Having grown out of the obscure mod rock band The Bunch of Fives, The Tickle were one of the numerous British bands to release just one or two psychedelic singles in the late sixties when major UK labels were taking their chances with a lot of psychedelic one-offs.
By the standards of this genre (and indeed the standards of psychedelic rock as a whole) their one single, Subway (Smokey Pokey World) b/w Good Evening, was pretty phenomenal and still stands as one of the best British psychedelic singles.
Unfortunately, the Regal Zonophone single was not a hit. Guitarist and chief songwriter Mick Wayne (who had formerly also been in The Hullaballoos) went on to form Junior’s Eyes and play in The Pink Fairies.
He also went on to play guitar on David Bowie‘s Space Oddity (1969).
Mick Wayne burned to death in a freak fire on 24 June 1994 while he was trapped in a friend’s house in the US.
Mike Docker
Vocals
Mick Wayne
Guitar
Richard Dowling
Bass
Dave Williams
Keyboards
John Beckerman
Drums