Tony appeared on TVs X Factor of the day - ‘Carroll Levis’s Discoveries’. He was in a seven-piece band called ‘Les Skifflettes’. In the mid 1950s, singer-guitarist Lonnie Donegan, with his mix of American folk and blues, inspired teenagers to create their own simple form of music, and the British phenomenon of Skiffle was born.

Tony’s mother, Peggy, was quoted as saying:  “When he wanted something, he didn’t just hint hopefully. He went out and got it, some way or other. There has never been anything he wanted that he didn’t get on his own initiative.”

“He was so determined when he was a child that he cycled eighty miles one day with the cycling club, just to prove that he could do it. He was only ten.

“When he was eleven his auntie bought him a guitar for Christmas. He never had time for girls after that. He was too wrapped up in the guitar.”

Scotty Moore’s work on the early Presley recordings left their mark on young Hick’s fast developing technique.

After seeing Buddy Holly and The Crickets, on ITV’s ‘Sunday Night at The London Palladium’, Tony realised that it just might be possible for a working class boy to attain his dream.

The Dolphins were Tony’s next step along the path to Hollieland. Bernie Calvert and Bobby Elliott completed the three-man outfit. The band performed in dance halls and clubs throughout the North of England.

Alan Cheatham, The Hollies manager, had the foresight to recognise Tony’s potential and invited him to become a Hollie. After weeks of persuasion The Dolphins were no more and The Hollies had become a force to be reckoned with.