Suzi Quatro

Suzi Quatro

Background information
Birth name	Susan Kay Quatro
Born	June 3, 1950 (1950-06-03) (age 57)
Origin	Detroit, Michigan, United States
Genre(s)	Glam Rock, Pop Music
Occupation(s)	Singer, Songwriter, Record Producer, Actress, Radio Personality
Years active	1960–present (singer)
Label(s)	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 on June 3, 1950 in Detroit, Michigan) is a singer, bassist, radio personality and actress.

1 Biography
- 1.1 Early life
- 1.2 Career
2 New Album 2007/08
3 Singles
4 Albums
5 External links

Biography

Early life

Her father, Art Quatro (whose name is short for Quatrocchio), was of Italian descent and her mother, Helen Sanislay, was Hungarian. [1] Quatro was raised Catholic.[2] She is the aunt of actress Sherilyn Fenn, whose mother is Suzi's sister Arlene. Quatro began her musical career in the Pleasure Seekers and Cradle with her sisters Patti, Nancy, and Arlene. Patti herself later had her own band Fanny. She also has a brother Michael Quatro who is a musical maestro in his own right. She moved to the UK in 1971 after being discovered in Detroit by record producer Mickie Most, who had already earned fame with the band Sweet.

Career

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. In the interim, she did enjoy some success as a session player. Interestingly, she became something of a muse for Rick Derringer, who tailored his androgynous appearance to resemble an eerie doppelganger of Quatro. This is particularly evident on the liner photograph for the Edgar Winter Group's album "Shock Treatment." 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 solo hit (and that only in Australia) was "Rock Hard" in early 1981. 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.

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.

Suzi Quatro

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's character 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 did not want to be typecast. Quatro has performed as an actress in roles as varied as Annie Oakley in a 1986 London production of Annie Get Your Gun. In 1979 she performed a spoof version of her current single ("She's in love with you") on the BBC's Christmas tape "Good King Memorex" entitled "He's a sports PA". Other acting roles include a 1980 episode of British comedy-drama series Minder called "Dead Men Do Tell Tales", as a singer girlfriend of Terry (Dennis Waterman)'s, although the romance seemed not destined to last as Terry did not approve of her using soft drugs. She also had a cameo in an episode of the comedy Absolutely Fabulous.

In 2002, Suzi Quatro visited the University of York to see actor Berwick Kaler receive an honorary degree.

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. 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.

"Suzie Q" currently lives both in Suffolk, England and in Germany and hosts a weekly Rock and Roll programme on BBC Radio 2. She also continues to tour the world as a musician. She also deputised for Brian Matthew on BBC Radio 2's Sounds of the 60s programme on 30th December, 2006.

Suzi was a contestant on the British reality television show Trust Me - I'm A Beauty Therapist on Channel 5 in October 2006.

She appeared on Irish television show, The Podge and Rodge Show, in March 2007. 2007 also saw the release of Her version of The Eagles Desperado.

New Album 2007/08

A recent post on Suzi's official webpage has stated that a new studio album is in the works... Mike Chapman and Suzi Quatro are back in the studio working on a new album. Mike recently said " I always got on well with Suzi Quatro and had a long and successful friendship and collaboration with her. "Suzi was the first real female rock and roll player... We're about to start on a new project and I've said to her, 'Let's go back to basics - let's make a kick-ass record that has the same attitude that we had in 1971-2'.". Suzi was recently back in the USA a few weeks ago.