The godfather of NZ music, Chris Knox is a terrific performer, song writer and lover of music. From the anarcho greatness of The Enemy to the polished punk of Toy Love, the DIY alternative noise of Tall Dwarfs and the box of chocolates that is his solo work, he has pushed boundaries, and found the mainstream all at the same time. “Not Given Lightly” is the reason I was allowed to play annoying alternative music in the seventh form common room, and having Chris play it at our civil union was brilliant. His music has sold bread and beer, but he has never ever sold out. You are my favourite all time musician Chris, and you and the lovely Barbara are very special people.
The actual video for Not Given Lightly is not on You Tube, but you get the gist from the version below, and you can watch the real thing at Amplifier. UPDATE: As Brenda helpfully pointed out in the comments, there is a great collection of Chris videos at NZ On Screen, including the real Not Given Lightly video, as shown below. And the bonus video is to show you just how far Chris has reached. “Its Love”, a fantastic song of his solo album Beat, was used by Heineken for a commercial, and inspired this person from Detroit to express his love for the song in his own unique way.
Thats it for Music Month. Apologies for anyone who found the posts annoying, but I hope it has reminded you of the great Kiwi music that is out there- old and new. Please keep buying the CDs, paying for the downloads and going to the gigs. Its part of us all, and the musicians need your support to keep going.
Thanks Grant. I’ve loved them all and have tweeted and facebooked them all. Too bad if anyone got annoyed. It’s our NZ music and it’s precious. And great choices to end on.
Chris Knox was one of my earliest musical influences as a teenage weekend punk rocker in Dunedin. I was a huge fan of The Enemy, even if Chris somewhat terrified me at the time.
Have followed him through the years.
No thanks – not for me.
Chris is the man
Nice work, Grant.
But “You are my favourite all time musician Chris…”? How fickle – I am SO telling Graeme Downes on you!
No need to apologise Grant, and not because I am a fellow headbanger – I ain’t.
But these posts have been part of what makes Red Alert a great all-round blog. It addresses many facets of NZ life. So if I chose not to play the vids nor really get into this facet, it is not the end of the world.
Nice tribute but we shouldn’t forget his important contributions to recording/documenting musicians, record (physical) distribution, film reviewing, comics, art, causes, etc. and he’s written much better tunes than “Not Given Lightly”.
Nice work Grant – can I point out the many Chris Knox music videos (legal ones btw) on NZ On Screen, as well as an entire collection of music he’s performed, written or directed videos for.
See it here: http://www.nzonscreen.com/collection/chrisknox
The videos (which are legal and good quality, as opposed to those on YouTube), are also embeddable.
any chance someone can look into NZon Air funding for music vids and maybe sack Brendan Smyth for doing a crap job on the selection criteria and accountability for it ?
thanks
@Polly. Sorry but I have to disagree strongly. I think Brendan has done a brilliant job in using a relatively modest budget to support a range of artists. He has to work within the policy and legislated mandate of NZ On Air, and I reckon he has handled it really well.