Suzie Quatro biography

 

b. 3 June 1950, Detroit, Michigan, USA. From patting bongos at the age of seven in her father's jazz band, she graduated to go-go dancing in a pop series on local television. With an older sister, Patti (later of Fanny) she formed the all-female Suzi Soul And The Pleasure Seekers in 1964 for engagements that included a tour of army bases in Vietnam. In 1971, her comeliness and skills as bass guitarist, singer and chief show-off in Cradle were noted by Mickie Most, who persuaded her to record Chinn And Chapman songs for his Rak Records label in England. Backed initially by Britons Alastair McKenzie (keyboards), Dave Neal (drums) and her future husband, ex-Nashville Teens member Len Tuckey (guitar), a second Rak single, 1973's "Can The Can", topped hit parades throughout the world at the zenith of the glam rock craze - of which rowdy Suzi, androgynous in her glistening biker leathers, became an icon. Her sound hinged mostly on a hard rock chug beneath lyrics in which scansion overruled meaning ("the 48 crash/is a silken sash bash"). The team's winning streak with the likes of "48 Crash", "Daytona Demon" and "Devil Gate Drive" - a second UK number 1 - faltered when "Your Mama Won't Like Me" stuck outside the Top 30, signalling two virtually hitless years before a more mellow policy brought a return to the Top 10 with "If You Can't Give Me Love".


Quatro's chart fortunes in Britain lurched from "She's In Love With You' at number 11 to 1982"s "Heart Of Stone" at a lowly 68. "Stumblin' In" - a 1978 duet with Smokie's Chris Norman - was her biggest US Hot 100 strike (number 8) but barely touched the UK Top 40. By the late 80s, her output had reduced to pot-shots, including teaming up with Reg Presley of the Troggs for a disco revival of "Wild Thing". More satisfying than tilting for hit records, however, was her development as a singing actress, albeit in character as "Leather Tuscadero" in seven episodes of Happy Days during 1977. Cameos in UK television shows Minder and Dempsey And Makepeace followed, before Quatro landed the role of the quick-drawing heroine in the 1986 London production of Irving Berlin's Annie Get Your Gun. Quatro went on to write and star in Tallulah Who?, a stage musical about the actress Tallulah Bankhead. By the late 90s she was concentrating on touring and recording once more and carving a career in the UK as a broadcaster on BBC radio.