Looker - Sue Saad

The band Sue Saad and the Next never made it big, but existed from 1979 to 1986. Their self-titled debut album was released in 1980, but only managed a lowly placing in the US album chart at number 131.

After the album, only one single was released, 'Looker' credited to Sue Saad. It did not chart, but the band still played live concerts until 1986, while also contributing tracks to movie soundtracks from time to time.

My collection: 7" single no. 4895
Found: Da Capo, Utrecht, May 28, 2010
Cost: 1 euro
Tracks: 'Looker' / 'Highwire'

Gimme love/gimme pain - Sue Saad and the Next

The only claim to fame Sue Saad and the Next ever made was a hit in the Netherlands with the dramatic rock song 'Young girl'. I bought the single at the time and for years it was one of my favourite songs of all times.

I never bought any of their next singles, until I found 'Prisoner' six months ago. 'Gimme love/gimme pain', which I found just the other day, is another example of their brand of new wave rock. It was not a hit, but sometimes the best singles are those that are ignored by the general public...

My collection: 7" single no. 4894
Found: Da Capo, Utrecht, May 28, 2010
Cost: 1 euro
Tracks: 'Gimme love/gimme pain' / 'Kamonbaybeh'

Prisoner - Sue Saad and the Next

Another recent find is this single by Sue Saad and the Next. 'Prisoner' was taken from their only self-titled album and it's the single I bought last week at the Utrecht record fair.

Sue Saad and The Next are Sue Saad (vocals), James Lance (drums), Tony Riparetti (guitar), Billy Anstatt (guitar), and Bobby Manzer (bass). Saad, Lance, and Riparetti wrote all the songs on the band's self-titled debut album and are the original nucleus of the group, having been friends and musical collaborators since junior high school in Santa Barbara, California. Richard Perry produced the band's album with the help of Lance, the whole project taking less than twenty days to complete. Lance had said that the songs on the album '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'. For more information about the band, have a look at this webpage.

My collection: 7" single no. 3460

Found: Record fair, Utrecht, November 22, 2008

Cost: 0,5 euro

Tracks: 'Prisoner' / ' I want him'

Download: Album 'Sue Saad & the Next', including both tracks

Young girl - Sue Saad and the Next

In 1980 there were some female fronted bands around. Blondie, obviously, started the trends, but later bands like the Pretenders would take their example and build on it. A short-lived band like Sue Saad and the Next was another example. They released one album in 1980. Their first single from that album was 'Young girl'. It reached the Dutch chart in April 1980 and stayed in there for six week, reaching no. 20.

It was a great example of new wave rock, which impressed me as a young radio listener. I simply had to buy this single, and I did so as soon as I could. I never regretted it. I also remember losing this single: for two years I didn't know where this record had gone. Until one day, the room I had in my parents's house was remodelled and I found it behind a radiator of the central heating. Miraculously enough, it hadn't even bent.

My collection: 7" single no. 46

Found: Wouters, Den Haag, 1980

Cost: 6 guilders

Tracks: 'Young girl' / 'Cold night rain'

Download: Album 'Sue Saad & the Next', including both tracks