Judy Nylon

A New York singer who sprang from the early-'80s avant-garde Lower East Side noise rock (aka no wave) scene, Judy Nylon led a brief but interesting career. Abandoning New York for London in 1981, she joined forces with singer Patti Palladin, forming the indelicately named duo Snatch. Snatch was a truly hit-and-miss artsy-fartsy duo, attracting the attention of Brian Eno who, despite working with them, didn't improve their wan, bloodless sound. More successful, however, was brilliant British reggae/dub/psycho-funk producer Adrian Sherwood, who produced Nylon's only solo recording, Pal Judy, in 1982. Superficially reminiscent of Patti Smith, Nylon's Beat-inspired lyrical extrapolations are well-suited to Sherwood's expansive sonic collage. It's a tremendously seductive record that certainly gave rise to the opinion that Nylon was embarking on an interesting solo career. Instead, Pal Judy is all we have to show for Nylon the solo artist. Ex-cohort Palladin recorded a great record of covers (Copy Cats) with Johnny Thunders, but has also been absent from music ever since.