Knightshade
Knightshade were a successful mainstream/metal rock group in the late 1980s and 1990s. They had early chart sucess with Out for the Count in 1986 (five weeks in the chart, peaking at 26) and later with The Physical You (1987; seven weeks, peaking at 14) and Last Night In The City (1988; peaking at 9). They also hit the album charts with their debut release Out For the Night in 1987 (three weeks in the album charts, peaking at 37). On the back of this sucess, they supported international acts ZZ Top, Deep Purple, Bon Jovi, The Angels, Guns and Roses, Jimi Barnes and Stryper. All later releases were on Hark Records, including the 1995 single Television Eyes that had a video made by Greg Page. At their peak they had a fan club with 800 members.
The band traces its origins to 1982 in Te Puke, originally calling themselves Clearlite. The band played mainly surf clubs and pubs in coastal towns, but moved to Hamilton and changed their name to Knightshade. The band included Wayne Elliot (lead vocals), Rik Bernards (guitar), Gavin Lind (guitar), Jon Bell (bass) and Alan Grady (drums). Bernards and Bell had played together in The Bronx. Guitarist Rik Bernards taught music at WINTEC in the late 1990s, while Alan Grady has been the drummer for the Tim Armstrong band since 1997.
Releases
- 3 Points of Metal album, 1984 (with Tokyo and Strikemaster)
- Out for the Count single, 1986
- The Physical You single, 1986
- Out For the Night album 1987
- You Dont Need Me single, 1988
- Last Night in the City single, 1988
- Television Eyes single, 1995
- Knightshade best-of album, 1995
- Blood and Money and Free Love appear on the 1986 Attack from Downunda compilation
- Television Eyes appears on the 1995 compilation Bark Number One
- Television Eyes appears on the 1995 compilation Kiwi Hit Disc 31
link title==Published Articles==
- Remembering the Good Old Days of Knightshade by Ben Telfer, Waikato Times 28 July 2007
