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| PHIL JUDD, c 1974 |
SWEET DREAMS
SPLIT ENZ
from the 1976 Mushroom LP
Second Thoughts
SWEET DREAMS
Cunning as a conman
Shrewd as a liar
I went weak at the knees
The first time I saw you
Deep inside, day to day ritual
Oh give it a try
Do what you will
Look out now
But I've seen it all before
It's nothing new to me
A living legend
Like fifteen million other
Angels
Try as I do
I can never get through
I only got as far
As the backseat of my car
And it's all very well
To cry now
Yes it's all very well
To lie now
Well I'm wasting my time
Clutching at straws
You know damn well
That what's mine is yours
A rich man or poor
Duchess or whore
I haven't got time for
Either or
I can't get over it
Thank God
The storm's passed over
I'll settle down I guess
Sweet dreams
Every once in a while
Sweet dreams
Every once in a while
Mantovani
Martini and money
I fell for your etiquette
The first time we ever met
You really socked it to me
With your finger snap rhythm
Look out now
Break up
You've got it all figured out
Ten to one I lose
Drop your lover's noose
And swing me
Cruelly deprived
I don't know how you've survived
Romantic theories
Of the pixies and faeries
Looking in retrospect
Seldom wrong but never correct
Emotions are aired
Like carpets out to dry
I can't get over it
Thank God
The storm's passed over
I'll settle down I guess
Sweet dreams
Every once in a while
Sweet dreams
Every once in a while
Sweet dreams
Sweet dreams
Sweet dreams
Every once in a while
Well you wouldn't know me
From a bar of soap
I'm part of the furniture
An ornament, a rocking chair
But it's all very well
To cry now
Sweet dreams
Every once in a while
Words and music
Philip Raymond Judd
© 1976 Mushroom Records Australia
I first became aware of Phil Judd via The Swingers, the band he formed in New Zealand in April 1979 whose song Counting The Beat became an instant hit on Australasian radio two years later. Its gloriously hook-laden melody was balanced by an equally infectious rhythm track and lyrics that relied heavily on repetition without ever sliding into formulaic banality. The track remains a legitimate trans-Tasman classic and one of the more memorable pop singles of its era.
But as great as Counting The Beat was, I didn't fully come to appreciate the talent of Phil Judd until a friend introduced me to Second Thoughts, the 're-made' LP by New Zealand art-rock band Split Enz released in 1976. Judd was a founding member of that earlier groundbreaking group, the guitarist and songwriter primarily responsible for giving it what was, in the first half of the creatively adventurous 1970s, a completely unique look, feel and sound. Judd left the band for good in 1978, replaced by Neil Finn whose more accessible style of songwriting would see Split Enz rack up many hits throughout the early 1980s prior to Finn breaking away in 1985 to form the even more successful Crowded House.
Second Thoughts and its 1975 predecessor, the denser and darker Mental Notes, remain among my favourite rock LPs to this day. And Sweet Dreams typifies what makes them such engaging works of art — the sheer inventiveness of the songwriting, with a melody that shifts from acoustic folk-rock to vaudeville novelty tune to grand opera all in the space of one stirring five minute opus. Judd's lyrics are equally inventive, employing imagery (lines like 'Drop your lover's noose/And swing me' and 'Emotions are aired/Like carpets out to dry' still floor me to this day) that's as arresting as it is darkly witty and, courtesy of his idiosyncratic vocal style and formidable arranging skills, as poignant as it is occasionally unsettling.
Sweet Dreams is as far removed from the slickly produced New Wave of later Split Enz hits like I Got You as you can get and, in my far from expert opinion, infinitely superior to anything the band released following Judd's departure. Had the original incarnation of Split Enz hailed from Britain or North America rather than from what was then the relatively isolated (but culturally thriving) island nation of New Zealand — a situation that did not prevent the Australian media from describing the band as 'Australia's own Split Enz' because its members happened to be based in Melbourne for much of their careers — then I have no doubt they would now be considered as influential as King Crimson, Pink Floyd, Frank Zappa or Sparks.
Unfortunately, that sort of recognition eluded the Judd incarnation of the group. As is the case with most music that's truly groundbreaking rather than created to capitalize on a pre-existing trend, neither Mental Notes nor Second Thoughts sold nearly as well as they deserved to upon their respective releases. (That may have been a side effect of Second Thoughts being a commercially inspired re-fashioning of the band's debut LP, produced by Roxy Music guitarist Phil Manzanera in London — a combination of some of the more accessible material from that first album plus some new songs designed to appeal to a more mainstream audience. That said, Second Thoughts works perfectly well as an album in its own right, with its opening track Late Last Night a particular standout.) But Judd's early music was never really mainstream in the way the industry defines that term today. It has the rare distinction, achieved by only a handful of artists worldwide, of existing as a genre unto itself.
The good news is that Phil Judd is still with us and still creating excellent and compelling music in his home studio in suburban Eltham, music that's thankfully lost none of its jaw-dropping originality or its ability to startle, delight and challenge the listener. He's considered a national treasure by many of his Kiwi countrymen and rightly so. Sadly, his career proves the point that true originality seldom receives the attention it deserves from an industry that grows more cliché-reliant by the day. There's nothing the least bit clichéd about Phil Judd's songwriting. It's as nuanced and complex as the man himself, a testimony to his resilience as a performer and his seemingly unlimited capacity to make artistic statements that are as bold as they are individually memorable.
Use the links below to visit the Bandcamp site of New Zealand-born, Australian-based songwriter, guitarist, composer and equally gifted visual artist PHIL JUDD and the PhilJuddOFFICIAL YouTube page where you can view tracks by Split Enz, Phil Judd solo, The Swingers and his later 1980s band Schnell Fenster:
MENTAL NOTES
SPLIT ENZ
© 1975 Mushroom/Festival Records Australia
Cover painting:
Phil Judd
SECOND THOUGHTS
SPLIT ENZ
© 1976 Mushroom/Festival Records Australia
Special thanks to everyone who takes the time to upload music to YouTube. Your efforts are appreciated by music lovers everywhere.
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