Knightshade had blazed through their home country releasing two EPs and a live album of relentless, balls-to-the-wall material to rival the likes of Jimmy Barnes, The Angels and the Jon Stevens-fronted Noiseworks. But when they got their break and were signed to Mushroom Records Australia, the label insisted on big ballads.
Remembering the good old days of Knightshade. Waikato Times, 2011
Hamilton rockers Knightshade to play final gig. Stuff, July 2016
Knightshade performing Free Love Live at the Ascot Theatre, 1984
Knightshade performing The Physical You, 1987
Full concert footage of Knightshade at the TVNZ RWP concert, Galaxy, Auckland, 1987
Ian Taft - vocals
Wayne Elliott - vocals, keyboards
Laurie Goossens - guitar
Kevin Taylor - bass
Bobby Addison - guitar
Alan Grady - drums
Gavin Lind - guitar
Rik Bernards - guitar, vocals
Jon Bell - bass
Grant Pukeroa - drums
Craig Pollock - guitar
Glenn Aitken - guitar
Simon Garlick - guitar
Scott Williams - drums
Neil McDonald - bass
Kingsley Smith - keyboards
As well as providing backing vocals on Knightshade’s debut EP, television presenter Gael Ludlow sang on the band’s The Physical You EP and Out For The Night LP. She also appeared as a special guest at their farewell show in Hamilton in 2016.
In the tradition of band fan clubs adopting a nickname à la the Kiss Army and Grateful Dead’s Deadheads, Knightshade followers in the 1980s were known as the Knightshade Brigade.