The Knack feat. Prescott Niles

Prescott Niles is the founding bassist whose unmistakable playing helped define The Knack’s signature sound—lean, melodic, and relentlessly propulsive. Long before the band’s meteoric rise, Niles built a deep musical foundation, recording with Hendrix associate Velvert Turner and later spending formative time in London, where he hobnobbed with the likes of George Harrison. Those experiences sharpened a sensibility that would become central to The Knack:
classic pop economy delivered with the punch of a seasoned live unit.

When The Knack made their live debut in June 1978 and quickly became fixtures at key Los Angeles rooms like The Troubadour and The Starwood, they weren’t an “overnight” phenomenon. With Doug Fieger’s swaggering frontman energy,
Berton Averre’s guitar fire, Bruce Gary’s precision drumming, and Niles’ driving anthemic low-end, the quartet arrived as a road-tested band engineered for impact. That impact detonated with Get The Knack . Signed to Capitol Records in
January 1979, the group teamed with producer Mike Chapman (Blondie, Suzi Quatro) and recorded their now famous debut album in just three weeks for $15,000—capturing the kinetic snap of their stage sound with minimal studio
artifice. Guitar-forward and built on hooks, the album celebrated British Invasion craftsmanship while standing as a cornerstone of new wave’s band-first era—free of the synthesizer gloss and drum-machine trends that quickly dated many
contemporaries, and anchored by Niles’ notable bass lines that instantly said “The Knack.”

Released June 11, 1979, Get The Knack became a cultural surge powered by “My Sharona,” propelled by Niles’ phenomenal bass march—its staccato pulse and locked-in momentum as iconic as the riff itself. The single hit No. 1 on the US
Billboard Hot 100, holding the top spot for six weeks, becoming Capitol’s fastest Gold-selling debut single since The Beatles’ “I Want To Hold Your Hand,” and ultimately moving roughly 10 million copies worldwide. The album went double-Platinum, sold a million copies in under two months, and spent five weeks atop the Billboard 200 in late summer 1979. Beyond the anthem, the record delivered the US Top 20 “Good Girls Don’t,” and deeper cuts—“Let Me Out,” “Your Number
or Your Name,” and “Maybe Tonight”—revealed a band fluent in dynamics, melody, and timeless songcraft, with Niles’ musical pedigree and bass-first instincts shaping the snap, swing, and clarity of the arrangements.

With the passing of several members and the retirement of another, Prescott Niles now carries that legacy forward as the driving force behind “Prescott Niles’ The Knack”—an authentic continuation celebrating the sound that made the band essential. For longtime fans and new listeners alike, it’s an opportunity to experience the classic songs with the founding bassist often credited as the band’s signature sound, while also hearing new music composed by Niles
himself—proof that the spirit of The Knack is not only preserved, but still thriving and evolving.