Suzy Quatro was born on this day.
In July of 2020 , I reviewed the documentary Suzi Q, about Suzi Quatro. Because it was July 2020, the tour she had planned, alongside the doc, had to be canceled. Or, at least, postponed. July 2020 was some serious shit. I was bummed because I was so turned on by the documentary I would have definitely got tickets. Her journey is an interesting one: she knew what she wanted to do when she was very young. When she was a teenage kid, she was already touring. Amazingly, she didn’t get caught up in anything bad, drugs or men or exploitation: It was all around her but she resisted. She wasn’t even tempted. She got married young. Had a baby young. Was a rock star (at least in Europe) young. Her fame in Australia, to this day, almost rivals the Beatles. Ask an Australian. When she toured there in the 70s, she was greeted by screaming throngs at the airport, and transported via motorcade to the venue, throngs lining the roadways. She was massive in Europe. #1 hits, and these were songs she wrote. She is mainly known in America for one shmoopy duet-ballad, the only song that charted over here – a total departure from her normal aggressive sound – as well as her regular appearance on Happy Days as Leather Tuscadero. 10 years later, Joan Jett came along, and we embraced Joan Jett, maybe not realizing someone else did it all FIRST.
Debbie Harry, Suzi Quatro, Joan Jett
Joan Jett modeled herself after Suzi Quatro, which she fully admits in the interview she gives in the documentary. She had a poster of Suzi Quatro on her wall as a teenager.
Joan Jett in her bedroom, 1977
Jett was so inspired by this tiny girl playing a huge bass. Suzi Quatro paved the way for Joan Jett and so many others. Understand the continuum, and respect your elders. Or at the very least KNOW ABOUT your elders, because they got there first, and they made possible the things that came after. Do not erase them. Resist recency bias. It’s important always but even more important now, when the powers that be want to erase memory itself.
Just tripped over this and I love it: Quatro discusses her favorite bass riffs.
