1983 SSQ – Playback

Playback is the first studio album by the American synthpop band SSQ, released in 1983 by Enigma and EMI America Records. It was the only album released by the band as SSQ until the release of their second album Jet Town Je t’aime in 2020, though the band members later worked on lead singer Stacey Q’s debut album Better Than Heaven (1986) and follow-up album, Hard Machine (1988).

“Synthicide”, “Big Electronic Beat”, and “Clockwork” appeared on the soundtrack of the 1984 film Hardbodies. “Synthicide” and “Anonymous” appeared on the soundtrack of the 1985 film Cavegirl.

The album was re-released on July 10, 2014, by F1 Music as a digital download on the iTunes Store and Amazon. It has never been issued on a legitimate compact disc by any company. It was originally issued on vinyl and cassette only

Tracks

1  Synthicide (Jon St James) 03:32
2  Jet Town (Jon St James; John van Tongeren) 03:40
3  Big Electronic Beat (Jon St James; John van Tongeren) 03:32
4  Clockwork (Jon St James) 05:31
5  Screaming In My Pillow (Jon St James; Elizabeth Roberts) 04:38
6  Anonymous (Jon St James; John van Tongeren) 03:55
7  Walkman On (Jon St James; John van Tongeren) 03:36
8  N’Importe Quoi (Jon St James; Martine Hamel) 02:56

Musicians

DrumsKarl Moet
GuitarScott Bowers
GuitarSteve Moir
GuitarJon St James
SynthesizerJohn van Tongeren
SynthesizerRich West
SynthesizerJon St James
SynthesizerSkip Hahn
ProgrammingKeith Walsh
ProgrammingRon Anzalone
VocoderSkip Hahn
VocalsJon St James
VocalsStacey Swain

Liner Notes

Producer – Jon St James
Engineer – Biff Vincent, Steve MacMillan
Mastered By – Jeff Sanders, Richard Donaldson
Remix – Joe Chiccarelli

Art Direction – Henry Marquez
Design – Mike Diehl
Photography – Albert Sanchez

Recorded At Front Page
Recorded at Kendun
Recorded At Casbah
Phonographic Copyright Enigma Records
Copyright Enigma Records