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Raw, rare material from The Knack – a previously-unissued live performance from 1978 – recorded a year before their famous debut! We love that album to death, but the group have even more bite here – a rough-edged quality that's almost garagey at points – and which does a great job of linking together the Sunset Strip energy of both the 60s and 70s scenes – really showing that LA evolution that birthed The Knack in the first place! Most of the tunes here are familiar from the first album, but the versions here are much more powerful – almost like hearing some gritty demos of the band in formation. Titles include "Daughter Of The Law", "She's So Selfish", "Art War", "My Sharona", "That's What The Little Girls Do", "Good Girls Don't", "Let Me Out", "End Of The Game", "It's Alright", and "Your Number Or Your Name".

The roots of The Knack – and some really amazing tracks that were recorded years before their famous debut on Capitol! The sound here is great and gritty – mostly just Doug Feiger and Berton Averre working out tunes in the studio – using guitar and bass, and serving up the vocals with a nicely sneering style! Even more amazing is that most of these tunes were recorded in 1973 and 1975 – yet already show the pair's tremendous ear for a tight riff and unstoppable hook – that core essence of everything we love about The Knack – but with an even rawer feel too. Titles include "Who'll Set You Down", "Little Lies", "Flower My Fate", "Weiss On Rye", "Have A Heart", "Corporation Shuffle", "Get On The Plane", "Lazer Days", and "Good Girls Don't".

The roots of The Knack – and some really amazing tracks that were recorded years before their famous debut on Capitol! The sound here is great and gritty – mostly just Doug Feiger and Berton Averre working out tunes in the studio – using guitar and bass, and serving up the vocals with a nicely sneering style! Even more amazing is that most of these tunes were recorded in 1973 and 1975 – yet already show the pair's tremendous ear for a tight riff and unstoppable hook – that core essence of everything we love about The Knack – but with an even rawer feel too. Titles include "Who'll Set You Down", "Little Lies", "Flower My Fate", "Weiss On Rye", "Have A Heart", "Corporation Shuffle", "Get On The Plane", "Lazer Days", and "Good Girls Don't".

Not the power pop phenom Knack of "My Sharona" fame – and not the mid 60s UK Knack. This is the mid 60s Sunset Strip Knack – and one of at least 3 great band to have that name that we've been hipped to so far! This particular Knack was fairly short-lived. They signed with Capitol and released 4 strong singles back in the day – and all 8 of those sides are on this CD from Now Sounds UK – along with 5 previously unreleased tunes. It's strong, hooky Cali-bred take on post Brit Invasion grooves – well worth the discovery! Titles include "Time Waits For No One", "I'm Aware", "Pretty Daisy", "Softly, Softly", "The Spell", "Freedom Now", "The Girl With The Dark Brown Eyes", "Once Upon A Cheek", "No Show Today", "Merry Go Round" and more.

One of the greatest power pop albums ever recorded – a blistering batch of tight little rocking tunes that took pop music back to basics at the end of the 70s! The group have an almost Beatles-esque flair for the short catchy tune – but have also pumped up things nicely with a smoothly compressed 70s approach to production. There's an urgency to the work that seems to drive the whole thing with an uptight adolescent sense of horniness – a strange force that kicks most tunes into ultradrive by tapping into a virtually limitless source of energy! Titles include the mega-hit "My Sharona", plus "Heartbeat", "Lucinda", "Frustrated", "Good Girls Don't", "Selfish", "O Tara", and "Maybe Tonight".

Obscure late 60's pop stuff by this intellectual young man of song. Not exactly Scott Walker, but not too bad. With a nice version of John Barry's "The Knack", plus "Taste of Honey", "I've Just Seen a Face", and the original "When That I Was (A Tiny Little Boy)".

Don Gere's dusty, jangly soundtrack to the bikers and werewolves and satanists (oh my!) epic Werewolves On Wheels – a pretty great one with spare, post folk psych atmosphere, a little bit of groovy country rock, eerily percussive errata and choice soundbites from the flick! Finders Keepers has a knack for describing their great and obscure soundtrack and otherwise oddball discoveries that goes well beyond ours – they describe Don Gere as a "disjointed psych rock stoner" and the sound as "ritualistic commune country". We can't speak for Don's personality, but they pretty much nail the vibe! Most importantly, it works fine as trippy leftfield psychedelia and groovy country rock even without the crazy context of the movie – with a couple solid vocal tunes, fuzzed out instrumentals (particularly the "Ritual" tracks), sparer bits of tension and classic style B-movie biker elements. Includes "Werewolves On Wheels (Main Theme)", "Mount Shasta Home", "Ritual", "Ritual 2", "The Devil's Advocates", "One Foot In Heaven", "Burning Grass", "Tarot", "Tarot Trail", "Dust Bowl", "Ritual 3", "Werewolves On Wheels (End Theme)" and more.

Early work from Topeka, KS psychedelia and garage-tinged rockers Morning Dew – mixing hooky guitar rocker with a fuzzy sound and charisma to spare – a collection their mid-to-late 60s singles and unreleased material! We were hipped to the group via their fantastic At Last LP cut for Roulette a little later, but this earlier work cuts nearly as deep. There's just the right amount of grit to the recordings, balanced by a knack for catchy rockers and charismatic vocals. 19 tracks in all! Includes "No More" (unreleased alternate version), a cover of "I'm Not Your Stepping Stone", "Look At Me Now", "Be A Friend", "Go Away", "Sycamore Dreamer", "Sing Out", "Young Man", "Cherry Street" and more. 14 tracks in all.

A reimagined version of the legendary Yellow Pills compilation on Numero – 20 songs from the original compilation, plus two bonus tracks, new liner notes, and lots of cool sleeve scans, photos, and more! Forget everything you know about rock music in the late 70s – all the punk rock and new wave that's been immortalized over the years – and get ready to discover a whole new world of power pop! At the time, the power pop underground was as important to some ears as the artier and angrier work coming out of the east coast and UK – and the power pop world was one that could co-exist a bit more peacefully with mainstream rock, while still offering a great opportunity for bands on various local scenes. The work here has echoes of more famous acts of the time – like The Cars, The Kings, or The Knack – but it's also got a bit more of a home-grown, punk rock edge – one that comes through beautifully in the guitar parts, vocals, and unabashed hooks of the tunes. The set's a follow-up to the original Yellow Pills set by zine publisher Jordan Oakes – and it delves deeper than even that one, with a real focus on work from the end of the 70s, and acts that never had great chart success overall. Titles include "High School" by Tommy Rock, "She's Hi Fi" by The Trend, "There Goes My Heart Again" by The Kids, "Not My Girl Anymore" by The Bats, "All I Want" by The Colors, "Domestic/Imported" by The Toms, "Sunshine USA" by Randy Winburn, "One In A Million" by Luxury, "She's The Girl" by The Tweeds, "Rave It Up" by Colors, and "Hey Little Girl" by The Kids.