‘Suzi Q’ Film Review: Rock Documentary Makes a Case for Suzi Quatro
The film is an effective, straightforward history lesson of sorts, aimed at restoring the reputation of a woman who has been little more than a footnote in U.S. rock history
The shorthand summary of the story of Suzi Quatro story is simple: a pioneering female rock ‘n’ roll musician from Detroit who became a big star overseas in the 1970s but couldn’t find the same appreciation at home. And “Suzi Q,” a film by Liam Firmager that premieres on VOD this week, tries to right that imbalance, trotting out an array of female musicians to testify about Quatro’s importance in helping establish the very idea that it was OK for women to pick up instruments and play rock alongside the guys.
That’s a worthy goal for the film, given Quatro’s influence on people like Joan Jett, Debbie Harry, the Talking Heads’ Tina Weymouth and the Go-Go’s Kathy Valentine, among others. Valentine, for one, said she’d never even thought of women playing instruments — and then she saw Quatro on the British TV show “Top of the Pops,” and “My brain literally exploded.”
So you can think of “Suzi Q” as an effective, straightforward history lesson of sorts, aimed at restoring the reputation of a woman who has been little more than a footnote in U.S. rock history. And because of its subject, the film also turns into an examination of sexism in the music industry, including an appalling but no-doubt-common moment when a British talk-show host asked Quatro to turn around so he could slap her on the butt before she sat down.
The film also adds another, sad dimension to that phrase “couldn’t find the same appreciation at home,” suggesting that Quatro not only struggled to be liked by American listeners, but also by her own family.
It’s not a revelatory film, except to those who know nothing about Quatro, and it occasionally skirts areas you wish it explored. But Quatro deserved to have her story told, and Firmager does a solid job of telling it.
Quatro grew up in a middle-class suburb of Detroit, and joined her sister Patti in a band called the Pleasure Seekers when she was 14. (Her other sisters, Arlene and Nancy, would later join as well.) At barely five feet tall fully grown, she wielded an electric bass guitar that was nearly as big as she was. But she cut such a striking figure on stage that celebrated British producer/manager Mickie Most offered her a solo deal after seeing the band. The rest of the family didn’t even want to tell her about the offer, but when she found out and moved to England to work with Most, her sisters were devastated.
“Suzi Q” jumps into these early years quickly, without much setup to explain to viewers why they’d want to devote their time to a movie about Quatro. It finally makes the case for her about half an hour later, when Quatro has her first hit, “Can the Can,” under the tutelage of producer Mike Chapman. At that point in the film, the rockers she influenced, who also included L7’s Donita Sparks, the Runaways’ Lita Ford and Cherie Curie and Tranvision Vamp’s Wendy James, make for a powerful chorus as they explain why she mattered.
“Can the Can” was the first in a string of songs that were hits in England, throughout Europe and in Australia and New Zealand – others, all written by Chapman and his partner Nicky Chinn, included “48 Crash,” “Daytona Demon,” “Devil Gate Drive,” “The Wild One” and “Your Mama Won’t Like Me.”
Chapman was adept at tailoring songs to her persona, and he insisted that she push her voice to the top of its effective range, which gave her vocals an intense but thin sound and perhaps shortchanged her ability as vocalist. (These days, most of her early hits sound awfully tinny.) But Chapman was never shy about taking credit, and some skeptics came to dismiss her as a puppet of two powerful men, Chapman and Most.
Quatro, normally an affable and understated interview subject, chafes at the suggestion that men were running the show. “One thing I could never be was manipulated,” she insists.
But while she landed the opening spot on some big American tours and was featured on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine in 1975, her records just didn’t sell in the United States. The film doesn’t try to go into much detail about why, a question that probably can’t be answered anyway.
That lack of commercial success, though, may well have been why a woman who was a big hit in the ultra-trendy glam-rock movement in the U.K. would consider taking a recurring role on a mainstream American sitcom, “Happy Days,” where she played a leather-clad ’50s rocker named Leather Tuscadero. The role finally got her known in the U.S. and in a way led to her only Stateside Top 10 hit, the 1978 ballad duet “Stumblin’ In,” but it killed whatever credibility she had as a rocker, even as her acolytes in the Runaways, the Go-Go’s and Blondie began to achieve success.
The film spends most of its time on the first decade of her career, then moves quickly through 40 years of moving from one record company to another and working with some success in musical theater. This section is more hurried and less interesting – though at the end, when she admits that she really wanted the approval of her father and her sisters, it begins to sink in how much she sacrificed on the personal front for the success she did have.
Her father, she says, told her he was proud of her for the first time not when she was a rock star, but years later when she wrote and starred in a musical. As for her sisters, she admits, “You want to be validated by the ones you love the most” – but it’s clear from what her sisters say in interviews for the film that they’ve never forgiven her for leaving them to become a star.
“I made it in spite of them,” Quatro says sadly, “but I also made it because of them.”
“Suzi Q” tries very hard to adopt a triumphant tone at the end, but the hurt feelings and family fractures weigh on it heavily. As much as the film makes it clear that she deserves more recognition and appreciation in her own country, it suggests that she deserves it in her own family, too.
Kathy Valentine and Cherie Curie will take part in a virtual release event for the film on July 1, with “Suzi Q” moving to VOD and DVD on July 3.
19 Music Biopics in the Works, From Elvis Presley to Aretha Franklin (Photos)
With the box office and awards season success of "Bohemian Rhapsody," music biopics are roaring back. We've seen audiences jump on films like "Rocketman" based on the life of Elton John and "I Am Woman" about Helen Reddy. But many others are currently in the works, including films about Elvis Presley, Aretha Franklin, Bob Marley, John Lennon and Yoko Ono.
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Amy Winehouse - Monumental Pictures' Alison Owen and Debra Hayward are producing a film on the life of the late Amy Winehouse. They'll be working in coordination with Winehouse's father Mitch, who previously said in a statement that he felt finally the "time was right." No cast has been set for the film.
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"Respect" - Aretha Franklin - Before her death in 2018, Aretha Franklin chose Jennifer Hudson to portray her on film. The biopic follows the Queen of Soul from her childhood singing in her father's choir, through the tumultuous, cultural revolution in the 1960s at the start of her career, and on the way to becoming an international icon. Tommy Liesl is directing the film from a script by Oscar winner Callie Khouri.
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The Bee Gees - Paramount acquired the life rights to the family estate of Maurice, Robin and Barry Gibb and the disco band The Bee Gees and is in the works on a film about their career.
LOS ANGELES - OCTOBER 22: Australian Pop group The Bee Gees (L-R Maurice Gibb, Robin Gibb and Maurice Gibb) pose for a portrait on October 22, 1977 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Ed Caraeff/Getty Images)
Bob Marley - Bob Marley's son Ziggy is producing the currently-in-development biopic about the iconic reggae singer's life with Paramount Pictures. Marley helped introduce reggae to mainstream audiences around the globe and helped change the landscape of music before dying of cancer at age 36.
Photo by Mike Prior/Redferns
Boy George - MGM will produce a feature biopic on the life of Boy George, the flamboyant and charismatic frontman of the pop band Culture Club. Sacha Gervasi ("Anvil: The Story of Anvil") is writing and directing the film that will chart his childhood in a working-class Irish family up through his international success as a solo artist.
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Buddy Holly - Bruce Beresford is directing a biopic about the life and untimely passing of pioneering guitarist Buddy Holly called "Clear Lake." The film is named for the area in Iowa where Holly was killed. Ruairi O'Connor is portraying Holly in the film, and Nelly is also attached as Chuck Berry.
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"Beautiful" - Carole King - The film adaptation of the Tony-winning Broadway musical "Beautiful" about the life and career of Carole King was first announced back in 2015, and an individual with knowledge of the project told TheWrap that "Beautiful" is still in development. While no cast or director has been set, Tom Hanks, Paul Blake and Gary Goetzman are set to produce an adaptation based on the musical book by Douglas McGrath. The play is a jukebox musical featuring many of King's hits as it charts the early part of her career, including "You've Got a Friend," "One Fine Day," "Will You Love Me Tomorrow," "Natural Woman" and many more.
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"The Power of Love" - Celine Dion - Valérie Lemercier will star in and direct this feature inspired by the life and career of Canadian singing powerhouse Celine Dion, which will also feature her songs. The film is in the French language.
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Elvis Presley - "Moulin Rouge" director Baz Luhrmann is helming a still-untitled biopic about the life of Elvis Presley at Warner Bros., with Tom Hanks as "Colonel Tom" Parker and Austin Butler as the King.
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Gucci Mane - In February 2019, Paramount Players and Imagine Entertainment acquired the life rights to Gucci Mane and kicked off development on a music biopic based on the rapper's book "The Autobiography of Gucci Mane." Imagine’s Brian Grazer and Erica Huggins are producing the project, and Mane is executive producing with Todd Moscowitz. His book talks about how Mane released mixtapes from prison alongside other rappers like Migos and Young Thug.
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Heart - Heart singer Ann Wilson first told a SiriusXM show that a biopic about her band with her sister Nancy Wilson was in the works at Amazon and that "Portlandia" and Sleater-Kinney star Carrie Brownstein would be writing the screenplay. The film follows the sisters' life story and goes up through the 1990s in tracking the "Barracuda" band's journey. No director is attached.
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John Lennon and Yoko Ono - "Bohemian Rhapsody" scribe Anthony McCarten wrote the screenplay for an untitled biopic about the romance between John Lennon and Yoko Ono, along with their activism and strive for peace. Ono herself approved the story after producer Josh Bratman lobbied her to bring it to the screen. Jean Marc Vallée ("Big Little Lies," "Dallas Buyers Club") is directing the film.
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Lang Lang - Ron Howard will direct a biopic on the life of Lang Lang, the world-renowned Chinese pianist about his journey from life in Northern China to making it to the Beijing Central Conservatory of Music and to international acclaim. Michelle Mulroney and Kieran Mulroney wrote the screenplay based on Lang Lang’s own memoir co-written with David Ritz called “Journey of a Thousand Miles.”
Photo credits: Jeff Lipsky/Cami Music
Leonard Bernstein - Bradley Cooper is following up "A Star Is Born" by taking on the life story of the legendary composer Leonard Bernstein. Cooper will direct and star in the music biopic, as well as write the script with Josh Singer ("First Man," "Spotlight"). Netflix and Amblin Partners are co-financing the project about the New York Philharmonic music director and composer of "West Side Story." At one point Jake Gyllenhaal was attached to star in a separate Bernstein biopic from director Cary Fukunaga.
Courtesy: Allan Warren
Madonna - After a screenplay called "Blond Ambition" about Madonna's life landed on the Black List, the Material Girl said that only she could tell her story. Years later, Madonna herself will direct the film about her own life story, and she even wrote a screenplay for the film alongside "Juno" writer Diablo Cody. The project is in the works at Universal.
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Ronnie Spector - "Euphoria" actress Zendaya was in talks to portray Ronnie Spector, the Ronettes singer known for songs like "Be My Baby" and "The Best Part of Breaking Up" that A24 and New Regency are developing. Marc Platt would produce, but no writer or director is attached.
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Sammy Davis Jr. - MGM is in development on a biopic on the life of Sammy Davis Jr., the singer and Rat Pack legend, and "The Chi" creator Lena Waithe is producing the film based on a book by Davis Jr.'s daughter Tracy.
Photo of Sammy Davis Jr. Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
Teddy Pendergrass - Tyrese Gibson will play R&B legend Teddy Pendergrass from Warner Bros., who acquired the rights to the singer's life in February. Pendergrass' story is ripe for adaptation, as he rose to fame as part of the group Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes before breaking out as a solo artist. Pendergrass suffered a major spinal cord injury in a car crash in 1982 that left him paralyzed, leading him to fight to come back as part of the Live Aid concert in 1985. He died in 2010. Gibson is also producing with the "Empire" creator Lee Daniels and Donald De Line. Pendergrass' widow is an executive producer.
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Whitney Houston - Sony acquired the rights to this music biopic about the life of Whitney Houston, which will be directed by "The Photograph" filmmaker Stella Meghie and is being written by "Bohemian Rhapsody" scribe Anthony McCarten. The film covers her prime as a performer, her work on "The Bodyguard" and her performance of the National Anthem at the 1991 Super Bowl while alluding to her tragic death.
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The Bee Gees, Madonna, Whitney Houston and more are looking for their “Bohemian Rhapsody” moment
With the box office and awards season success of "Bohemian Rhapsody," music biopics are roaring back. We've seen audiences jump on films like "Rocketman" based on the life of Elton John and "I Am Woman" about Helen Reddy. But many others are currently in the works, including films about Elvis Presley, Aretha Franklin, Bob Marley, John Lennon and Yoko Ono.