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The Judys (Live at
the Agora Ballroom 1985) (1985)
This
is just a silly fan review. Nobody probably remembers
who The Judys were. But I do. For those of you who can't
possibly know, they were a Houston new wave band who
gigged around town and throughout Texas in the late
70's and early 80's. I never got to see them live. Until
now.
"The
Judys," taped live at the Agora Ballroom in 1985, is
pure low budget video junk. The audio is horrible. It
is only about 20 minutes long and contains only 10 songs.
But it's great. With it, you get to see one of the most
fun and most interesting little local bands to come
out of the new wave scene ever, captured for all time
on video tape. I still don't understand why they weren't
huge stars. Perhaps the simplicity of their music was
mistaken for a lack of talent or marketability.
The Judys were a 3some of guys from Pearland, a little
podunk town outside of Houston. David Bean fronted the
band and played several instruments. His high-pitched
singing voice often takes The Judys songs into that
real of silliness that makes them so much fun. Jeff
Walton played bass (like a madman, carrying many songs)
and sang backup. Dane Cessac played drums and some percussion
and sang some too. These guys were multitalented. Songs
often had no guitar, or no drums, or no keyboards. Just
a lot of imagination.
What this little video is a document of is how inventive
their live show was. Bean is just cute and fun. He does
something different in every song. The whole set shown
here has a "tropical" feel to it so there are some stage
props and Bean and the band wear Hawaiian shirts and
shorts. This is just the surface of the magic that was
a Judys show.
The set seen here opens with "Underwater Fun" where
Bean hits his throat on the chorus to give the vocals
that "underwater, bubbly" sound. Next is "Lava of Love"
and Bean adds keyboards to his work. On "Joey the Mechanical
Boy," he plays walkie talkies. After "My Imagination,"
the boys break into "Vacation in Tehran," and Dane and
Jeff move on either side of the keyboard and hold it
aloft while David plays it and sings and they sing backup
forming a nuclear trio that shows just how important
the sidemen are to Bean. "Dogs" has the audience participation
moment. "Right Down the Line" features Cessac moving
from behind the drums to play some cooking pots strung
on a rope at center stage for the percussion in the
song. And then there's "She's Got the Beat" (their best
chance to get a record contract if there ever was one),
"Guyana Punch," and "Volcano."
Another odd thing that comes to mind watching the abridged
set is how "timely" some of the songs were. "Vacation
in Tehran" references the Iran Hostage Crisis, "Dogs"
is about Son of Sam and "Guyana Punch" is about the
Reverend Jim Jones. Pretty heady topics for some giddy
new wave tunes. But now it severely dates them as well.
I rented "The Judys" from I (heart) Video in Austin.
I have no idea where it came from. Surely, it is available
somewhere. I can't find The Judys records on CD anywhere.
I am hanging onto my vinyl copies for dear life right
now. But I haven't checked on-line for anything about
them. The Internet is my next stop. Maybe this little
fan will get lucky.
Note: Directed by Ted Barwell. This is probably a bootleg.
I did get lucky. There is a fan website at http://www.thejudys.com
but it says no stuff on CD is available. Here are some
facts I did gather.
Judys Discography:
"Teenage
Hang Ups" (3 song 7" 45)
"The
Wonderful World of Appliances" (6 song EP)
"Washarama"
"ModoMusic" (David Bean solo)
"Danger
Boy" (Jeff Walton solo EP)
"Girl
of 1000 Smells" (7" single/cassette)
"Ten
from Texas" (compilation album w/ one Bean solo tune)
"Land
of Plenty" (CD)
The
live show was taped and edited down to under a half
hour. It was hosted by longtime Houston radio DJ Colonel
St. James. This concert tape was shown on PBS a few
times. A bootleg of the whole concert probably exists
elsewhere.
Report
Card
Music:
A+
Sound: D-
Performance: A+
Non-Concert Segments: N/A
Cinematography/Lighting:C
Final
Grade: B-
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