Judy Teen
| "Judy Teen" | ||||
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Dutch cover of "Judy Teen"
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| Single by Cockney Rebel | ||||
| B-side | "Spaced Out" | |||
| Released | 8 March 1974 | |||
| Format | 7" | |||
| Genre | Glam rock | |||
| Length | 3:45 | |||
| Label | EMI Records | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Steve Harley | |||
| Producer(s) | Steve Harley, Alan Parsons | |||
| Cockney Rebel singles chronology | ||||
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| Alternative Cover | ||||
German cover of "Judy Teen"
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"Judy Teen" is a song by British rock band Cockney Rebel, fronted by Steve Harley. The song was released as a non-album single in 1974, and became the band's first hit in the UK, although their previous (debut) single "Sebastian" was a hit in continental Europe. "Judy Teen" was written by Harley and produced by Harley and Alan Parsons.
In 1973, Cockney Rebel's debut single "Sebastian" became a big hit across Europe, but failed to enter the UK Top 50. The band's debut album The Human Menagerie was released in November 1973 and suffered a similar fate, leading the band's label EMI to feel that Harley had yet to record a potential hit single. Following the release of The Human Menagerie, Harley went away to re-work "Judy Teen", with the objective of making it a potential hit single. Harley later recalled:
"When the first album came out, the record company said, 'We don't have a single.' And I said very arrogantly, 'I'll write one, I know how to do it.' That's exactly what I said and exactly what I did. Now I think - what an arrogant young man, fearless! "Judy Teen" was a boy/girl story, a teenage romance, a bit of sex in there, interesting drum rhythm, hooks all over the place - lo and behold big hit! It's a good sexy little teenage love story. When I wrote Judy Teen, I was 18 or 19 when I had the experience that that song came from."
"Judy Teen" had already been recorded as a demo in 1972, but was not recorded for The Human Menagerie. During that year, the band's early incarnation had featured Pete Newnham on guitar. This line-up recorded three demos at Riverside Recordings; "Judy Teen", "Ritz" and "That's Alright That's Me". In an exclusive interview with Newnham for the unofficial fan site Harley Fanzone, he recalled:
We made our first demos at a friend of Steve's studio, Riverside Recordings. "Judy Teen", "Ritz" and "That's Alright That's Me" were the three songs. I had expected to do two guitar tracks, one a rhythm guitar and then a lead overdub for each song - but there was only time for a very rushed guitar take. So, although at the time we all were over the moon with the general result, I wasn't too happy with the guitar. Going back to those demo tracks, they were very clean and untreated, except for a phased drum reverb fadeout on "Ritz" and a bit of echo on John's violin on "Judy Teen". A lot of time was spent getting Steve's vocals to sound right, and they sounded amazing. Anyway, the demo was to play to prospective management rather than record companies."
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