In 1972, Knox returned to playing music and in early 1976 was a founder member of the Vibrators, one of the first punk bands in the UK. As well as being the frontman, he was the main songwriter for the band, writing such songs as "Baby Baby", "London Girls" and "Automatic Lover" (the latter a top 40 UK Singles Chart hit). The band played the legendary 100 Club Punk Festival with guitar legend Chris Spedding, who produced the single, "Pogo Dancing".