SSQ (formerly Q) is a

synthpop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a subgenre of new wave music that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s a ...

outfit consisting of Stacey Swain,

Jon St. James Jon St. James is an American guitarist, songwriter–composer, producer and recording engineer. His Casbah Recording Studio was a part of Orange County, California's new music scene in the late 1970s and early to mid-1980s. St. James' first albu ...

, and past members include Dan Van Patten and John Van Tongeren, Rich West, Karl Moët and Skip Hahn. Their debut album '' Playback'' received praise from critics when released in 1983. As of 2020, Jon St. James and Stacey Swain resurfaced as SSQ, releasing a full length album of new material titled ''Jet Town Je t’aime''. As Stacey Q, Swain had a solo hit with her single “ Two of Hearts” in 1986. SSQ members stayed on as her band for television and concert performances.

History

Formation

The original Q project was composed of Stacey Swain as lead singer,

on guitars, and Dan Van Patten and John Van Tongeren on

vocoder A vocoder (, a portmanteau of ''voice'' and ''encoder'') is a category of speech coding that analyzes and synthesizes the human voice signal for audio data compression, multiplexing, voice encryption or voice transformation. The vocoder was ...

and

synthesizer A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...

; it was a small American

techno Techno is a genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempo often varying between 120 and 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central rhythm is typically in common time (4/4) and often ch ...

band. It was formed in 1982 by

and Stacey Swain, and named after the James Bond character. Ross Wood was also a group member. The group only had two releases: a 7" single of their song "Playback" on Cocteau Records, and a four-track EP released almost exclusively to

college radio Campus radio (also known as college radio, university radio or student radio) is a type of radio station that is run by the students of a college, university or other educational institution. Programming may be exclusively created or produced ...

stations that has become known among fans as '' The Q EP''. Only 1,000 copies were printed of the EP. In 1982 the band reformed with two new members, drummer Karl Moet and synth player Rich West, alongside the official lineup of Van Tongeren, St. James and Swain. After the reformation, St. James was forced to change the name of Q because of copyright problems (famed producer

Quincy Jones Quincy Delight Jones Jr. (born March 14, 1933) is an American record producer, musician, songwriter, composer, arranger, and film and television producer. His career spans 70 years in the entertainment industry with a record of 80 Grammy Award n ...

reportedly had "established use of the 'Q' moniker"). Swain explained in a 2006 radio interview that the band was renamed SSQ after Jon St. James "was fishing in a lake 'no bigger than a bathtub' and made a joke that the boat was the 'S.S. Q,'" referring to the current band Q. St. James had another reason for the name: "SS" stood for "Stacey Swain", who had become the most recognized of the band's members.

1983–1984: ''Playback''

SSQ first released their debut album '' Playback'' in 1983 under

Enigma Records Enigma Records (also known as Enigma Entertainment Corporation) was a popular rock and alternative American record label in the 1980s. History Enigma Records launched as a division of Greenworld Distribution, an independent music importer/dis ...

. The band's first live performance was held at the Greenworld Distribution warehouse in Torrance, which was then the location of the

Enigma Enigma may refer to: *Riddle, someone or something that is mysterious or puzzling Biology *ENIGMA, a class of gene in the LIM domain Computing and technology * Enigma (company), a New York-based data-technology startup * Enigma machine, a family ...

label. The video for " Synthicide" later premiered on

West Coast West Coast or west coast may refer to: Geography Australia * Western Australia *Regions of South Australia#Weather forecasting, West Coast of South Australia * West Coast, Tasmania **West Coast Range, mountain range in the region Canada * Britis ...

television and brought greater notoriety for the five-member band. By 1984, Stacey Swain was already eclipsing her bandmates in popularity. The band ultimately shifted its focus on Swain specifically, with Moet, West,

Skip Hahn Skip Hahn (born Gary Loren Hahn; born November 30, 1951) is an American record producer, musician, singer and songwriter.

and St. James as backup performers. Hahn officially replaced John Van Tongeren on keyboards, vocoder and bass just before the release of ''Playback''. "Synthicide", "Big Electronic Beat" and "Clockwork" appeared on the soundtrack of the 1984 comedy ''

Hardbodies ''Hardbodies'' is a 1984 American sex comedy film about three middle-aged men who hire a younger man to help them pick up women at the beach. The film was directed by Mark Griffiths, and stars Grant Cramer, Courtney Gains and Gary Wood. It was f ...

'', while "Synthicide", "Walkman On", and "Anonymous" appeared on the soundtrack of the 1985 comedy ''

Cavegirl ''Cavegirl'' is a 2002-03 British TV series created and written by Daniel Peacock. It starred Stacey Cadman, Stephen Marcus and Lucinda Rhodes-Flaherty. It followed the adventures of a teenage cavegirl. Although based in a Stone Age world, th ...

''. St. James served as composer of the latter film, with Swain having a brief appearance as the character "Brenda". SSQ also contributed two tracks, "Tonight (We'll Make Love Until We Die)" and "Trash's Theme", to the soundtrack of the 1985 zombie flick ''

The Return of the Living Dead ''The Return of the Living Dead'' is a 1985 American comedy horror film written and directed by Dan O'Bannon in his directorial debut, and starring Clu Gulager, James Karen, Thom Matthews and Don Calfa. The film tells the story of how a ware ...

''. "Tonight" is the track played by

boom box A boombox is a transistorized portable music player featuring one or two cassette tape recorder/players and AM/FM radio, generally with a carrying handle. Beginning in the mid 1980s, a CD player was often included. Sound is delivered through ...

when Trash, played by

Linnea Quigley Barbara Linnea Quigley (born May 27, 1958) is an American actress, film producer, model, singer, and author. She is best known as a B-movie actress, and is often referred to as a " scream queen" due to her frequent appearances in low-budget horro ...

, performs the film's famous graveyard striptease. In television, SSQ recorded background tracks for productions including '' St. Elsewhere'', ''

Hill Street Blues ''Hill Street Blues'' is an American serial police procedural television series that aired on NBC in prime-time from January 15, 1981, to May 12, 1987, for 146 episodes. The show chronicles the lives of the staff of a single police station loca ...

'' and ''

WKRP in Cincinnati ''WKRP in Cincinnati'' is an American sitcom television series about the misadventures of the staff of a struggling fictional radio station in Cincinnati, Ohio. The show was created by Hugh Wilson and was based upon his experiences working ...

''. In addition, "Playback", an unreleased song from their debut , was included on '' The Enigma Variations Vol. 1'', a compilation album by various artist. The track "Anonymous" can be heard during the end credits of the 2011 film ''

Beyond the Black Rainbow ''Beyond the Black Rainbow'' is a 2010 Canadian science fiction horror film written and directed by Panos Cosmatos in his feature film debut. It stars Michael Rogers and Eva Allan. ''Beyond the Black Rainbow'' was distributed by Mongrel Media ...

''. In 1985, lead singer

Stacey Q Stacey Lynn Swain (born November 30, 1958), known by her stage name Stacey Q, is an American pop singer, songwriter, dancer and actress. Her best-known single, John Mitchell's " Two of Hearts", released in 1986, reached number one in Canada, n ...

signed a recording contract, St. James started acting as her manager and SSQ as her back up band.

1985–1988: Stacey Q, ''Better Than Heaven'' and ''Hard Machine''

The new lineup carried on with Swain under the name Stacey Q, and they acted as musicians on her first two albums, ''

Better Than Heaven ''Better Than Heaven'' is the debut studio album by American singer Stacey Q, released on October 17, 1986 by Atlantic Records. Produced by Jon St. James, ''Better Than Heaven'' is predominantly a dance-pop album with elements of Hi-NRG, Freestyl ...

'' and ''

Hard Machine ''Hard Machine'' is the second studio album by American singer Stacey Q, released in February 1988 by Atlantic Records. After the international success of her song " Two of Hearts" and debut album ''Better Than Heaven'' (1986), Swain began work ...

''. They went on to success with

dance-pop Dance-pop is a popular music subgenre that originated in the late 1970s to early 1980s. It is generally uptempo music intended for nightclubs with the intention of being danceable but also suitable for contemporary hit radio. Developing from a ...

tracks like " Two of Hearts" and "

We Connect "We Connect" is a song recorded by American singer Stacey Q for her debut studio album ''Better Than Heaven'' (1986). Written by Willie Wilcox and produced by Jon St. James and Wilcox, the song was the follow-up to her hit single " Two of Heart ...

". Rich West, Karl Moet and Skip Hahn were collectively credited as "SSQ" on the credits of albums and singles released as "Stacey Q". The backup members also recorded some material without Swain on vocals. One such track, the hip-hop-inspired "Pleasure Dog", was featured on ''The Enigma Variations Vol. 2''. In 2015, ''Playback'' was remixed by Jon. St. James, digitally remastered and re-released on iTunes, with a few bonus tracks also included in the album. In 2016, SSQ re-released it on vinyl on the Strange Disc label. Two bonus tracks included are "The Model" and "Tonight (We'll Make Love Until We Die)".

2020–Present: ''Jet Town Je t’aime''

On January 1, 2020, SSQ released a new album, called ''Jet Town Je t’aime'', featuring 12 new songs. The album, their first release in 37 years, was produced by Jon St. James, and was released exclusively to digital stores and streaming services. The set includes “Trippin' Me Out,” which originally was released digitally on Dec. 10, 2019, as a Stacey Q single. Two separate music videos for the second single, “Airpods On,” were posted to Stacey Q's YouTube channel on January 27, 2020.

Discography

Albums

* '' Playback'' (1983) * ''Jet Town Je t’aime'' (2020) With

* ''

'' (1986) * ''

'' (1988)

Singles

*1983: " Synthicide" (#47 U.S. Dance) *1983: "Big Electronic Beat" *1983: "Screaming in My Pillow" (video single) *1986: "Tonight (We'll Make Love Until We Die)" / "Trash's Theme" (Japan only) *2019: "Trippin’ Me Out" (released as Stacey Q) *2020: "Airpods On" (released as Stacey Q as video single)

External links

Stacey Q official websiteQ's DiscogsSSQ's DiscogsA Q/SSQ/Stacey Q fan club
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ssq Synth-pop new wave musical groups American new wave musical groups Musical groups from California American synth-pop groups Enigma Records artists Female-fronted musical groups