David Shaw of STREETLIGHT CIRCUS posted this remembrance and a photo (click image at left to enlarge) of Doug Fieger of THE KNACK on the band's MySpace page. The former name of Streetlight Circus was DAVID SHAW & THE ROUND TRIP. That former moniker was a tribute to The Knack's thrid album called Round Trip.

"R.I.P. Doug Fieger

Yesterday I lost a musical hero and friend named Doug Fieger. Doug was the lead singer and songwriter of The Knack, the band best known for the 1979 mega-hit 'My Sharona' from the band's debut record Get The Knack. At only 57 years old, Doug lost his battle with cancer.

When Get The Knack came out it changed my life. I was 10 years old and Get The Knack helped me discover rock and roll. It was from that moment that I knew I wanted to be a musician. I played that record night and day until I wore the grooves out. I recognized that there were songs beyond that infectious hit that were nothing short of brilliant. The rockin' riffs, the insane harmonies, the rippin' guitar playing of Berton Averre, the pounding rhythm section of Bruce Gary and Prescott Niles and, of course, the soaring, pleading vocals of Doug Fieger. I was hooked.

I followed the band religiously even when the critical backlash became apparent. I loved the band's follow-up record ...But The Little Girls Understand with its Top 40 hit 'Baby Talks Dirty'. And in 1981 when The Knack released Round Trip, I was over the top with excitement. That record, to this day, is still the greatest rock and roll album from start to finish that I have ever heard. From the opening chord of 'Radiating Love' to the slamming close of 'Art War', never has a more perfect record been created, in my humble opinion.

Fast forward to my college years. I kept tabs on the band. They had released a comeback album in 1991 called Serious Fun which netted them a minor rock radio hit called 'Rocket O' Love' before the small label that released it folded. The band kept playing. I got to interview Doug for my college newspaper and meet him in Los Angeles. He realized I was more than a young, aspiring journalist. I was a fan. We became fast friends. He invited me to his house where he played me music he was producing, showed me some of his extensive guitar collection and sat back while I gazed at the gold and platinum records on his wall.

When The Knack released Zoom on Rhino Records in 1998, Doug thanked me in the liner notes. It was an honor. Truly I should have been thanking him for the music, for the friendship and for the endless inspiration.

One of my earliest bands covered 'My Sharona'. In the mid-90s I was in a band called DOWN WITH THE BLONDE which got its namesake from a then-unreleased Knack track. In 2000, when I released a pop album under the name DAVID ELI, I included a cover of The Knack's 'That's What The Little Girls Do'. And most recently, my solo band was called David Shaw & The Round Trip. The source of the band's name is obvious. Doug Fieger's music was a part of me and a part of everything I did musically.

Doug Fieger and The Knack were playing gigs as recently as 2008 until Doug just couldn't do it any longer. Their most recent drummer was Pat Torpey (formerly of MR. BIG). And on the latest record from former KISS guitarist BRUCE KULICK, BK3, Fieger sings lead vocals on the song 'Dirty Girl'. It's a great song. But hopefully it won't be the last we'll hear from Doug. Hopefully someone will dig into the archives and find more unreleased gems from this master songwriter.

I will forever miss Doug. I am not a singer or a songwriter without him. Please keep a thought for him today and forever more."