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Suzi Quatro

 
Artist: Suzi Quatro
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Suzi Quatro

Similar Artists:

Kenny, Smokie, Mud, Sweet, The Runaways, Joan Jett, Geordie, Fanny, Bay City Rollers, The Knack, The Arrows, Cockney Rebel, Showaddywaddy, Hello, Glitter Band

Influenced By:

David Bowie

Followers:

Kim Gordon, Wendy O. Williams, The Runaways, Joan Jett, Gabriella Cilmi, Lesley Roy, The Donnas, Tuscadero

Performed Songs By:

Nicky Chinn

Worked With:

Lennie Tuckey, Dave Neal
See Suzi Quatro Lyrics
  • Born: June 03, 1950, Detroit, MI
  • Active: '70s, '80s, '90s, 2000s
  • Genres: Rock
  • Instrument: Vocals, Songwriter, Bass
  • Representative Albums: "The Wild One: Classic Quatro," "Suzi Quatro," "A's, B's and Rarities"
  • Representative Songs: "Can the Can," "Devil Gate Drive," "48 Crash"

Biography

It's pretty far-fetched, as some revisionists are now claiming, to view Suzi Quatro as a precursor to the "riot grrrls" of the '90s. Her brand of mid-'70s glam pop was far more innocuous and, in any case, often supplied by professional songwriters. What she did prove was that it was possible for a petite woman to play bass, sing, and wear leather with a reasonable degree of raunch and pride. That, with enough musical hooks to draw in the teen pop crowd, was enough to reel off a series of big British hit singles just before the advent of punk, although she remained virtually unknown in her native U.S.

To the British audience, it seemed as if Quatro emerged out of nowhere in 1973, but in fact she'd been playing professionally for nearly a decade. While still in her early teens, she joined the Pleasure Seekers, a Detroit band also featuring her sisters Arlene and Patti. One of the few all-girl garage bands who played their own instruments, they recorded a fine, gritty single for the local Hideout label, "Never Thought You'd Leave Me"/"What a Way to Die" (both sides were reissued in the 1980s on the What a Way to Die '60s garage compilation). Another single followed for Mercury, and the group even toured Vietnam to entertain troops. In 1968, though, Arlene quit the band to raise her kids (one of whom is actress Sherilyn Fenn), to be replaced by yet another sister, Nancy.

The Pleasure Seekers became Cradle, which placed more emphasis on hard rock and original material. In the early '70s, British producer Mickie Most (the Animals, Lulu, Donovan, Herman's Hermits) happened to see Cradle while he was in Detroit to work on an album with Jeff Beck at Motown's studios. Most let Quatro know he was interested in working with her as a solo act; six months later, Cradle split, and Suzy was on her way to London (Patti joined the all-woman rock band Fanny in Los Angeles).

After her first single flopped, Most hooked her up with songwriters Mike Chapman and Nicky Chinn, who were also supplying material to the Sweet. The Chapman-Chinn-penned "Can the Can" went to number one in the U.K. in 1973, and over the next few years the same team would write about ten other British chart hits for her, including four Top Ten entries. These fused glitter and bubblegum in much the same way as the Sweet did, though Quatro was perhaps a tad raunchier (without ever getting downright scary). Quatro and her guitarist (and husband) Len Tuckey did write some of her material, though these efforts were usually confined to albums. In the U.S., though, she could barely get into the Top 100, though she did get on the cover of Rolling Stone.

Her American fortunes changed in the late '70s, when she had a short-lived, semi-regular stint on the sitcom Happy Days as the guitar-playing, sassy Leather Tuscadero. In 1979, she made the American Top Five with "Stumblin' In," although this was a duet with Chris Norman. Undoubtedly an influence upon the Runaways and Joan Jett, and thus by extension a mild influence on a subsequent generation of female rockers, she's kept a low profile in the '80s and '90s, although she's done some television and theatrical work in Britain. ~ Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide
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Home > Library > Miscellaneous > Wikipedia
This article is about the musician and actress Suzi Quatro. For other uses see Quatro and Suzie Q (disambiguation)
Suzi Quatro

Background information
Birth name Susan Kay Quatro (from her autobiography)
Born June 3, 1950 (1950-06-03) (age 59)
Origin Detroit, Michigan
Genres Pop rock
Glam rock
Occupations Singer-songwriter, record producer, actress
Instruments Vocals, bass guitar, piano
Years active 1964–present (singer)
Labels EMI Int'l
EMI
Bgo - Beat Goes on
Disky Records
Razor & Tie
Associated acts Chris Norman
Website Official Website

Suzi Quatro (born Susan Kay Quatro,[1] June 3, 1950, in Detroit, Michigan) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and actress.

She scored a string of hit singles in the 1970s that found greater success in Europe than in her homeland[citation needed], and had a recurring role on the popular American sitcom Happy Days.

Contents

Biography

Early life

Quatro was born into a Catholic[2] musical family. Her father, Art, a part time jazz musician, was of Italian descent,[3] while her mother, Helen Sanislay, was Hungarian.[4] She is the aunt of actress Sherilyn Fenn, whose mother is Quatro's sister Arlene.[5] Many sources have claimed that Quatro's birth name was Quatrocchio, but according to her autobiography, her paternal grandfather (whose last name was Quatrocchio) actually shortened the family name to "Quatro" before Suzi was even born. Quatro began her musical career at the age of fourteen.[6] She played the bass guitar in the all-female band Pleasure Seekers and Cradle with her sisters Patti, Nancy, and Arlene. Her first bass guitar was a 1957 Fender Precision, given to her by her father. Patti Quatro later joined the band Fanny, one of the earliest all-female rock bands to gain national attention.[7] She has a brother, Michael Quatro, who is also a musician.[8]

Quatro moved to the United Kingdom in 1971 after being discovered in Detroit by the record producer Mickie Most, who produced The Animals, Jeff Beck, Lulu, and Donovan.[9] By this time he had started his own label RAK Records, which made stars of Hot Chocolate and Mud.[10]

Career

Music

Quatro's first single "Rolling Stone" did not achieve popularity anywhere except in Portugal, where it hit number one on the charts. Most introduced Quatro to the songwriting and production team Nicky Chinn/Mike Chapman.[11] Her second single "Can the Can" (1973) was a number one hit throughout Europe and in Australia. It was followed up by three further hits: "48 Crash" (1973), "Daytona Demon" (1973), and "Devil Gate Drive" (1974) on RAK Records. Her first two albums were also European and Australian successes.

These recordings, however, met little success in her native United States, despite tours in the mid-1970s supporting Alice Cooper. Also, except in Australia, the popularity of Quatro's rocking glam rock declined from 1975 onwards. In the interim, she did enjoy some success as a session player.

Quatro's fortunes did not change until 1978 when "If You Can't Give Me Love" became a hit in Great Britain and Australia. This did nothing to prompt Stateside success, but "Stumblin' In", a duet recorded that same year for RSO Records with Chris Norman of the band Smokie reached a #4 peak in the U.S. Both tracks featured on the If You Knew Suzi album. A year later, Quatro released Suzi... And Other Four Letter Words. She called it her favourite album. This featured singles, such as "She's In Love With You", which made number 11 in Britain, "Mama's Boy" (34), and "I've Never Been In Love" (56). In 1980, her song "Rock Hard" was featured on the soundtrack of the cult film Times Square, along with some punk and new wave bands like Talking Heads, Ramones, XTC, and The Pretenders. This success period proved brief however, and her last British hit was "Heart of Stone" in late 1982. In 1985, Quatro collaborated with Bronski Beat and members of The Kinks, Eddie and the Hot Rods, and Dr Feelgood on the Mark Cunningham-produced version of David Bowie's classic "Heroes", released the following year as the 1986 BBC "Children In Need" single.[12]

In December 2005, a documentary chronicling Quatro's life, "Naked under leather" directed by former member of the The Runaways Victory Tischler Blue appeared.[13][14] In February 2006, Quatro released "Back To the Drive", produced by Sweet guitarist Andy Scott. The album's title track was written by her former collaborator Mike Chapman.[15]

In March 2007, Quatro released a version of the Eagles song "Desperado", followed by the publication of her autobiography, Unzipped.[16]

Suzi Quatro has sold over 45 million records.[17]

Acting and radio hosting

She is known in the United States for her role as Leather Tuscadero on the TV show Happy Days. Show producer Garry Marshall offered the role without an audition after seeing her on his daughter's bedroom wall. Leather was the younger sister of Fonzie's girlfriend, hot-rod driver Pinky Tuscadero. Leather fronted an all-girl rock band joined by principal character Joanie Cunningham. The character returned in other cameo roles, including once for a date to a fancy fraternity formal with Ralph Malph. Marshall offered Quatro a Leather Tuscadero spin-off, but she refused saying she did not want to be typecast.[18]

Other acting roles include a 1980 episode of British comedy-drama series Minder called "Dead Men Do Tell Tales", as the singer girlfriend of Terry's (Dennis Waterman). In 1985 she starred as a mentally disturbed ex-MI5 operative in Dempsey and Makepeace - "Love you to Death". In 1986, Quatro appeared as Annie Oakley in a 1986 London production of Annie Get Your Gun.[12] In 1994, she made a cameo appearance in an episode of the comedy Absolutely Fabulous. She also was filmed in the 1990 Clive Barker horror film Nightbreed, but the studio drastically cut the film and cut out her character all together.[19]

In 2006, Quatro performed the voice of Rio in the Bob the Builder film Built To Be Wild,[20] and appeared in an episode of the second season of Rock School, in Lowestoft. She also appeared in the episode "The Axeman Cometh" of Midsomer Murders alongside Phil Grainger.[19]

In October 2006, Quatro was a contestant on the British reality television show Trust Me - I'm A Beauty Therapist'.[21]

The following year, she appeared on Irish television show The Podge and Rodge Show, in March 2007. Later that year, Quatro released her version of The Eagles' "Desperado", and her autobiography entitled Unzipped.[16]

In addition to touring, Quatro has hosted weekly Rock and Roll programmes on BBC Radio 2. The first one was Rockin' with Suzi Q. Her current programme is called "Wake Up Little Suzi". It airs on Thursdays and can also be found on the BBC Radio web site [22].

Personal life

Quatro married her longtime guitarist Len Tuckey in 1976. They had two children together (Laura in 1982 and Richard Leonard in 1984) and divorced in 1992. She married German concert promoter Rainer Haas in 1993. Prior to Haas, Quatro lived in a manor house in Essex that she and Tuckey bought in 1980, with her two children and grandchild. Towards the end of 2008, Quatro's children moved out of the house, and she put it up for sale, but later she decided to remain in England. She explained that she had empty nest syndrome. Quatro continues to live in Essex, England.

Discography

Albums

  • Suzi Quatro (1973, Can the Can in Australia)
  • Quatro (1974)
  • Your Mamma Won't Like Me (1975)
  • Aggro-Phobia (1976)
  • Live And Kickin' (1977, Japan & Australia only live album; re-released as double CD in 1990 in Australia)
  • If You Knew Suzi... (1978)
  • Suzi... And Other Four Letter Words (1979)
  • Rock Hard (1980)
  • Main Attraction (1982)
  • The Best Of... (1984, limited to RSO years)
  • Oh Suzi Q. (1990)
  • What Goes Around (1996)
  • Unreleased Emotion (1998)
  • Back To The Drive (2006)

Singles

Year Title B-Side UK Singles Chart [23] U.S. Australia
1972 "Rolling Stone" "Brain Confusion" - - -
1973 "Can the Can" "Ain't Ya Something Honey" / "Don't Mess Around" (US) 1 56 1
1973 "48 Crash" "Little Bitch Blue" 3 - 1
1973 "Daytona Demon" "Roman Fingers" 14 - 4
1974 "All Shook Up" "Glycerine Queen" - 85 -
1974 "Devil Gate Drive" "In The Morning" 1 - 1
1974 "Too Big" "I Wanna Be Free" 14 - 13
1974 "The Wild One" "Shake My Sugar" 7 - 2
1975 "Your Mamma Won't Like Me" "Peter, Peter" 31 - 14
1975 "I Bit Off More Than I Could Chew" "Red Hot Rosie" - - -
1975 "Michael" "Savage Silk" - - 100
1975 "I May Be Too Young" "Don't Mess Around" - - 50
1977 "Tear Me Apart" "Close Enough To Rock'n'Roll" 27 - 25
1977 "Make Me Smile" "Same As I Do" - - -
1977 "Roxy Roller" "Close Enough To Rock'n'Roll" - - -
1978 "If You Can't Give Me Love" "Cream Dream" / "Non-Citizen" (US) 4 45 10
1978 "She's In Love With You" "Space Cadets" / "Starlight Lady" (US) 11 41 30
1979 "Stumblin' In" † "A Stranger to Paradise" 41 4 2
1979 "The Race Is On" "Non-Citizen" 43 - 28
1979 "Don't Change My Luck" "Wiser Than You" - - 72
1980 "Mama's Boy" "Mind Demons" 34 - -
1980 "I've Never Been In Love" "Starlight Lady" / "Space Cadets" (US) 56 44 -
1980 "Rock Hard" "State Of Mind" 68 - 9
1981 "Glad All Over" "Ego In The Night" - - -
1981 "Lipstick" "Woman Cry" - 51 46
1982 "Heart Of Stone" "Remote Control" 60 - 99
1983 "Down At The Superstore" "Half Day Closing (Down At The Superstore) " - - -
1983 "Main Attraction" "Transparent" - - -
1984 "I Go Wild" "I'm A Rocker" - - -
1985 "Tonight I Could Fall In Love" "Good Girl (Looking For A Bad Time)" - - -
1986 "Heroes" "A Long Way To Go"/"The County Line" - - -
1986 "I Got Lost In His Arms" "You Can't Get A Man With A Gun" - - -
1986 "Wild Thing" "I Don't Want You" - - -
1987 "Let It Be" "Let It Be (Gospel Jam Mix)" - - -
1988 "We Found Love" "We Found Love" (Instrumental) - - -
1989 "Baby You're A Star" "Baby You're A Star" (Instrumental) - - -
1991 "Kiss Me Goodbye" "Kiss Me Goodbye" (Instrumental) - - -
1991 "The Great Midnight Rock'n'Roll House Party" "Intimate Strangers" - - -
1992 "Love Touch"
"Love Touch" (Single Version)		 "We Found Love" - - -
1992 "Hey Charley" - - - -
1992 "I Need Your Love" "The Growing Years" - - -
1993 "Fear Of The Unknown" (Radio Version) "And So To Bed" - - -
1994 "If I Get Lucky" (Radio Version) "If I Get Lucky" (Long Version) - - -
1994 "Peace On Earth" (Radio Edit)
"Peace On Earth" (Album Version)		 "Frosty The Snowman" - - -
1995 "What Goes Round" (Radio Edit)
"What Goes Round" (Album Version)		 "Four Letter Words" (Remix Version) - - -
2006 "I'll Walk Through The Fire With You" - - - -
2009 "Singing with Angels (Australian Sept.tour limited ed." - - - -

† Suzi Quatro and Chris Norman

Filmography

Television

See also

References

  1. ^ Unzipped (Autobiography)
  2. ^ Danziger, Danny (2007-08-19). "Relative Values: Suzi Quatro and her daughter, Laura Tuckey". The Sunday Times. http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/families/article2264735.ece. 
  3. ^ Quatro Crashes Back
  4. ^ Spence, Andrew. "Suzi Quatro: Exclusive interview". Bendinat. http://www.bendinat.com/mallorca/pagina_articulo.en.html?cIte=141. 
  5. ^ Filmreference.com: Sherilyn Fenn
  6. ^ Uncredited, liner notes to The Best Of... (1984)
  7. ^ Anderman, Joan (2007-04-20). "Rocking the Boat". The Boston Globe. http://www.boston.com/news/globe/living/articles/2007/04/20/rocking_the_boat/?page=3. 
  8. ^ Quatrophonic.com
  9. ^ Oglesbee, Frank W. (1999). "Suzi Quatro: A Prototype in the Archsheology of Rock". http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2822/is_2_23/ai_61838449/pg_1. 
  10. ^ McDougall, Liam (2003-06-01). "Legendary British record producer Mickie Most dies of cancer aged 64". The Sunday Herald. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4156/is_20030601/ai_n12582169. 
  11. ^ Oglesbee, Frank W. (1999). "Suzi Quatro: A Prototype in the Archsheology of Rock". http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2822/is_2_23/ai_61838449/pg_2. 
  12. ^ a b Suzi Quatro Timeline, Gunta Anderson
  13. ^ Dwyer, Michael (2005-03-21). "Eternity In Black". The Sunday Herald. http://www.theage.com.au/news/Music/Eternity-in-black/2005/02/20/1108834658469.html. 
  14. ^ Naked Under Leather (2004)
  15. ^ Allmusic: "Back to the Drive" review/credits
  16. ^ a b Suzi Quatro Official website: News
  17. ^ "Suzi Quatro: Saturday 2000 - 2100". BBC Radio. http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/shows/quatro/biography.shtml. Retrieved 2009-01-18. 
  18. ^ "Suzi Quatro Rocks On!". abc-mallorca.com. 2008-03-06. http://www.abc-mallorca.com/suzi-quatro/. Retrieved 2009-01-25. 
  19. ^ a b IMDb credits: Suzi Quatro
  20. ^ Bob the Builder: Built to be Wild
  21. ^ Williams, Andrew (2007-08-05). "60 SECONDS: Suzi Quatro". Metro.co.uk. http://www.metro.co.uk/fame/interviews/article.html?in_article_id=60090&in_page_id=11. 
  22. ^ Suzi Quatro Homepage
  23. ^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 444. ISBN 1-904994-10-5. 
  24. ^ [1]

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