THE TRANSATLANTIC MAGAZINE
THE TRANSATLANTIC MAGAZINE
Suzi Q. Suzi who? Suzi Quatro, that’s who. Suzi Quatro is an enigma – an all-American tough rock and roller from the Motor City, she’s been a lady of the manor in rural England for decades. She’s probably better known, and has had more commercial success, in the UK and Europe than back home in the States (you may remember her for playing Leather Tuscadero in Happy Days), but she’s never lost her Detroit swagger.
And she can justly be called the queen of rock ‘n’ roll. That’s not PR, or hyperbole, or just the opinion of this magazine – just ask The Runaways’ Joan Jett and Cherie Currie, Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders, Blondie’s Debbie Harry, Pat Benatar, Tina Weymouth of Talking Heads… all of them have cited Suzi as their inspiration. She was the first female rock musician to front her own band, play her own instrument and write her own songs. She wrote the book on how women can rock with the best of the guys.
At 76 years old, with 63 years in the business, you might be forgiven for thinking that she’d earned the right to hang up her bass and retire gracefully. Or at the very least to take things a little easy when she ventured out for an occasional concert.
Not Suzi.
Her show at the storied London Palladium (scene of famous concerts by The Beatles, Judy Garland, Frank Sinatra, Louis Armstrong, Madonna, Bob Dylan, and Elton John) was a tour de force, with two hours of all the hits & more. Decked out in sparkly blue denim – none more ‘70s! – she kicked off with four songs on the spin, from ‘The Wild One’ to ‘Tear Me Apart’. Saying she ‘needed a man’ for the next number, she teased the audience with ‘Mama's Boy’ from 1978. ‘I Bit Off More Than I Could Chew’ from ‘75 followed, as she explained that was her first time using horns on a record.
That set a precedent – hard rocking tunes and classy ballads were interspersed with occasional breaks to tell her life story through a series of anecdotes and film clips. If you’ve heard them before they’re fun to hear again, and if you’re new to the Suzi Q experience they explain a lot about her background, her attitude, and her extraordinary career.
A nine piece band – guitar, piano drums, three horns, two backing singers, and of course Suzi herself on bass – was as tight as you like, and all looked like they were having a ball. The PA was excellent, with a big, solid bass sound – as you'd expect – and Suzi’s voice strong and musical throughout. And of course at a couple of stages she turned and did her famous ass-wiggle – she’s said that the day she retires will be when she does that and the audience is silent!
More huge tunes followed: the country-tinged ‘Stumblin’ In’, duetting with her regular guitarist Tim Smith taking the place of Smokie’s Chris Norman, then her second hit single ‘48 Crash’. In 2019 she wrote songs with her musician son for the first time and from that came ‘I Sold My Soul Today’, a heavier rock number, then came ‘Slow Down’, a song she played with QSP, a ‘glam rock supergroup’ she formed with guitarist Andy Scott from Sweet and drummer Don Powell from Slade. An effective if unexpected cover of Neil Young’s ‘Rockin' in the Free World’ Solo on piano – she later explained that she only does covers onstage that she's recorded – was followed by an emotional, solo song, Suzi playing piano and singing ‘Can I Be Your Girl’ for her departed mom and dad.
After a 20 minute interval she was back in black – black leather jumpsuit, black Fender Jazz bass. She started with ‘Freedom’, a new song from her 18th studio album of the same name. With its rock and rolling guitar riff and gospel tinged chorus it stood up against any of her early hits. ‘Little Miss Lovely’, also off new album, was a raucous singalong – all about her, she winked!
Then came ‘Ain't You Somethin’ Honey’, the song on her original demo that impressed British producer Mickie Most, who produced her early hits. ‘She's In Love With You’, from her sixth studio album Suzi... And Other Four Letter Words was backed up by ‘Shine A Light’ from her 2023 collaboration with KT Tunstall, then 1974’s ‘Too Big’. She even threw in a full-on five and a half minute long bass solo.
Three final big hits - ‘Can The Can’, ‘Devil Gate Drive’ and ‘If You Can't Give Me Love’ rocked the joint, then the queen of rock ‘n’ roll closed off the two hour, two set gig with Chuck Berry’s ‘Sweet Little Rock ‘N’ Roller’ and finally sent the happy, satiated crowd out into Argyll Street with her tribute to Elvis Presley, ‘Singing With Angels’.
Find Suzi Quatro tour dates at www.suziquatro.com. And read 3 interviews with Suzi in The American at www.theamerican.co.uk – Library.
