Judie Tzuke
The acclaimed Judie Tzuke will make her Wickham Festival debut on our opening night, Thursday 31st July. Judie Tzuke is the epitome of the female singer-songwriter. Her wistful lyrics, sublime harmonies and hauntingly clear voice are testament to a career which has spanned four decades and continues to inspire a generation of fans with her unparalleled songwriting.
After an education in the arts, music and drama, at the age of 13 Judie began to spend her time writing poems which she turned into songs. In 1975 she met Mike Paxman and together they secured a record deal with Tony Visconti’s label Good Earth and released a single These Are The Laws under the name of Tzuke and Paxo. It was at this time that Judie met her future husband Paul Muggleton who would go on to produce all of her future recordings.
In 1977 Judie 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. Judie and Mike spent the next six months recording her first album Welcome To The Cruise at Air Studios in London. Released in 1979, it contained Judie’s haunting signature song Stay With Me Till Dawn which stayed in the UK charts for 16 weeks. In 2002, BBC Radio 2 conducted a poll to determine the top fifty British songs of the past fifty years, Stay With Me Till Dawn was at number 39.
Fuelled by the success of her debut album, Judie began her first full band tour which lasted for 18 months and her second album Sportscar shot to number 7 on the UK album chart. Around this time, at the request of Elton, Judie toured America as his special guest.
Back in the UK, her third album I Am The Phoenix was released and Judie undertook another lengthy UK tour culminating with a headlining slot at Glastonbury Festival. At this time, Judie was selling out concert halls all over the UK and Europe and recorded her acclaimed live album Road Noise during two sell out shows at Hammersmith Odeon. As Rocket Records folded in the UK, Judie signed with Chrysalis to release her next two hit albums, Shoot The Moon and Ritmo.
The Cat Is Out was released with Legacy, a new independent company, in 1985. For the first time, Judie and her producers Paul and Mike were able to create an album without record company interference and drew up designs for a purpose built home studio: Big Ocean Studios. This was to become the place where she would record all her future albums including her next release; Turning Stones.
Judie entered the 1990s signing to Columbia Records for her next album, Left Hand Talking which included an atmospheric take on The Beach Boys’ illustrious God Only Knows and a reworking of her own classic Stay With Me Till Dawn. In 1992, Brian May featured on her Wonderland album. Founding her own label in 1996, Big Moon, Judie released with Under The Angels followed by her own personal favourite album, Secret Agent in 1998. Queen Secret Keeper became her first release of the new millennium.
Tzuke’s pen still poised, more albums followed with: Over The Moon, The Beauty Of Hindsight and The End Of The Beginning. These were all released to acclaim and devotion from her ardent army of fans. In 2010, the retrospective compilation Moon On A Mirrorball saw Judie touring the UK with a band that included both her daughters Bailey and Tallula on backing vocals. The tour climaxed with a stunning show featuring a wide selection of her old and new songs at the Union Chapel in London.
Having always suffered from stage fright, Judie decided to take a few years out from touring to explore her unique ability to write beautiful songs, working with a large number of artists including Lucie Silvas, Morcheeba, Tom Baxter and many others
In 2013 Judie was diagnosed with cancer of the womb. After undergoing a major operation and radiotherapy, she received the wonderful news that she was cancer free. Judie’s battle with cancer was the inspiration behind her most recent album Peace Has Broken Out. It is perhaps her most accomplished album to date, featuring some of her most personal and poignant writing.
Judie contributed four songs on the recent Woman To Woman album, a collaboration with Beverley Craven and Julia Fordham: If (When You Go), Temporary, a re-working of her classic song For You and Safe, a simple and delicate song co-written with Beth Nielsen Chapman. This song was the perfect vehicle for the hit Woman To Woman album, showing all three ladies at the top of their game, in a perfect blend of harmony. The Woman To Woman tour saw Judie along with Beverley and Julia playing to sold out houses around the UK and selling in excess of 35,000 tickets.
After the success of the Woman to Woman album and tour, Tzuke joined forces again in 2022 with Craven, Fordham and new addition Rumer when their show played to Sold Out shows in concert halls across the country. Their song Safe has now amassed half a million streams on Spotify.
Judie’s latest album, ‘Jude The Unsinkable’ was released in October 2023.
