SUZI QUATRO

Speaking to the UK 'Sunday Express' in 2015, Suzi Quatro noted, "I don't think that many people have walked through the door that I opened. It's not an easy job. It's just not. It needs a lot of stamina. On one tour for example, I was singing 27 songs a night!" 

Talking to 'Madhouse' magazine, Suzi Quatro added, "I thought there was going to be loads taking up my mantle, but there hasn't been. You know, this is not a job for the faint-hearted. It's a very difficult job, you have to have so much stamina and tough exterior just to survive. But you also gotta be liquid inside and be able to just roll with the punches. Like that bass guitars weighs more than I do but I mean I pick it up and I play it. You know I'm doing 52 years on the road now. That's a lot of grease, buses, planes, trains, dressing rooms, sleepless nights, I mean the list goes on and on but I love it so I still do it." 

'Pennyblackmusic', 2012: In your autobiography, 'Unzipped' (published in 2007), you mentioned that there was a burgeoning music scene in Detroit born of desperation: a 'gotta get out of this place' feeling. What did you mean by that? 

Suzi Quatro: Detroit is a survivor city. We are proud to come from there and also proud to survive and exist elsewhere. It is a city of extremes: rich, poor, black, white, energy, lethargy. In a way I have never left that city. 

Suzy Quatro also explained to the 'Mancunian Matters' in 2017, "All industrial cities have this desperation in the drinking water to make something of yourself." In 1971, Suzi Quatro, then 21, came to England to work with record producer Mickie Most, "It was lonely but the choice was staying there and maybe sinking without a trace or going off and being a solo act, which is what I always was. 

"So it was the right thing to do businesswise and very hard emotionally. But I wouldn't have had it any other way. I've always been a gypsy. I went on the road at 14 and I'm now 66 (in March 2017). I think when I get to heaven I'm going to have a rolling bag. Otherwise, I can’t get in the door. I think you need to have the tools to deal with success because it's not easy. You have to have stamina and you have to have your feet on the ground." 

As told to 'Madhouse', "I had a 9-year apprenticeship before I had my own gig. I came over here (to the UK) in '71 and was signed. Then by '73 I had my first No. 1 hit. Now what I'm saying isn't egotistical, but it's the truth. I wasn't surprised when all that began to happen because I had believed in myself and I was always waiting for that to happen. Then when it happened I was like 'yup here we are.' You gotta have that belief or you'll never go anywhere." 

She also told ​Lisa Torem, "Suzi Quatro is real. Otherwise it would not have worked for so long, but there are two sides. That is why I wrote my autobiography in two people. Both are necessary for my survival. The child in me is such an important part. It balances the famous one. One cannot exist without the other, and this is also the reason why I am normal and approachable. I am not a gender person. I do what I like, when I like, how I like and damned be anyone who stands in my way. I will always keep going, even though I am thin skinned. I will walk through the fire. Nobody stops me from going where I intend to go." 

​Dennis Morgillo, 2016: Now on the flip side you were very groundbreaking and influential yourself. You created the mold and then broke it, you were the first bass playing female rockstar in an all male band. Did you realize how important that was at the time? ​ 

Suzi Quatro: Well, it's not the reason I did what I did. I did it because I had to do it and I loved it. But to be honest I never thought of myself as a girl musician, I just thought of myself as a musician. As I look back on it now (in 2016) I see the importance in it. I think the reason it was me who broke the mold though was because I didn't do gender. I just went out there and did my stuff and didn't think too much. But now looking back, yes I am pretty proud of basically giving permission for other female artists to do what I did. 

Suzi Quatro also stated, "Everything I do is two-handed. I started to write with my left, but my teacher made me use my right hand. I play baseball and golf, left-handed. I type like the wind. I am able to multi-think musically. Always could. Therefore, singing lead and playing bass was never any problem. I always knew one day I would write about my experiences. I even collected all the hotel room keys on my first ever year on the road! Some people would call it 'anal'. 

"I have an excellent memory. All emotional things I remember in detail. I am an artist. They either end up as a poem or a song, but, of course, to write about them, you have to go back and 'walk through the fire' again, and feel all the pain for a second time. I was glad to come out the other side. I have spent most of my life looking in phone books for another S.Q. I have never found one, which makes me think - maybe I am the real Suzi Q!"   

Speaking to Dan Beazley of 'Newcastle Live' in 2015, Suzi Quatro made the comment, "There’s a certain energy in Detroit. You can't explain it, but it exists in all industrial cities. I have been touring in Australia regularly since 1974, and have actually lost count of how many times I have been there, but I think this tour (in 2015) will be number 29. It is my second home and I love it dearly. This year (2015) I celebrated my 50th year (dating back to 1964) in the business and it just felt like the right time to take my final bow. It's a daunting prospect and one I am preparing seriously for." 

On the topic of the evolution of women in rock 'n' roll, Suzi Quatro made the observation, "Rock 'n' roll is not dead. There’s some good bands coming along. It’s changed, but the music is still there. Rock 'n' roll will never die. What I did I’m still doing, but I don't see people taking up the banner. Don't get me wrong there are some great artists coming through and I hear great stuff on the radio, but there’s not many Suzies coming through. And it's not easy, you’ve got to have the strength of a thousand elephants. I mean the bass weighs more than I do. I’m a woman, a mother, a wife and a rocker. It’s kind of like juggling act. Men don’t have to juggle. You guys have convinced people that you can only do one thing at a time." 

Of writing song, "I think the song writing is based more on my piano knowledge. When I want to write a straight forward rock song I will go to the guitar and do the song on that. It's natural. If I want to write a more complicated song I play piano. But I’ve written songs on a number of different instruments including the drums." 

Suzi also told Mick Burgess of 'Metal Express Radio' in 2017, "Every album that I did highlighted my work as a songwriter as I've written the majority of the material on my albums. My fans know my work and I think that I'm a good writer. Some of my songs have been out as singles and some have been recorded by other people. I'm a prolific writer … Mike Chapman always used to say that my songs were the meat of the album. That's a real compliment and means a lot to me as a serious songwriter." 

Question: How did you approach song writing back then? 

Suzi Quatro: 98% of the time I get a title. That suggests the tempo and that will suggest if I write it on guitar which I'm not so good at or piano, which I'm very good at. If I want a rock song, I'll go to the guitar or if I want a more musical song, I'll go with the piano. If I just want the beat I might write it on the bass. Every song is different but I usually end up with a line that becomes the start of a verse or the start of a chorus. As a songwriter, I just open my channels and let everything flow. It can get noisy at times with all those channels open. I don't question anything, I just listen and start. It's a very organic process, I just love writing. 

Question: How much did working with songwriters like (Nicky) Chinn and Chapman develop you as a writer? 

Suzi Quatro: I learned how to craft a song in three minutes. They were disciplined in that way. I just tended to write what felt right but Mike would suggest something to make it better and I'd cut it down to three minutes.

On reflection, "Detroit is in my heart and soul. I can never get rid of it and I don't want to get rid of it. There's a feeling of putting your foot on the gas and going. You never get the level of energy from anywhere else than you get from Detroit bands. It has a great musical pedigree. I was talking to Ted Nugent a while back and I've known him for ever and the guys out of MC5 too and we all love our heavy rock but all we wanted to do was talk Motown. Although we were rock acts some of their moves and flow came through in the DNA. We all loved it."