Stay with Me till Dawn

This article is about the Judie Tzuke song. For the album called Stay with Me till Dawn in America, see Welcome to the Cruise. For the playwright, see Graham Farrow.

"Stay with Me till Dawn"
Single by Judie Tzuke
from the album Welcome to the Cruise
Released	15 June 1979 (15 June 1979)[1]
Recorded	1977
Genre	Soft rock[2]
Length	3:54
Label	Rocket Records
Songwriter(s)	Judie Tzuke Mike Paxman
Producer(s)	John Punter
Judie Tzuke singles chronology
"For You" (1978) "Stay with Me till Dawn" (1979) "Living on the Coast" (1980)

"Stay with Me till Dawn" is a 1979 single by Judie Tzuke from her debut album Welcome to the Cruise.^[3] Written by Tzuke and Mike Paxman and produced by John Punter, the song was Tzuke's only Australian and UK top 40 single, charting at number 8 and 16 respectively.

Background

"Stay with Me till Dawn" was co-written by Mike Paxman, whom Tzuke had met in 1975 and had released a Tony Visconti-produced single called "These Are the Laws" (as "Tzuke and Paxo") on Visconti's label, Good Earth Records. In 1977, Tzuke saw Rocket Records (Elton John's label)' David Croker, played him a few songs including "Stay with Me till Dawn" and was promptly signed by the label. The pair proceeded to spend around six months or so recording her début album at Air Studios in London^[4] and "Stay with Me till Dawn"'s John Punter-produced parent album Welcome to the Cruise.^[3]

The song charted at number 16 on the UK Singles Chart,^[5] and Tzuke appeared on Top of the Pops on 12 July, 26 July and 9 August 1979 to promote the track.^[6][7][8] All four of her subsequent chart entries failed to peak higher than number 92 on the UK Singles Chart,^[5] rendering her a one-hit wonder.^[9]

The song was re-recorded for her 1991 album Left Hand Talking;^[10] the album came out on Columbia Records, and it would not be until December 1999 that Elton John would return the copyrights of the albums she released on his label.^[4] In 2002, "Stay with Me till Dawn" was chosen by the British public as the thirty-ninth best song to have come out of Britain over the previous fifty years (between 1952 and 2002).^[11] The song has also appeared on the live albums Road Noise,^[12] and Over the Moon^[13] and on the compilation album Seventies Power Ballads.^[14] In addition, Mylo sampled the track for the song "Need You Tonite" from his debut album Destroy Rock & Roll.^[15]

Charts

Weekly charts

Weekly chart performance for "Stay with Me till Dawn"

Chart (1979-1980)	Peak position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[16][17]	8
UK Singles (OCC)[18]	16
US Billboard Adult Contemporary[19]	47

Year-end charts

Year-end chart performance for "Stay with Me till Dawn"

Chart (1980)	Position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[16]	70

Lucid version

In September 1999, UK house music duo Lucid released a cover of "Stay with Me till Dawn" with Clare Canty providing the vocals. It peaked at No. 25 on the UK Singles Chart in October 1999, and remained on the chart for two weeks.^[20]

Track listing

UK CD single

1. "Stay with Me till Dawn" (Lucid's Radio Edit) - 4:08
2. "Stay with Me till Dawn" (Translucid Remix) - 6:48
3. "99°F" - 6:49

References

1. "Judie Tzuke - Stay with Me till Dawn".
2. Doyle, Tom (March 2005). "Mylo". Sound on Sound.
3. Welcome to the Cruise (Media notes). Judie Tzuke. The Rocket Record Company.
4. "Biography". Judie Tzuke.
5. "Judie Tzuke | full Official Chart History". Official Charts Company.
6. Top of the Pops. 12 July 1979. BBC Two.
7. Top of the Pops. 26 July 1979. BBC Two.
8. Top of the Pops. 9 August 1979. BBC Two.
9. "Readers recommend: one-hit wonders – listen". The Guardian. 4 April 2013.
10. Left Hand (Media notes). Judie Tzuke. Columbia Records.
11. BBC Press Office. "Best of British Top 50" (Press release). BBC. Retrieved 10 February 2012.
12. Road Noise (Media notes). Judie Tzuke. Chrysalis Records.
13. Over the Moon (Media notes). Judie Tzuke. Big Moon Records.
14. Seventies Power Ballads (Media notes). Virgin Records. 29 September 2008.
15. Destroy Rock & Roll (Media notes). Mylo. Breastfed Recordings.
16. "National Top 100 Singles for 1980". Kent Music Report. 5 January 1981. Retrieved 17 January 2022 – via Imgur.
17. "Top 100 Singles". Top100singles.net. Retrieved 2021-05-19.
18. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 10 October 2016.
19. "Stay with Me Till Dawn (song by Judie Tzuke) ••• Music VF, US & UK hits charts". Musicvf.com.
20. "Stay with Me till Dawn | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". Officialcharts.com.