I hadn't heard the name Suzi Quatro in YEARS, so this was an unexpected blast from the past. I Googled her and saw that she had written a memoir a few years ago (published in 2007), called "Unzipped." And then, when I read about her influence on Kathy Valentine & Joan Jett (among others), I decided her book would be my next read. :)
I remember Suzi Quatro from the '70s, dimly. She's one of those musicians that I knew OF, more than I actually knew their music. I knew she was huge in Britain (much more so than she was in North America), and assumed she must be British. (She's not -- she was born and raised in Detroit.) I mostly remember her as Leather Tuscadero on the TV show "Happy Days" -- the younger sister of Fonzie's great love, Pinky Tuscadero -- which is how most of my peers (the North American ones, anyway) seem to remember her too, if they remember her at all. (I Googled, and she appeared in 7 episodes in season 5 & 6, fall 1977 through spring 1979, when I was graduating from high school.) Clad in leather, aggressively slinging a (bass) guitar, singing in a raspy voice, hair cut in a '70s shag, she was kind of (totally?) out of place in late 1950s/early 1960s Milwaukee with Richie Cunningham, Potsie Webber & Ralph Malph. Which didn't mean she wasn't worth watching...!
Susan Kay Quatro was born in 1950 to a Hungarian mother & Italian father, the second-youngest of five children. Like many kids of the 1950s, she was mesmerized seeing Elvis on TV, and after seeing the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan show in 1964, she and her sister Patti formed an all-girl group with a couple of neighbouring sisters, called The Pleasure Seekers. They graduated from local clubs and high school dances to touring around the country and into Canada, and even went to Vietnam to entertain the troops. In 1971, she was "discovered" by British producer Mickie Most, and headed to London in search of fame, fortune and a band to back her up. Not only did she find a band, she married one of her guitarists, Len Tuckey, in 1976. They had a son & daughter before they divorced in 1992. (She had fertility issues and two miscarriages over the years, as well as a teenaged abortion.) She's been married to Rainer Haas, a German promoter, since 1993.
After "Happy Days," Suzi appeared in other roles on television in Britain, including hosting a talk show for a while. She's also hosted a long-running radio show. She starred in a West End production of "Annie Get Your Gun," and wrote & starred in a musical about the actress Tallulah Bankhead. She considers herself more of an entertainer than a rock star. Now 70 and a grandmother, she's still rocking (albeit waiting out COVID along with the rest of us). She has been quoted as saying, "I WILL RETIRE WHEN I GO ONSTAGE , SHAKE MY ASS, AND THERE IS SILENCE." :)
This was probably far more than I ever needed to know about Suzi Quatro (lol), but it was a fun, non-taxing read & a blast from the past (I listened to and was reminded of some great '70s music, by Suzi and other glam-rock bands of the era, as I read). It's written in a distinctive voice, in a breezy, conversational style (sometimes almost as a stream of consciousness -- with asides in which "little Susie from Detroit" trades comments & observations with older "Suzi Q"). Lots of famous names get dropped :) (and, unfortunately, misspelled -- like many other musical memoirs I've read, this one could have used a good editor/proofreader). There are even some creepy ghost stories.
If you're a fan, obviously, it's a must-read.
3 stars on Goodreads, rounded up to 3.5.
(I still hope to see the documentary someday!)
This was Book #28 read to date in 2020 (Book #4 finished in August). I'm currently at 93% of my 2020 Goodreads Reading Challenge goal of 30 books, and am (for the moment, anyway...!) 10 (!) books ahead of schedule to meet my goal. :) You can find reviews of all my books read to date in 2020 tagged as "2020 books."
Here's Suzi & her band in 1973, when she was 23:
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