Review from The Times
of the gig at the Hammersmith Odeon, Oct 1985

Classic Principles

Judie Tzuke

Hammersmith Odeon

Despite her greatest claim to fame still being her one British hit single in 1979,"Stay With Me 'till Dawn", Judie Tzuke has released seven albums all of which have reached the top 40.So dedicated is her following that it is a fair bet that many of those present at this closing performance of her British tour own all seven records,and clearly a significant proportion of them had already been to see her at previous performances in the itinerary.

Her music depends on the classic principles of A.O.R. rock: melody,skilled musicianship,romantic lyrics and an unpretentious, professional approach, but she manages to avoid the bland, cliched complacency which is the other side of that coin, and demonstrated here a prowess that could show the door to many an american stadium band.The songs frequently built from quiet, introspective beginnings to tough, muscular conclusions,"City of Swimming Pools" had the touch of the epic ballad with baroque thunder crashing chords breaking across light ,tripping interludes.

The bands sense of timing and dynamics was exemplary:John Edwards delightful bass solo and Matthew Letley's brief, breathtaking drum breaks in the unrecorded "All I Can Do Is Talk about You" provided momentary glimpses of a vast reservoir or ability from which the optimum required for the playing of the songs was drawn. Mike Paxman's guitar solos were wrought with similar imagination and discipline.

But the central image throughout was of the disarmingly beautiful Miss Tzuke,face framed by a tangle of teeming blond hair,singing with a fragile passion in the voice of a convent schoolgirl turned waif.Combining a glacial poise with her innate sensuality.she projected with controlled emotion through the preponderance of haunting slow songs at the start of the set, before building to a well-paced finale of rockier numbers such as "Black Furs". A dignified and compelling performance.