Rushton was born in Birmingham in the mid-1950s, but moved to nearby Walsall at the age of 10 and now lives in Burntwood, near Lichfield.
[2] In 1975, aged 21, Rushton promoted a Northern soul event at the Queen Mary's Ballroon in Dudley Zoo.
The 1977 Blackpool Mecca Soul Festival was organised in conjunction with DJs Ian Levine and Colin Curtis, featured the US band Brass Construction and was attended by 3200 people.
[4] Later that decade, he founded Inferno Records which specialised in the licensing and reissuing of music made popular on the Northern soul scene.
The label also attained some minor success when it leased the rights for Gloria Jones' "Tainted Love" from AVI Productions in Los Angeles and reissued the original song on 7" and an extended all-nighter version on 12" vinyl format.