Jon St. James

Jon St. James
Genres	Rock, Techno Pop, Dance, Electronic
Instruments	Guitar, electronic devices, drums
Years active	1977 to present

Jon St. James is an American guitarist, songwriter–composer, producer and engineer whose Casbah Recording Studio was a part of Orange County, California's new music scene in the late 1970s and early to mid-1980s. St. James' first album was as leader–frontman–songwriter of the progressive rock group French Lick. St James was a pioneer of techno pop and dance music, using Moog synthesizers, electronic effects, and tape loops. St. James lived in France for two years, studying Musique concrète with French composers.

There he first used Revox A77 tape machines to create ambient electronic textures. Upon returning from France, St. James started the electronic pop group Q with Stacey Swain (Stacey Q), Dan Van Patten from Berlin and John Van Tongeren. Q released one single, "Playback," on Cocteau Records, which was co-owned by Bill Nelson of Bebop Deluxe fame. Q also released a self-titled EP on red vinyl in the US on M.A.O. Records in 1982. Q later became SSQ and signed with EMI America Records on the heels of St. James' recording the first Berlin album Pleasure Victim. EMI signed St. James to a six-record solo deal. The first single off St. James' solo album "Trans-Atlantic" was to be "The Girl Who Seduced The World", which David Bowie wanted for his album Let's Dance. However, EMI America closed its doors almost immediately after the release of the SSQ and Jon St. James albums. St. James continued to do TV and movie work. He and Swain regrouped as Stacey Q in 1984 and released "Two of Hearts", which became a worldwide pop hit on Atlantic Records.

As a producer and engineer, St. James led several influential recording projects beginning in the 1980s, including records by punk bands The Vandals and Social Distortion, as well as the new wave band Berlin.

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