| Judie Tzuke |
| Background information |
| Birth name |
Judie Myers |
| Also known as |
Judie Tzuke |
| Born |
April 3, 1956 (1956-04-03) (age 51) |
| Origin |
 London, England |
| Years active |
1979-present |
| Website |
tzuke.com |
Judie Tzuke (born Judie Myers,
3 April
1956 in London) is an English singer/songwriter.
Her father, Sefton Myers, was a successful property developer who also
managed artists
and singers—most notably Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim
Rice during the writing of Jesus Christ Superstar.
Her family relocated from Poland to England in the 1920s, and changed their surname from Tzuke to
Myers. When Judie embarked on her singing career, she decided to
reclaim the family's Polish name. Her mother, Jean Silverside, was a
television actress famous for her roles in The Fall and
Rise of Reginald Perrin and The Goodies.
Judie has two daughters, Bailey, also a
singer-songwriter, and Tallula.
|
Contents
- 1 Career
- 2 Trivia
- 3 Discography
- 4 References
- 5 External
links
|
Career
Educated in the visual arts, performing
arts, and music,
Judie performed in folk clubs from the age of 15. Her meeting
with Mike Paxman in 1975 was a turning point and they began to
collaborate. They eventually secured a recording contract and formed a band
with Paul Muggleton. Under the name of "Tzuke and Paxo," the band
released critically acclaimed singles, beginning with "These are the
Laws" (1975). Judie and Paul later had two children together, Bailey
and Tallula.
Judie's career proper began in 1977, when she signed to Elton
John's label Rocket Records. Her first single on
Rocket, "For You" (1978), was released under the name of Tzuke and
Paxo; however, her first major success - the classic single "Stay with
Me till Dawn", released in 1979 - was released simply under "Judie
Tzuke." Judie's first album, Welcome
to the Cruise, which featured "Stay with Me
till Dawn" and some of the Tzuke and Paxo singles, achieved great
critical and commercial success. In 2002, "Stay With Me Till Dawn" was
chosen by the British public as one of the fifty best British songs
1952-2002 (ranking number 39).
The song was also sampled by Mylo in the song "Need You Tonite",
which is taken from his 2004 album Destroy
Rock & Roll.
The singer's second album, Sportscar
(1980), did not fare so well; part of the reason for this was that
Elton John decided to change his label's distribution company part-way
through his American tour (on which Judie was support act), meaning
that all support for the tour, and for Judie's records in the USA, was
pulled. Judie released one more record on Rocket, I
Am the Phoenix (1982), but then decided to
leave for Chrysalis Records.
The singer never again found the level of commercial success
she had enjoyed with her first two albums; she recorded a number of
albums with a number of different record labels, but found that none
was willing or able to promote her music to a wide audience. It was
during this period that Judie and Paul set up a studio in their home,
giving Judie a measure of creative independence. After a major dispute
with Polydor Records, in which her album Turning
Stones (1989) was deleted, and a lack of
success with other labels, Judie and Paul decided to set up their own
small-scale record label, Big Moon Records, and set about
recording the album Under the Angels,
released 1996.
With Big Moon Records, Judie's audience has grown steadily;
Judie toured Under the Angels and released a live CD, Over
the Moon (1997), and went on to record a second
studio album, Secret Agent
(1999). Judie's work with Big Moon has attracted a large amount of
interest, not only from listeners, but also from industry figures: for
example, Bob Harris of BBC
Radio 2 included one of her songs, "Tonight" (from Secret
Agent), on his compilation CD. Such momentum by 2000 that
Elton John was persuaded to gave back to Judie the rights to her first
three albums recorded under Rocket Records; Judie named her tour later
that year the "Phoenix Tour," a reference to her last Rocket Records
album, "I Am the Phoenix." Following this came a new live album (Six Days Before the Flood,
2000), a new studio album (Queen
Secret Keeper, 2001) and a third live album (Drive Live,
2002).
The level of Judie's success under Big Moon has been such that
Judie has been approached by a number of well-known artists to work as
a songwriter. Fans were given the first hints of this during the Queen
Secret Keeper tour of 2001; more and more news of Judie's songwriting
collaborations has arrived each year since then. Judie has worked with
artists such as Lucie Silvas (resulting in a
publishing deal with Universal Records), Phixx "Strange Love" and Alex
Parks, as well as expanding her own label to manage new
artists. Judie went on to release a covers album, The Beauty of Hindsight
(2003), and a new studio album, The End
of the Beginning (2004), supported by Lia
Sáile 's art work.
Over the last few years, Judie has contributed vocals and
co-written with a varied selection of artists, including several
dance-oriented projects: B.E.D. Ver 1.0 & 1.5 (BMG Japan
& Australia 2003 & 2004), Freemasons(2007), Morcheeba
(2007) Kirsty Hawkshaw (2006) and Hybrid "I Choose Noise" (2006).
Judie has a new album Songs 1,
released during her biggest tour in almost a decade, with her daughter Bailey
Tzuke on backing vocals. The album is a collection of songs
Tzuke has written recently for or with other artists, and is composed
principally of quiter songs (Tzuke mentioned in her latest tour that
the next 'Songs' album would probably be a collection of 'loud ones').
A single release ("The Cup of Tea Song") was released as a download on
5th March on iTunes.
Summer 2007 saw Judie entering new territory by writing 2
songs with Ben Mark for the National Youth Theatre's production of the
play "Silence" which was performed in Brierly, Ulverston and for a
season at London's historic Wilton's Music Hall (until 1st September).
Work has begun on her Songs 2 album with a provisional release
date for later 2007, as well as co-writing material for the second
James Morrison album.
Judie has written two songs "High" and "Like The Sun" for the
Candian duo Ryandan, brothers who are identical twins. They have gained
extensive attention on TV and in the British press over the summer
months, with newspapers edging bets that they are currently the act
most likely to have a Christmas number 1 single. Their album will be
released in the UK on 24th September and the single "Like The Sun" on
17th September.
Judie will be performing alongside pals Mia Silvas (sister of
Lucie) and Davis Saw (co-witer of 2 tracks on Songs 1)at the Beford
Bandstand concert at London's O2 Arena on Tuesday 4th September for an
amazingly low price of £5.00 a ticket.
A provisional recording of one of her concerts is planned for
a DVD release in the near future.
Trivia
On the release of her first album the advertising tag line was
"Learn to pronounce her name because you'll soon be asking for her
records"
In 1991 Judie contributed vocals on Thomas
Anders' (of Modern Talking fame) solo-album Whispers.
Judie is known to suffer from severe stage fright which has
caused her to fear live performances. By the end of her last concert
tour, she was believed to have started to overcome this phobia.
Discography
Albums
| Year |
Album |
Label |
| 1979 |
Welcome
to the Cruise |
Rocket
Records |
| 1980 |
Sportscar |
Rocket Records |
| 1981 |
I
Am the Phoenix |
Rocket Records |
| 1982 |
Shoot
the Moon |
Chrysalis
Records |
| 1982 |
Road Noise |
Chrysalis
Records |
| 1983 |
Ritmo |
Chrysalis
Records |
| 1984 |
The
Cat Is Out |
Castle
Records |
| 1989 |
Turning
Stones |
Polydor
Records |
| 1991 |
Left
Hand Talking |
Columbia
Records |
| 1992 |
Wonderland |
Essential Records |
| 1996 |
Under
the Angels |
Big Moon
Records |
| 1997 |
Over
the Moon |
Big Moon
Records |
| 1998 |
Secret Agent |
Big Moon
Records |
| 2000 |
Six Days Before the Flood |
Big Moon
Records |
| 2001 |
Queen
Secret Keeper |
Big Moon
Records |
| 2002 |
Drive Live |
Big Moon
Records |
| 2003 |
The Beauty of Hindsight |
Big Moon
Records |
| 2004 |
The End
of the Beginning |
Big Moon
Records |
| 2007 |
Songs 1 |
Big Moon
Records |
References
External links
