''Hard Machine'' is the second studio album by American 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, nu ...

, released in February 1988 by

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 ...

. After the international success of her song " Two of Hearts" and debut album '' Better Than Heaven'' (1986), Swain began working on her sophomore record. She again collaborated with her bandmates from SSQ. Produced by Jon St. James, ''Hard Machine'' is a

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 ...

album, which is influenced by new wave,

contemporary R&B Contemporary R&B (or simply R&B) is a popular music Music genre, genre that combines rhythm and blues with elements of Pop music, pop, Soul music, soul, funk, Hip hop music, hip hop, and electronic music. The genre features a distinctive Recor ...

and rock music. Upon its release, ''Hard Machine'' received generally positive reviews from

music critics Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on ...

and noted a small commercial success, peaking at number 115 on the ''Billboard'' 200. Three singles were released from the album. The lead single, " Don't Make a Fool of Yourself" (

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 ...

Remix), released on March 25, 1988, peaked at number 19 on the Hot Crossover 30, Number 4 on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs, Number 1 on the Top 12 inch Singles Sales chart, and also peaking at number 66 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The second single "I Love You" peaked at Number 49 on the ''Billboard'' Hot Dance Club Songs. "Favorite Things" was released as a promotional single.

Track listing

# "Good Girl" (K. Fisher, M. Stein) (4:02) # "Favorite Things" (J. St. James, S. Swain) (4:10) # "Kiss It All Goodbye" (J. St. James, S. Swain) (3:47) # " Don't Make A Fool Of Yourself" (S. Hahn, J, St. James, S. Swain) (4:08) # "The River" (J. St. James, S. Swain) (5:06) # "I Love You" (J. St. James, S. Swain) (4:35) # "Temptation" (K. Fisher, M. Stein) (3:51) # "Hard Machine" (J. St. James, S. Swain) (3:16) # "After Hours" (J. St. James, S. Swain) (3:26) # "Another Chance" (S. Hahn, S. Swain) (4:05)

Credits and personnel

SSQ

* Stacey Q. - lead vocals, backing vocals * Skip Hahn - keyboards, guitar, backing vocals * Karl Moet - drums, sampling, percussion * Rich West - keyboards, arrangement on track 10 * Jon St. James - keyboards, drums, percussion

Additional Musicians

* Scott Bowers - guitar (tracks 1, 7) * Eddie Reddick - vocals (tracks 1, 7) * Rusty Anderson - guitar (track 8) * Joe Cristina - Formula 1 horns * John Deemer - Formula 1 horns * Victor Cajiao - Formula 1 horns * Michael Stein - additional keyboards * Kirk Fisher - additional keyboards

Production

* Tony Mandich - creative consultant * Anthony Sanfilippo - creative consultant * Keith Zajic - creative consultant * Keith Cowen - creative consultant * Paul Cooper - production coordinator * Larry Yasgar - production coordinator * Karl Moet - assistant engineer * Jimi Yamagishi - assistant engineer * Digital Magnetics/Ted Hall - digital mastering * Danny Mendellin - hair * La Lotte - make-up * Mike Jones - photography * Dennis King - mastering * Romi Marie - management/Formula 1

References

External links

* ''Hard Machine''at

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the dat ...

* {{Authority control 1988 albums Stacey Q albums Atlantic Records albums