After learning to play the guitar in the early 1970s, influenced by the work of the British blues guitarists Alexis Korner and Paul Kossoff, Kustow commenced his professional career at the age of 21 in late 1976 amidst London's Punk Rock scene as the guitarist of the Tom Robinson Band. Despite the band's politically radical agenda, reflected in its song-writing and activities under the influence of Robinson, Kustow's primary personal musical ambition was to be a successful rock star. After an initial #5 hit in the charts with the single release "2-4-6-8 Motorway" in October 1977, the band recorded its debut long-player Power in the Darkness, which on release went to #4 in the United Kingdom's Album Chart. On release its second long-player, entitled TRB Two, reached #18 in the U.K. Albums Chart, but a declining impact of its songs in the U.K.'s Singles Chart, and an inability to creatively develop beyond the style of its opening phase led to the band breaking up in October 1979, leaving Kustow professionally cut adrift and in search of a commercially successful new act to team up with, which he failed to find. In mid-1980 he tried out for the lead guitar vacancy with Gen X, recording on that band's long-player release Kiss Me Deadly, but the role went to someone else. At the beginning of the 1980s he played with two short-lived acts, The Spectres, and The Planets. In the mid-1980s he worked with Tom Robinson again on songs such as "War Baby", which on release went to #6 in the U.K. Singles Chart, and he also performed with the band Time UK. In the late 1980s Kustow performed live with a temporarily reformed Tom Robinson Band, and played on its long-player release Winter of '89, after which he retired from professional music. In October 2017 he came out of retirement briefly to perform the song '2-4-6-8 Motorway' during a Tom Robinson gig at London's 100 Club.
Death
Kustow resided in the Somerset village of Bathford in his last years, having become somewhat of a recluse. He died at the age of 63 in the early hours of 11 March 2019 at the Royal United Hospital in Bath. His body was buried at the 'Old Jewish Cemetery', in Bushey, Hertfordshire, on 15 March 2019. A memorial gig for Kustow was performed by the Tom Robinson Band and TV Smith at the Scala venue in London on the night of 29 July 2019, with profits raised from the event being donated to the Royal United Hospital, Bath.
