Forget albums and CDs. Heck, forget artists. Sometimes all you need to make your ultimate artistic statement is a single song.
Rob Hegel did just that in the summer of 1980 with an hilariously scandalous soap opera of a pop tune called “Tommy, Judy & Me.” Crass, crude and unforgettably catchy, it embodied the 1980s teen zeitgeist before there was such a thing. Problem was, teen movies, not teen- themed songs were popular in the 1980s. So Hegel’s audacious adolescent opus stalled out at #109 on Billboard’s Bubbling Under chart. But “Tommy, Judy & Me” is not so easy to forget, mostly because of the way it tackles the sticky topic of teen sex. A lot of people discover sex in high school; what makes Hegel unique is that he penned a tune that vividly commemorates every perverse feeling and social interaction relating to the experience. He creates characters we’d see on the big screen in a few years: a tuff chick, a would-be cool dude, and a nerdy antihero.
Hegel was a songwriter who co-wrote Air Supply’s 1985 hit “Just as I Am,” and penned much of the score to a 1970s Saturday morning TV show called “The Kids From C.A.P.E.R.” Nothing in his resume is like “Tommy, Judy & Me,” though. The title alone lets you know from the get-go that this is no “boy meets girl” story. It’s more like: Boy gets lousy sex advice from a friend, gets the girl anyway, then learns said friend is a liar. And impotent. Forget New Order -- this is one really bizarre love triangle.
The music sounds like a cross between The Cars and late period Styx. But the song stands out because of its semi-spoken, semi-obscene verses (where Hegel seeks advice from Tommy) and a terrifically melodic chorus. At the end of the chorus, Hegel tells Judy that “he’d like to know her” her mysteriously comely reply is that she “only likes what she hasn’t done twice.” John Hughes couldn’t have written it better.
Had anyone heard it, “Tommy, Judy and Me” might have been labeled offensive. But what’s most shocking now is how the song casually prophesizes the Columbine school shootings. In verse two, Tommy says he’s “bought a gun and that one day they’ll remember his name.” To which Hegel distractedly responds: “Let’s change the subject, Tommy, let’s talk of Judy.” See how no one takes the time to listen to troubled teens?
Even with its oddball outrageousness, “Tommy, Judy & Me” works because it captures the anxiety-riddled vibe of teendom. It’s awkward, embarrassing, immature, and sometimes totally phony. Just like teen life in the real world.
“Tommy, Judy & Me” was released as RCA single #12009. The single is out of print and the song is unavailable on any CD compilation, but can sometimes be found via various MP3 trading resources.
THE KIDS FROM C.A.P.E.R. NBC TV 1975 "When It Hit Me" music and lyrics by Rob Hegel and Carol George sung by John Lansing (the female in the video is Rita Wilson (Mrs. Tom Hanks)
"We're Lovers After All" was the 2nd single released from the Hegel album. This is the song Rob performed on American Bandstand in September 1980 because the network censors would not allow him to sing "Tommy, Judy & Me"
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