Knight's music career began as a DJ at the Top 40 rock station WTAC in Flint, Michigan, then going to Detroit in 1963 where he replaced Dave Shafer as "Jack the Bellboy" on WJBK.
One of the first American DJs to air the Rolling Stones, he hosted a late night show from high-powered CKLW, bringing the British Invasion to the Northern states.
[citation needed] By the end of 1964, however, Knight had left CKLW and the radio business, intending to pursue his own career in music.
In 1967 Knight moved to New York City, and attempted a solo career as a singer and staff producer with the Cameo-Parkway label, with limited success.
[1] He produced and wrote a handful of tracks by other artists, including garage band Question Mark & the Mysterians, and the easy-listening International Pop Orchestra.
The cryptic lyrics of the song are generally thought to allude to Knight's failed relationship with McCartney and his apparent belief that the Beatles would soon break up.
"Saint Paul" reached the top 40 in some cities in the upper Midwest region but failed to make the Billboard Hot 100 national chart.
[citation needed] Still working as a producer with Capitol, Knight renewed his connection with two former Pack members, guitarist Mark Farner and drummer Don Brewer.
For the next two years, Grand Funk Railroad became the most popular rock attraction in the United States despite mixed critical reviews that Knight exploited as part of their appeal; he also discovered and produced the Fort Worth, Texas group Bloodrock,[1] who hit the Top 40 in early 1971 with the unlikely death anthem "D.O.A.
Between Grand Funk and Bloodrock, Knight racked up an unprecedented eight gold albums while simultaneously waging a war of words with Rolling Stone over the magazine's frequent pannings of the two acts.
Knight was also dropped from Capitol soon after the Grand Funk court actions were resolved and began his own label, Brown Bag Records,[1] releasing albums and singles by Mom's Apple Pie,[2] John Hambrick, Wild Cherry and Faith Band.
Four years after his death, Terry Knight and The Pack were voted into the Michigan Rock and Roll Legends online Hall of Fame.