Everything about Suzi Quatro totally explained
Suzi Quatro (born
Susan Kay Quatro,
June 3 1950,
Detroit,
Michigan) is an
American singer-songwriter,
musician,
radio personality and
actress.
Biography
Early life
Born into a
Catholic musical family, Quatro's father, Art, a part time jazz musician, was of
Italian descent, while her mother, Helen Sanislay, was
Hungarian. She is the aunt of actress
Sherilyn Fenn, whose mother is Quatro's sister Arlene. Quatro began her musical career in the all-female band
Pleasure Seekers and Cradle with her sisters Patti, Nancy, and Arlene. Patti Quatro later joined the band
Fanny, one of the earliest all-female rock bands to gain national attention. She has a brother,
Michael Quatro, who is also a musician.
Quatro moved to the
UK in
1971 after being discovered in Detroit by record producer
Mickie Most, famous for producing many artists such as
The Animals,
Jeff Beck,
Lulu and
Donovan. By this time he'd started his own label
RAK Records, which made stars of many artists including
Hot Chocolate and
Mud.
Career
Music
Quatro's first single "Rolling Stone" was a flop everywhere except
Portugal, where it made number one. Mickie Most then introduced Quatro to the songwriting/production team
Nicky Chinn/
Mike Chapman. Her second single "
Can the Can" (1973) was a number one hit throughout
Europe and in
Australia. It was followed up by three further major hits: "
48 Crash" (1973), "Daytona Demon" (1973) and "
Devil Gate Drive" (1974) on
RAK Records. Her first two albums were also huge European and Australian successes.
These recordings, however, met little success in her native
U.S., despite her tours in the mid-1970s supporting
Alice Cooper, and, except in
Australia, the popularity of Quatro's hard rocking
glam rock style declined rapidly from
1975. In the interim, she did enjoy some success as a session player.
Quatro's fortunes didn't change until 1978 when "If You Can't Give Me Love" became a Top Ten hit in the UK and Australia. This track did nothing to prompt Stateside success for Quatro, but "Stumblin' In", a duet recorded later that same year for
RSO Records with
Chris Norman of
Smokie finally secured her a smash hit, peaking at #4. This success proved brief however, and her last
UK hit was "Heart of Stone" in late
1982. In 1985 Quatro collaborated with
Bronski Beat and members of
The Kinks,
Eddie & The Hot Rods, and
Dr. Feelgood on the Mark Cunningham-produced version of
David Bowie's classic "Heroes", released the following year as the official 1986 BBC Children In Need single.
In February
2006 Quatro released "Back To the Drive", produced by
Sweet guitarist Andy Scott. The album's title track was penned by her former collaborator
Mike Chapman.Later that year, a
DVD documentary chronicling Quatro's life and career, "Naked Under Leather" was produced.
March 2007 saw Quatro release a version of
The Eagles' "
Desperado", followed by the publication her autobiography, "Unzipped"
In Australia, Suzi Quatro has sold more records than the Beatles. She has sold over 45 million records worldwide.
Acting and radio hosting
She is most famous in the United States as
Leather Tuscadero in the
TV show
Happy Days. Show producer
Garry Marshall reportedly offered Quatro the role without an audition after seeing her picture on his teenage daughter's bedroom wall. Leather was the younger sister of Fonzie's girlfriend, hot-rod driver
Pinky Tuscadero. Leather Tuscadero fronted an all-girl rock band that was 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 didn't want to be typecast.
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.
In
2006, Quatro performed the voice of Rio in the
Bob the Builder film
Built To Be Wild, and appeared in an episode of the second season of
Rock School. She also appeared in the episode "
The Axeman Cometh" of
Midsomer Murders alongside Phil Grainger.
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.
In addition to touring, Quatro currently hosts a weekly
Rock and Roll programme on
BBC Radio 2,
Rockin' with Suzi Q.
Personal life
Quatro married her longtime
guitarist Len Tuckey in 1976. Although they'd two children together (Laura in 1982 and Richard Leonard in 1984), they eventually divorced in 1992 and she married concert promoter Rainer Haas in 1993.
Discography
Albums
- 1973: Suzi Quatro (Can The Can in Australia)
- 1974: Quatro
- 1975: Your Mama Won't Like Me
- 1976: Aggro-Phobia
- 1977: Live And Kickin' (Japan & Australia only live album; re-released as double CD in 1990 in Australia)
- 1978: If You Knew Suzi...
- 1979: Suzi... And Other Four Letter Words
- 1980: Rock Hard
- 1982: Main Attraction
- 1990: Oh Suzi Q.
- 1996: What Goes Around
- 1998: Unreleased Emotion
- 2006: Back To The Drive
Singles
| Year |
Title |
B-Side |
UK |
U.S. |
| 1972 |
"Rolling Stone" |
"Brain Confusion" |
- |
- |
| 1973 |
"Can the Can" |
"Ain't Ya Something Honey" |
1 |
- |
| 1973 |
"48 Crash" |
"Little Bitch Blue" |
3 |
- |
| 1973 |
"Daytona Demon" |
"Roman Fingers" |
4 |
- |
| 1974 |
"Devil Gate Drive" |
"In The Morning" |
1 |
- |
| 1974 |
"Too Big" |
"I Wanna Be Free" |
14 |
- |
| 1974 |
"The Wild One" |
"Shake My Sugar" |
7 |
- |
| 1975 |
"Your Mama Won't Like Me" |
"Peter, Peter" |
31 |
- |
| 1975 |
"I Bit Off More Than I Could Chew" |
"Red Hot Rosie" |
- |
- |
| 1975 |
"I May Be Too Young" |
"Don't Mess Around" |
- |
- |
| 1977 |
"Tear Me Apart" |
"Close Enough To Rock'n'Roll" |
27 |
- |
| 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" |
4 |
- |
| 1978 |
"She's In Love With You" |
"Space Cadets" |
11 |
- |
| 1978 |
"Stumblin' In" |
"A Stranger To Paradise" |
41 |
4 |
| 1979 |
"The Race Is On" |
"Non-Citizen" |
- |
- |
| 1980 |
"Mama's Boy" |
"Mind Demons" |
34 |
- |
| 1980 |
"I've Never Been In Love" |
"Starlight Lady" |
56 |
- |
| 1980 |
"Rock Hard" |
"State Of Mind" |
68 |
- |
| 1981 |
"Glad All Over" |
"Ego In The Night" |
- |
- |
| 1981 |
"Lipstick" |
"Woman Cry" |
- |
- |
| 1982 |
"Heart Of Stone" |
"Remote Control" |
60 |
- |
| 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" |
- |
- |
- |
Filmography
Television
Disco (1 episode, 1974)
Happy Days (7 episodes, 1977-1979)
Minder (1 episode, 1982)
Rod and Emu's Saturday Special (1 episode, 1983)
The Krankies Klub (1 episode, 1983)
Dempsey & Makepeace (1 episode, 1985)
Absolutely Fabulous (1 episode, 1994)
Gene Simmons' Rock School (1 episode on series two, 2006)
Midsomer Murders (1 episode, 2007)Further Information
Get more info on 'Suzi Quatro'.
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