Susan Kay Quatro was born on 3rd June 1950 in Detroit, and being the descendant of an Italian immigrant to the US, her family name of 'Quattrocchi' was shortened to Quatro. She has three sisters, a brother, and one older half sister, and her parents also fostered several other children while she was growing up. She was influenced at the age of six by seeing Elvis Presley perform on television, and received formal training in playing classical piano and percussion, but she taught herself how to play the bass and guitar. She played drums or percussion from an early age as part of her father's jazz band, the Art Quatro Trio, but in 1964, after seeing a television performance by the Beatles, Quatro's older sister Patti formed an all-female garage rock band called the Pleasure Seekers with two friends, and she invited her sister to join, singing and playing bass under the name of Suzi Soul. Later on another sister Arlene joined the band, and their performances were mainly in cabaret, where attention was initially focused more on their physical looks than their actual music, but eventually they became well-known fixtures in the burgeoning Detroit music community. The band recorded three singles and released two of them, 'Never Thought You'd Leave Me'/'What A Way To Die' in 1966 and 'Light Of Love'/'Good Kind Of Hurt' in 1968, although other recordings later turned up and were compiled on the 'What A Way To Die' album. Towards the end of their career their songs took on a more progressive element, of which 'Mr Power' is a good example, and in 1969 the band changed their name to Cradle and pursued a heavier style of music. Quatro moved to England in 1971, after being spotted by the record producer Mickie Most, who was at the time running his Rak Records label and was looking for new talent. Most had been persuaded to see Cradle by Suzi's bother Michael, as he was seeking a female rock singer who could fill the void that the death of Janis Joplin had created. Most had no interest in the other members of the band, and he also had no idea at that time of how he might market Quatro, so her first year in the UK was spent in a hotel, with Most nurturing her while she developed her skills.
Her first single was released in 1972, with 'Rolling Stone' reaching number 1 in the Portuguese charts, but failing everywhere else. This was actually a solo single, with the backing coming from Duncan Browne, Peter Frampton and Alan White among others, but after the failure of the single Most allowed her to audition for a band to accompany her. At the same time he introduced her to the songwriting and production team of Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman, who could write songs specifically to align with her image, which at the height of the glam rock period of the 1970's was leather clothes, a wild androgynous persona, and chugging hard rock music. In May 1973, her second single (and first Chinnichap composition) 'Can The Can' was a No. 1 hit in parts of Europe and Australia, and this was followed in quick succession by three further hits in '48 Crash', 'Daytona Demon' and 'Devil Gate Drive', all charting within an eight month period. By 1975 her chart success had started to falter, with 'Your Mamma Won't Like Me' only being a moderate success in the UK, while both 'I Bit Off More Than I Could Chew' and 'I May Be Too Young' failed to reach the UK Top 50. It would be 1978 before the more mellow 'If You Can't Give Me Love' returned her to the charts, and later that year a duet with Smokie's Chris Norman on 'Stumblin' In' gave her a No. 4 hit in the US. She has continued to record and release albums, right up to 'No Control' in 2019, but she also has parallel careers as a stage actress in shows like 'Annie Get Your Gun' and 'Tallulah Who?', and as a radio DJ with her own rock and roll radio show on BBC Radio 2. Like many artists for whom Chinnichap wrote hit singles, Quatro was allowed to write the songs for the b-sides of her singles (so as not to waste another potential Chinnichap hit), and these tended to be very different from the glam-rock A-sides, showing her own songwriting skills, either on her own or with her band. This overview of her career takes in tracks from The Pleasure Seekers and Cradle, a 1971 demo that she recorded for Mickie Most, both sides of that Portuguese Number 1, three big UK hits that never appeared on her albums, and numerous self-penned b-sides.
Track listing
01 Mr Power (by The Pleasure Seekers 1968)
02 Living Machine (by The Cradle 1969)
03 Curly Hair For Sale (demo 1971)
04 Rolling Stone (single 1972)
05 Brain Confusion (For All The Lonely People) (b-side of 'Rolling Stone')
06 Ain't Got No Home (previously unreleased)
07 Can The Can (single 1973)
08 Ain't Ya Somethin' Honey (b-side of 'Can The Can')
09 Little Bitch Blue (b-side of '48 Crash' 1973)
10 Daytona Demon (single 1973)
11 Roman Fingers (b-side of 'Daytona Demon')
12 Devil Gate Drive (single 1974)
13 I Wanna Be Free (b-side of 'Too Big' 1974)
14 In The Morning (b-side of 'Devil Gate Drive')
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