Interview: Suzi Quatro, 60 Years In The Industry
Photo by Bob Gruen
Interview by Lindsey V. Britt
Celebrating 60 years in the industry, the Rock legend Suzi Quatro has been performing across the world with her bass guitar and icon leather jumpsuit. Some of you may know her as Leather Tuscadero from Happy Days, and others from her days hosting on BBC Radio 2. Many female artists have given Suzi Quatro recognition for opening doors for women to pursue their own dreams and careers in the Rock ‘N’ Roll industry.
You’ve been performing all across the UK, EU, and Australia celebrating 60 years in the industry, how excited are you to still be entertaining people all these years later?
Wow, 60 years is a long time, haha. I talk about it a lot because a lot of people always say, did you know you’d be in it all these years later? And yes, I did. I had my calling to it very young to be an entertainer, and when the first band started I knew from the very first gig we did, an all-girl band that I was in, that that was what I was going to do for the rest of my life. I knew it! I’m lucky I had a sense of purpose from a very young age, which makes me very focused and very determined. And that’s the things you need, and I have selfbelief that I’ll have something to give.
You played the festival circuit last summer, how is it playing festivals compared to solo shows?
Festivals are festivals. I did one a few months ago, just about 60 miles outside Hamburg on the main stage to 85,000 people. That’s pretty exciting stuff. I love them both, festivals you just put your foot on the gas, and you go. But I really love my 2-hour solo shows, where nobody else is on the bill and you know that they’ve only come to see you, which is a nice feeling. It’s 2-hours with an interval, and I get to do a musical entertaining journey through my life and this business. It’s very satisfying to do my solo shows, but I do love the festivals too, I would never say no to them, I love them.
Recently you performed with your good friend Alice Cooper in your home state of Michigan, I have to ask if you’re planning on coming to the states anytime soon to perform?
I’m always trying to get back there, it just never seems to happen. I have gone back there for a few various things. I got an award there at She-Rock in Texas for lifetime achievement and played some songs live. I got Michigan Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, went there, and played live. I went there for a charity show for Dick Wagner who was in Alice’s band and his writing partner. Did two or three documentaries from Detroit. And I go to Miami regularly. I would love to play there again, it’s just rather or not it could be financially viable. It’s a nine piece band, it’s a big band, I haven’t played there for a long while so you need to find the right venues, etc.
What is your favorite song to perform live?
It’s so hard, “48 Crash” always has this reaction. “Devil Gate Drive” is a party song, so just that response: you’re there, you’re in the moment, I love that. I love singing “If You Can’t Give Me Love.” It is such a nice melody to sing. “Stumblin’ In” is an evergreen that’s forever popular. Of my own songs through the years, there are certain songs that have lasted from my albums since the very beginning. Certainly, the last two albums that I’ve done with my son co-writing got quite a few favorites from that. I do a song alone on the piano which is very nice called “Can I Be Your Girl.” That’s a special one for me. I like them all, but it’s hard to pick favorites, I especially like, it’s not a song but I especially like to write my new bass solo that I look forward to every night, cause it’s a challenge, and it’s a joy to watch people’s mouths hanging open and thinking what? Haha, it’s great, always gets the same reaction, like what is she doing,
Most artists in the past couple of years have been touring, do you think the pandemic had a factor in that, with people and artists recovering from it?
It changed; I think it changed the whole world if you want to know my opinion. Some ways were good ways that made you internalize and look at yourself, look at what you found important, it made you reassess your priorities because all of a sudden you had your freedom taken away, so I think that was a big thing. I personally think it was wrong for the powers at be to stop the world, and I think a lot of people agree with me now. It just messed up so many people’s lives, so many still haven’t recovered from it. I don’t think the general public would accept another lockdown. In 2020 I had one show that was allowed to go through with masks, 2021 I had one other show, both in Denmark, they had a thing where they stopped for a little while and then they had to bring it back, unless I rehearsed in my front room with my tape I wasn’t going to be up to speed. It’s funny, my last gig was in September 2021, my next gig was in April 2022 at The Royal Albert Hall. I mean you’re talking about what pressure. I haven’t been on the stage since September and that was the first gig, so I really did rehearse. It was a creative time, and I think most artists would tell you that you had more time. Because I couldn’t go on the stage I poured everything into the songs that we created, we created one album in 2019 and the next one in 2021, so 2021 was mid pandemic. There was nothing else to do but concentrate on your music. I wrote two books in that time, both published, one called Through My Thoughts which was inspired by the pandemic, and another one called Through My Words, little coffee table books, and that’s my lyric book. Creativity, most artists will tell you it was a very creative time.
Oasis announced their reunion after a 15-year hiatus, do you have any thoughts or opinions on them reuniting?
I think if people can reunite it is a very good thing, it kind of makes it a full circle. I mean, they’re brothers for god sake, they should be reunited. As long as there’s enough of the real feeling back, if it’s done just for money, I’m against it, but if it’s done because you want to reunite as a band, then I’m 100% for it, money should not be your motivation.
How do you think the Rock n Roll scene has evolved over the years?
Well, I hold on to the original Rock n Roll, that’s like what I represent. Although the last few albums my son has taken me more with my flavor which is a little bit further down the road of that, a little bit more heavy I guess. It’s become more of a business than an art form, and you can’t do anything about that. I don’t like the digital age where nobody buys your CDs anywhere. They stream them, and no artist can make money that way because we’re at the bottom of the food chain, we’re use to selling CDs and stuff to pay and make a living, now we have to make our living live because the streaming doesn’t do it, so I’m not into that. You know, when you make an album you put in order the way it should be in your head, this is the order of the album, but as they stream they just pick tracks out so they’re not even getting the album the way you put it out, they can play it any order they want, mind you, you could do that any way but at least if they have the physical CD in their hands they’ll play the CD from start to finish. Anyways, it is what it is. I’m big on social media because you have to be. You can’t change it, you just have to roll with it.
Music has gone from Vinyl, to 8-Tracks, Cassette, CD, MP3, Streaming, and now Vinyl again, which do you think is the superior format?
I don’t do vinyl; I do have vinyl of my stuff and I’ve got some old ones that I kept, but I don’t have a record player anymore. And it’s taken a big surge again. I guess I like CDs, I’ve got CDs all over the house, everywhere I go I can play a CD
You used to be a radio host on BBC Radio 2, do you miss radio life?
I was on there for fifteen years. I had a various of popular shows. I was up for Radio Broadcaster of the Year from the Sony Music awards, what an honor. But I finally walked away because in 2021 I stopped because they wouldn’t play my music, cause I was one of their presenters, and they used excuses like, oh, this album isn’t really us, this happened on four different albums and I thought, there can’t be four different albums that aren’t for you, so I finally said okay, this isn’t impacting on me as an artist, and I’m an artist first, so I walked away. Then Face to Face was album of the week on BBC Radio 2, so I think I was correct.
You’ve performed in musicals such as Annie Get Your Gun and Tallulah Who?, do you have any plans to return to the musical theater world?
It’s not that I don’t have any plans, if somebody comes up with a good role I’m happy to do it. I would like to get Tallulah Who? back up, that was a terrific show, and I’d love to play Tallulah again, what a great character she was to play. I love musical theater, it comes very naturally to me. I could’ve gone into acting instead music, but music called me harder. I’m an artiste, I love doing everything, it’s just me. I love writing, I love to DJ, I had my own talk show, I’m about to publish my seventh book, I’m a very creative person.
Suki Waterhouse mentions you in her song “Moves”, and there’s the song “Rock n Roll Rosie” by Cherie Currie, what is it like being so iconic that you’re mentioned in song lyrics?
Cherie Currie is a good friend of mine, she wrote that track about me for my documentary, so sweet of her. I can contain it, I didn’t know what I was doing, I didn’t realize it was different, I didn’t realize it wasn’t usual. I come from a musical family, so when I said to my Dad do you have a bass guitar, he didn’t go oh, he said here you go, so that’s my attitude, so it’s not weird to me. And I didn’t know that I was changing the world for women, I had no idea until I went to the premiere at the Regent Theater of Suzi Q the documentary and I snuck in, I wanted to see it with an audience, because that’s how you gage with an audience, you can feel their sympathy, you can feel their warmth, you can hear the laughs, you can hear it all. I stood on the side and watched it on the big screen, and on came Debbie Harry, Chrissie Hynde, KT Tunstall, Cherie Currie, Joan Jett, Kathy Valentine, Donita Sparks, Lita Ford, Tina Weymouth, all throughout the film. They all basically said if you paraphrase it “I wouldn’t have done what we did if Suzi Quatro hadn’t had done it first.” By the time the film was over I was in tears, because I think that was the first time at the age of 69 that I actually realized what I had done, and it took that to show me, and it was very humbling, now I do accept that, I say thank you, and I am very proud of that, that I was able to change the world for women in rock, which made it a whole new ballgame. I called my friend Cherie the day after that premiere, she was in California, and I told her that story and I said Cherie, Cherie I just realized something, and she said what? I said by me doing what I did, I gave women permission all over the world to be different, and she went, and you just got that? That’s something I didn’t realize, haha.
On Happy Days you played the legendary Leather Tuscadero, was Leather’s hand gesture your idea or the show’s? My Mom wants to know.
That was mine. In fact, I even wore my own leather suit for the very first appearance that I did. I kept my haircut because that was the Suzi Quatro haircut and I wouldn’t change it, and people commented on it cause it wasn’t a normal haircut for the time period that the show was set in, but I didn’t care I did it my way. I made good friends on that show, it was an iconic tv show, and I’m still close on the email chain with Ron and Henry.
Since you live in England, is there anything you miss about the states?
I’ve been here for a long time, I think because I left America at 21, I think you always miss that familiarity of your roots, just the accent, the convinces, and the big roads, I mean I’ve lived in England a long time, but Detroit will always have my heart
I know you love champagne, what is your favorite champagne to drink?
Renard.
Final question, do you have a recommendation? This can be absolutely anything from a book to read, movie, another artist to check out, place to visit, advice, anything.
I recommend to read The Prophet.
If you find yourself lucky enough this summer to see a Suzi Quatro gig, you will be able to say you have seen a Rock N Roll legend perform live.
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