Released : 1979
Sometimes it’s hard to to take artists at much beyond face value. Judie Tzuke started working in folk clubs at 15 before being discovered by Elton John’s A&R team at the Rocket label. After releasing her debut album Welcome To The Cruise in 1979 she would go on to open for him in front of 400,000 people at his infamous 1980 Central Park show, at which Elton was costumed on stage as Donald Duck.
Despite the MOR nature of her output, the singer reckoned however it held a broader cross cultural appeal. Speaking to Sounds the year after New York, she was answering a question about her audiences then let slip “When I started seeing leather-jacketed kids with ‘Motorhead‘ written on the back I was surprised. Then I noticed punks jumping about behind them and hippies giving V-signs during the guitar solos.”
Sideways look meme.
This slightly baffling recollection shouldn’t diminish the power of Stay With Me ‘Til Dawn, her only hit but one that paved the way for the female balladeering of the decade that followed, most notably Bonnie Tyler’s Total Eclipse of the Heart. Like all neo-classics it’s also subsequently acquired a half life through imitation and reinterpretation since, the former via Mylo on his classic Destroy Rock N’ Roll and the latter in FAC15’s glossy cover. Rumours of a Nine Inch Nails collaboration though have sadly remained just that.
The Voice Of Unreason 
I’ve somehow never heard this song, and sadly, it was not a hit in the U.S., but it’s beautiful!
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She was more or less a one hit wonder Jeff, but this is one of my favourite ballads – and Mylo/FAC 15 reworked it so well.
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