Baby Love : Check List ****<i> Great Balls of Fire</i> ***<i> Good Vibrations</i> **<i> Maybe Baby</i> *<i> Running on Empty </i>

** STACEY Q. “Hard Machine.” Atlantic. ** 1/2 BARDEUX. “Bold as Love.” Synthicide/Enigma. Baby vocals emanating from very grown women is not a new concept in pop music. Groups like the Ronettes and the Supremes wrote the book on the subject in the ‘60s, and Madonna’s offshoots continue to add new chapters. Stacey Q, singer of the frothy dance hits “Two of Hearts” and “We Connect,” is a pliable and non-threatening singer whose main hook--aside from her picture-perfect appearance--is that little-girl voice.

Much of Stacey’s new album is forgettable. Those who dismissed disco as droning and mindless won’t appreciate a track like “I Love You,” although it is tautly appealing. Better is “The River,” a rock workout made memorable by the wild aggressiveness of guitarist Rusty Anderson. The worst track is the title cut, on which Stacey assumes a tough, hipster pose and delivers ‘60s-era slang, along the lines of “Don’t give me yo’ jive!” It sounds like those quasi-rap commercials for trucks and vans on late-night TV. Corny! If Stacey and her producer Jon St. James think this is rap, they should be locked in a room and forced to listen to Public Enemy’s records until they holler for mercy.

St. James and co-producer Karl Moet (a member of Stacey’s road band) put the vocal duo Bardeux through their rap paces on “When We Kiss.” It’s not Salt & Pepa, but it doesn’t try to be. With its airy, neo-jazz backing, the track is atmospheric and sensual on its own terms.

Elsewhere, Bardeux’s sound needs beefing up. Aside from the spiffy, synthesizer-powered “Three Time Lover,” most of “Bold as Love” is so thin that it’s almost translucent. While the Penthouse Pet disco-pop of “Sex Machine” sounds like a high school kid’s idea of sex appeal, there is enough on this album to suggest that with better material, more individuality--and a little reckless abandon--newcomers Bardeux could give the more established Stacey Q a run for her money on the dance scene.