Eurogliders

Though viewed as fleeting successes within the United States, the Eurogliders built a lengthier and stronger track record in their home country. The six-piece outfit took shape in 1980 in Perth, West Australia, with Grace Knight handling vocals, Crispin Akerman and Bernie Lynch on guitars, Amanda Vincent on keyboards, Geoff Rosenberg on bass, and John Bennetts on drums. As a teenager Knight had already sung regularly in folk clubs. Seeking wider prospects, she headed to Australia and there crossed paths with Lynch, a friend of her sister. While Knight refined her vocal approach, Lynch gathered the remaining musicians needed to launch a band. The Eurogliders issued their debut album, Pink Suit Blue Day, in 1982, but it failed to attract buyers. Success arrived instead with “Heaven,” the reflective single drawn from 1984’s This Island, which turned into a global hit and delivered the group’s lone stretch of U.S. airplay. Unable to match that breakthrough, the Eurogliders disbanded in 1989. Knight appeared in the 1990 television miniseries Come in Spinner and performed ’40s torch songs for its soundtrack. Her first solo album, Stormy Weather, followed in 1991. Setting aside the new wave synthesizers and folksy harmonies associated with the Eurogliders, she turned toward jazz and soul on Stormy Weather. One year later both Stormy Weather and the Come in Spinner soundtrack reached the Top Ten on Australia’s jazz charts. Knight released Gracious in 1993.