Your Number or Your Name

Last updated
"Your Number or Your Name"
Song by The Knack
from the album Get the Knack
ReleasedJune 11, 1979
RecordedApril 1979
Genre Power pop
Label Capitol
Songwriter(s) Doug Fieger, Berton Averre
Producer(s) Mike Chapman

"Your Number or Your Name" is a song written by Doug Fieger and Berton Averre that was first released by the Knack as the second track on their No. 1 debut album Get the Knack in 1979. It also appeared on a number of live and compilation albums.

Contents

Lyrics and music

According to co-writer Averre "Your Number or Your Name" was intended to sound like a Hollies song. [1] However, he feels that Bruce Gary's drumming transformed it into the type of song where the band was "jumping and slamming and thrusting." [1] Modern Drummer wrote that "the barrage of gonzo fills" Gary provides on the song confirm Gary's description of the Knack as "a very good, sensible pop band with a very bombastic drummer". [2] Modern Drummer compared Gary's performance on the song to the Who's Keith Moon. [2] Ultimate Classic Rock critic Dave Swanson confirmed that even with Gary's performance on drums the song still evokes the Hollies' sound that was intended. [3] The lyrics describe a woman who the singer often sees but can never contact. [4] Los Angeles Times critic Robert Hilburn has commented about the teenage innocence of the lyrics. [5]

Reception

Billboard Magazine praised "Your Number or Your Name" for its distinctive melody and for its lyrics, as well as the drumming, guitar playing and vocal harmonies. [6] Music journalist John M. Borack described "Your Number or Your Name" as a "ridiculously catchy gem." [7] He also described it as "excellent," ranking it No. 22 on his list of definitive power pop songs. [8] Something Else! critic JC Mosquito rated "Your Number or Your Name" as one of five power pop songs greater than the Raspberries classic "Go All the Way". [9] Mosquito praised its restraint compared with the Knack's more famous songs. [9] Musichound reviewer John Nieman described the song as a "standout" ballad. [10] Swanson described the song as "pure pop gold". [3] Rock Beat International editor Beverly Paterson described it as a "charmingly chiming" song. [8] PopMatters critic Ryan Taylor reviewing the live version on The Knack: Havin' a Rave-Up! Live in Los Angeles, 1978 described the song as "a Who-like stunner." [11] Antonio Méndez ranked this as a great song on which the Knack demonstrates its talent for composition. [12] Musician Robbie Rist regards it as part of the "lethal opening salvo" of Get the Knack. [1] Knack bassist Prescott Niles particularly liked the song's melody and its guitar hooks. [1]

Other releases

"Your Number or Your Name" was often played at the Knack's live shows and was included in several of the band's live albums. It was included on the 2012 live album Havin' a Rave-Up! Live in Los Angeles, 1978 , which was based on two concerts the band performed in Los Angeles in 1978, before signing their record deal with Capitol Records. [13] The Knack slso performed it at the 1979 concert at Carnegie Hall and it was included on the video disc The Knack Live at Carnegie Hall . [14]

"Your Number or Your Name" was also included on several of the Knack's compilation albums, and AllMusic critic Greg Prato called it one of the "expected tracks" on such albums along with the Top 40 singles "My Sharona," "Good Girls Don't" and "Baby Talks Dirty." [15] Compilation albums on which "Your Number or Your Name" appears include The Retrospective: The Best of the Knack from 1992, Very Best of the Knack from 1998 and Best of the Knack from 1999 [16]

Related Research Articles

Power pop is a form of pop rock based on the early music of bands such as the Who, the Beatles, the Beach Boys, and the Byrds. It typically incorporates melodic hooks, vocal harmonies, an energetic performance, and cheerful sounding music underpinned by a sense of yearning, longing, or despair. The sound is primarily rooted in pop and rock traditions of the early to mid-1960s, although some acts have occasionally drawn from later styles such as punk, new wave, glam rock, pub rock, college rock, and neo-psychedelia.

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<i>Round Trip</i> (The Knack album) 1981 studio album by The Knack

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<i>...But the Little Girls Understand</i> 1980 studio album by the Knack

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Can't Put a Price on Love</span> 1980 single by The Knack

"Can't Put a Price on Love" is a 1980 song written by Doug Fieger and Berton Averre. It was originally released by American pop group The Knack on their second album, ...But the Little Girls Understand. It was the second song from that album that was released as a single, reaching #62 on the Billboard Hot 100, falling short of the performance by its preceding single, "Baby Talks Dirty", which reached #30 in Cash Box and #38 in Billboard. Overall, it was the fourth single which The Knack had released, and was the first such release which did not reach the Top 40.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pay the Devil (Ooo, Baby, Ooo)</span> 1981 single by The Knack

"Pay the Devil " is a song written by Berton Averre and first released by the Knack on their 1981 album Round Trip. It was also released as a single, and reached #67 on the Billboard Hot 100. It continued the descending patterns of the Knack's singles from "My Sharona" which reached #1 to "Good Girls Don't" which reached #11 to "Baby Talks Dirty" which peaked at #38 to "Can't Put a Price on Love" which only reached #62. However, it was the last Knack single to chart at all until "My Sharona" re-entered the charts at #91 in 1994 in the wake of its appearance in the soundtrack of Reality Bites. "Pay the Devil" was later included on Knack compilation albums The Retrospective: The Best of the Knack and Very Best of the Knack.

<i>Zoom</i> (The Knack album) 1998 studio album by the Knack

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<i>Normal as the Next Guy</i> 2001 studio album by the Knack

Normal as the Next Guy is the sixth and final studio album by the Knack, released in 2001. It marks the fourth comeback attempt by the band after its second album, ...But the Little Girls Understand, failed to achieve the success of the band's début album. AllMusic critic Mark Deming noted that the album finds songwriter and lead singer Doug Fieger having resolved his issues with women, but has not "found a subject that appears to compel him nearly as much as the treacheries of girls once did." Therefore, Deming feels that compared to older songs by the band, the songs on Normal as the Next Guy "may be more pleasant, but they're not as interesting." The Rolling Stone Album Guide gave the album a 3 star rating, as high as the group's début Get The Knack, and higher than any other Knack studio album.

<i>Rock & Roll Is Good for You: The Fieger/Averre Demos</i> 2012 studio album by The Knack

Rock & Roll Is Good for You: The Fieger/Averre Demos is an album by The Knack which was released on September 11, 2012. It includes demo recordings made by Doug Fieger and Berton Averre made between 1973 and 1975. Most of the songs are performed by just Fieger and Averre, both singing and playing guitar, but some songs include the full band. Two of the songs, "Good Girls Don't" and "That's What the Little Girls Do," were released in more polished form on the Knack's debut album, Get the Knack. Other songs whose demos appear on Rock & Roll Is Good for You later provided elements for other Knack songs. For example, "Corporation Shuffle ," described by Allmusic critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine as "a nifty bit of fuzzy, snarky rock & roll in the vein of the Move," provided the basis for "Terry & Julie Step Out," a song from the 1998 album Zoom.

"(She's So) Selfish" is a hit song written by Doug Fieger and Berton Averre that was first released by the Knack on their #1 debut album Get the Knack in 1979. It also appeared on a number of live and compilation albums. It was intended for release as a single, but was prevented by its "scatological" lyrics. It was inspired by the same woman who inspired the band's #1 single "My Sharona." It was praised by critics for its hooks and style, but criticized for its nastiness and sexism.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 M. McLaughlin, K. Sharp (2004). Getting the Knack. Passport Productions.
  2. 1 2 "Bruce Gary: Controlled Bombast with the Knack". Modern Drummer . Retrieved 2017-11-01.
  3. 1 2 Swanson, Dave (June 11, 2015). "The History of "My Sharona": How One Song Doomed the Knack". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved 2017-11-04.
  4. ↑ Kelly, John F. (March 6, 1994). "A Fan's Notes". The Washington Post . Retrieved 2017-11-04.
  5. ↑ Hilburn, R. (August 3, 1979). "The Knack Brings Back Teenage Rock". The Spokesman-Review . Retrieved 2017-11-19.
  6. ↑ Nusser, D. (July 28, 1979). "Closeup: Get The Knack". Billboard. pp. 52, 66. Retrieved 2017-11-04.
  7. ↑ Borack, John M. "The Knack". Power Pop Hall of Fame. Retrieved 2017-11-04.
  8. 1 2 Borack, John M. (2007). Shake Some Action: The Ultimate Power Pop Guide. Not Lame Recording Company. pp. 23, 140. ISBN   9780979771408.
  9. 1 2 Mosquito, JC (December 2, 2014). "Power Pop Songs Other Than 'Go All The Way': Gimme Five". Something Else. Retrieved 2017-11-04.
  10. ↑ Nieman, John (1999). Graff, Gary; Durchholz, Daniel (eds.). Musichound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Schirmer. p. 644. ISBN   0825672562.
  11. ↑ Taylor, Ryan (July 19, 2012). "The Knack: Havin' a Rave-Up! Live in Los Angeles, 1978". PopMatters . Retrieved 2017-11-04.
  12. ↑ Méndez, Antonio (2007). Guia Del Pop Y El Rock 70, Aloha PopRock (2nd ed.). Editorial Visión Libros. p. 177. ISBN   9788498215700.
  13. ↑ Deming, M. "Havin' a Rave-Up! Live In Los Angeles, 1978". AllMusic . Rovi Corporation . Retrieved 2017-11-04.
  14. ↑ "The Knack Live at Carnegie Hall". AllMusic . Rovi Corporation . Retrieved 2013-11-02.
  15. ↑ Prato, Greg. "Best of the Knack". AllMusic . Rovi Corporation . Retrieved 2017-11-04.
  16. ↑ "Your Number or Your Name". AllMusic . Rovi Corporation . Retrieved 2017-11-04.
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