grace knight ~ innerview
In 1976 the duo I was part of reached the semi finals of an English 'talent quest'. An agent from London was watching the show and approached us with an offer of a gig in Dubai.......The beginning.
This trip gave me a taste for performing, especially after meeting and having a sing with Martha and the Vandellas - who were performing over the road at the Hilton. I was all fired up and ready to 'ave a go at this singin' lark!
The next gig was on a cruise ship, the Women's Weekly World cruise! From Southport in the UK to Fremantle, Western Australia. The cruise director asked us to change our set to suit the maturity of our audience. Harry Nillson's record, "A Little Touch Of Schmillson In The Night", saved our bacon. We performed the songs twice a night for six weeks.
Once in Perth, I sang with a few bands, and eventually found my niche when my boyfriend and I formed a band - 'the Eurogliders'. We performed original songs, in a town where cover bands had a stranglehold on the audiences, the venues, and any money that was available for live music.
However lady luck was on our side, and she showed herself by way of a meat pie!
Firstly let me say Eurogliders were vegetarians. So, when Perths' largest meat pie manufacturer approached us to do an up vibe and groovy advertising campaign we connived and whispered our plan to disguise the fact that none of us ate meat. Our road crew smuggled us in 'vegie' patties at lunch time. However, the end product of our commercial shoot was fantastic. It showed the band flying in to a local venue by chopper with our name emblazoned on the side. We looked like the kinda band you should drop everything to come and see!
And that really was the beginning of Eurogliders taking off in a big way.
We became successful in Australia with numerous hit singles and albums. Platinum and Gold Records and awards. Gold and Silver Video Clip awards from the States and UK. All the trappings that go with success. One of the highlights was touring the US and performing live to an audience of 65 million viewers on MTV's New Years Eve show.
Eurogliders worked together for ten years, the band members changed from time to time, but Bernie Lynch and myself formed the core of the band.
Towards the end of Eurogliders life, I was asked to perform an acting role as Lola, a night club singer in the ABC's TV mini-series Come in Spinner (produced by Jan Chapman and directed by Rob Marchant).
Initially I didn't think I should take the part. I wasn't a jazz/blues singer, I was a pop singer. However I was convinced to try it.
The TV series was a huge success and the soundtrack album I recorded with Vince Jones was an even bigger one. That was the start of a new incarnation.
Due to the success of "Come in Spinner" I felt encouraged to record other albums of torch/jazz/blues songs. 'Stormy Weather', then 'Gracious', and then a summary of my jazzy incarnation 'Live'.
"Live" was performed and recorded at the Sydney jazz venue 'the Basement'. I invited friends that I had met throughout my jazz life to perform on the album, and was thrilled by the outcome. Don Burrows, James Morrison, James Blundell, and a blast from the past, my partner in crime from the Eurogliders Bernie Lynch.
For the past five years I have been fortunate to be nurtured, saved, secured and vocally guided by my musical director Papa Ray (Alldridge).
So I guess that's how I reached this point. I've been writing my own material, in preparation for my next album. So... check out the samples on the New Music page and I'll give you a further taste soon.
See ya then,
Gracie
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