East Anglia's Leading Rock & Roll Band

Tony Eaton

Lead Guitar & Vocals

Tony received an early grounding in music at the Downs County Primary, Harlow when he was chosen for the school choir.  Leading parts in school productions also suggested an auspicious beginning, but a natural rebelliousness resulted in him being rejected by the establishment and so this early start came to nothing.

 Subsequent attempts to teach Tony to play the guitar “properly” also foundered on laziness and he only learnt (after a fashion) in the 5^th year of Latton Bush School when he and his friend, Trevor Sharpe, painstakingly copied the songs of the 60’s.  Trevor and Tony then coerced Mick Phillips and Terry “Tom” Smith (two of their school friends) to join them on bass guitar and drums respectively – and so The Zooids were born.

 Money being a major obstacle, they had to build their own equipment and, after being ejected from one woodwork class because of a “conflict of personalities with the teacher”, Tony had to convince another master to allow him to use his workshop.  Having made their gear, The Zooids were ready to hit the road.  Shortly afterwards, Mick’s brother, David “Dink” Phillips, joined as a guitarist to allow Tony to concentrate on singing and they quickly obtained regular work supporting The Hollies, The Yardbirds, The Swinging Blue Jeans and other major acts of the 60’s that played the many youth clubs in and around Harlow. 

 In spite of spectacular lack of success in his GCE “O” levels, Tony convinced the school he should continue in the 6^th form.  This major coup provided him with the maximum “free” time to pursue his music career, but all good things come to an end and, after two years of concentrating exclusively on the band, Tony suddenly realised he had to take his “A” level exams and so he knuckled down to a whole evening of solid revision.  Passes were attributed by one master to divine intervention, but, with his exams behind him, Tony was faced with the unappetising prospect of having to work for a living. 

 He neatly sidestepped this problem by deciding to go on a “world tour” with Mick Phillips and another budding guitarist, Rob.  From Norway, they worked their way down through Denmark to Germany, playing wherever they could.  In Hamburg, having been to the Star Club, the authorities caught up with them and they had to come back to England for work permits.  On his return home, Tony renewed his acquaintance with a beautiful girl by the name of Sue, who proved to be such a distraction that his music career went on hold for several decades. 

 And so we jump forward to 1995.  Tony had, inexplicably, become an accountant, a husband and a father of four, i.e. an ostensibly respectable member of the community.  Salvation came in the unlikely form of Paul Cooper and the now infamous gig at Stoke College.  Realising the error of his ways, Tony once more took up the true path of rock ‘n’ roll, which, with the advent of Jurassic Rock and his retirement from gainful employment, he is now able to follow with total commitment.

 Tony is the principal music arranger for Jurassic Rock and takes pleasure from all aspects of running the band.  He enjoys restoring and maintaining electric guitars and associated gear and, for those interested, details of his guitar and rig can be found here. 

 But performing is Jurassic Rock’s  raison d’etre and Tony’s greatest joy is playing with the others when, no matter how good each of them may be as an individual, the total becomes greater than the sum of the parts.