Chris Knox (born 2 September 1952) is a New Zealand

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African-American music such as jazz, rhythm an ...

musician, cartoonist and movie reviewer who emerged during the punk rock era with his bands The Enemy and Toy Love. After Toy Love disbanded in the early 1980s, he formed the group

Tall Dwarfs Tall Dwarfs are a New Zealand rock band formed in 1981 by Chris Knox and Alec Bathgate, who helped pioneer the lo-fi style of rock music. The duo were former members of Toy Love. The band lacked a drummer, but would use household objects an ...

with guitarist Alec Bathgate. The Tall Dwarfs were noted for their unpolished sound and intense live shows. His 4-track machine was used to record most of the early Flying Nun singles. He has also released a number of solo, self-produced albums which feature his

Casiotone Casiotone was a series of home electronic keyboards made by Casio in the early 1980s. Casio promoted the Casiotone 201 (CT-201) as "the first electronic keyboard with full-size keys that anyone could afford". The name "Casiotone" disappeared from ...

. Knox has also released an album under the pseudonym 'Friend'.

Career

At the 2001

New Zealand Music Awards The Aotearoa Music Awards (previously called the New Zealand Music Awards), conferred annually by Recorded Music NZ, honour outstanding artistic and technical achievements in the recording industry. The awards are among the most significant tha ...

Knox's ballad " Not Given Lightly" (1990) was announced as New Zealand's thirteenth best song of all time, as voted by

APRA APRA or Apra may refer to: Places *Apra, Punjab, a census town city in Jalandhar District of Punjab, India * Apra Harbor, the main port of Guam Acronyms * American Popular Revolutionary Alliance (Alianza Popular Revolucionaria Americana), a Peruvi ...

members. A love song written for "John and Liesha's mother"—his then-partner Barbara—this track never scaled commercial heights though it has belatedly generated some income for the songwriter through its use in TV advertising (notably for Vogel's bread). Knox has played live in front of audiences all around New Zealand, winning a reputation for his sometimes confrontational style, and performed annually at Wellington's Bar Bodega. He has also extensively toured internationally. His swing through the US in 1995 included, among others, stops in Seattle to play the

Crocodile Cafe The Crocodile (formerly the Crocodile Cafe, and sometimes called The Croc) is a music club at 2505 1st Avenue at Wall Street in the Belltown neighborhood of Seattle, Washington, United States. Opened by Stephanie Dorgan as the "Crocodile Cafe ...

. His minimalist, DIY sound played well to ears then-focused on grunge, with its retro-punk stylings. A long-time resident of

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about I ...

, Knox spent time as a newspaper columnist and film reviewer for Real Groove. In 1986-1987, he edited and published three issues of a New Zealand comics anthology ''Jesus on a Stick''. Starting in 1987, his satirical comic strip ''Max Media'' appeared in ''

The New Zealand Herald ''The New Zealand Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Auckland, New Zealand, owned by New Zealand Media and Entertainment, and considered a newspaper of record for New Zealand. It has the largest newspaper circulation of all newspaper ...

'' every week until 2009. He has also been an occasional television film reviewer, hosted a

Television New Zealand Television New Zealand ( mi, Te Reo Tātaki o Aotearoa), more commonly referred to as TVNZ, is a television network that is broadcast throughout New Zealand and parts of the Pacific region. All of its currently-operating channels are free-to-air an ...

season of classic movies, and presented two seasons of arts series New Artland. Knox launched his own label 'A Major Records' in 2006 to release the album ''Chris Knox and the Nothing''. This was the first album Knox recorded in a professional studio, rather than in his trademark DIY style, since his time with Toy Love. Knox's "It's Love", from the 2000 album ''Beat'', has been used in "Share the Good", a

Heineken Premium Light Heineken Light (labelled as ''Heineken 3'' in Australia) is a light beer brewed by Heineken for the United States market. It was introduced in 2005. Heineken light reportedly has: 90 calories per 12 oz. bottle and 6.8 grams of carbohydra ...

commercial directed by

Todd Haynes Todd Haynes (; born January 2, 1961) is an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. His films span four decades with themes examining the personalities of well-known musicians, dysfunctional and dystopian societies, and blurred gender ...

and cinematographed by Edward Lachman. In 2009 Knox was awarded a New Zealand Arts Foundation Arts Laureate Award. On 11 June 2009 Knox was admitted to Auckland hospital suffering from a stroke. The album '' Stroke: Songs for Chris Knox'' was released in New Zealand on 16 November 2009. It features 33 artists performing Knox's songs. The album is a way for Knox's fans to contribute to the costs of his rehabilitation. All artists contributed their time and talent without charge. Artists include

Jay Reatard James Lee Lindsey Jr. (May 1, 1980 – January 13, 2010), known professionally as Jay Reatard, was an American musician from Memphis, Tennessee. He was signed to Matador Records. He released recordings as a solo artist and as a member of the Re ...

David Kilgour David William Kilgour (February 18, 1941 – April 5, 2022) was a Canadian human rights activist, author, lawyer, and politician. He was also a Senior Fellow to the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights. Kilgour graduated from the Univer ...

, The Mint Chicks, Shayne Carter,

Yo La Tengo Yo La Tengo (YLT; Spanish for "I have her") is an American indie rock band formed in Hoboken, New Jersey, in 1984. Since 1992, the lineup has consisted of Ira Kaplan (guitars, piano, vocals), Georgia Hubley (drums, piano, vocals), and James McN ...

, Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, Bill Callahan,

The Mountain Goats The Mountain Goats are an American band formed in Claremont, California, by singer-songwriter John Darnielle. The band is currently based in Durham, North Carolina. For many years, the sole member of the Mountain Goats was Darnielle, despite the ...

, The Bats,

The Chills The Chills are a New Zealand rock band that formed in Dunedin in 1980. The band is essentially the continuing project of singer/songwriter Martin Phillipps, who is the group's sole constant member. For a time in the 1990s, the act was billed ...

, The Verlaines,

Jeff Mangum Jeff Mangum (born 24 October 1970) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician who gained prominence as the founder, songwriter, vocalist and guitarist of Neutral Milk Hotel, as well for his co-founding of The Elephant 6 Recording Company. M ...

, The Nothing (including Chris), Tall Dwarfs and Lou Barlow. The

Greenwich Village Greenwich Village ( , , ) is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street to the north, Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the south, and the Hudson River to the west. Greenwich Village ...

arts venue Le Poisson Rouge hosted a benefit concert for Knox on 6 May 2010. Artists included Jeff Mangum and Yo La Tengo, who both participated in the 2009 benefit album for Knox. Since his stroke, Knox has done a very small number of live appearances, for instance at the presentation of ''Stroke – Songs For Chris Knox'' in November 2009, on 22 April 2012, on 29 September 2012 in Auckland, with Rackets, as Knoxious and in support of

Neutral Milk Hotel Neutral Milk Hotel was an American band formed in Ruston, Louisiana, by musician Jeff Mangum. They were active from 1989 to 1998, and again from 2013 to 2015. The band's music featured a deliberately low-quality sound, influenced by indie roc ...

on 23 and 24 of November, 2013.

Discography

LPs

Compilations

Tribute albums

Singles and EPs

Awards

Aotearoa Music Awards

The Aotearoa Music Awards (previously known as ''New Zealand Music Awards'' (NZMA)) are an annual awards night celebrating excellence in New Zealand music and have been presented annually since 1965. ! , - , 1993 , , Chris Knox for ''Duck Shaped Pain and Gum'' , , Album Cover of the Year, , , , rowspan="4", , - , 1994 , , Chris Knox for ''

3 EPs ''3 EPs'' is a full-length CD by New Zealand band Tall Dwarfs Tall Dwarfs are a New Zealand rock band formed in 1981 by Chris Knox and Alec Bathgate, who helped pioneer the lo-fi style of rock music. The duo were former members of Toy Lo ...

'' by

, , Album Cover of the Year, , , - , 1995 , , Chris Knox for ''Songs of You and Me'' , , Album Cover of the Year, , , - , 2006 , , Chris Knox for ''As Sweet As Sin'' (Bleeders) , , Album Cover of the Year, , , - , 2012 , , Chris Knox (as part of Toy Love) , ,

New Zealand Music Hall of Fame The New Zealand Music Hall of Fame , Te Whare Taonga Puoro o Aotearoa is a figurative hall of fame dedicated to noteworthy New Zealand musicians. The hall was created in 2007 by Recorded Music NZ (then known as the Recording Industry Associa ...

, , , , , -

References

Alexander Turnbull Library The National Library of New Zealand ( mi, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa) is New Zealand's legal deposit library charged with the obligation to "enrich the cultural and economic life of New Zealand and its interchanges with other nations" (''Nat ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Knox, Chris 1952 births APRA Award winners New Zealand cartoonists New Zealand male guitarists New Zealand male singer-songwriters 20th-century New Zealand male singers 20th-century New Zealand male artists 21st-century New Zealand male singers 21st-century New Zealand male artists Flying Nun Records artists Dunedin Sound musicians Living people People from Invercargill