It’s outrageous that legendary songwriter Holly Knight still isn’t a member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. It’s inexcusable that one of the most prolific and most successful songwriters hasn’t been inducted yet.
Whenever I start listing some of the hit songs that Holly has written, their mouths drop open in disbelief that one person wrote so many of their favorite songs. Without fail, they can’t believe it.
The Beginning
I’ve been a fan going way back when. The first Holly Knight song that I fell in love with as a young hopeless romantic with a broken heart was “New Romance (It’s a Mystery)” (1980) by her band SPIDER. It’s still one of my favorite songs and most important ones too because it’s so directly connected to my youth and my emotional experiences at the same. The song and the music video were so hopeful and a celebration of the exhilarating highs of falling in love with someone. I didn’t know who Holly Knight was but I took notice right then and there.
Billboard Magazine
When my friends focused on getting their grimy little hands on seedy magazines, my favorite one was Billboard magazine. It was and still is the music industry bible that tracks all the hits with charts for the hot 100 pop songs, top 200 albums, and every other type of chart. I know I was weird because it was an expensive magazine and I was a teenager who wasn’t even in the music industry! I just loved following the charts around the world and learning who wrote the songs I loved.
One of the first things I noticed while reading the Billboard charts was how often I kept seeing the name H. Knight as the songwriter for so many of my favorite songs! I had to find out who this person was. Keep in mind, this was long before the internet and before google!
It was surreal how so many of my favorite songs turned out to be written by the same person. This H. Knight person. I eventually learned that it was a woman named Holly Knight and that she was in Spider and wrote that song “New Romance” that I loved so much.
“Change” (1982) by John Waite was never as big a hit like other songs written by Holly Knight but it has always been one of my favorite songs. It was used in a favorite film of mine, “Visionquest” (1985). The message always resonated with me so much. I’ve always loved John Waite ever since his days with the Babys who were a favorite band. Once again, my favorite artists always seemed to find their way to Holly!
One of the early songs that I loved was “Obsession” (1983) by Animotion which became a smash hit in America and all over the globe.
Once again, I wasn’t surprised when another favorite artist, Pat Benatar worked with Holly and experienced massive success with “Love is a Battlefield” (1983) and later on with two more songs, “Invincible” and “Sometimes the Good Guys Finish First”
I absolutely enjoyed seeing “Love is a Battlefield” used in a favorite film over 20 years later in “13 Going on 30” (2004) which was so adorable.
Tina Turner Time!
It was truly a magical time when Tina Turner took the world by storm with Holly’s songs, Better Be Good to Me and The Best! I can’t explain how satisfied I felt as a Holly fan to see her work get showcased and celebrated the way it was with Tina and her amazing talents.
Better Be Good to Me (1984)— Tina Turner! After reaching the summit with “What’s Love Got to Do with it”, Tina followed up with this Holly song!
“The Warrior” (1984) by Patty Smyth & Scandal is one of the iconic Holly Songs that everyone knows and loves. It has everything I love about H. Knight songs. I think it’s wonderful that Holly is calling her autobiography “I am the Warrior”! She truly is.
Patty & Holly also did “Hands Tied” (1984) which is fantastic.
“Never” (1985) by Heart, yes, another Holly Song. I was always a big Heart fan so this was the perfect union. By now I was noticing a trademark in Holly’s writing.
“Invincible” (1985) was used in the film, “The Legend of Billie Jean”. This song has all the hallmarks of a Holly song. Listen closely to it and you’ll identify her positive vibes of strength and fortitude. This is one of my favorites.
Holly & Tina Turner teamed up again with “One of the Living” (1985) which was featured in the smash blockbuster Mel Gibson motion picture, “Mad Max: Beyond Thunder Dome” in which Tina co-starred in.
It was another surprise finding out Holly composed “Love Touch” (1986) by Rod Stewart which was used for the movie “Legal Eagles starring Robert Redford, Debra Winger & Daryl Hannah. As always, Holly’s songs came around during an important time in my life — whether it was during a period of bliss like falling in love with someone or during a painful time such as after a breakup.
“Pleasure and Pain” (1986) Divinyls. Here’s a Holly song that covers the extremes of love.
Holly was in a band called Device and released hit that I loved called “Hanging on a Heart Attack” (1986). Check her out in the fantastic music video with her dynamic lead singer.
“Ragdoll” by Aerosmith. Yes. Holly song. (1987)
“Sometimes the Good Guys Finish First” Pat Benatar (1987) from the motion picture, “The Secret to My Success”. This was a real surprise because I loved the film and this song for decades before learning Holly wrote this one too!
“There’s The Girl” (1987) was another Holly + Heart song that I loved.
“Just Between You and Me” by Lou Gramm (1989) knocked me out too because I loved the song for a while before learning Holly wrote it. Foreigner is one of my favorite bands so I was a big Lou Gramm fan too. This song came out during another critical time in my life so it meant so much to me and still does. It was as if Holly was writing the soundtrack of my heart and life.
The Best (1989)— Tina Turner
What can I say about this classic? I think this was Tina’s best song ever. It’s also one of the best examples of the perfect Holly Knight song. So majestic and so powerful.
Summary
Recently, a couple of the artists that achieved success with Holly’s songs have been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame such as Pat Benatar and Tina Turner. This has shined a light on the incredible talent of Holly Knight. I think Holly deserves to be inducted into the hall and her amazing body of work speaks for itself. I’ve written this merely to remind everyone of what an amazing catalog she has created and I hope that she will get the recognition that she so richly deserves. She’s too proud and humble to blow her own horn so I feel compelled to tell the world how wrong the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has been when it comes to Holly. Their nomination committee just needs to see her body of work and she will be inducted immediately. No one has inspired more young songwriters than Holly, especially female rockers. Her trademark songs of personal empowerment have been so inspirational for decades and will continue to be enjoyed for many years to come by new generations.
By the way, the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame got it right not long ago when they recognized Holly’s songwriting and inducted her into their shrine! Here’s Holly’s page on the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame.
I was so happy to see this as her biggest fan. I was certain the Rock Hall would follow close behind but that was in 2013 and they still haven’t enshrined Holly.
Here’s Holly’s official website: www.HollyKnight.com
Here’s a complete discography of the songs she’s written.
Holly’s New Memoir “I AM THE WARRIOR”
Holly Knight is releasing a memoir soon called, “I Am The Warrior” which you can preorder now on: Amazon or Barnes & Noble
Song placements in Movies/Television & Musicals
TELEVISION:
Angel (Theme song)
Amerian Bandstand
American Idol
The Bachelor
Dirty Joe (Netflix mini series)
Dynasty (Reboot)
Family Guy
Flesh and Bone
Glee
G.L.O.W. (Theme song)
Joe Biden 2019 Victory Celebration
Miami Vice Mixed-ish
Nip Tuck
Psych
Still Standing (Theme song)
South Park
Schitts Creek
Saturday Night Live Fortieth Anniversary
Stranger Things
The Following
The Grammies
The Masked Singer
The Late Late Show With James Corden
The Oprah Winfrey Show
The Spelling Bee
The Lottery*
The Tonight show Starring Jimmy Fallon
VH1 House Of Style
VH1 Divas in Las Vegas
The Voice
Wentworth 3D Rock
FILM:
Anchorman ll
Hysterical Blindness
Ingrid Goes West
Just Before I Go
Legal Eagles
Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome
A Night In Heaven
Thirteen Going On Thirty
Thelma And Louise
The Other Woman
The Legend Of Billie Jean
The Secret Of My Success
Small Soldiers
Stuart Little ll
Visionquest
Weird Science
What The Bleep Do We Know?
MUSICALS:
TINA: The Tina Turner Musical
Moulin Rouge
Here’s a Youtube playlist that I will continue to update with new videos about Holly Knight, her songs, performances, interviews and more.
