Sue Saad and the Next was an American new wave band from

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wo ...

. Its self-titled first album reached No. 131 in the

US Billboard 200 The ''Billboard'' 200 is a record chart ranking the 200 most popular music albums and EPs in the United States. It is published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine and is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artist ...

in 1980. Sue Saad and the Next also provided part of the

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...

s for several films during the 1980s such as ''

Roadie The road crew (or roadies) are the technicians or support personnel who travel with a band on tour, usually in sleeper buses, and handle every part of the concert productions except actually performing the music with the musicians. This ca ...

'' (1980), ''

Looker ''Looker'' is a 1981 American science fiction film written and directed by Michael Crichton and starring Albert Finney, Susan Dey, and James Coburn. The film is a suspense/science-fiction piece that comments upon and satirizes media, advertisin ...

'' (1981) and ''

Radioactive Dreams ''Radioactive Dreams'' is a 1985 post-apocalyptic science fiction-comedy film written and directed by Albert Pyun and starring George Kennedy, Michael Dudikoff, Don Murray, and Lisa Blount. The names of the two main characters are homages to ...

'' (1985). Saad performed in ''Radioactive Dreams'' and voiced the main theme for ''Looker''.

Band members

* Sue Saad (1978—1986): Vocalist and songwriter * James Lance (1978—1986): Drummer, vocalist and co-songwriter. He worked with Richard Perry to produce the band's first album. * Tony Riparetti (1978—1986): Guitarist, vocalist and co-songwriter. After leaving the band, he started his own studio and frequently worked with director

Albert Pyun Albert Pyun (May 19, 1953 – November 26, 2022) was an American film director who made low-budget B-movies and direct-to-video action films. The Independent Film Channel said that Pyun "has carved out a unique niche as a director of low-budge ...

. * Billy Anstatt (1978—1981): Backup guitarist * Bobby Manzer (1978—1981): Bass player

History

Sue Marie Saad, James Lance and Anthony "Tony" Lloyd Riparetti met in

junior high school A middle school (also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school) is an educational stage which exists in some countries, providing education between primary school and secondary school ...

while growing up in

Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara ( es, Santa Bárbara, meaning "Saint Barbara") is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coa ...

. Given their mutual interest in music, they began collaborating and eventually formed ''The Calliope''. They achieved some success and released several singles. One of these, "We've Made It", dealt with the

generation gap A generation gap or generational gap is a difference of opinions between one generation and another regarding beliefs, politics, or values. In today's usage, ''generation gap'' often refers to a perceived gap between younger people and their pare ...

and so angered a local

disc jockey A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include Radio personality, radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music f ...

that he destroyed the record while still on air and voiced a tirade against the band. The three formed a new band around 1978, Sue Saad and the Next, whereupon they moved to

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

and then

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

hoping to find work as sidemen. It was during this time that they began writing songs and recording them on their ''Rodney Sound'' four-track tape recorder. They were later joined by guitarist Billy Anstatt and bass player Bobby Manzer, studio musicians who had played together in the

rock musical A rock musical is a musical theatre work with rock music. The genre of rock musical may overlap somewhat with album musicals, concept albums and song cycles, as they sometimes tell a story through the rock music, and some album musicals and conce ...

''Zen Boogie'', wanting to perform in a regular band. The band played in clubs and similar venues throughout Los Angeles and were eventually signed by

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...

to develop as writers. Then-chairman Ed Silvers brought the band to record producer

Richard Perry Richard Van Perry (born June 18, 1942) is an American record producer. He began as a performer in his adolescence while attending Poly Prep, his high school in Brooklyn. After graduating from college he rose through the late 1960s and early 1970 ...

who immediately signed them to a contract with his company

Planet Records Planet Records was an independent American record label founded in 1978 by record producer Richard Perry. It was distributed by Elektra/Asylum Records until 1982, when Perry sold it to RCA Records. Label history Beginnings The label was found ...

in late 1979. They, along with Marc Safan and

the Cretones The Cretones were a United States, Los Angeles-based power pop group in the early 1980s. Led by singer/guitarist and former Eddie Boy Band member, Mark Goldenberg (who also wrote the bulk of The Cretones' material), the group had a strong sense of ...

, were the first new wave groups signed to the label.Grein, Paul. "Perry Turns To 'New Music' For Latest Signings On Planet Live." ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' 8 December 1979: 4+. The band's debut album was co-produced by James Lance and Richard Perry, the first time Perry had ever shared a production credit, with all the songs being written by Lance, Riparetti and Saad. The album, self-titled ''Sue Saad and the Next'', took less than twenty days to finish at a cost of $50,000. This was well below the industry standard, generally between $125,000–150,000 financing, and at least 3 to 6 months production time. It was released in 1980 and reached No. 131 on the

. Perry later said the album's songs "evoke youthful passion seasoned with wry adult knowledge, as well as a toughminded picture of daily American life and the ways it can be lit up by moments of rock and roll celebration." It was the fourth album to come out from Richard Perry's label and received some positive reviews, earning comparisons to

Pat Benatar Patricia Mae Giraldo (''née'' Andrzejewski, formerly Benatar; born January 10, 1953), known professionally as Pat Benatar, is an American rock singer and songwriter. In the United States, she has had two multi-platinum albums, five platinum alb ...

and Blondie, and made its way overseas months later. That same year, their music was featured in the 1980 comedy film ''

'' along with

Eddie Rabbitt Edward Thomas Rabbitt (November 27, 1941 – May 7, 1998) was an American country music singer and songwriter. His career began as a songwriter in the late 1960s, springboarding to a recording career after composing hits such as " Kentucky Rain ...

Jerry Lee Lewis Jerry Lee Lewis (September 29, 1935October 28, 2022) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Nicknamed "The Killer", he was described as " rock & roll's first great wild man". A pioneer of rock and roll and rockabilly music, Lewis mad ...

Roy Orbison Roy Kelton Orbison (April 23, 1936 – December 6, 1988) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician known for his impassioned singing style, complex song structures, and dark, emotional ballads. His music was described by critics as ...

and

Emmylou Harris Emmylou Harris (born April 2, 1947) is an American singer, songwriter and musician. She has released dozens of albums and singles over the course of her career and has won 14 Grammys, the Polar Music Prize, and numerous other honors, includin ...

, The Joe Ely Band,

Teddy Pendergrass Theodore DeReese Pendergrass (March 26, 1950 – January 13, 2010) was an American soul and R&B singer-songwriter. He was born in Kingstree, South Carolina. Pendergrass spent most of his life in the Philadelphia area, and initially rose to musi ...

, Jay Ferguson and Pat Benatar. The film's director

Alan Rudolph Alan Steven Rudolph (born December 18, 1943) is an American film director and screenwriter. Early life Rudolph was born in Los Angeles, California, the son of Oscar Rudolph (1911–1991), a television director and actor, and his wife. He be ...

liked the band so much that one scene was written in specifically for one of their songs, "Double Yellow Line", which took place on a highway. The band continued performing throughout the United States and toured

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located enti ...

with UFO and the

Boomtown Rats The Boomtown Rats are an Irish rock band originally formed in Dublin in 1975. Between 1977 and 1985, they had a series of Irish and UK hits including "Like Clockwork", " Rat Trap", "I Don't Like Mondays" and "Banana Republic". The original li ...

. They also appeared in concerts run by Texas promoter Jack Orbin in late 1981. During the next few years, Sue Saad and the Next performed the main themes for the

science fiction film Science fiction (or sci-fi) is a film genre that uses speculative, fictional science-based depictions of phenomena that are not fully accepted by mainstream science, such as extraterrestrial lifeforms, spacecraft, robots, cyborgs, interstell ...

s ''

'' (1981) and ''

'' (1985). "Radioactive Dreams" and three other songs, "Guilty Pleasure", "She's A Fire" and "When Lightning Strikes", were among those released on the official Radioactive Dreams soundtrack. It was also in ''Radioactive Dreams'' that Sue Saad had a small role as a punk rocker who performed a musical number, "Guilty Pleasure", and is regarded by many fans of the film as one of its most memorable moments. It was while working on "Radioactive Dreams" that director

made an offer to James Lance and Tony Riparetti to score music for film and together composed the music for ''

Say Yes Say may refer to: Music *''Say'' (album), 2008 album by J-pop singer Misono *Say (John Mayer song), "Say" (John Mayer song), 2007 *"Say (All I Need)", 2007 song by American pop rock band OneRepublic *Say (Method Man song), "Say" (Method Man song) ...

'' (1986), '' Commando Squad'' (1987), ''

Alien from L.A. ''Alien from L.A.'' is a 1988 science fiction film directed by Albert Pyun and starring Kathy Ireland as a young woman who visits the underground civilization of Atlantis. The film was featured on ''Mystery Science Theater 3000''. This film is l ...

'' (1988) and '' Brainsmasher... A Love Story'' (1993). Though Lance eventually left the partnership, Riparetti remained with Pyun and continued to compose scores for his films including '' Omega Doom'' (1997), '' Mean Guns'' (1997), ''

Postmortem An autopsy (post-mortem examination, obduction, necropsy, or autopsia cadaverum) is a surgical procedure that consists of a thorough examination of a corpse by dissection to determine the cause, mode, and manner of death or to evaluate any dis ...

'' (1998), ''

Invasion An invasion is a military offensive in which large numbers of combatants of one geopolitical entity aggressively enter territory owned by another such entity, generally with the objective of either: conquering; liberating or re-establishing co ...

'' (2005) and '' Left for Dead'' (2007). He also worked with Beastie Boys for a time. Riparetti's success led to his starting his own company, Sound Logic, which composes film scores and sound editing for

low-budget films A low-budget film or low-budget movie is a motion picture shot with little to no funding from a major film studio or private investor. Many independent films are made on low budgets, but films made on the mainstream circuit with inexperienced or ...

from his North Calle César Chávez studio in Santa Barbara. In April 2008, Riparetti and his company were featured in the ''

Santa Barbara Independent The ''Santa Barbara Independent'' is a news, arts, and alternative newspaper published every Thursday in Santa Barbara, California, United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or ...

''. The band's second album ''Long Way Home,'' recorded in the 1980s under the band's own initiative and funding, was released digitally in January 2016.

Discography

Albums

Studio albums

Compilation albums

Singles

* *Note: the 45-Rpm single version of "Looker" is about 1 minute longer than the version used for the movie and is mixed & played differently.

Covers

* "Prisoner" was covered by

Sheena Easton Sheena Shirley Easton (; born 27 April 1959) is a Scottish singer and actress. Easton came into the public eye in an episode of the first British musical reality television programme '' The Big Time: Pop Singer'', which recorded her attempts to ...

on her 1981 album ''

Take My Time ''Take My Time'' is the debut album by UK pop singer Sheena Easton. Released in January 1981, the album reached #17 in the UK and earned her a Gold Disc. Two months later, a ten track version of the album was released in the USA and Canada as ''S ...

'', then again by

Uriah Heep Uriah Heep may refer to: * Uriah Heep (character), a character in the Charles Dickens novel ''David Copperfield'' *Uriah Heep (band), a British rock band active since 1969 *''Uriah Heep Live ''Uriah Heep Live'' is a double live album by Britis ...

on their 1982 ''

Abominog ''Abominog'' is the 14th studio album by British rock band Uriah Heep, released in March 1982 by Bronze Records in the United Kingdom, and in September 1982 by Mercury Records in the United States. It was their first album without keyboardist K ...

''.

Cherie Currie Cherie Ann Currie (born November 30, 1959) is an American singer, musician, actress and artist. Currie was the lead vocalist of The Runaways, a rock band from Los Angeles, in the mid-to-late 1970s. After The Runaways, she became a solo artist. ...

and

Marie Currie Marie Michelle Currie (born November 30, 1959) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and artist. Currie is best known for playing in a band with her identical twin Cherie Currie called Cherie & Marie Currie. Their song " Since You Been ...

covered "Prisoner" on the 1997 re-release of '' Messin' with the Boys''. * "Looker" was covered by

Kim Carnes Kim Carnes (; born July 20, 1945) is an American singer and songwriter. Born and raised in Los Angeles, California, she began her career as a songwriter in the 1960s, writing for other artists while performing in local clubs and working as a sess ...

on her 1982 album ''

Voyeur Voyeurism is the sexual interest in or practice of watching other people engaged in intimate behaviors, such as undressing, sexual activity, or other actions of a private nature. The term comes from the French ''voir'' which means "to see". A ...

''.

References

External links

Sue Saad and the Next
at

Artistdirect ARTISTdirect is an American online digital media entertainment company. Overview Founded in 1994, it owns several websites, including artistdirect.com and artistdirectinterviews.com. These websites are a group of affiliate websites offering mu ...

* * *
Unofficial website
* {{Authority control Musical groups established in 1979 American new wave musical groups Punk rock groups from California Progressive rock musical groups from California Warner Records artists