The Prehistory of Suzi Quatro
The Pleasure Seekers, Cradle, and early Detroit Rock
by Bob Pomeroy
Suzi Quatro is one of those figures I’ve heard about for years but never paid much attention to. I put that down in part to the fact that I was introduced to Quatro through the character of Leather Tuscadero on the sitcom Happy Days. How serious can a rocker be if they’re Fonzie’s girlfriend? There was also the inherent misogyny of the music industry in the ’70s.
Looking into Suzi’s story, I discovered that she was actually a badass pioneer of women in rock. With her sisters, she formed a garage rock band called the Pleasure Seekers in 1964. In 1968, they became one of the earliest all-female rock bands to sign with a major label, Mercury Records. The Pleasure Seekers made a place for themselves playing teen clubs like the Hideout around Detroit when they were just teenagers. The original lineup included lead singers Suzi Quatro and Patti Quatro, with Nancy Ball on drums, Mary Lou Ball on guitar, and Diane Baker on piano (later replaced by Arlene Quatro). They released a single through Hideout records, “Never Thought You’d Leave Me” b/w “What a Way to Die.” Both songs charted locally with “What a Way to Die” later being covered by the Mummies in the 1988 cult film, Blood Orgy of the Leather Girls. Their second single, ”Light of Love” b/w “Good Kind of Hurt”, was released through Mercury Records.
The band toured nationally with one of the earliest light shows before morphing into Cradle. The Pleasure Seekers didn’t get a full-length album until the compilation LP What a Way to Die was released on 2011. The collection of mostly unreleased tracks shows an adventurous and energetic band. The overall sound is comparable to other rock bands of the era. Songs like “What a Way to Die” are trashy garage rockers with twangy guitar and shuffling beats. “What a Way to Die” is an enthusiastic ode to alcohol. “Elevator Express” highlights Arlene Quatro’s organ with a feel similar to ? and the Mysterians. The songs from the Mercury session feature fuller production, with horns giving the tunes something of a Motown sound. “White Pig Blues” features tasty guitar riffing over soulful vocals.
In 1969, The Pleasure Seekers morphed into the heavier rock sounds of Cradle. Sister Nancy Quatro joined the band on vocals and percussion. Cradle toured extensively, including a 1971 tour of Viet Nam. Although they received praise from other musicians, they couldn’t get a record label to sign them. They went undocumented in their own time, but Patti Quatro released a live 1970 recording from the Grande Ballroom as The History in 2024.
Even though The History is a two-track live recording, it has better sound than the Pleasure Seekers material. The overall sound is heavier, with major threads of blues rock and prog showing up. The doo-wop flavored “Peter Porn” is pretty funny, and “Funny Man” has intricate time changes and distinct movements, making it more kin to Yes than its inspiration, Iggy Pop. ’”Dream” mashes up The Sound of Music and The Carpenters into a strange rock suite.
The beginning of the end for Cradle came in 1971, when Suzi Quatro accepted Micky Most’s offer to move to England and sign to RAK Records. Cradle carried on for another two years, with Lynne Serridge taking over on bass and vocals and her sister, Leigh, playing drums. The Serridge sisters played on “Heat” and “Soothsayer,” which were demoed with Mountain’s producer, Bud Prater. The demo didn’t lead to label interest, and the band dissolved in 1973. After the band broke up, Patti Quatro moved to the west coast and joined another pioneering, all-female band, Fanny. Suzi Quatro’s solo career is another subject — I wanted to share what I learned about her prehistory, breaking down barriers with some of the earliest examples of women doing it for themselves in rock and roll.
