### Clue: Distinguished knight gripped by material on record company (7)
### Answer: EMINENT 
 ### Explanation: Definition: Distinguished
  N(in chess notation, a knight chesspiece) **contained in**(gripped by) NET(fabric,material with a uniform mesh, serving as a foundation for various laces) **plus**(on – an odd positional indicator in this case, perhaps short for "tagged on to") EMI(the big record company which started off as "$$E$$lectrical and $$M$$usical $$I$$ndustries").