Sue Saad and the Next was a New Wave band from Los Angeles who only released a single self titled album in 1980. Considered one hit wonders, the band has nevertheless achieved cult status largely due to soundtracks the band did for several movies during the 1980s such as Roadie (1980), Looker (1981) and Radioactive Dreams (1985). Sue Saad was featured in the film Radioactive Dreams and her songs are played throughout the film and on its soundtrack. Saad also originally voiced the main theme song for Looker which was later performed by Kim Carnes.

Band members

* Sue Saad (1978—1986): Vocalist of the band and songwriter.

* James Lance (1978—1986): Drummer, vocalist and co-songwriter.

* Tony Riparetti (1978—1986): Guitarist, vocalist and co-songwriter.

* Billy Anstatt (1978—1981): Backup guitarist.

* Bobby Manzer (1978—1981): Bass player.


Sue Marie Saad, James Lance and Anthony "Tony" Lloyd Riparetti met in junior high school Santa Barbara, California and began collaborating together,eventually forming the band Calliope. Calliope was successful and released several singles before the band reformed under the name Sue Saad and the Next in1978. In an effort to get work they moved to San Francisco and soon after Los Angeles where they began writing songs and recording them on their Rodney Sound four-track tape recorder. Guitarist Billy Anstatt and bass player Bobby Manzer, studio musicians who had played together in the rock musical Zen Boogie, eventually joined the band. They played in clubs throughout Los Angeles and eventually got signed by Warner Brothers Music as writers. Ed Silvers, brought the band to record producer Richard Perry who immediately signed them to a contract with his company Planet Records in late-1979. Along with Marc Safan and the Cretones, Sue Saad and the Next were the first New Wave groups signed to the label.

Their debut album was co-produced by James Lance and Richard Perry and all the songs were written by Lance, Riparetti and Saad. The self-titled album took less than twenty days to finish and cost $50,000 a remarkable fast and inexpensive album for the time. Released in 1980 it reached #131 on the US Billboard 200. That same year, their music was featured in the 1980 comedy film Roadie along with Eddie Rabbit, Jerry Lee Lewis, Roy Orbison and Emmylou Harris, The Joe Ely Band, Teddy Pendergrass, Jay Ferguson and Pat Benetar. Director Alan Rudolph 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.

They continued performing throughout the United States and toured Europe with UFO and the Boomtown Rats. Sue Saad and the Next performed music for the science fiction movies Looker (1981) and Radioactive Dreams (1985), performing the main themes for both. "Radioactive Dreams" and three other songs, "Guilty Pleasure", "She's A Fire" and "When Lightning Strikes" were featured in the film. Sue Saad was also in the film as a punk rocker who performed the band's song "Guilty Pleasure". Fans of the film consider the performance one of the best moments in the film.

Director Albert Pyun made an offer to James Lance and Tony Riparetti to score music for film after their successful collaboration on Radioactive Dreams and together they composed the music for Say Yes (1986), Commando Squad (1987), Alien from L.A. (1988) and Brainsmasher... A Love Story (1993). Lance eventually left the partnership, but Riparetti remained with Pyun and continued to compose scores for his films including Omega Doom (1997), Mean Guns (1997), Postmortem (1998), Invasion (2005) and Left for Dead (2007). Riparetti also worked with the Beastie Boys. Riparetti started his own company, Sound Logic, which composes film scores and sound editing for low budget films from his North Calle César Chávez studio in Santa Barbara.

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