Judie Tzuke -

Judie Tzuke (born April 3, 1956) is an English vocalist and songwriter from London who released three albums on Rocket Records between 1979 and 1981. She charted with her first two, Welcome to the Cruise and Sportscar, and the single “Stay With Me Till Dawn.” Two further albums and a live double followed on Chrysalis in 1982 and 1983. The subsequent eight-year period yielded four albums on as many labels, after which she initiated Big Moon Records for all recordings henceforth.

Tzuke was born Judie Myers on April 3, 1956, in London to television actress Jean Silverside and music manager Sefton Myers. In the late 1920s, her paternal grandparents migrated from Poland to Yorkshire, where they adopted the Myers surname. At the start of her singing career, Judie decided to reclaim the Tzuke family name.

She attended the London Ballet and Drama School in Piccadilly, where she studied music and the performing arts. At age 12, she took up the acoustic guitar and started matching her poetry to chords. From age 15 onward, she performed the local folk-club circuit.

In 1973, she answered a talent ad for the newly formed Rocket Records Company, established by Elton John. She played her two completed songs for company staff, including “Bring the Rain.” Though she impressed the staffers, she skipped her followup appointment after overstating her song-count.

Two years and an abortive dalliance with Island Records followed before she met musician Mike Paxman, then-drummer of the jazz quartet Sphere. They formed a songwriting partnership and pitched their efforts to producer Tony Visconti (David Bowie, T. Rex, Strawbs, Osibisa). Their sole release as Tzuke & Paxo, “These Are the Laws” (b/w “It’s Only Fantasies”), appeared in 1977 on Visconti’s Good Earth label.

Through this liaison, Tzuke met keyboardist Bob Noble and guitarist Paul Muggleton of fellow Good Earth recording artists Omaha Sheriff. They soon joined Paxman in her backing band. Tzuke and Muggleton later married.

By 1978, Tzuke was armed with more than an album’s worth of material. She re-approached the Rocket Record Company, which issued her debut single as Judie Tzuke: “For You” (b/w “Sukarita”).

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