Pre-Skyhooks Band Reuben Tice Played A Sneaky Show In Melbourne

Reuben Tice, the precursor to Skyhooks, played for the first time in years in Melbourne over the weekend.

Skyhooks historian Peter Green tells Noise11.com that “Very few Australians would know the name in 2023 but the band played a part in the history of our iconic Skyhooks. Skyhooks songwriter-bassist Greg Macainsh played in The Tice, as did the last Skyhooks lead singer Tony Williams”.

Tony Williams was launching his book ‘Touched by the Tice’ in the garden of Eltham Library and had the band on hand to play. Macainsh and Williams formed Reuben Tice in Melbourne’s outer North-Eastern suburb Eltham in 1969.

The 2023 line-up was:

Tony Williams (Vocal, Guitar, Harmonica)
Mark Smith (Guitar)
Roger Davies (Guitar)
George Kirov (Bass)
Jamie Slagmolen (Cajon)

According to Peter Green, “Nine songs- originals (were performed), ‘The Way It’s Played’, ‘I Couldn’t Get High’, ‘Rock Bottom Shuffle’, ‘Down The Road I Go’ and some potent covers like ‘The Weight’ (The Band) and ‘Emergency’ (The Fabulous Thunderbirds).

Peter also says, “next month will see a 4 CD set released by Reuben Tice (a combination of live recordings and studio songs.”

Reuben Tice were one of the bands that played at the very first Skyhooks show 50 years ago on 16 April, 1973 at St Judes Hall in Carlton.

After Shirley Strachan left Skyhooks in 1978, Macainsh recruited Williams as the new lead singer of Skyhooks. Skyhooks released just one album with Williams, ‘Hot For The Orient’ in 1980. It stiffed and the band split. However, one song off the album ‘Over The Border’ managed to crack the bottom end of the singles chart peaking at number 32 in 1979 and went top 10 in Queensland. The song was originally left off the 1980 vinyl release of the album but added for the CD reissue in 1996.

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