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Jul 29, 2020 By Hays Davis Web Exclusive

Given her influence at a time when meaningful exposure for female rockers was scant, the story of singer/bassist Suzi Quatro awaited a proper telling for decades. The documentary Suzi Q amply serves, following the Detroit native from her dues-paying early years to the overseas hit-making stardom that somehow evaded her in the States and leading to her more recent work.

With comments throughout from Quatro as well as from admirers including members of the Runaways (her influence on Joan Jett is clear), Talking Heads’ Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz, and many others, Suzi Q follows its subject from her start in the Pleasure Seekers, a band formed in the mid-’60s with her sisters and neighbors that released their debut single when Quatro was only 14. Missing the rest of a normal childhood while on the road as a professional musician, Quatro and her bandmates struggled with a changing music scene as the ’60s played out. A meeting with producer Mickie Most changed her life, ultimately leading to a solo career that began in the early ’70s with chart-topping hits in the U.K. and Australia.

The iconic, leather-clad figure she cut was pioneering, with the singer/bassist leading a group of male bandmates as they slammed through pounding pop-rock hits like “Can the Can” and “Devil Gate Drive.” Americans may have gotten to know her more as an actress on the TV show Happy Days, but Suzi Q effectively presents Quatro’s role as a rousing inspiration for up-and-coming musicians that followed.

(suziqmovie.com)

Author rating: 7.5/10