Judie Tzuke

[sonic]

Any fans?
Her albums have an element of prog to them. I only have two so far — Welcome To The Cruise and I Am The Phoenix. Both are good.

[JKL2000]

She's mentioned reverently in PROG magazine a lot, and yet, I've never heard of her aside from that. And now this. Interested am I.

[Progbear]

Any fans?
Her albums have an element of prog to them. I only have two so far — Welcome To The Cruise and I Am The Phoenix. Both are good.

Welcome to the Cruise is a classic, a five-star album all the way! I have it as a 2-on-1 with Sportscar, which is a superb album as well (the first with the two guys from Omaha Sheriff, Bob Noble and her future husband Paul Muggleton). I also have Ritmo which is...not on a par with the above-mentioned albums, suffering from that mid-80s digital malaise that many artists of the time did, but it has its moments. She’s still making albums today, incidentally. I am rather surprised at how large her discography is, considering a large percentage of her discs are indie releases.

Incidentally, do not fail to pick up that Omaha Sheriff album should you come across it. It contains the original version of “Come Hell or Waters High,” found on Judie’s I Am the Phoenix album, plus a passel of other excellent tunes. Paul Muggleton, it turns out, is a really superlative, soulful singer. Tony Visconti (who also played bass and ukulele) considered it one of his favourites among albums he produced (the last released on his own label, Good Earth Records). A lost gem of an album in a style that punk rapidly made passé (even if ex-Tonton Macoute keyboardist/singer Paul French mined similar territory, with less consistently excellent results, a couple of years later with his band Voyager). There seems to have been a second Omaha Sheriff album recorded, but never released; a great tragedy if you ask me (the two singles released from Come Hell or Waters High also have non-album B-sides, which would make for great bonus tracks if some enterprising soul ever gets round to reissuing it on CD).

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MIKE (a.k.a. "Progbear")

"You can take the war out of the soldier, but you can't raise that soldier from the dead."
--Shona Laing

N.P.:“Soy”-Toccata/Circe

[Oreb]

I have the two-fer as well, and it's marvellous. The double live Road Noise is the only other one I have by her and it's very good indeed.

[KELLY WELSH]

Any fans?
Her albums have an element of prog to them. I only have two so far — Welcome To The Cruise and I Am The Phoenix. Both are good.

Judie Tzuke.What a lady,what a voice.Other than the albums already mentioned during this thread,I'd recommend her definitive collection double CD "Moon on a Mirrorball",which has all of the favourites plus a few new songs,and also "One Tree Less", her latest release.Both are superb,and both feature her daughter's on backing vocals.Does her music have elements of prog?Yes on some songs,but who cares when you've got a voice like hers.

[sonic]

She looks super hot here.

[sonic]

Any opinions on Turning Stones?

[JKL2000]

If someone can post a couple more choice cuts, I'd appreciate it. I've been wanting to check her music out. Thx!

[sonic]

[sonic]

[Corbie]

Was a massive fan back in the early 1980s. LOT's of rock fans at her gigs including a hig contingent from the NWOBHM scene. Saw her live everyt our from around '81 until '86 or so. Some superb musicians on stage with her and the first four records are real gems: Haunting, atmospheric with some killer little Moog solos and so on thrown in to the mix. Good stuff. Beeen a while, I must dig out some of those records. Is "...Phoenix" available on CD at all?

[KELLY WELSH]

Was a massive fan back in the early 1980s. LOT's of rock fans at her gigs including a hig contingent from the NWOBHM scene. Saw her live everyt our from around '81 until '86 or so. Some superb musicians on stage with her and the first four records are real gems: Haunting, atmospheric with some killer little Moog solos and so on thrown in to the mix. Good stuff. Beeen a while, I must dig out some of those records. Is "...Phoenix" available on CD at all?

Not sure how much of her back catalogue is available on Amazon,but you can obtain nearly all her albums including "Phoenix", on her website www.tzuke.com

[Progbear]

A couple of most excellent tunes from her first two albums, “Chinatown” and “Sukarita”:



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MIKE (a.k.a. "Progbear")

"The world of the heterosexual is a sick and boring life." --Edith Massey

N.P.:“Rain on the Hills”-Judie Tzuke/Sportscar

[Corbie]

A couple of most excellent tunes from her first two albums, “Chinatown” and “Sukarita”:



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MIKE (a.k.a. "Progbear")

"The world of the heterosexual is a sick and boring life." --Edith Massey

N.P.:“Rain on the Hills”-Judie Tzuke/Sportscar

"Sukarita" in its album incarnation has some stunning Yamaha CS80 splurging and the great Simon Phillips going for it on his early Rototom/Staccato/whatever kit. Thunderous!

[Progbear]

Any opinions on Turning Stones?

A very nice return to form after a couple of rather dreary albums (Ritmo and The Cat Is Out). There’s some delightful songs on this one (“Dominique,” “Take It All,” “Sound of My Sister’s Tears,” etc.). Then-popular pop-classical violinist Nigel Kennedy turns in a guest appearance here, he later surfaced on at least one later album (Left Hand Talking, maybe?). It’s good enough that I’m wishing against hope for a remixed version, as like the two that preceded it, that late 80s production is pretty gnarly. The songwriting quality and Judie’s fantastic voice are enough to make it worth the effort, though.

[interbellum]

A very nice return to form after a couple of rather dreary albums (Ritmo and The Cat Is Out). There’s some delightful songs on this one (“Dominique,” “Take It All,” “Sound of My Sister’s Tears,” etc.). Then-popular pop-classical violinist Nigel Kennedy turns in a guest appearance here, he later surfaced on at least one later album (Left Hand Talking, maybe?). It’s good enough that I’m wishing against hope for a remixed version, as like the two that preceded it, that late 80s production is pretty gnarly. The songwriting quality and Judie’s fantastic voice are enough to make it worth the effort, though.

Personally I like The Cat Is Out (it's very much 80's, which I love from time to time), although it doesn't come near to her wonderful debut.
There's a fine DVD, called "The 'Cat Is Out' Tour"; I think it's the same concert as on "Live From Fairfield Halls".

[mandrake root]

I've got 'The Cat Is Out' and 'Ritmo' on vinyl, but haven't played them for years. I remember both being fairly unremarkable pop. I love 'Welcome To The Cruise' and 'I Am The Phoenix'. I have a few of her other albums that I quite like, including the more recent 'Wonderland'. Judie is all too often overlooked.

[Rogue Mail]

I used to follow her in the 80's and 90's, saw her live a few times. She had one hell of a backing band. Mike Paxman was no slouch on guitar. Sports Car in particular used to rock very hard live.

I know all of the early albume, but I started to drift around the time of Ritmo, the material seemed a little weak to me.

I did see her live about 10 years back out of curiosity, but it was quite a low key, unplugged style gig. Ger daughter Bailey had started to become more involved at that point.

I checked out some of the later material...some good songs there but I find the albums overall patchy. I love Bully, One Minute and her version of the John Martyn song Hurt In Your Heart.

Mind you, I had forgotten all about this little gem...has a great 'bounce' to it...

[Progbear]

Personally I like The Cat Is Out (it's very much 80's, which I love from time to time), although it doesn't come near to her wonderful debut.

It’s probably my least favorite of her 80s albums. It’s like they were trying to force her into a dance-pop direction, which was an ill fit for Judie. There were (and still are) enough Madonna clones around. At least the production was better than on Ritmo, which sounded pretty amateurish.

I've got 'The Cat Is Out' and 'Ritmo' on vinyl, but haven't played them for years. I remember both being fairly unremarkable pop.

They represent her 80s nadir. Her first four albums are all excellent, and I recommend Turning Stones if you haven’t heard it. I’ve heard nice things about Left Hand Talking as well.

[Zaragon]

Each of her first six albums has a healthy share of standout cuts. Welcome to the Cruise is in this listener's top 1% of 1979 — rated #10 out of 1,051 albums assimilated from that year. Sportscar and Shoot the Moon also boast an exceptional red count. I've yet to work though Turning Stones.

[Demelza]

How did I miss this thread?

Best singer in the world, IMO. I first saw her in 1980 and have been going ever since. She's still touring a lot and making great albums on her own label. Her voice is glorious and she's a lovely lady. As everyone has said, her run of early 80s albums are great, but her recent albums are also full of wonderful songs. She released her latest album, Peace Has Broken Out, last September.

www.tzuke.com

[Demelza]

[Demelza]

[Demelza]

[Progtastic]

Long time fan here, the first 3 studio albums are stellar. I try to catch one of her shows at least once a year. I'd love her to tour with a full electric band at least once more, love the acoustic shows but would love to hear the rockier side again live.