Tush (band)
| TUSH | |
|---|---|
 Tony Miles, Micky Tickton, Fred Ball and Phil Collen of TUSH at the Spreadeagle Public House 1978. Photo by Bert Turner | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | London, England |
| Genres | Hard rock, blues-rock |
| Associated acts |
Lucy Dumb Blondes Girl Def Leppard Gibraltar GV1 |
| Past members |
Mickey Tickton George Junor Bob White Tony Miles Phil Collen Fred Ball John Newman |
TUSH were an English rock band from London active during the mid-1970s, and at one time featured Def Leppard and Man Raze guitarist Phil Collen.
Formed in 1975 by George Junor (guitar and vocals), Mickey Tickton (bass and vocals) and Bob White (drums) under the name "Satisfaction", the band soon changed their name to "TUSH", inspired by the ZZ Top song. The band then recruited second guitarist Tony Miles to help provide a fuller and more contemporary sound.
The band dissolved when George decided to return to his native Scotland for family reasons in late 1977. Mickey Tickton promptly reformed the band with new members, although maintaining the name "TUSH". Phil Collen, a guitarist in the punk rock band Lucy, had been a fan of the old band and approached Mickey about joining when he heard about his plans. The new line up consisted of Tickton and Collen with John Newman (vocals) and Fred Ball (drums).
TUSH reformed briefly for a few London gigs in early 1978 with original members Mickey Tickton and Tony Miles combining forces with Phil Collen and Fred Ball.
TUSH played a mixture of rock covers and original songs, mainly written by George, Mickey and Tony.
Very little recorded material of TUSH remains except for some rough demo tracks recorded by the original line-up in 1976. The original songs on the tape are: "Home", "Sweet Texas Baby", "So Long" and "She's Gone".
Phil Collen and Fred Ball (later the vocalist for XFX) later played together in the band Dumb Blondes, managed by ex-boxer Victor Andretti, the former TUSH manager.
Present day
George is living in Inverness, Scotland. He played for a number of years in the band THE CUT which toured all over Scotland during the 1980s and '90s. He continues to play in a local band SOUNDGUN www.soundgun.net. Mickey Tickton is living in West Wales, and continues to play in a local R&B band Ted Crook and the Blues Highway. Bob White gave up playing drums 1977 when he devoted his time to his young family. In 1991 he visited New Zealand, he now lives in Auckland, working as an Immigration Advisor and is also a Director of the company. Tony Miles is living in Cambridgeshire, England and continues to play guitar in GV1, a reformed version of the East London hard rock band Gibraltar with ex-Iron Maiden singer Dennis Willcock, and also in Soundslave (a Soundgarden/Audioslave tribute band www.soundslave.co.uk). Tony also is working on a new album of original material and will feature contributions from present and former band colleagues. Phil Collen is living in the USA, having previously worked as a dispatch rider in the UK and now continues to play in Def Leppard, Manraze and numerous other projects. Fred Ball plays with a band called SLAM. John Newman died from throat cancer in 2010.
Members
- Mickey Tickton - bass, vocals (1975-1977, 1978)
- George Junor - guitar, vocals (1975-1977)
- Bob White - drums (1975-1977)
- Tony Miles - guitar (1975-1977, 1978)
- Phil Collen - guitar (1977, 1978)
- Fred Ball - drums (1977, 1978)
- John Newman - vocals (1977; died 2010)