A Moment In Time With Billy Rush

[drumbob]

So who is Billy Rush? You may be asking yourself that question already.

Billy Rush played guitar for Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes in the late seventies and early eighties. When I was doing artist relations for Guild, he was a guy I decided to approach with thoughts of nailing his endorsement on our solidbody S-series guitars. The Jukes were a hot band at the time.

I called their management and arranged to bring an S-300D up to the House of Music recording studio for Billy try. So far, so good.

I arrived at the studio and handed Billy the guitar. He plugged it in, played a few chords and a couple lead riffs, and said, "Sure, I'll endorse it. Do you have a Guild guitar catalog with you?"

I handed him the catalog, and he shocked me by quickly rifling through the catalog saying, "I want one of these, one of these, one of these, one of these, one of these"....you get the picture. Then, he said nothing else and walked away.

His manager interceded and said, "Billy wants seven guitars for free if you want his endorsement."

I said, "He's being a bit demanding, isn't he? I don't think management is going to go for that."

Next day, I approached the VP, Neil Lilien, with Rush's request.

"He's fu***** crazy! He's not getting seven guitars for free. Who the hell is he anyway? He can have an electric and an acoustic free, but that's it."

I called The Jukes' manager the next day and agreed to meet him at the House of Music that afternoon.

I arrived, sat down with him and said, "Billy gets two guitars for free. That's the best we're going to do for him."

Mr. Management replied, "Well, Billy thinks this is going to be a very big year for him and we're firm on our demands of seven guitars. That's what he wants. That's the deal."

I said, "No offense intended, but Billy Rush is not getting seven free guitars. Give me a freakin' break. The guy is a decent guitar player in a popular band, but he's not a household name by any means. He gets two guitars. Case closed. That's the best we're gonna do for him."

"Sorry. We're not interested."

"Well, with all due respect, I'm sorry we can't do business with your client. His demands are ridiculous. Have a nice day."

Has anyone heard from Billy Rush lately? I guess 1981 was a "big year" for him after all. Not.

I did a web search a while ago and discovered he recorded and released a couple of solo albums in the late 80s that promptly went nowhere, but otherwise, he's disappeared off the musical map.

Perhaps Billy is playing Lynyrd Skynyrd covers in a bar band down the Jersey shore, pretending he's still a "rock star."

[winston]

ROTFLMAO..............who is Billy Rush? That was great Bob. I love it.