Suzi Quatro
Suzi Quatro (born Susan Kay Quatro(cchio) on June 3, 1950 in Detroit, Michigan.) is a singer, bassist, radio personality and actress. Her father, Art Quatro, was of Italian descent and her mother, Helen Sanislay, of Hungarian.
She began her musical career in the Pleasure Seekers and Cradle with her sisters Patti, Nancy, and Arlene. She moved to England in 1971 after being discovered in Detroit by record producer Mickie Most, who had already earned fame with the band Sweet. 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" (1974) and "Devil Gate Drive" (also 1974) on RAK Records. Her first two albums were also huge European and Australian successes.
These recordings, however, met little success in her native USA, despite her tours in the mid-1970s supporting Alice Cooper, and except in Australia, the popularity of Quatro's heavy glam rock style declined rapidly from 1975. Quatro's fortunes did not revive until 1978 when "If You Can't Give Me Love" was a Top Ten hit in the UK and Australia. Though this still failed to break Quatro in the US, when she joined Chris Norman of Smokie in 1979 for "Stumblin' In", she had a #4 hit there with RSO Records. This success was very brief and her last hit (and that only in Australia) was "Rock Hard" in early 1981.
Quatro married her longtime guitarist Len Tuckey in 1976. Although they had 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.
Quatro has performed as an actress in roles as varied as Annie Oakley in a 1986 London production of Annie Get Your Gun and, most famously in the United States, as Leather Tuscadero in the TV show Happy Days. They offered her a spin-off, but she refused saying she did not want to be typecast. She also had a cameo in a episode of the TV show Absolutely Fabulous.
She currently lives both in England and in Germany and hosts a weekly Rock and Roll program on BBC Radio 2. She also continues to tour the world as a musician.
February 2006 saw the release of a new Suzi Quatro CD entitled "Back To The Drive" which was produced by Sweet guitarist Andy Scott. The album's title track was written by Mike Chapman.
She is the aunt of actress Sherilyn Fenn, whose mother is Suzi's sister Arlene.
In 2006, Quatro appeared on an episode of the second series of Rock School.
Major Suzi Quatro singles
- 1973 "Rolling Stone"/"Brain Confusion"
- 1973 "Can The Can"/"Ain't Ya Somethin' Honey"
- 1973 "48 Crash"/"Little Bitch Blue"
- 1973 "Daytona Demon"/"Roman Fingers"
- 1974 "Devil Gate Drive"/"In the Morning"
- 1974 "The Wild One"/"Shake My Sugar"
- 1974 "Too Big"/"I Wanna Be Free"
- 1975 "Your Mama Won't Like Me"/"Peter, Peter"
- 1975 "I Bit Off More Than I Could Chew"/"Red Hot Rosie"
- 1975 "I May Be Too Young"/"Don´t Mess Around"
- 1977 "Roxy Roller"/"It'll Grow On You"
- 1977 "Tear Me Apart"/"Close Enough To Rock'n'Roll"
- 1978 "If You Can't Give Me Love"/"Cream Dream"
- 1979 "She's In Love With You"/"Space Cadets"
- 1979 "Stumblin' In"/"A Stranger To Paradise"
- 1980 "Mama's Boy"/"Mind Demons"
- 1980 "I've Never Been In Love"/"Starlight Lady"
- 1980 "Rock Hard"/"State Of Mind"
Suzi Quatro albums
- 1973 Suzi Quatro (Can The Can in Australia)
- 1974 Quatro
- 1975 Your Mama Won't Like Me
- 1977 Aggro Phobia
- 1978 If You Knew Suzi
- 1979 Suzi...And Other Four Letter Words
- 1980 Rock Hard
- 1982 Main Attraction
- 1991 Oh Suzi Q
- 1996 What Goes Around
- 1998 Unreleased Emotion
- 2006 Back To The Drive