Judd Lander (born 1 March 1948) is an English
harmonicist
The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica incl ...
. Originally from Liverpool, Lander was previously a member of the band
The Hideaways. He has experienced success as a prolific session musician, record industry executive, and company director.
Lander has played on hits such as
Culture Club's "
Karma Chameleon
"Karma Chameleon" is a song by English band Culture Club, featured on the group's 1983 album ''Colour by Numbers''. The single was released in the United Kingdom in September 1983 and became the second Culture Club single to reach the top of th ...
" as well as "
Church of the Poison Mind
"Church of the Poison Mind" is a 1983 hit single by the British new wave band Culture Club. It was released as the lead single from their second, and most successful, album '' Colour by Numbers''.
The song reached #2 in the United Kingdom, b ...
" and the
Spice Girls' hit "
Say You'll Be There
"Say You'll Be There" is a song recorded by the English girl group Spice Girls for their debut studio album ''Spice'' (1996). The Spice Girls co-wrote the song with Eliot Kennedy after the group left Heart Management in 1995. Later, Jonathan ...
". He has played with many musicians including
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...
,
Annie Lennox,
ABC and
Madness.
Work as a Musician
Lander was an intricate part of the late Mersey Beat scene, playing with well-known local band
The Hideaways. The band were one of the first R&B groups in Liverpool and to this day hold the record for the most performances in the Cavern's history, surpassing
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developmen ...
. In the mid 1960s Judd kindled a relationship with
Sonny Boy Williamson II
Alex or Aleck Miller (originally Ford, possibly December 5, 1912 – May 24, 1965), known later in his career as Sonny Boy Williamson, was an American blues harmonica player, singer and songwriter. He was an early and influential blues harp st ...
(Aleck Ford 'Rice' Miller) who taught Lander the intricacies of the Blues Harmonica. Landers playing technique became much in demand, his curiosity for the music industry led him to record label
Charisma Records
Charisma Records (also known as The Famous Charisma Label) was a British record label founded in 1969 by former journalist Tony Stratton-Smith. He had previously acted as manager for rock bands such as The Nice, the Bonzo Dog Band and Van der ...
, whilst still retaining his status as a respected session musician.
His reputation as both a PR man & Session player grew and eventually, he was approached by
Apple Records
Apple Records is a record label founded by the Beatles in 1968 as a division of Apple Corps Ltd. It was initially intended as a creative outlet for the Beatles, both as a group and individually, plus a selection of other artists including Ma ...
to help with
John Lennon
John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...
’s 75 release “Rock ‘n’ Roll Album. As a musician he was invited to perform on various in-house sessions with artists such as
Billy Preston. Over the course of his career and directorships at various major labels, he has been instrumental in the careers of artists such
ABBA
ABBA ( , , formerly named Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Anni-Frid or Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Frida) are a Swedish supergroup formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. The group ...
,
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...
,
Nigel Dick
Nigel Dick (born 21 March 1953) is a British music video and film director, writer and musician from Catterick, England, now based in Los Angeles, California. He directed the Britney Spears videos " ...Baby One More Time" and " Oops!... I Did I ...
and
The Proclaimers
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...
. He was also responsible for breaking
Meat Loaf
Michael Lee Aday (born Marvin Lee Aday; September 27, 1947 – January 20, 2022), known professionally as Meat Loaf, was an American rock singer and actor. He was noted for his powerful, wide-ranging voice and theatrical live shows. He is on t ...
in the UK, receiving a proclamation by the Mayor of the City Of Cleveland, Lander is also noted for persuading a rather recluse guitar icon
Jeff Beck into doing a TV interview with a bizarre result. Head hunted by RCA records to run their Motown UK Record division, Judd joined them at the historic Motown 25th anniversary show: ‘Yesterday, Today, Forever’.
Whilst at
Motown Lander was called upon to a session at Red Bus Studios in London to lay down a harmonica part with a then relatively unknown band called
Culture Club which led Lander to creating the now famous harmonica lead lines on their No 1 - million seller "
Karma Chameleon
"Karma Chameleon" is a song by English band Culture Club, featured on the group's 1983 album ''Colour by Numbers''. The single was released in the United Kingdom in September 1983 and became the second Culture Club single to reach the top of th ...
" and "
Church of the Poison Mind
"Church of the Poison Mind" is a 1983 hit single by the British new wave band Culture Club. It was released as the lead single from their second, and most successful, album '' Colour by Numbers''.
The song reached #2 in the United Kingdom, b ...
" with the release came a glut of TV and Wembley Stadium appearances. Around this period Lander was invited to join
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...
on stage at The Odeon Hammersmith for a charity concert, and has since worked with Paul on his ''
Flowers in the Dirt
''Flowers in the Dirt'' is the eighth studio solo album by Paul McCartney. The album was released on 5 June 1989 on Parlophone, as he was embarking on his first world tour since the Wings Over the World tour in 1975–76. It earned McCartney som ...
''.
As a musician Judd is credited with performances on over 2000 recording sessions. He is noted for his work with artists such as
The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys are an American rock band that formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Distinguished by the ...
,
Nazareth,
The Proclaimers
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...
,
Kirsty MacColl
Kirsty Anna MacColl (10 October 1959 – 18 December 2000) was a British singer and songwriter, daughter of folk singer Ewan MacColl. She recorded several pop hits in the 1980s and 1990s, including " There's a Guy Works Down the Chip Shop Swears ...
,
Prefab Sprout
Prefab Sprout are an English pop band from Witton Gilbert, County Durham who rose to fame during the 1980s. Formed in 1978 by brothers Paddy and Martin McAloon and joined by vocalist, guitarist and keyboard player Wendy Smith in 1982, they re ...
,
Maxi Priest
Max Alfred "Maxi" Elliott (born 10 June 1961), known by his stage name Maxi Priest, is a British reggae vocalist of Jamaican descent. He is best known for singing reggae music with an R&B influence, otherwise known as reggae fusion. He was one ...
,
Madness,
The The
() are an English post-punk band. They have been active in various forms since 1979, with singer-songwriter Matt Johnson being the only constant band member. achieved critical acclaim and commercial success in the UK, with 15 chart singles ...
,
Tina Turner
Tina Turner (born Anna Mae Bullock; November 26, 1939) is an American-born Swiss retired singer and actress. Widely referred to as the " Queen of Rock 'n' Roll", she rose to prominence as the lead singer of the Ike & Tina Turner Revue before ...
,
Mike Oldfield
Mike may refer to:
Animals
* Mike (cat), cat and guardian of the British Museum
* Mike the Headless Chicken, chicken that lived for 18 months after his head had been cut off
* Mike (chimpanzee), a chimpanzee featured in several books and document ...
,
The Communards
The Communards were a British synth-pop duo formed in London in 1985. The duo consisted of Jimmy Somerville and Richard Coles. They are most famous for their cover versions of " Don't Leave Me This Way", originally by Harold Melvin & the Bl ...
,
Richard Ashcroft
Richard Paul Ashcroft (born 11 September 1971) is an English singer and songwriter. He was the lead singer and occasional rhythm guitarist of the alternative rock band The Verve from their formation in 1990 until their original split in 1999. So ...
,
Annie Lennox. In addition to all this he now has an entry in “Who’s Who In The Music Industry” and has received one of the highest musical accolades by receiving the Gold Award from BASCA ‘The British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors’ held at London’s Savoy hotel. This coveted award celebrates the achievements of an outstanding group of people who have made a special contribution to Britain’s music industry. Judd was also involved in the biggest event in the UK music calendar The BRIT AWARDS. Judd had worked on this show for the past 22 years as floor Cam Director. Judd is now based in Hertfordshire just outside of London, where his office walls don an array of Gold and Platinum discs and awards, serving as a testament to the contribution he has given and still is making in the music business.
Work in Television
Lander moved into the world of television as a puppeteer on
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
kids show for a period of 5 years, then as an associated producer on The St Lucia Jazz Festival - shot in the Caribbean. His on-screen credits can also be seen in ‘Resting Rough’ an odd but amusing short film about a flea ridden mattress, which featured
– Judd composed arranged and produced the film's music. He also contributed to quite a few BBC drama episodes and headed the prestigious position as Director of promotions with
. His
. Other shows include -
delivering them a No 2 and 3 top 40 chart single. Over the past 10 years he has successfully returned to his PR roots - and with his indisputable wealth of media contacts he has already helped a host of international artists obtaining major TV media coverage - featuring artists such as
.