SSQ
Introduction
SSQ were a relatively short lived band who provided electronic music for commercial media. Th
is includes television and film. The original line up consisted of lead singer Stacey Swain (who would later become Stacey Q), as well as Jon St. James, John Van Tongeren and Dan Van Patten. Despite only being on the music scene for 5 years they have supplied some of the most loved cult electro tunes of the 80’s.
Cave Girl
The 1985 comedy film Cave Girl featured Daniel Roebuck as a typical high school nerd who gets transported back to cave man times. There he meets and falls in love with a cave girl called Eba. The film features an extensive synth soundtrack supplied by SSQ. This is perhaps their best film collaboration. This is because of the amount of songs that are featured by them. These include:
- Synthicide
This serves as the movies theme tune. It is used to open the film up with. While it is played we see a helicopter flying by and testing out it’s bombing capabilities. It is one of SSQ’s most dance-able songs thanks to the rich tempo.
- Walkman On
This is one of the band’s most complex songs. It involves a layered amount of synthesizer tracks. It is played during a scene where the main character tries to bond with a tribe of cave people. The film version of the song has an increased tempo to keep up with the action of the scene.
- Anonymous
This song is less upbeat and more moving than their other pop songs. It plays during the films end scene and credits. During this sequence we see the main characters walk off into the distance together.
Return Of The Living Dead
This zombie comedy horror has had a lasting
legacy on popular culture. Perhaps the most well known sequence is the dance scene in the graveyard. This involves the biker character Trash dancing on top of a tomb. During this the song Tonight (We’ll Make Love Until We Die) plays. This has become perhaps the most well known use of an SSQ song in the band’s entire history. Because this film has been watched by a large number of people it is often their first introduction to the music of SSQ.
