In the early ’70s, against all odds, Detroit native Suzi Quatro kicked off a now legendary, hitmaking career as a bass playing frontwoman of a hard rock band. There may have been female rockers who came before her, but none embodied the type hard-rocking superhero archetype that still defines punk rock players to this day. Her breakout role as Leather Tuscadero in Happy Days may have cemented her image visually, but it was her prodigal skills as a bass player and singer that earned her the position, and decades on, ensures her forever place as an iconic figure in rock history.
Which is the very topic of a new documentary called Suzi Q, which will chronicle the incredibly influential career of the pioneering female rock star. Watch the first trailer below as stars like Debbie Harry and Alice Cooper explain the game-changing impact of Suzi Quatro’s explosive presence hit the scene.
Suzi Q | Utopia Official Trailer
“She was the first, and broke the ice and kicked the doors for us gals,” the Runaways’ Cherie Currie says in the opening of the clip. “If people have overlooked her, that’s their fault.”
As Rolling Stone reports, the feature-length documentary, directed by Liam Firmager, Quatro’s career, from her beginnings in Detroit to her breakthrough in 1973. Quatro herself appears in the documentary, alongside peers and admirers that include Joan Jett, the Talking Heads’ Tina Weymouth, L7’s Donita Sparks, producer Mike Campbell, and Quatro’s Happy Days co-star Henry Winkler.
“A lot of girls had tried to be Suzi Quatro,” Alice Cooper notes. “But when it’s in the DNA, you can’t fake that.”
“Over the four-plus years making the film, the idea that Suzi’s status had been forgotten in the USA slowly dawned on us … because in the rest of the world everyone knows that she is the first and one of the most important trailblazers in rock and roll,” producer Tait Brady said in a statement. “And that then influenced the direction the film took … it became our mission to redress history.”
Suzi Q will premiere virtually for 24 hours on July 1st, before being released on-demand on July 3rd. Go to altavod.com for more info.
Listen to Suzi Quatro on Spotify:
Listen to Suzi Quatro on Apple Music:
