a press release about
the "Under The Angels" album and tour
by John Bury

Some pop stars fluke a couple of hits and then manage to stay in the public eye for decades thanks to a cheery grin, a spot of luck and regular visits to Richard 'n' Judy's couch. There are others who continue to make fine records long after their first splash in the pop charts but who for no obvious reason slip gently from view.      It is several pop aeons since the finger of fame pointed at Judie Tzuke, the flaxen- haired siren whose Stay With Me Till Dawn mesmerised a generation of young men and went on to become an essential track on all the best rock-ballad compilations. This month she takes her band on the road for the first time for seven years. She has also just released a finely-crafted album Under the Angels, on her own Big Moon records, which might just be her best work since Welcome to the Cruise.      After a career on a succession of record labels, this time Judie is doing everything herself. Big Moon, set up last year, is a DIY experiment in making records. Tzuke is songwriter, labelchief, A&R woman, chief cook and bottle washer. Promotion involves a Judie Tzuke site on the Intemet, a little advertising and a lot ofhard work. But she is pleased to be in control. "I've been making albums for a long time," she says, "and I didn't think anything could make me feel excited about the business side again, but it's brilliant because I speak to people, I read their letters, I pack the CDs. We're not selling thousands like we would if the album was in the record shops but we're consistently selling every day and each sale is a great feeling.      A few artists in America have gone down this route. In Britain, Robert Fripp of King Crimson, runs a proudly independent label, DGM, from an office in Salisbury. "It's the future," says Judie "and besides, everything else is sold over the phone.      But like a lot of musicians whose creative juices still flow long after their last Top of the Pops gig, she is also disappointed at the lack of support of the youth-oriented music industry. "As an artist, you are supposed to be wild and young and crazy and have affairs with everybody," she complains. Judie, alas, lives quietly in stockbroker Surrey, and has two young daughters. Courtney Love she isn't...      "I get really angry that people like me are not allowed a place in the music industry," she says. "Because there are lots of people who want to buy music that isn't played on Radio 1 any more or Virgin. I understand the instant commercial pop world but I think there should be room for others."      Tzuke's career never quite reaped the commercial rewards of early success. Her father was an estate agent in London and her mother a television actress. She began to set her poems to music when she was 15. After Stay With Me Till Dawn was a hit, her first four albums on Elton John's Rocket label made the Top 20. With the vast American market beckoning she supported Elton in front of 450,000 people in Central Park, New York. But because of a record company feud none of her albums were in the American shops. "It was a great shame and a really bad start," she says. More recently, her last big British tour never happened because her manager had a row with the record company.      All of which made the DIY route attractive, and she is delighted at the record that is its debut release. "I love this album. All through my career I tried to make every album very polished, whereas on this album we deliberately made it really minimalist, plus all the players are fantastic and everyone seemed to enjoy it." There are interesting comparisons between Under the Angels and the big-selling records of brash young Americans like Alanis Morissette and Sheryl Crow. Tzuke's is a very English sound and just a little old- fashioned. It's smoother, more restrained, but still with lyrical bite. "I like Joan Osborne, particularly," she says. "I think it's great they can write the lyrics they do. When I started women just weren't doing that kind of stuff."      Taking the new songs on the road will present its own fears: Judie is no lover of the spotlight. "I enjoy performing but I get very nervous and sometimes the nerves take over from the enjoyment. I tried hypnotherapy before a gig last year and it seemed to work. I have to think positively. I used to believe the audience was there to see me fail. But the hypnotist said the audience is there to see you do what you do well, so you should embrace them rather than shut them out."      With the tour under way, another album already written and more acts planned for the label the Tzuke revival may be imminent. "It's a bizarre situation," she says, laughing "for the whole of my career the record companies have always said, 'There's no angle for the press, we don't know how to sell you and now when people interview me I seem to have got an angle - by not having a record company.