The Casbah Recording Studio or simply Casbah is a recording studio in the Orange County

Orange County, California

Orange County is a county in the U.S. state of California. Its county seat is Santa Ana. As of the 2010 census, its population was 3,010,232, up from 2,846,293 at the 2000 census, making it the third most populous county in California, behind Los Angeles County and San Diego County...

 suburb of Fullerton, California

Fullerton, California

Fullerton is a city located in northern Orange County, California. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 135,161.It was founded in 1887 by George and Edward Amerige and named for George H. Fullerton, who secured the land on behalf of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway...

 that helped to spawn several highly successful acts, including Berlin

Berlin (band)

Berlin is an American New Wave/Synthpop band. The group was formed in Los Angeles in 1978 by John Crawford . The band contained Crawford, Terri Nunn , David Diamond , Ric Olsen , Matt Reid and Rod Learned . Learned left during the first EU tour and was replaced by Rob Brill...

, Stacey Q

Stacey Q

Stacey Q is a pop singer, dancer and actress. She is best known for her 1985 hit single "Two of Hearts".-Early life:Stacey Swain was born on November 30, 1958 in Fullerton, California. She is the youngest of three children...

, and Social Distortion

Social Distortion

Social Distortion is an American punk rock band formed in 1978 in Fullerton, California. The band currently consists of Mike Ness , Jonny Wickersham , Brent Harding and David Hidalgo, Jr...

.

When the Orange County-based producer Jon St. James

Jon St. James

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...

 purchased the studio in the late 1970s, it boasted only a TEAC 8-track tape machine, a mixing console and a few effects. St. James purchased additional electronic devices and rack mount equipment using money he earned doing sound-alike recordings of popular songs for television and radio. St. James' business partner was Chaz Ramirez, also a talented musician and engineer.

In the early 1980s, St. James replaced the 8-track TEAC with a 16 track, which was considered the standard in many studios at the time. It was on that reel-to-reel tape machine that Berlin's blockbuster Pleasure Victim

Pleasure Victim

Pleasure Victim was the second, gold-certified studio album by the American New Wave band Berlin, released in 1982. The singles from this recording were "Sex ", followed by "The Metro" , and "Masquerade". Pleasure Victim is often listed as being an EP album, although it is uncertain if seven songs...

EP and Stacey Q's Better Than Heaven

Better Than Heaven

Better Than Heaven was singer Stacey Q's first album under Atlantic Records. This release was the first full-length album that the same lineup of musicians , released simply under the name Stacey Q. The artist continued to work with her SSQ bandmates in her solo albums such as Better Than Heaven,...

album were recorded. The Casbah attracted talent in a variety of genres.
The New Casbah

St. James recently opened a new Casbah recording studio in downtown Fullerton—a Pro Tools equipped digital studio offering recording, mixing, and mastering services.