HUSH

Hush was formed in the Sydney suburb of Seven Hills in 1971 as a five-piece light pop group by Robin Jackson on guitar, John Koutts on drums, Keith Lamb on lead vocals, Rick Lum on bass guitar and Chris Nolan on keyboards. Jackson and Lamb had migrated to Australia from England at the same time. Nolan had previously been with Grandmars Observers.

Hush released their debut single, "Rainy Day Bells / Over You", late that year via the Philips label. In April of the following year Les Gock (ex-Chariot) on lead guitar and Chris "Smiley" Pailthorpe on drums joined Lamb and Lum in the Hush four-piece line-up. They reached the state finals of national band competition, Hoadley's Battle of the Sounds, and issued a cover version of "White Christmas" as a single in December. Australian musicologist, Ian McFarlane, felt that "Gock gave the band a tougher sound in the guitar department." During 1973 they supported concerts by the Jackson Five and by Status Quo.

Hush first made the Kent Music Report singles chart in October 1973, with their own composition, "Get the Feeling", which reached #40. They followed with their debut album, 'Aloud 'n' Live', on WEA, which reached #40 on the Kent Music Report albums chart. In February 1974, the band released "Man Eater", which peaked at #88.

Their second album, 'Get Rocked!', was issued in July 1974 on Wizard Records and peaked at #9 The Canberra Times' Garry Raffaele declared, "May the saints preserve us from such musical sludge." The title track provided Lamb with a memorable moment, he recalled in August 2004 that they were due to perform in Manjimup, Western Australia, "The mayor had heard we got the crowd to sing 'get fucked' during our song 'Get Rocked' ... which is something the crowd always did off its own bat. The police said the mayor didn't want us interfering with the local girls." The group's highest charting original single, "Walking" (August 1974), was co-written by Gock and Lamb, which peaked at #22. They released their third album, 'C'mon We're Taking Over' in November 1974, which reached #26.

In 1975, Hush made an unforgettable appearance on pop music TV show, Countdown, performing a rocked up, driving cover version of Larry Williams's "Bony Moronie". The song made #4 on the singles chart in September 1975, riding the wave of the glam-rock craze in Australia. The band's fourth studio album, 'Rough Tough 'n' Ready' was released in November 1975 and peaked at #15.

McFarlane felt that "One of the defining moments of Australia's 1970s pop legacy was undoubtedly Hush performing "Boney Moronie"." He described how "Lamb wiggled his satin flares-encased bum, thrust out his crotch and leered at the camera with a mischievous look in his eyes (and all the little girls understood). Gock dashed around the set in stack-heeled boots and glam threads, with peroxided streaks in his flowing, jet-black hair. Lum hammed it up in a serious kind of way. Pailthorpe cheerfully revealed his goofy, gap-toothed grin whenever the camera panned across his face." Their next cover version, "Glad All Over" (late 1975), which peaked at #8, was originally released by the Dave Clark Five.

In August 1976 they added a second guitarist, Jacques De Jongh (ex-Shadowfax, Redhouse); Rick Lum left three months later and De Jongh moved over to bass guitar. They supported Alice Cooper on his tour of Australia during March 1977. The group released an album, 'Touché', in July of that year. McFarlane noticed they "tried to make a serious affirmation of their abilities" where the album "featured a rock side, A Touch of Decadence, and a slow side, A Touch of Class." Pailthorpe left the group at the end of 1977 with Gock following soon after.

In November 1979 Lamb reformed Hush for a one-off gig, Concert of the Decade, at the forecourt of the Sydney Opera House. Hush reunited in August 2004 for a Nordoff-Robbins charity event. The line-up of Lamb, Gock, Lum and Pailthorpe performed together for the first time in 25 years. Gock's son Adam joined them on stage. In September 2006 Hush toured Australia with other artists on the Countdown Spectacular Tour. Another original member, guitarist Robin Jackson, then-playing with Chris Turner & the Wolftones, re-joined Hush for that tour. After leaving Hush in 1972 Jackson had "dropped out of music for a bit. But late '76 I got the bug again and joined the '60s oriented group Punkz." Punkz changed their name to Cheek in mid-1977 to avoid association with punk music; they had a top 50 hit with "So Much in Love" (January 1978). Chris Nolan died in 2023.

Members

Keith Lamb (vocals), Chris Nolan (keyboards), Les Gock (guitar), Rick Lum (bass), Chris "Smiley" Pailthorpe (drums), Jacques De Jongh (guitar), Robin Jackson (guitar), John Koutts (drums)

SINGLES 
''Rainy Day Bells / Over You'' 1971 Philips 
''White Christmas / No-One Else'' 1972 Warner Bros. 
''Get The Feeling (#40) / Take Us Home'' 1973 Warner Bros. 
''Man-Eater (#88) / Black Skinned, Blue Eyed Boys'' 1973 Warner Bros. 
''Walking (#22) / The Exit'' 1974 Wizard 
''Get Rocked / Linda Lee'' 1974 Wizard 
''C'mon We're Taking Over / Paradise'' 1974 Wizard 
''Bony Moronie (#4) / Rocking Gypsy King'' 1975 Wizard 
''Glad All Over (#8) / Get What?'' 1975 Wizard 
''Rough Tough 'N' Ready (#49) / You Really Got A Hold On Me'' 1976 Wizard 
''Too Young To Know (#33) / Lies'' 1976 Wizard 
''Sunday (#80) / How Do You Feel? Alright!'' 1976 Wizard 
''Nothing Stays The Same Forever (#52) / Sunday'' 1977 Wizard 
''Messin' Around (#91) / Only Love'' 1977 Wizard 

EPs 

'Hush Power' 1974 Warner Bros.
'Get Hushed!' 1975 Wizard

ALBUMS 
'Aloud 'n' Live' (#40) 1973 Warner Brothers 
'Get Rocked!' (#9) 1974 Wizard
'C'mon We're Taking Over' (#26) 1974 Wizard
'Rough Tough 'n' Ready' (#15) 1975 Wizard 
'Touché' (#36) 1977 Wizard 

References

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hush_%28band%29

http://top100singles.blogspot.com.au/