Teddy Judge
1964
At 14 I joined my first band, the Vandals as lead singer and rhythm guitarist. We played high school “Hops”, bah mitzvahs, bowling alleys, you name it. If we were lucky we would get paid with soda or occasionally as much as $5.00. We had state of the art equipment: two amps the size of large transistor radios and a microphone casing made from a frozen orange juice can.
1965
More local gigs.
1966
I was kicked out of the Vandals for not switching to bass. Since my parents had just bought me a used Hagstrom guitar, money for a bass and amp was out of the question.
1967
Ironically, I became the Bass player for The Forerunners after miserably failing the audition as lead guitarist. The Forerunners was a really good group, and held auditions at Mercury and Columbia Records. We sang great four-part harmony, had good equipment and played plenty of local gigs. I graduated high school and lived on my own playing 3-4 nights a week. We opened for sixties bands such as The Buckinghams and The Soul Survivors. Our manager acquired A.B.C. cards (Alcohol Beverage Commission) which allowed us 17 year-old boys to play in (drum roll) night clubs. A better education than college! Alcohol and older women (21+) - everything a young man needs. We were making $200 a week back when adults were making about $300, and having the time of our lives.
1968-1969
While playing a local club, we met Michael Brown, keyboardist for the band The Left Banke. At the age of 16, Mike wrote the hit single Walk Away Renee, and at 19 decided to quit touring to concentrate on writing and production. He was impressed with the Forerunners and plans were made for us to record a song I sang lead on. In the winter of 1968 I moved into Mike’s house where our band rehearsed. Surrounded by three grand pianos and the constant influence of music, Mike quickly became my songwriting mentor. Despite interest from two major labels at the time, Laurie and Mercury Records, management problems overwhelmed the band and unfortunately we parted ways in 1969.
1973-1981
While working on my first original recordings, the band Pegasus was slowly coming together. Pegasus was very popular on the local club scene playing 4 to 5 nights a week. As well as clubs, the band played colleges and concerts up and down the East Coast, and in the mid-west. We played with Bruce Springsteen and opened for Aerosmith and Twisted Sister, and today still enjoy a great local reputation as a good time party band.
1984
After years of playing in nightclubs five nights a week I got some recording equipment together and with old and new friends recorded ten new songs on a disc called Determination. These sessions began my relationship with Rave Tesar, pianist and owner of Studio X.
1986
Followed this project up by cutting four new tunes using jazz greats Rave Tesar (piano), Kermit Driscoll (bass), noted session man Frank Pagono (drums) and the late John VanWie (lead guitar).
1987
While it was great to work in a professional studio it became clear that I needed recording equipment of my own. With a backlog of songs to record I now had the freedom to work around the clock. I want to thank Chris Schwenk for his support in putting my studio together.
1988
Wrote and produced the Tonight! CD with local musicians.
1989
Wrote and produced the Street of Dreams CD. The songs Innocence and Little Stranger can be found on the CD Volume 1.
1990
Wrote and produced the While We're Still Young CD. The title song was co-written with Rob Lange, former Forerunner and Pegasus member. The song I Walk With Strangers was co-written and sung by Steve Gaechter. Both of these songs can be found on Volume 1.
1992
Wrote and produced the In a Silent Crowd CD. This disc marked the first appearance of both Rich Henze and Sandy Jacobs. Rich is my lead guitar player and co-writer on many songs. Sandy sings, plays saxophone, writes and helps with production. They are still involved in my music to this day. Soldier, Laughing Too Loud, A Couple of Fools, With Every New Dawn, A Place Called Home, and Walk Away can be found on Volume 1.
1995
Wrote and produced the CD Living It Up, featuring the first co-writes with Rich and two lead vocals and co-writes with Sandy. Lucky (sung by Sandy), Living It Up, Summer’s Over, She’s The Kind of Girl, and The Lights Uptown can be found on Volume 1.
1997
Wrote and produced The Long Gone Mary Sessions CD.
1999
Wrote and produced the Take Time CD using my studio and Studio X with Rave Tesar as co-producer. This CD can be heard on my music page.
2001
Wrote and produced the This World CD, co-produced by Ken Lach. This CD can be heard on my music page.
2003
Wrote and produced the Redemption CD, joined by Rob Lange along with the usual suspects.
2005
Wrote and produced the So Easy CD. This CD can be heard on my music page.
2006
Launched website with the help of Sandy, saythanks, and hostbaby.com.
More CD’s and info to come.