By 1983 Judy Cheeks was not yet 30 years old but had already been an Ikette with Ike & Tina Turner, had them produce her first album in 1972, had a stint with Motown, and a Munich-disco hit with Mellow Lovin' and her Ariola album Please Give Me This Night.
A second album for the label was initiated but sadly never completed (I have uploaded a fantasy version on my channel) despite some strong singles, Don't Wanna Love You Again, and Mercy produced by Donna Summer's producer Pete Bellotte.
He was once again behind the desk when Judy recorded her 1983 album, Hard On The Heels Of Love, co-writing 7 of the 8 songs with Eddy Howell. One single, Fascination, was released but failed to get much attention, and the LP ultimately only had a very limited release on Durium Records in Italy.
The album features some distinct backing vocals by a young Hazell Dean (who had still not had her commercial breakthrough) as well as Kit Rolfe who represented the UK in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1984 as a lead singer of Belle & The Devotions, singing Love Games.
Judy spent the next couple of years as a busy session singer before signing with Polydor and releasing the album No Outsiders in 1988. It would, however, be another 5 years before she finally landed her biggest hit single Reach, followed by another album Respect. After that she was gone for a long time until finally reappearing with a gospel album True Love Is Free in 2013.
HARD ON THE HEELS OF LOVE
00:00 A1. Fascination
04:34 A2. Magician
08:15 A3. Smoke Gets In Your Eyes
12:17 A4. Walking All Over My Love
17:18 B1. Everybody Wants To Dance With You
22:10 B2. The More We Do It
26:35 B3. I Could Really Make You Love Me
31:14 B4. He Means Nothing To Me
Bonus:
35:44 Fascination (Single Version)
39:41 Einmal wenn du gehst (1977 duet with Udo Jürgens)
