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, number three on the US
''Billboard'' Hot 100 and the top ten in five other countries.
Early life
Swain was born on November 30, 1958, in the
Orange County
Orange County most commonly refers to:
*Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area
Orange County may also refer to:
U.S. counties
*Orange County, Florida, containing Orlando
*Orange County, Indiana
*Orange County, New ...
suburb of
Fullerton, California
Fullerton ( ) is a city located in northern Orange County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 143,617.
Fullerton was founded in 1887. It secured the land on behalf of the Atchison, Topeka and Sa ...
.
She is the youngest of three children.
Her mother, Joyce, bred
Cardigan Welsh Corgi
The Cardigan Welsh Corgi (; Welsh for "dwarf dog") is one of two separate dog breeds known as Welsh Corgis that originated in Wales; the other is the Pembroke Welsh Corgi. It is one of the oldest breeds of the British Isles. Cardigan Welsh C ...
s that have appeared in
Hollywood
Hollywood usually refers to:
* Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California
* Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States
Hollywood may also refer to:
Places United States
* Hollywood District (disambiguation)
* Hollywood, ...
films and television.
In a 1989 interview, Swain said she was three years old when she asked for dance lessons, but had to wait until she was five,
when she did
classical ballet
Classical ballet is any of the traditional, formal styles of ballet that exclusively employ classical ballet technique. It is known for its aesthetics and rigorous technique (such as pointe work, turnout of the legs, and high extensions), its ...
. In 1969, she became the youngest member of the Dance Theater of Orange County, a local company that performed at
benefit show
A benefit concert or charity concert is a type of musical benefit performance (e.g., concert, show, or gala) featuring musicians, comedians, or other performers that is held for a charitable purpose, often directed at a specific and immediate hu ...
s in
Anaheim
Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orange County, the 10th-most p ...
.
[ She spent eleven years studying ballet, and also learned ]flamenco dancing
Flamenco (), in its strictest sense, is an art form based on the various folkloric music traditions of southern Spain, developed within the gitano subculture of the region of Andalusia, and also having historical presence in Extremadura and ...
.[ She performed at multiple ]Disneyland
Disneyland is a amusement park, theme park in Anaheim, California. Opened in 1955, it was the first theme park opened by The Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney. Disney in ...
's Christmas ''Fantasy on Parade'' events. She studied at the Community Theatre of Performing Arts and the Wilshire Theatre of Arts.[ She also performed in costume as the "Dutch Puppet", a name she used as a publishing alias during her early recording career.][ She went to ]Loara High School
Loara High School is a public four year American high school in the Anaheim Union High School District, located in the Southwest Anaheim region of Anaheim, California. Loara is a Title I school that serves many students from low-income families, ...
during her sophomore year, but then transferred to Anaheim High School
Anaheim High School is a public, four-year high school in the city of Anaheim, California, United States and serves students
living in the Colony District of Anaheim. Anaheim High School was first established in 1898, which makes it the oldest o ...
. After graduating from high school in 1976, Swain joined the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus
The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus (also known as the Ringling Bros. Circus, Ringling Bros., the Barnum & Bailey Circus, Barnum & Bailey, or simply Ringling) is an American traveling circus company billed as The Greatest Show on Ear ...
, where she performed as a showgirl in her first year, and as an elephant rider in her second year.[ Her first singing project was a Los Angeles radio spot where she introduced and announced programs while impersonating members of ]The Go-Go's
The Go-Go's are an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1978. Except for short periods when other musicians joined briefly, the band has had a relatively stable lineup consisting of Charlotte Caffey on lead guitar and keyboards, Belind ...
.[
]
Career
1981–1984: Q, SSQ and ''Playback''
In 1981, Swain was introduced to 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 ...
, the proprietor of Fullerton's Casbah Recording Studio
The Casbah Recording Studio or simply Casbah is a recording studio in the Orange County suburb of Fullerton, California that helped to spawn several highly successful acts, including Berlin, Stacey Q, and Social Distortion.
Founding of Casbah
C ...
, which hosted recordings for the bands Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
and Social Distortion
Social Distortion is an American punk rock band formed in 1978 in Fullerton, California. The band currently consists of Mike Ness (lead vocals, lead guitar), Jonny Wickersham (rhythm guitar, backing vocals), Brent Harding (bass, backing voca ...
. St. James was developing 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 ...
group called Q, named after the James Bond character. The band consisted of St. James on guitars, and Dan Van Patten and John Van Tongeren
John Warrington Van Tongeren is an American keyboardist and composer for films and television.
Biography
Van Tongeren's career in the entertainment business began as a keyboardist, with one of his earliest projects being the band Q, featuring ...
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. She served as the assistant producer on the band's four tracks for ''The Q EP'' when St. James realized they needed a vocalist for their first track "Sushi", which Swain provided as she had previously recorded demos at his studio.[ She then became the lead singer for Q, although at that time, she still considered herself more of a dancer than a singer.]
''The Q EP'' received little airplay except on college radio. Its success led St. James and Swain to develop more songs.[ In 1982, the group added drummer Karl Moet and synth player Rich West, but had to change their name because of copyright issues when 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".[ They renamed the band ]SSQ SSQ may refer to:
* La Sarre Airport, the IATA code for the Canadian airport
* Shell Lake Municipal Airport, the FAA code for the United States airport
* '' Social Science Quarterly'', a peer-reviewed social science journal
* Society for Software ...
, which was inspired partly by a fishing endeavor where St. James "was fishing in a lake 'no bigger than a bathtub' and made a joke that the boat was the 'S.S. Q,'" and also that "SS" stood for Stacey Swain.[ SSQ 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 ...
, which featured the single "Synthicide" that was also made into a music video.[
]
1985–1987: Breakthrough, ''Stacey Q'' and ''Better Than Heaven''
In 1985, Swain signed a recording contract with Columbia Records. Using Stacey Q as her moniker for solo works, she released her debut single "Shy Girl". Her eponymous
An eponym is a person, a place, or a thing after whom or which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. The adjectives which are derived from the word eponym include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''.
Usage of the word
The term ''epon ...
album later was distributed in cassette format to limited release. The album contained an early version of " Two of Hearts", which originally was released and performed by Sue Gatlin.[ After her singles collectively sold several thousand copies, she signed with ]Atlantic Records
Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...
with St. James as manager and the other members of SSQ as backup musicians.
She recorded the album ''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 ...
'' in three weeks. Its title track was co-written by Berlin, "He Doesn't Understand" was written by Rusty Anderson
Rusty Anderson is an American guitarist and singer-songwriter who is best known for his work as the lead guitarist for Paul McCartney's touring band though he has worked with an extensive list of artists in addition to his own solo career.
Car ...
, 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 ...
" was written by Willie Wilcox
John "Willie" Wilcox (born September 21, 1951, in Trenton, New Jersey) is an American drummer, vocalist, producer, recording engineer, sound designer, composer and senior audio director. He is best known for being a member of the band Utopia. He ...
of Utopia
A utopia ( ) typically describes an imaginary community or society that possesses highly desirable or nearly perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book ''Utopia (book), Utopia'', describing a fictional ...
[ " Two of Hearts", its lead single, received substantial radio airplay, along with its music video on ]MTV
MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...
, in the latter half of 1986. It reached number 3 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart,[ and the top 10 in several other countries.][ The album reached number 59 on the US album chart, and was certified ]gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...
. "Two of Hearts" briefly was considered for a "Weird Al" Yankovic
Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic ( ; born October 23, 1959) is an American singer, musician, songwriter, record producer, actor and author. He is best known for creating comedy songs that make light of pop culture and often parody specifi ...
parody, but the songwriters declined.[ She went on a U.S. and European club tour.][
The success of "Two of Hearts" led Swain to television appearances on talk shows as well as guest panel appearances on game shows '']The Gong Show
''The Gong Show'' is an American amateur talent contest franchised by Sony Pictures Television to many countries. It was broadcast on NBC's daytime schedule from June 14, 1976, through July 21, 1978, and in first-run syndication from 1976 to 1 ...
'' and ''The New Hollywood Squares
''Hollywood Squares'' (originally ''The Hollywood Squares'') is an American game show in which two contestants compete in a game of tic-tac-toe to win cash and prizes. The show Television pilot, piloted on NBC in 1965 and the regular series debut ...
'' She appeared as the character Cinnamon in the episode "Off-Broadway Baby" of the NBC sitcom '' The Facts of Life'' where she performed "Two of Hearts". In a follow-up episode, "A Star Is Torn", she performed "We Connect". Cast regular George Clooney
George Timothy Clooney (born May 6, 1961) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by George Clooney, numerous accolades, including a British Academy Film Awards, British Academy Film A ...
made his farewell appearance when his character decides to join Cinnamon as a roadie.[
]
1988–1992: ''Hard Machine'' and ''Nights Like This''
Swain released ''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 ...
'', the second Stacey Q album, in 1988. She changed her hair color from blond to red,[ and adopted a punk rock-influenced appearance. The album had other producers besides St. James, resulting in a different musical direction. The single "]Don't Make a Fool of Yourself
"Don't Make a Fool of Yourself" is a song by American recording artist Stacey Q. It was taken from her second studio album, ''Hard Machine'' (1988). The song was written by Stacey Swain, Jon St. James and Skip Hahn and was produced by Jon St. Jam ...
" peaked at number 66 on the US Hot 100
The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...
, with a remix by Shep Pettibone
Robert "Shep" Pettibone (born 10 July 1959) is an American record producer, remixer, songwriter and club DJ, one of the most prolific of the 1980s.
Career
Shep Pettibone surfaced after his work with Arthur Baker on Afrika Bambaataa & the Jazz ...
making the top five on the Hot Dance Chart. The single was featured in the ''Full House
''Full House'' is an American television sitcom created by Jeff Franklin for ABC. The show is about widowed father Danny Tanner who enlists his brother-in-law Jesse Katsopolis and childhood best friend Joey Gladstone to help raise his three dau ...
'' episode " D.J. Tanner's Day Off", where she briefly appeared as Stacey Q. The songs "The River" and "Another Chance" were featured in the cult action film ''One Man Force'', where she also had an appearance.[
'' Nights Like This'' was her third and final album with Atlantic. Released in 1989, it also marked SSQ's last participation. Its first single was "Give You All My Love," and "Heartbeat", its second single, featured backing vocals by ]Timothy B. Schmit
Timothy Bruce Schmit (born October 30, 1947) is an American musician, singer, and songwriter. He has performed as the bassist and vocalist for Poco and the Eagles (band), Eagles, having replaced bassist and vocalist Randy Meisner in both cases ...
of the Eagles
Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just ...
. Its title track featured backing vocals by The Weather Girls
The Weather Girls are an American female duo whose best-known line-up comprised Martha Wash and Izora Armstead. Formed in 1976 in San Francisco, California, The Weather Girls members began their musical career as Two Tons O' Fun, the female back ...
. The musical style involved more experimenting with instruments such as Kawai
is a musical instrument manufacturing company headquartered in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka, Japan. It is best known for its grand pianos, upright pianos, digital pianos, electronic keyboards and electronic synthesizers. The company was founded in Augus ...
keyboards.[ She promoted the album with another national tour at various clubs.][ On television, she appeared in an episode of '']Mama's Family
''Mama's Family'' is an American sitcom television series starring Vicki Lawrence as Thelma Harper, Mama (Thelma Harper). The series is a Spin-off (media), spin-off of a recurring series of sketch comedy, comedy sketches called "The Family (sketc ...
'' in which she was a member of an all-female band An all-female band is a musical group in popular music that is exclusively composed of female musicians. This is distinct from a girl group, in which the female members are solely vocalists, though this terminology is not universally followed. While ...
called The Bonecrushers.
1993–1997: ''Stacey Q's Greatest Hits'' and ''Boomerang''
In 1993, Swain released the single "Too Hot for Love" under the independent label Thump Records
Thump Records is a record label specialized in various genres of music. Founded by Bill Walker and Al Lopez for $10,000. In 1997 Bill Walker became its sole C.E.O. and President.
History
Thump's success was ignited by the popularity of its Old S ...
. The single was structured toward an early-1990s dance sound and featured sexually suggestive lyrics, representing another change in direction for the artist. Thump also gathered material from her first Atlantic Records album as well as tracks from Q and SSQ that never had been released on CD into a 1995 compilation album, ''Stacey Q's Greatest Hits
''Stacey Q's Greatest Hits'' is a greatest hits album by American singer Stacey Q, released on May 16, 1995 by Thump Records. It was re-released on February 6, 2007 under the title ''Queen of the 80's'' with a slightly different track listing. ...
''.[ Most of the tracks were either remixed or re-edited entirely from their original versions in an attempt to modernize them.][
In the mid-1990s, Swain traveled to ]Tibet
Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa people, ...
, where she was introduced to the monastic dance and song
A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetitio ...
of the Far East.[ She also lived in ]Nepal
Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne,
सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...
where she studied at monasteries with Buddhist
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...
lama
Lama (; "chief") is a title for a teacher of the Dharma in Tibetan Buddhism. The name is similar to the Sanskrit term ''guru'', meaning "heavy one", endowed with qualities the student will eventually embody. The Tibetan word "lama" means "hi ...
s and was trained in the ancient art of cham dance.
In 1997, Swain released the album ''Boomerang
A boomerang () is a thrown tool, typically constructed with aerofoil sections and designed to spin about an axis perpendicular to the direction of its flight. A returning boomerang is designed to return to the thrower, while a non-returning b ...
'', which reflected her experiences in Tibet, as well as her conversion to Buddhism
Religious conversion is the adoption of a set of beliefs identified with one particular religious denomination to the exclusion of others. Thus "religious conversion" would describe the abandoning of adherence to one denomination and affiliatin ...
. She also released a cover of a Janis Ian
Janis Ian (born Janis Eddy Fink; April 7, 1951) is an American singer-songwriter who was most commercially successful in the 1960s and 1970s. Her signature songs are the 1966/67 hit " Society's Child (Baby I've Been Thinking)" and the 1975 Top T ...
tune called "Tenderness", which reached number 5 on the Jamaica
Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...
n charts.[
]
1998–2022: Other projects and hiatus
Swain continued to be involved in various music and acting projects. She appeared in a gay-themed art film called ''Citizens of Perpetual Indulgence'',[ and had a "special non-sexual appearance" in ''Playing the Odds''. She collaborated with director ]Geoffrey Karen Dior
Karen Dior (February 14, 1967 – August 25, 2004) was the stage name of Geoffrey Gann, an American actress, singer, director, and drag queen.
Life and career
Karen Dior was born Geoffrey Gann in Missouri; She was adopted as an infant into a ...
on the compilation album ''Porn to Rock
Porn to Rock is a various artists music album, album released in 1999.
Track listing
#"Harder" (Sabateur featuring Chloe Nichole)
#"Asshole Man" (Vinnie Spit featuring Mistress Jacqueline)
#"Man on the Moon" (Madison (actor), Madison)
#"Who's ...
'' and Dior's 2001 album ''S E X''. In 2000, she played the lead female character Yeshe Tsogyal
Yeshe Tsogyal (c. 757 or 777 – 817 CE) , also known as "Victorious Ocean of Knowledge", " Knowledge Lake Empress" (, ཡེ་ཤེས་མཚོ་རྒྱལ), or by her Sanskrit name ''Jñānasāgara'' "Knowledge Ocean", or by her clan n ...
in a production of ''The Life of Padmasambhava'' by the San Francisco-based Namsay Dorje Theater Company.[ In 2002, Swain appeared in the "Identity Parade" round of the VH1 game show '']Never Mind the Buzzcocks
''Never Mind the Buzzcocks'' is a British comedy panel game show with a pop music theme. It has aired on Sky Max since September 2021, having originally aired between November 1996 and January 2015 on BBC Two. The original series was first hoste ...
''. She provided vocals for "Hear The Feeling", a 2003 single by Divine Frequency (Simply Jeff), that was used for the soundtrack of a documentary on raves
A rave (from the verb: '' to rave'') is a dance party at a warehouse, club, or other public or private venue, typically featuring performances by DJs playing electronic dance music. The style is most associated with the early 1990s dance mu ...
.[ She was the voice of Karin Kikuhara in the English-language version of '' Stratos 4'', a Japanese ]anime
is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...
series.[ She provided vocals on the debut album of the Echo Junkies, a duo of former SSQ bandmates Jon St. James and Skip Hahn.][
Thump Records released another Stacey Q compilation in 2007. ''Queen of the 80s'' contained original versions of many of her solo songs as well as songs by Q and SSQ. In November 2008, she appeared on CBS's ''The Early Show'' as part of the show's 1980s flashback segment where she sang "Two of Hearts".
In 2008, Swain provided guest vocals for Hydra Productions, a songwriting duo consisting of Shawn Winstian and Shane Condo. ''Liquid'', their debut album, featured appearances by dance-pop artists of the 1980s, also including Tiffany and ]Gioia Bruno
Gioia Bruno (born Carmen Gioia Bruno June 11, 1963, sometimes professionally credited as just Gioia) is an Italian-born American popular music singing, singer, most noted as a member of the vocal group Exposé (band), Exposé.
In September 2006, ...
of Exposé
Expose, exposé, or exposed may refer to:
News sources
* Exposé (journalism), a form of investigative journalism
* '' The Exposé'', a British conspiracist website
Film and TV Film
* ''Exposé'' (film), a 1976 thriller film
* ''Exposed'' (1932 ...
.
In September 2022, Stacey's "Better Than Heaven" album was re-released with bonus tracks and remixes.
Discography
*''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 ...
'' (1986)
*''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 ...
'' (1988)
*'' Nights Like This'' (1989)
*''Boomerang
A boomerang () is a thrown tool, typically constructed with aerofoil sections and designed to spin about an axis perpendicular to the direction of its flight. A returning boomerang is designed to return to the thrower, while a non-returning b ...
'' (1997)
*''Color Me Cinnamon
''Color Me Cinnamon'' is the fifth and final studio album by American singer Stacey Q, released on February 14, 2010 by Hydra Productions. It was her first release in thirteen years since her last album, ''Boomerang'' (1997). The work on the albu ...
'' (2010)
Filmography
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stacey Q
1958 births
Living people
20th-century American actresses
20th-century American singers
20th-century American women singers
21st-century American actresses
21st-century American singers
21st-century American women singers
Actresses from Anaheim, California
Actresses from Fullerton, California
American dance musicians
American female dancers
American dancers
American women pop singers
American house musicians
American new wave musicians
American voice actresses
Converts to Buddhism
American Buddhists
American women in electronic music
Women new wave singers
Musicians from Anaheim, California
Musicians from Fullerton, California
Singers from California
Tibetan Buddhists from the United States