The Enemy (New Zealand band)

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The Enemy
Background information
Origin	New Zealand
Genre(s)	Punk, Rock
Former members
Chris Knox Alec Bathgate Mick Dawson Mike Dooley

For the English band, see The Enemy (English band).

For other uses, see enemy.

The Enemy were a band from Dunedin, New Zealand, that are often seen as the starting point of the Dunedin Sound rock movement.

Though the band did not release any official recordings, they are seen as hugely influential on the development of music in New Zealand. Though the band only existed from 1978 to 1979, they created the style which led to the development of many later bands in both Dunedin and New Zealand in general.

Fronted by Chris Knox and featuring Mick Dawson, Mike Dooley, and Alec Bathgate, the band were strongly influenced by the punk rock music scene overseas, but whereas their northern counterparts in Auckland (such as The Scavengers) were influenced primarily by British punk groups such as The Buzzcocks, The Enemy included more American influences such as Patti Smith and Iggy Pop.

Upon the demise of The Enemy, several members of the band went on to form Toy Love, and later Bathgate and Knox were to form the Tall Dwarfs. Early supporters of the band included Hamish and David Kilgour, who were to found The Clean (legend has it that Hamish Kilgour named "The Enemy" for their music style, and in response or retaliation, Knox commented that the Kilgours' own sound was "squeaky clean", hence that band's name).