Stacey Q

About Stacey Q

Stacey Lynn Swain, known by her stage name Stacey Q, is an American pop singer, songwriter, dancer and actress. Her best-known single, "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.

After graduating from high school in 1976, Swain joined the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus, 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. In 1981, Swain was introduced to Jon St. James, the proprietor of Fullerton's Casbah Recording Studio. Jon was a big fan of synth bands like Kraftwerk and M; when he met Stacey Swain in 1981, he knew right away that this impossibly stylish former Ringling Bros. elephant girl and veteran of the Disney Main Street parade possessed star qualities perfectly compatible with electronic music, a genre Stacey also adored. She was enamored of the obscure Japanese band The Plastics and The B-52's, and simply could not get over David Bowie. As a student of style, Swain could literally turn rags into a fashion statement. On one occasion she went to the renaissance fair in Agoura dressed simply in two large pieces of soft leather she bought from a shop in Anaheim.

St. James built synthpop band around Swain called Q, but had to change their name because of copyright issues when producer Quincy Jones reportedly had "established use of the 'Q' moniker". They renamed the band SSQ, 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, which featured the single "Synthicide" that was also made into a music video.

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 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 with St. James as manager and the other members of SSQ as backup musicians.