The Knobz

NZ band active between January 1979 and the end of 1981. They were based in Dunedin, but not considered part of the Dunedin sound scene. They became famous in 1980 with their political song "Culture?" (produced by Peter Blake) criticising Rob Muldoon, who was Prime Minister at the time and had stated that New Zealand's pop music was not culture. EMI had previously distributed their first single, but refused to distribute their next one because they deemed it ‘politically hot’, so they ended up releasing it on their own label, Bunk Records, which was started alongside music writer Mike Alexander. When the original 500 copies press sould out, WEA manufactured and distributed the next one. The song stayed in the top 40 for 16 weeks, reaching the no°5 spot. This also helped their previous single, I Like It, enter the charts at 42. They later officially signed to WEA and left Bunk Records to Alexander. The band toured New Zealand before leaving for Australia in 1980. The Knobz played the main stage on the Friday night of the 1981 Sweetwaters Music Festival and then drew a massive crowd to the Aerial Railway stage on the Saturday afternoon. The band released their single ‘Liverpool to America’/‘K.G.B.’ to coincide with the festival. Despite officially disbanding in 1981, they had they last tour in 1982 with various member changes (only Kevin Fogarty remained from the original line-up).