Judie Tzuke

Judie Tzuke - Welcome To The Cruise - 1979 - Rocket Records

"Welcome to the Cruise" was Judie Tzuke's first studio album which was released on Elton John's Rocket label. It is also her most commercially successful album, and features her beautiful "Stay with Me till Dawn" hit which stayed in the UK charts for 16 weeks. The song is still played regularly on British radio, and most likely, worldwide. In June 2002,the song was voted in at No. 39 in a BBC Radio 2 poll to decide the top fifty British songs of the past fifty years. The song has appeared on dozens of compilation albums and regularly appears in all time most popular song lists. Like so many other artists, it seems that the lady is remembered for one big hit. WTTC contains plenty of other well structured, melodic songs, all composed by Judie with Mike Paxman. It is well worth checking Judie Tzuke's back catalogue. She is a beautiful vocalist, and a great musician. She has covered folk, jazz, blues, and rock, but unfortunately her career has had more "downs" than "ups". Try and listen to her "Road Noise: The Official Bootleg" album

TRACKS

1. Welcome To The Cruise
2. Sukarita
3. For You
4. These are the laws
5. Bring The Rain
6. Southern Smiles
7. Katiera Island
8. Ladies Night
9. New Friends Again
10. Stay With me Till Dawn

All songs composed by Judie Tzuke & Mike Paxman

MUSIC CREDITS

Lead Vocals - Judie Tzuke
Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar, String Arrangements, Bass Arrangement, Brass Arrangement, Woodwind Arrangement - Ray Russell
Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, Percussion, Additional Backing Vocals - Mike Paxman
Bass, Electric Bass - Mo Foster
Bass, Acoustic Bass - Roy Babbington
Piano, Keyboards - Chris Parren
Keyboards, String Arrangements, Synthesizer - Paul Hart
Piano Notes - Steve Nye
Drums - Simon Phillips, Barry De Souza, Pete Van Hook
Percussion - John Punter
Marimba - Morris Pert
Tabla - Kesh Satche
Soprano Sax - Ray Warleigh
String Arrangements - Paul Buckmaster
Orchestra Leader - Gavin Wright, Richard Studt

BIO

Born Judie Myers in London on April 3, 1956, British pop/rock singer Judie Tzuke enjoyed some commercial success in her homeland for a spell during the 1980s, but was not able to translate it stateside. Judie's Polish immigrant parents had changed their last names from Tzuke to Myers shortly after relocating to England (it was a common last name in their new home of Yorkshire), but by the time Judie began establishing her singing career, she had decided to use original family surname. Both of Tzuke's parents were involved in music: her father, Sefton Myers, managed artists and singers (and supported both Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice as the duo penned Jesus Christ Superstar), while her mother, Jean Silverside, acted in several popular films and TV shows. By her teenage years, Judie began penning poems and setting them to a guitar accompaniment, showcasing her original compositions at local folk clubs. Soon after, Tzuke met a songwriting collaborator in Mike Paxman, and the duo (known as Tzuke & Paxo) caught the attention of renowned producer Tony Visconti, who signed them to his Good Earth record label. The duo only managed to issue an obscure, lone 1977 single, "These are the Laws" b/w "It's Only Fantasies," before Tzuke was signed as a solo artist to Elton John's Rocket label (Paxman would remain on board, however, as a singer/guitarist/songwriter for several years). Tzuke first issued a single for her new label, "For You," which was a moderate success on U.K. radio (scraping the Top 40), but around the time of the release of her full-length debut in 1979, Welcome to the Cruise, Tzuke scored a more substantial hit with "Stay with Me 'Till Dawn," which resulted in the song staying on the British charts for 16 weeks and several appearances on the popular Tops of the Pops TV program. Despite landing a prime touring spots opening for her pal Elton John (and playing to an estimated 450,000 people at New York's Central Park), John's label switched distribution in the U.S. around this time, which made it increasingly hard to find Tzuke's music in record stores. Despite it all, Tzuke's career continued to prosper in England, resulting in such further popular releases as 1980's Sportscar, 1981's I Am the Phoenix, and 1982's Shoot the Moon (in addition to appearances at British festivals and a pair of sold-out shows at the Hammersmith Odeon). Tzuke hoped that signing with a new label (Chrysalis) would bring her recording career to the next level. This, unfortunately, proved not to be the case, as Tzuke appeared to be lost in the shuffle when she issued her next studio release, Ritmo, in 1983. Undeterred, Tzuke continued to issue further albums, including 1985's The Cat Is Out (recorded entirely at her home studio), 1989's Turning Stones, 1991's Left Hand Talking, and 1996's Wonderland (which featured a cameo by Queen guitarist Brian May). Tzuke formed her own record label, Big Moon Records, shortly thereafter, which issued Under the Angels and the in-concert Over the Moon in 1997; Secret Agent followed in 1998, as well as another live set, Six Days Before the Flood, in 2000. Around the same time, Elton John decided to return the copyrights of Tzuke's first three (and most popular) albums back to her, which resulted in all being remastered and reissued on Big Moon. Tzuke's next studio effort, Queen Secret Keeper, was released in 2001, with an all-covers album, The Beauty of Hindsight, following in 2003. The 2004 album After the End of the Beginning preceded her two-volume Songs series, with the first volume (2007) focusing on her softer material while the second (2008) favored rock. Two years later, her career-spanning Moon on a Mirrorball was supported by a tour of the U.K. © Greg Prato © 2011 Rovi Corporation. All Rights Reserved http://www.allmusic.com/artist/judie-tzuke-p133442/biography

DETAILED BIO

Judie Myers was born in London on April 3rd, 1956 of an English Mother and a Polish extract Father. Her father's family had come to Britain from Poland in the 1920's and had originally settled in Yorkshire. They had changed their name from their original Polish name "Tzuke" to Myers because it was one of the more common names in Yorkshire at that time and they wanted to blend into the community where they had come to live. Her father Sefton Myers, was a successful Park Lane based property developer, who also managed artists and singers. He co-managed and was responsible for supporting Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice while they wrote Jesus Christ Superstar but unfortunately he died a few weeks before the musical opened. He had also been Chief Barker of The Variety Club of Great Britain and was a very popular impresario. Her mother Jean Silverside was an actress in films and popular TV series' such as The Rise and Fall of Reginald Perrin, The Marty Feldman show, The Goodies and various other TV plays. After an education in the arts, music and drama, by the age of 15 Judie spent most of her time writing poems which she turned into songs and playing folk clubs, accompanying herself on acoustic guitar. She went to Island Records to try and get a record deal and after she'd played two songs was asked if she had any more. She replied that she had twenty, which she didn't, and they asked her to come back and record them the following week. She didn't return, but their interest made her realise that she could have a career in music. In 1975 she met Mike Paxman and together they started to write the songs that were to become her first releases. After making some demo tapes, they managed to get a record deal with David Bowie producer Tony Visconti's label Good Earth. Judie, (hereafter spoken of as 'Jude') decided to change her name back to her original family's surname "Tzuke". A single was released: "These are The Laws" which was recorded and produced by Tony Visconti and came out under the name of "Tzuke and Paxo". Whilst at Good Earth, Jude and Mike met Bob Noble and Paul Muggleton who were also on the label with their band "Omaha Sheriff". In 1977 Jude went to see managing director David Croker at Elton John's label 'Rocket Records' as their motto was "a label for artists". She played them a few songs, one of which was "Stay With Me 'Till Dawn" and was immediately signed to the new label. Jude and Mike spent the next six months or so recording her first album 'Welcome To The Cruise' at Air Studios in London, with producer John Punter. The first single was released in the summer of 1978, entitled 'For You' and was greeted with great critical acclaim and substantial air-play but only reached the top 40. This was to all change with the release of the 'Welcome To The Cruise' album and the single 'Stay With Me 'Till Dawn'. The song stayed in the UK charts for 16 weeks, and she made three live appearances on Top of the Pops. The song became a firm favourite and is still played regularly on Radio in the U.K. It has appeared on dozens of compilation albums and regularly appears in lists of all time most popular songs. As part of the celebrations for Queen Elizabeth II's fifty year reign in June 2002, BBC Radio Two conducted a poll to determine the top fifty British songs of the past fifty years. "Stay With Me Till Dawn" was at No. 39. With the success of 'Welcome To The Cruise', Jude and Mike put together the first Judie Tzuke band. Joining them were their friends from 'Omaha Sherif': Paul Muggleton on guitar and backing vocals and Bob Noble on keyboards, along with bass player John Edwards and drummer Jeff Rich.Jude and her band then toured for the next 18 months and made her second album 'Sportscar' at Virgin's Manor studios, in Oxfordshire. In 1980, Jude and her band toured America for three months as support to Elton John. The tour was well received, but during the tour Elton John decided to change the US distribution for his Rocket label from MCA to the new Geffin label. MCA consequently decided to stop all tour support and promotion for the acts on the Rocket label, which meant that Jude was playing to huge audiences, including 450,000 people in New York's Central Park, but no-one knew who she was and her records were not available in the shops. She received rave reviews for the tour and Elton himself said that he had never had a support act that went down so well, but the experience of such a long tour without any record company support was a very frustrating one. One LA newspaper reported after four nights at the LA Forum: "Judie and her band played such a strong and confident set that the audience almost forget that they had come to see Elton John, her future success in the States is assured". After this, Jude came back to the U.K. and decided to make changes. She recorded her third album 'I Am The Phoenix' which, besides songs by Jude and Mike also included songs from Paul Muggleton and Bob Noble. Another lengthy UK tour culminated in appearances headlining the Glastonbury CND Festival and some summer festivals in Europe. She then made the decision to leave Rocket and to sign with Chrysalis Records. Jude was by this time selling out halls all over the UK and in parts of Europe. Her next album "Shoot The Moon" was recorded mainly at Rockfield studios in Wales and was released in 1982. During the spring tour two sell out shows at the Hammersmith Odeon (now The Carling Apollo) were recorded and later that year the acclaimed live album 'Roadnoise' was released. Jude, Mike and Paul wrote new songs and went to Mayfair studios in London to record her fifth album, augmenting her stage band with a number of other musicians. The following year saw the release of the 'Ritmo' album, again she toured extensively but realising that she was not a priority act for Chrysalis and that they were not going to release the album in the States, she left Chrysalis for pastures new. With the Chrysalis record deal behind her and wanting to have more control over her output and direction, Jude decided to release her next album with a new independent company called Legacy. The album 'The Cat is Out', released in 1985 was recorded mainly at her home studio, and for the first time Jude and her producers Paul and Mike were able to record and mix the album without record company interference. As the making of the album progressed, designs were drawn up for a purpose built studio (to be called 'Big Ocean Studios') which was to become the place where most of her records would be recorded in the future. Another very successful sell out tour of the UK followed, including the release of a live video (and later DVD) from the show at the Fairfield Hall in Croydon in September 1985. Having enjoyed the freedom of working with an independent label but finding that they did not have the resources to promote her music, Jude decided to have a break from live work and to look for a major record company once again. In June of 1987 Jude and her partner Paul Muggleton had their first daughter Bailey, and in that year the building of Big Ocean studios was completed and Jude, Mike, Paul and Bob Noble set about writing songs and customising the studio in preparation for the next albumIn 1987 Jude signed a deal with Polydor records and set about recording her seventh studio album 'Turning Stones', which featured guest appearances from violin supremo Nigel Kennedy and up-coming jazz sax star Andy Sheppard. With the release of 'Turning Stones' Jude and her band began preparations for a full UK tour, rehearsals were started at Shepperton studios and tickets were put on sale, but a dispute between her management and Polydor records resulted in all tour finance and support being withdrawn and the tour had to be cancelled only days before it was due to begin. Polydor insisted that Judie did not give any reasons for the cancellation as it would put promotion of her album at risk. The management at Polydor that had originally signed Jude had all moved on and the working situation with the record company became impossible, "Turning Stones" was deleted after selling out of the initial pressing. Disappointment at the collapse of the album and the cancellation of the planned tour was hard to take, but Jude went straight back into the studio and started work on new tracks. The following year she signed a new deal with Sony who had recently acquired the famous CBS and Columbia labels. In 1991 the album 'Left Hand Talking' was released on Columbia, which included an atmospheric version of the Beach Boys song 'God Only Knows' and a re-recording of her classic hit 'Stay With Me Till Dawn'. Jude put together a new band and played two nights at the Shaw Theatre and shows at Ronnie Scott's jazz club in London. As the new management at Sony decided to work primarily with more singles orientated artists, Jude felt that it had become the wrong label for her. After all the problems with record companies she decided to try another independent label, and talks began with Essential Records, a new label being started by Castle Communications, who were already a very successful company that had built their reputation with CD re-releases. 'Wonderland' was recorded at Big Ocean Studios and had guest appearances from Brian May of Queen and Nigel Kennedy. On the release of the album, Timothy White of Billboard magazine did an editorial and interview with Jude as part of his series 'Music to My Ears'. The album was received with critical acclaim here and abroad and the single 'Wonderland' became a nationwide turntable hit. Jude realised that working with smaller labels gave her more control, but once again the record company was unable to sufficiently promote the album. Though not deleted this album was not available for most of 1996, and was re-released in 1997. In 1992 Jude toured with the songs from the 'Wonderland' album and for the first time played smaller halls with a more intimate atmosphere, being more suitable for the new jazzier and lighter approach to her music. In 1994 Jude and Paul's second daughter Tallula was born and Jude spent time working on new songs and developing her interest in photography. She took some publicity shots for her friend Virginia Astley and musically she worked on some of the projects Mike and Paul were doing at Big Ocean, singing on albums by Paul Norton in Australia, Nick Kamen (backing vocals on his hit 'I Promise Myself') vocals on an ambient production by Art of Noise member JJ Jeczalik and some backing vocals on tracks with Rush, Nick Green and Gary Moore. She decided that in order to be more in charge of her future and to make sure that she did not sign away the rights to anymore of her albums, the best way forward was to take the plunge and to fund her own career. Her own label 'Big Moon Records' was started and her first album on the label 'Under The Angels' was recorded between the autumn of 1995 and the summer of 1996. Produced as usual by Paul and Mike, the album featured the drumming of Andy Newmark and a series of new players with the intention of making a more performance orientated album, with a more 'natural' sound and without studio tricks or filtering. In February and June 1997, Jude toured with the songs from the new album and a fantastic new band. A live album of these tours titled "Over The Moon" was released later in that year. Judies next studio album "Secret Agent" was released in December 1998 and she toured again in the UK in January and February 1999. In December 1999, Elton John offered to return the copyrights to Judie for her first three albums (originally released on Elton's Rocket label), and re-mastered versions of "Welcome To the Cruise", "Sportscar", and "I Am The Phoenix" were re-released on Big Moon in February 2000. The "Phoenix 2000" UK tour took place in April/May 2000, and the "Other Half" tour in October 2000, during which Judie and her band previewed tracks from her next studio album "Queen Secret Keeper", which was released in late 2001. A Live album of the October 2000 tour titled "Six Days Before The Flood" was released around Christmas 2000, and features four previously unrecorded songs, plus a version of Colin Bluntstone's hit "I Don't Believe In Miracles". [This has been another Muggleton/Paxman production © Big Moon 2000 © 2010 Big Moon Records Ltd. All Rights Reserved © http://www.tzuke.com/history1.html