This record started my music career. I started DJing at Blackpool Mecca at the tender age of seventeen, and within a year, I had broken this...
This record started my music career. I started DJing at Blackpool Mecca at the tender age of seventeen, and within a year, I had broken this record massive, till it first got bootlegged, and then reissued legally, and made number two on the national pop charts because of it. John Peel came up to Blackpool from Radio One, to interview me, to find out how an obscure 1960s soul record had suddenly appeared at number two on the pop charts, and all down to just one DJ originally. This was in 1973, and then twenty six years later, I got to film Robert performing it for our documentary "The Strange World Of Northern Soul". Born on the 24 April 1945, in Franklin, Tennessee, USA, Knight made his professional vocal debut with the Paramounts, a harmony quintet comprising school friends. Signed to Dot Records, they recorded "Free Me" in 1961, a US R&B hit, outselling the cover version by Johnny Preston. After this initial success their subsequent releases flopped and resulted in the group breaking up. Unfortunately, they also broke their contract with Dot and were prevented from recording for four-and-a-half years. Knight continued his studies in chemistry at the Tennessee State University where he formed vocal trio the Fairlanes. In 1967, Knight was spotted performing with the Fairlanes in Nashville, and was offered a contract as a solo artist by the Rising Sons label. His first recording, "Everlasting Love", written by label owners Buzz Cason and Mac Gayden, was an immediate success and earned him a US Top 20 hit. This enduring song was an even bigger success in Britain the following year where a cover version by Love Affair reached number 1, and in doing so, kept the singer from progressing further than a Top 40 position. Knight scored two further pop hits at home, "Blessed Are The Lonely" and "Isn't It Lonely Together". In 1973, he overshadowed his previous chart entry in the UK when "Love On A Mountain Top" reached number two. However, the reissued "Everlasting Love" went some way to making amends the following year, this time achieving Top 20 status. He continues to occasionally perform and record. Less
