The 1970s were a time of contradictions. Don Henley of The Eagles said in an interview in 1990 with Rolling Stone that there was a sense that some of the ideas conceived in the 1960s didn’t quite pan out.
Vietnam, Watergate, the end of ‘Free Love‘ and ‘Swinging London‘. Benny Hill could get a Number One with ‘Ernie – The Fastest Milkman in the West‘ and Led Zeppelin were en route. Sweet had a ‘BLOCKBUSTER‘ in the charts, then Spielberg and Lucas on the big screen with JAWS and STAR WARS.
A new Australian documentary adds a then-new face and voice to the mix – and somebody that both directly and indirectly has influenced two musical revolutions – the potential of a female rock artist and the New Wave/Punk era of the late 1970s.
SUZI Q is a brand-new official account of the life and music of Suzi Quatro, from film-makers Liam Firmager and Tait Brady which attempts to reveal some of the key moments that has turned her into one of the biggest and best-selling artists of all time worldwide.
Born in Detroit to a close and loving family, Quatro was around music from an early age. With her sisters she formed a group called The Pleasure Seekers and actually enjoyed some success in that form. However, Quatro was also keen to get her shot and it took a British promoter, Mickie Most, to recognise her potential and subsequently in 1971, she found herself in a bed-sit with a bass guitar in London, where the most familiar part of her success began.
Working with a producer called Mike Chapman and experimenting with various ideas and styles, Quatro’s hits began to come, starting with CAN THE CAN and a performance on TOP OF THE POPS wearing a leather jumpsuit inspired by Roger Vadim’s 1968 cult sci-fi classic BARBARELLA (it wasn’t to be the last time that film created an iconic musical artist – the villain in that film, Duran Duran, led to you-know-what!)
SUZI Q is an enlightening and involving documentary, helped along in part by Quatro’s ability and agreement to open up to the film-makers on camera. There is some confusion over whether or not she was part of the glam rock movement, as her guitarist and first husband Len Tuckey points out at one point, nobody except Suzi wore make-up on stage, so there is debate about whether the Quatro band were as such.
Given the recent developments with #MeToo, a clip from THE RUSSELL HARTY SHOW in which Harty openly smacks Quatro’s bottom will certainly make people flinch now, but in the context of the era she became a star in, it highlights how different television presentation and the mind-set was, but Quatro certainly is a strong-willed and very informed person who whilst being diminutive in size certainly – and can still – rock with the best of them.
Cherie Currie and Joan Jett of the Runaways, Kathy Valentine of The Go-Gos and KT Tunstall are among the others who have been influenced as well by Quatro’s legacy and Henry Winkler aka The Fonz in HAPPY DAYS also reflects on her contribution and success in the show as Leather Tuscadero, which came about because a producer saw her poster on her daughter’s wall and brought her into to appear on the show (interestingly, Deborah Harry of Blondie – who also contributes in the documentary – was first choice as Leather for the show)
Appeal will of course be limited initially to fans and followers of Quatro, but there is so much more on offer here, reminding us of how iconic this talented woman is on all fronts, with a career that expanded into Radio, Television and Theatre (ANNIE GET YOUR GUN), as well as achieving a tremendous work-life balance and finding happiness eventually with another husband and two equally talented children.
With theaters closed, Utopia Distribution will host a “SUZI Q” virtual event on July 1st featuring the film and an exclusive Q&A featuring Suzi Quatro and a Special Guest (available for 24 hours only) in advance of the film’s traditional release on VOD and DVD on July 3rd.
To buy your ticket for the July 1st event powered by Altavod, visit:
https://www.altavod.com/movies/suzi-q
