It Could Only Happen in Detroit
June 3, 2010 10:14 AM Subscribe
Happy Birthday Suzi Quatro (via Steve Holtje’s Top Ten)
Before punk was punk, this petite woman from Detroit definitely kicked more ass than some of male dominated popular bands of the 70's. She turned sixty today and is still going strong.
Before punk was punk, this petite woman from Detroit definitely kicked more ass than some of male dominated popular bands of the 70's. She turned sixty today and is still going strong.
yep, Leather Tuscadero..... good times and happy days
see what i did there????
posted by HuronBob at 10:32 AM on June 3, 2010
see what i did there????
posted by HuronBob at 10:32 AM on June 3, 2010
Can the Can is a long time fave. Leather Tuscadero was one of my early crushes once I moved past Olivia Newton John and Angie Dickenson.
posted by Slack-a-gogo at 10:34 AM on June 3, 2010
posted by Slack-a-gogo at 10:34 AM on June 3, 2010
Whoa, guys. Too much awesome rock in this post. Let's settle it down a bit.
posted by dhammond at 10:39 AM on June 3, 2010
posted by dhammond at 10:39 AM on June 3, 2010
If You Can't Give Me Love was one of the first records I ever bought. Happy birthday, Suzi Q.
posted by ceiriog at 10:49 AM on June 3, 2010
posted by ceiriog at 10:49 AM on June 3, 2010
Man, i'm not sure what I thought Suzie Quatro was like, but this wasn't it. Awesome, now I have another neglected great's discography to wade through.
posted by cmoj at 10:57 AM on June 3, 2010
posted by cmoj at 10:57 AM on June 3, 2010
Unfortunately, Do The Fonzie is painfully lodged in my brain from childhood, and it doesn't want to allow any of her other songs to rest there for long. But I love that 48 Crash video. Awesome song and sexy blowing hair.
posted by chococat at 11:09 AM on June 3, 2010
posted by chococat at 11:09 AM on June 3, 2010
I'm impressed that she does lead vocals while playing bass guitar. She even uses the two-finger plucking technique instead of most lazy-ass modern bassists who resort to using plectrums. Bass-playin' chicks who don't use picks FTW!
posted by spoobnooble at 11:19 AM on June 3, 2010
posted by spoobnooble at 11:19 AM on June 3, 2010
Old jokes home
Q What's the best job in show business
A Suzi Quatro's drummer
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 11:48 AM on June 3, 2010 [1 favorite]
Q What's the best job in show business
A Suzi Quatro's drummer
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 11:48 AM on June 3, 2010 [1 favorite]
It was the pioneering work of Suzi Freaking Quatro that made Joan Fucking Jett's career possible (and well as her hitting some rock-n-roll career potholes to teach Joan what to avoid).
posted by oneswellfoop at 1:00 PM on June 3, 2010
posted by oneswellfoop at 1:00 PM on June 3, 2010
Q What's the best job in show business
A Suzi Quatro's drummer
I once (affectionately) described Suzi as "Liz Phair for old people", but I was outdone by someone else who explained that "parts of her were more like Shakira."
posted by rokusan at 1:20 PM on June 3, 2010
A Suzi Quatro's drummer
I once (affectionately) described Suzi as "Liz Phair for old people", but I was outdone by someone else who explained that "parts of her were more like Shakira."
posted by rokusan at 1:20 PM on June 3, 2010
"Hey, you all want to go down to Devil Gate Drive?
Well, come on!"
posted by Sailormom at 1:30 PM on June 3, 2010
Well, come on!"
posted by Sailormom at 1:30 PM on June 3, 2010
In 2007, she released her autobiography, "Unzipped":
"Not everyone liked my image. I read an interview with Lynsey de Paul where she was quoted as saying: "I don't need to jump around with a bunch of sweaty, hairy, greasy-looking guys to be successful. I think Suzi Quatro is a dyke."
That made me mad. The next time we were both on Top Of The Pops, I marched up to a very nervous-looking de Paul, grabbed her by the neck and shoved her up against a glass door.
"Miss de Paul," I said. "You owe me an apology."
"I didn't say it," she spluttered. "Honest to God I didn't." I put her down and left the scene of the crime. Years later, we bumped into each other again, talked things over and became good friends. Lynsey says she was misquoted and I'm happy to accept it."
"One paragraph begins: "Around this time I became a go-go dancer ..." Then there are the six-hour sex sessions. The time she got a wasted Iggy Pop thrown off stage for trying to muscle in on her mic. When she dragged her drunken guitarist husband Len Tuckey up to bed (again!) after a gig. The day she shot Alice Cooper between the eyes with an arrow (it had a rubber tip, but let's not spoil the story). The time Elvis invited her to Graceland and she declined."
- Laura: My mum’s been a rebel all her life. So for me to rebel has been difficult. I got a tattoo and she liked it; at 14, I had my nose pierced and she said: “That looks nice.”
And: she spent her money wisely, is still touring and has a popular radio show on BBC 2.
Happy birthday, Suzi Q!
posted by iviken at 1:31 PM on June 3, 2010 [5 favorites]
"Not everyone liked my image. I read an interview with Lynsey de Paul where she was quoted as saying: "I don't need to jump around with a bunch of sweaty, hairy, greasy-looking guys to be successful. I think Suzi Quatro is a dyke."
That made me mad. The next time we were both on Top Of The Pops, I marched up to a very nervous-looking de Paul, grabbed her by the neck and shoved her up against a glass door.
"Miss de Paul," I said. "You owe me an apology."
"I didn't say it," she spluttered. "Honest to God I didn't." I put her down and left the scene of the crime. Years later, we bumped into each other again, talked things over and became good friends. Lynsey says she was misquoted and I'm happy to accept it."
"One paragraph begins: "Around this time I became a go-go dancer ..." Then there are the six-hour sex sessions. The time she got a wasted Iggy Pop thrown off stage for trying to muscle in on her mic. When she dragged her drunken guitarist husband Len Tuckey up to bed (again!) after a gig. The day she shot Alice Cooper between the eyes with an arrow (it had a rubber tip, but let's not spoil the story). The time Elvis invited her to Graceland and she declined."
- Laura: My mum’s been a rebel all her life. So for me to rebel has been difficult. I got a tattoo and she liked it; at 14, I had my nose pierced and she said: “That looks nice.”
And: she spent her money wisely, is still touring and has a popular radio show on BBC 2.
Happy birthday, Suzi Q!
posted by iviken at 1:31 PM on June 3, 2010 [5 favorites]
I think of her last as Leather Tuscadero ..... and first as the first female I saw really rawk out in a video on TV (at god knows what age it was). She kicked ass, took no prisoners. (Well, until "Stumblin' In," anyway.)
posted by blucevalo at 2:18 PM on June 3, 2010
posted by blucevalo at 2:18 PM on June 3, 2010
I ruined my dad's loudspeakers playing 48 Crash for a girl when I was pre-teen. Happy 60 tomorrow Suzi Q!
posted by KimG at 3:32 PM on June 3, 2010
posted by KimG at 3:32 PM on June 3, 2010
Maybe I'm showing my youth here, but my first exposure to Suzi Quatro was via the Polysics' cover of "Wild One." (Here's the original, for comparison) In the course of my early internet research about Suzi, I also remember being pretty jazzed to find out that she's the aunt of Sherilyn Fenn. It's awesome to think that an AARP-age woman can rock harder than practically any current teen pop star.
posted by Strange Interlude at 9:25 PM on June 3, 2010
posted by Strange Interlude at 9:25 PM on June 3, 2010
Happy birthday, Suzie Q. Rock on.
posted by harriet vane at 3:57 AM on June 4, 2010
posted by harriet vane at 3:57 AM on June 4, 2010
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She shares a birthday with my younger daughter, which is pretty damn cool.
posted by padraigin at 10:27 AM on June 3, 2010