Greg Kihn

Greg Kihn stood among the leading figures of 1980s power pop, delivering energetic and tuneful rock & roll that carried sufficient bite to attract new wave audiences while remaining accessible to broader listeners. His breakthrough arrived with the major hit singles “The Breakup Song (They Don’t Write ’Em)” in 1981 and “Jeopardy” in 1983. Emerging from the Northern California scene centered on Beserkley Records, he released his self-titled debut album in 1976. By 1979 his admirers included Bruce Springsteen, who supplied the previously unreleased “Rendezvous” for inclusion on With the Naked Eye. The commercial summit came with Rockihnroll in 1981 and Kihnspiracy in 1983, both showcasing his penchant for punning titles, yet 2017’s Rekihndled later confirmed that his rock & roll commitment had never faded.

Born in Baltimore, Maryland, on July 10, 1949, Kihn began playing guitar early and, like many peers of his generation, found the Beatles’ 1964 appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show transformative. He began composing songs in the style of the British Invasion acts dominating the charts. During high school he won a local radio station talent contest that awarded him a Vox electric guitar, a typewriter, and numerous records. He performed regularly on the Baltimore club circuit before relocating to San Francisco in 1972. There he took a job at the beloved Bay Area shop Rather Ripped Records. Co-worker Gary Phillips, a member of the rising band Earth Quake, introduced him to Matthew King Kaufman, founder of Beserkley Records. Kihn assembled a band—himself on guitar and vocals, Steve Wright on bass and backing vocals, Larry Lynch on drums and backing vocals—and began gigging in the Berkeley and San Francisco clubs; Kaufman soon signed him. After appearing on a Beserkley artists compilation that also featured the Rubinoos and Jonathan Richman, his first full-length album, Greg Kihn, arrived on the label in 1976.

The follow-up, 1977’s Greg Kihn Again, expanded the lineup to a quartet with the addition of guitarist Dave Carpender and contained covers of Bruce Springsteen’s “For You” and Buddy Holly’s “Love’s Made a Fool of You.” Next of Kihn in 1978 yielded the band’s first charting single, “Remember,” which reached Number 105, while the album itself climbed to Number 145. Impressed by Kihn’s version of “For You,” Springsteen offered the unreleased “Rendezvous,” which appeared on 1979’s With the Naked Eye alongside a high-energy reading of Jonathan Richman’s “Roadrunner.” The album reached Number 114; Glass House Rock in 1980 fared slightly lower, peaking at Number 167.

Fortunes shifted with 1981’s Rockihnroll, whose track “The Breakup Song (They Don’t Write ’Em)” became a major hit, climbing to Number 14 on the Hot 100 and lifting the album to Number 32. Larger venues and support slots with the Grateful Dead and the Rolling Stones followed, while keyboardist Gary Phillips joined as a fifth member. Although 1982’s Kihntinued produced no further hit singles, it reached Number 33, and commercial zenith arrived with 1983’s Kihnspiracy. The single “Jeopardy” rose to Number 2, and the album peaked at Number 15. The song later gained fresh attention when Weird Al Yankovic parodied it as “I Lost On Jeopardy,” whose video received heavy MTV rotation. By then Dave Carpender had departed, with Greg Douglass taking over on guitar.

Kihnspiracy was succeeded by 1984’s Kihntagious, a modest seller that marked his final Beserkley release. Signing with EMI, he issued Citizen Kihn in 1985 under his own name rather than the Greg Kihn Band credit used since 1979. The album contained his last Top 40 single, “Lucky,” which reached Number 30. Larry Lynch and Gary Phillips exited around this time; Tyler Eng handled drums, while Steve Wright covered both bass and keyboards. Love and Rock and Roll in 1986 added Pat Mosca on keyboards and featured future guitar hero Joe Satriani on lead guitar; it became his first non-charting album since Greg Kihn Again. A live set, Unkihntrollable: Greg Kihn Live, appeared in 1989, as did the compilation KihnSolidation: The Best Of Greg Kihn. The primarily acoustic Mutiny followed in 1994.

In 1996 Kihn pivoted toward broadcasting, hosting a morning show on classic-rock station KFOX-FM for eighteen years and presenting a syndicated evening program via LAO. That same year he published his debut novel, the horror tale Horror Show, eventually writing five additional novels and numerous short stories. An album also titled Horror Show accompanied the book. In 2000 he released True Kihnfessions, a collection of new recordings of earlier material. He returned to his classic style with 2017’s Rekihndled, featuring his son Ry Kihn on guitar and original drummer Larry Lynch on one track. Kihn continued performing until 2019, when an Alzheimer’s diagnosis curtailed public appearances. He died on August 13, 2024, at the age of 75.