for Capitol Records.  That's it.  Otherwise, you have two completely different groups.  One recorded four great singles from 1966 - 1968 with no mainstream success to speak of whatsoever, while the other recorded a huge mega-hit that gets comped every five minutes and has been used in the soundtracks of 64% of the movies released in the last fifteen years.  Three guesses as to which group I'm gonna rave on about, and if you get it wrong, then your punishment is to read this article twice, and then listen to the book-on-tape version I'll record as soon as I'm done writing this.  The musical examples will consist of my vocal interpretations of their songs.  Trust me...it ain't pretty. If you want any information about this group, then let me be the first to shake your trembling hand and welcome you to the club.  I'd love to know something about this group.  Alas, all I can tell you is that Gary Kato, guitarist for the Merry Go Round, ended up in the Knack (NOTE: Incorrect.  See Chain's recollections below), and that three other members, judging by the songwriting credits on the 45s, are Mike (Michael) Chain, Dink Kaplan, and Larry Gould.  I can also tell you that the band released four singles.  Some are better than others...all are keepers. Since you're still weak in the knees from the revelation that there were two Knacks, I'll take advantage of the situation and tell you why you need these tracks.  Knack Tracks...what a great LP title!  If Capitol ever decides to dig these out of the vault instead of whatever useless reissue their greedy little minds are considering, I'll allow them to use that title free of charge, but remember that you read it here first. Okay, here we go: Time Waits For No One / I'm Aware (Capitol 5774) 1966 I can't help but think that these guys never planned on performing these tracks in concert, mainly because they sound downright impossible to play without concentrating to the point of giving yourself a ten day migraine when you're finished.  "Time Waits For No One" has a guitar hook that sounds like you'd have to be staring at your fingers without blinking while your tongue sticks out of the side of your mouth like you're dismantling a nuclear bomb.  Throw in the time changes and the brisk pace that the song is played, and you've got yourself an Excedrin moment.  The funny thing is that both sides of the single are like this.  If your average garage band sat down and had to learn either one of these tunes instead of, say, "Gloria", then we'd have a lot less to talk about on this website. Don't let the technical flourishes that the Knack practiced scare you off.  These are great songs.  "Time" really should have been a hit.  It's catchier than the common cold, and the band sounds great.  As I've said before, I'm a sucker for harmonies, and the vocal gymnastics are downright impressive.  "I'm Aware" is a minor key workout with all of the pieces that make "Time" so great.  It choogles along leaving one with little chance to catch his breath.  Actually, if you ever listen to these songs back to back, be sure to have an oxygen tank within reach when you're done. Softly, Softly / The Spell (Capitol 5889) 1967 This single puts the old Fogey in a bit of an awkward spot.  Both of these tracks are excellent, but I'm not quite sure if they should have been released on a 45.  If these were tucked away on an album somewhere, they would fit in perfectly.  However, if you stacked all of the Knack's 45s on your record changer and listened to them, neither one of these tunes would catch your ear as a plug side. Don't get up and leave yet, because (1) I've bolted the door and (2) these are still great songs.  "Softly, Softly" is a slower tune, well arranged and downright pleasant to listen to.  Repeated listening really bring out the subtleties that the song has.  Would it jump out of your transistor radio back in '67?  Probably not.  But if the world was truly a fair and just place, and a Knack album had existed, you would have heard "Softly" maybe two or three tracks into side one and thought that these guys could handle the slow stuff as well without being too sappy or clumsy. (NOTE: Frank Zappa played the piano on "Softly Softly".  Dink Kaplan's older brother was the lead guitarist for the Mothers of Invention and this association led to Zappa's contribution). "The Spell" has the same feel to it.  The pace is a bit faster (with the minor key feel that you found on "I'm Aware") and has some mighty fine arrangements.  The band plays and sings so well on this one...it's scary.  Again, I don't know if it would have grabbed you by the aural jugular if you heard it on the car radio.  But if you throw it on, say, the end of side one of the missing Knack album, you'd be left so spellbound (no pun intended) you wouldn't notice the tone arm getting stuck in the inner groove of the record.  Great tracks.  'Nuff said. Larry Gould Pretty Daisy / Banana Man (Capitol 5940) 1967 Okay, somewhere along the way, the Knack met a trumpet player or two and decided to invite them into the studio.  Don't fret, because the results are great.  "Pretty Daisy" is a great pop song, with some splendid harmonies and excellent arrangements.  If you haven't figured it out by now, the Knack were a great band, and this track proves it.  We are officially back in singles territory now, so I'll continue to rue the existence of ignorant program directors who didn't play this song on the radio. However, I won't hold too much of a grudge against mainstream radio for avoiding "Banana Man".  It's another great track, but despite how worldly I'd like to think I am, I'm not sure if this is really about an ice cream man, or if it's a veiled drug song.  If it's innocent, then the AM stations should have given it a spin.  If it's meant to be sneaky, then the FM programmers (former hippies until the stations started turning a profit) should have played it with a snort and a chuckle.  Either way, it's a great song.  Imagine a mid '60's pop song with just a little vaudeville thrown in without being campy or silly, but rather just plain catchy, and you've got "Banana Man". Freedom Now / Lady In The Window (Capitol 2075) 1968 Sadly, this is the last Knack single (despite the confusion of Capitol using lower numbers to identify their releases).  Some bands go out with a whimper that leave you relieved that they finally pulled the plug.  This is much worse.  The Knack went out with one last great record that makes you hate the fact that there were no more to come. "Freedom Now" is one of their best.  They had moved away from the frantic pace of the first single, through the exquisite arrangements of the second 45, and ended up in pseudo "Sergeant Pepper" land with their third slab o' wax.  Now we find them wrapping things up with a mid tempo feel, a lot of great harmony work, and an organ solo that pops in for a few bars, then disappears.  If the Great Lost Knack Album ever surfaces, "Freedom Now" would be a perfect closing track. (NOTE: Knack Bobby Cochran has informed us that although the single label credits Mike Chain and Larry Gould as songwriters, it was actually he and Chain that composed "Freedom Now"). "Lady In The Window" suggests that somebody in the states was listening to the Move.  This track sounds so much like them, you'd swear the Knack chose to cover these guys for their last B-side.  It has that quirky upbeat sound with sing along harmonies the Move were known for.  A splendid flip side that brings the Knack's saga to a close. I'm sure that you're as intrigued as you always are after reading my proclamations about what you need to hear.  "Great!" you say.  "I'm gonna gather up some CDs I don't need anymore, and trade 'em in towards a Knack CD, 'cause the old Fogey knows what he's talking about!"  Well, put your Zeppelin CDs away for now.  If you go to your local music provider and explain that there was a Knack from the '60s that did not create "My Sharona" and that you need to procure a CD of theirs, I guarantee you will be met with a blank stare.  Sure, some of these jokers who make CD comps might have thrown a track or two on somewhere along the line, but that ain't gonna do you any good.  You need the whole enchilada. For what it's worth, I feel your pain.  You've got a support group here with McOldster.  All I can say is...be patient and hope that somebody will give these guys the treatment they've deserved for almost 40 years.  These eight songs I've just forced upon you last less than 20 minutes.  Here's hoping that there are some other tracks in a vault somewhere.  In the meantime, scout around and see if you can dig up one of their singles.  Write your favorite reissue label and ask them to investigate this travesty known as a Knackless world.  Remember...Time Waits For No One. Mike and Larry photos courtesy of Hollywood A-Go-Go.  All other photos courtesy Michael Chain. Michael Chain and The Knack The original, ‘60’s Sunset Strip era Knack was formed in 1965 at Hollywood High by Michael Chain.  The band was originally named The InMates but after a Shindig road show changed their moniker to The Knack.  The original InMates line-up consisted of Chain, Dink Kaplan, Ken Meyers, and Larry Gould.  Bobby Cochran later replaced Kaplan and Pug Baker replaced Meyers. The Knack performed major concerts at the Hollywood Bowl, Palladium, Melodyland, and Carousel and appeared at all the major clubs on the Strip: The Hullabaloo, Whiskey-A-Go-Go, the Galaxy, the Trip, the Crescendo, Gazzarri’s, It’s Boss, the Cheetah, the Cherokee, the Sea Witch, and others.  They were also the first rock group to appear at the Ice House folk room, as well as at the Troubadour. According to Chain, The Knack were “mods, not rockers” and practiced “finesse, not noise.”  Their manager, Abe, arranged for Nick Venet, the Beach Boys producer, to come to a club to see the group perform live.  Venet later brought Capitol, leading to the Knack’s signing with the very prestigious label. While they had initially played the high school concert circuit, Capitol scheduled the group on a cross-country tour as part of their pro plan.  This resulted in huge fan clubs and much popularity, but Capitol’s insistence in promoting the Knack as “better than The Beatles” (who Capitol was losing at the time) led to an ill-fated marketing campaign (that, in all honestly, no band could have lived up to).  Chain was against the campaign from the get go, but was overruled by Abe and the rest of the band. However, the campaign had little to no effect on the quality of the singles (see reviews on this page) that The Knack laid down for Capitol.  They recorded the songs in Capitol’s Studio A.  According to Chain, “We were one of the very few groups that actually played on (their) records.  Larry, Dink, and Pug were 16-year old kids who played like the top studio cats in L.A.  We only had four-tracks at Capitol so we pretty much played the (songs) live.  The top studio guys all stopped by to watch ‘the kids’ play.  The pressure just made us play better; what you heard on our records was what you heard live.” Chain was the group’s primary lead singer as well as songwriter.  While he wrote with both Gould and Cochran he had a hand in all the band’s original songs.  Unfortunately, Chain recalls that “few things were written that weren’t recorded”…dismissing the rumored belief that there are unreleased Knack songs or demos in his possession (although post-Knack live recordings do exist).  While all the Knack released songs are excellent, “Time Waits For No One” is the only one that had any national success.  It charted throughout the country, but split airplay with “I’m Aware” prevented it from becoming an even bigger chart hit.  During their recording time, The Knack were regulars on Sam Riddle’s BOSS CITY TV program, and they appeared on various local TV programs across the U.S. Unfortunately, in 1969, the band broke up.  Chain would shortly thereafter form Pinkiny Canandy (along with The Merry-Go-Round’s Gary Kato) and record for Uni Records.  He is currently touring with his new band (having recently returned from Iraq and Afghanistan).  Looking back, he simply states that his experiences with The Knack were “manic depressive.  (It was) the highest and lowest times of my life.”  The Knack Perform at Pasadena High School in 1967. Photo courtesy www.highschooltown.com