Whatever Became of The Judys?

By: Gowan McGland
Date: 8/3/98 11:48:20 PM
# Replies: 3

From The Houston Chronicle:
WET & MILD / Watsu combines water and massage forlife-altering 
experience 
By CLIFFORD PUGH
Staff
As the lead singer of a popular alternative band called the Judys, 
David Bean rocked a generation of young Houstonians in the 1980s.
Now, Bean is rocking grown-ups in a different way.
As Houston's only certified Watsu therapist, Bean cradles clients 
in his arms in a heated swimming pool, gracefully swirling their 
bodies around in the warm water to bring them to a blissful state of 
relaxation.
Nowadays, his fans consist mainly of hard-working professionals 
who find this new form of water massage a great way to reduce stress 
and tension.
"It's probably the most relaxing thing I do," says Pat Sayyah, a 
Houston financial consultant who has a Watsu massage every other week.
Arts administrator Harvey Guion became a believer after a session 
helped to relieve his chronic back pain. He now undergoes Watsu 
regularly.
"It's one step better than traditional massage," he says.
Even with such accolades, Bean finds it's sometimes hard to 
explain his current line of work, which to the uninitiated looks like 
a weird form of water ballet or synchronized swimming.
"Some people can't grasp the idea of how they're going to receive 
a massage and be floated on the water at the same time," he says.
When people find out what Bean does for a living, they also often 
ask whether they have to go underneath the water (no) and if they 
must wear a swimsuit (yes).
Developed in the early 1980s by a California massage therapist who 
coined the name from "water" and "shiatsu," Watsu combines water 
therapy with Zen shiatsu, a form of accupressure massage.
In a typical session, Bean supports the client's neck and head - 
always keeping the nose above water - while gently floating, rocking, 
spinning and stretching him or her in the chest-high water that is 
heated to skin temperature (around 96 degrees).
Bean maintains the benefits of massage are intensified in the 
water, allowing for a deeper state of relaxation and greater physical 
benefits.
"After working (with clients) for a while, I notice the 
difference," he says. "They carry themselves much free-er. They tell 
me they're more open and trusting. I find that doing the work does 
the same for me."
In fact, he enjoys his occupation so much he says he doesn't grow 
tired even after spending up to eight hours a day in a warm pool 
massaging clients.
"It energizes me," he says.
Bean 's transformation from new wave singer to Watsu master began 
when he impulsively signed up to go to massage school in 1989 even 
though he had never experienced a professional massage.
"It was pretty much for personal growth. I had no intention of 
really doing anything with it," explains Bean , who has a bachelor's 
degree in marketing and a master's degree in business from the 
University of Houston.
Bean 's turn toward massage didn't seem that unusual to his 
friends because he had always followed a different path. While at 
Pearland High School in 1979, he and two classmates formed the Judys, 
a new-wave band that captured the attention of Houston audiences and 
critics, who called them "one of the most adventurous groups in 
Texas, maybe all of America."
Bean wrote most of the group's songs, which covered such subjects 
as mass murder, nuclear contamination, suicide, television reruns, 
stuck-up high school girls and neighborhood pets. He incorporated 
such props as a portable TV, kitchen pots and pans and an electric 
blender into performances. One critic described him onstage as "a 
nervous combination of Pee-wee Herman, David Byrne and Elvis 
Costello."
The band recorded two albums, opened for such groups as the B-52s 
and the Talking Heads, and drew a large following at Houston clubs 
before splitting up for good in 1991.
Soon afterward, Bean took a job as a massage therapist at the 
University Club, where he worked for 7 1/2 years.
While vacationing at a resort in New Mexico in 1994, he picked up 
a brochure on Watsu. The brochure explained it as "massage" in "warm 
water" with an "element of dance."
"Those words sparked my interest," he says. "I just knew that was 
something I wanted to do."
Two years later, Bean enrolled in a school for Watsu practitioners 
near Calistoga, Calif., and became certified after undergoing 500 
hours of training.
He approached the Houstonian Fitness Center about providing the 
service, and now performs Watsu massage at the club's spa pool and at 
private homes with heated pools.
The cost for a Watsu massage at the club or at a private home is 
comparable to the going club rate for a regular massage: $65 for a 
one-hour session, $90 for a 1 1/2-hour session.
In his spare time, Bean , 36, continues to write music. The Judys' 
albums are being converted to compact discs, and he and the original 
members of the band are talking about performing a reunion show. But 
Watsu remains his main focus.
Bean says Watsu provides many of the benefits of massage, but with 
a greater intensity since the body floats on water and can be moved 
in ways that are impossible on land.
A number of his clients also have experienced emotional releases 
in the warm water that provides a womblike atmosphere, Bean says.
He adds that anyone can benefit from one session, but it usually 
takes three sessions for clients to get over the novelty of being in 
the water and relax completely.
Even though Sayyah says she has never felt comfortable in the 
water in the past, she took to Watsu during her first session and 
schedules a treatment at least every other week - even during the 
winter.
"It's because I don't have to talk. Watsu allows me to get into 
myself and what I'm feeling in the water. It's more of a meditative 
massage than an actual massage," she says.
Sayyah also believes Watsu helps those dealing with trust issues 
"because you are depending on somebody to keep your head above water 
and to treat you honorably in the water."
Guion admits that he had some doubts when he was cradled in Bean 
's arms during the first session.
"(I thought) `Geez, what have I gotten myself into?' " Guion 
recalls.
But by the end of the first session, he says, he had received so 
much relief for his bad back that he immediately set up another 
session. Now, he and his wife both undergo Watsu regularly in their 
backyard pool.
Bean does not recommend Watsu for someone who has never had a 
massage of any kind or who might be put off by the intimate, 
emotional reactions that sometime occur.
"The work is about letting go," he says. "Watsu is really about 
working with no agenda and being with the person, following their own 
body and what they need."
For those willing to take the plunge, Bean also is trained to 
perform a type of underwater massage called Wassertanzen or "water 
dancing." Developed in Switzerland in 1987, it is a form of massage 
n which the receiver is guided underwater while wearing a nose plug.
Maria Fahey, a Houston financial consultant, switched to 
Wassertanzen because she finds the experience more intense than Watsu.
"Sometimes, you don't even want to come up," she says. "It feels 
so natural. The only thing you can hear is your heartbeat. It's a 
very magical experience."
Undergoing Wassertanzen is like being in suspended animation, she 
says. Although her eyes are closed, she sees vivid colors and shades 
during the massage.
"It's like being in a sea of love. It's like total timelessness. 
It's a time of just releasing. I feel so cleansed and fresh. It's 
like a water meditation," she says.
Fahey agrees Wassertanzen is not for everyone. She has been an 
accomplished swimmer for much of her life and feels comfortable in 
the water but understands how those who don't might be skeptical of 
the underwater massage.
"Everyone is different. You have to feel trust and be comfortable 
with the water," she says. "It's not for everybody, but for those it 
works for, we're lucky."
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Response #1
By: Fierce Pancake
Date: 9/22/98 11:52:50 PM

I know a girl
who wants to go
she's got this thing for Captain Nemo
it's underwater fun
underwater fun
underwater fun
come blow some bubbles with me!

Response #2
By: Cleotis
Date: 9/24/98 8:52:51 PM

Did I mention my My Judy's Web Site?

I just got some new kewl bootleg video of the band live, too. What a rush. That was back when David Bean still had hair!

Response #3
By: Capt. Spastic
Date: 2/18/99 12:01:54 PM

Man, see what happens when you don't call for awhile? Someone comes along and re-activates a thread, just by posting something, for no other reason than the see the thread again just when they log back on, and I liked the The Judy's. :)