Chatterbox, when the stars talk, they talk to Nick and Sue. And welcome back to the Chatterbox Redux podcast with Sue and Nick. And today our special guest is Susie Quatro. This is Nick and Sue with Chatterbox giving you all you need to know about musical entertainment. Oh, yeah! Chatterbox! And now in Chatterbox UK, we're just lucky enough to welcome back Suzy Quatro. Suzy, hi, welcome back. Hello, Suzy. How are you? I'm fine. I'm busy, busy, but I'm fine. How are you? We're
good. Thank you. Thank you. And you are right in the middle of interview season, as you often are when we talk to you. I know. Freedom. We have heard it. In fact, well, we got the single, haven't we? The album is called the same. Freedom is the single right now. And then the album is called the same. Okay, and the good news is is in time for the tour in April will be the kick out the jams the the duet I did with Alice Cooper. So that's exciting Wow That it better be to die
for Yeah, right. We've got some good news about freedom as a single. We do mother told you before we do a show on Radio North Sea International called hits or miss this is where the the audience literally vote if they think she'll be hit or miss and You know, we still get several hundred votes and that Well, should you want to tell Susie how well she did? You didn't only get a hit and smash it. You got the maximum points you can get Yeah And only one person's ever done
that before. So here you go. Fantastic. Yay. Great. Well, everybody does seem to be loving this song. It is. It's in your face, isn't it? It is amazing. It is. Well, it's right. Listen, it's right up there with anything you've done before. And is it right to say, I don't want to knock any of your because I loved your early stuff, you know, right up to she's in love with him and all that going right up to 78 and stuff. But can I actually say it's to me, it's the most
live. lifeless Susie Quattro I've heard, is that alright to say? Yeah, we have returned to my roots on this album, so everybody's picked up on that. It's kind of like everything you expect a Susie Quattro single to be and an album to be, it's there. It's me firing on all four cylinders. It is. It is. How much part has your son played on this? Because he's been working with you very closely for some years now. I know he's in his early 40s, wherever, and he's really there with
you writing. What bigger part has he played this time? Very big. He said that we should strip it all back and go back to the original feeling. So all the songs took on that kind of flavor and. It was all it's all about being comfortable in your skin the whole album choose yourself things like that you know it's a it's very very strong lyrically it's about. Well it's about me i know who i am and i'm not taking any bs
from anybody. I don't have nothing left to prove going down i'm going down my road my baggage is excess baggage is away. So down I go Really so all the album we've got freedom to single Because some other titles here. I mean barmese tell me something about them as we go through but little miss lovely Yeah, that's that little miss lovely that that's very much I call it my Gemini song Black and white black and white black and white so she's innocently hardcore. I mean
Positively negative. There you go. It's Germany. It's Germany. But I have to go. Little Miss Lovely. I've got Choose Yourself. Yeah. That was going to be the title track and it was going to be the album called. That's a lot of people love that song. But when we were mixing and I was listening to the mixes, Freedom just kept jumping
out. You know what does that a single does that but choose yourself as an excellent track I loved it from the time my son sent me that the recording I loved it it's an it's an it's got a lot of good lyrics in there hanging over me. Yes five o 'clock shadow hanging over me there's a few on there like this it's my way of saying go bye. See ya. Here's your boots. That's another one of saying here's your boots. My mom used to always say that. Here's your hat. What's your hurry
used to always make me laugh. It's a nice way to say. It's a nice way to say goodbye. It's very cheeky that song. Okay, very cheeky. Yeah, brilliant. Can't let it go. Yes, you know that one was born out of and we all we all have this in our lives. If you're with your partner and you're arguing. And you just want to, okay, we've had the argument now, let it go. And sometimes it can be you too. I've done this too. You can't let it go. And so this song, you can't let it
go. You know, you just can't let it go. So it's, it's that frustration that the argument keeps going, going, going enough already. Nobody held my hand. Nice title. Great title. And that was my, that was my son's title. And he had came up with some lyrics, too. And he wanted me to write a song about my story of doing everything alone, because he always relates to that, that I didn't have any help. I had to strike out on my own and make it on my own. I left the family,
came over here alone as alone can be. So nobody held my hand. That's absolutely correct. It's very anthemy, that song. It might go in the show,
actually. It's a good song. Shake down. Shakedown yeah, oh boy that that was born out of a situation again that happened to me within my family And I felt like I was being just shaken down by everybody so That was getting my frustrations out that shakedown Take it or leave it It's one of my favorite lyrics take it and even just don't judge Okay, it says it just don't judge take it or leave it you're giving somebody the option if they don't want to be around you then don't be
around me bye i like the next title the next one's going to be very interesting because i don't class but of course i don't really know we only know you through the interviews of course but i don't really know you but you don't come over as a feminist to me but woman song could mean anything you know you but i don't so what what's that mean what's that about well I'm as you know i'm a non gender person i've never done gender never call never call myself a female
musician and i never was i never was like women's live by me live but at the age of seventy five. I have finally for the first time written a woman's song so important my son says it's the most dangerous song on the album because of what it says lyrically but i really mean it so i'll probably never write
a song like this again but i've. taking my hat off and said a woman's song this is my my woman's song to all the women out there now okay has this song been in the making since 73 or before you came over here even or or has it been just in the background brewing and growing you thought i got it now 2026 i've got it this is it has it been or is it just something you've come up with for this album recently Yeah it just the way that the almost going so personal about my
life and you know about being you know. In charge in charge of my life being who i am it's it just seems to take on that flavor and i thought. Why not why not do a woman song for once which i don't do i don't do i don't do gender but i've done it but only the only the one time. That's enough in a career like yours. It's great you tackled it, it's wonderful. Kick out the jams, featuring Alice Cooper. I've got a feeling there might be interviews about this nearer to time,
somehow, but how, why, whatever. There's obviously two great artists together, and obviously Alice Cooper must be a great friend of yours, but why? Why now? Why? Great, I'm pleased, but yeah. It's
traditional since 73. that i do two covers on every album and we've kept that tradition so there's going down by freddie king and then my son kept saying kick out the jams and i love the song i'm from detroit but for some reason i couldn't get my brain around it but he was insisting and then he finally came and he said he said mom kick out the jams with alice and i said now i hear it now i hear To two guys from Detroit, we've known each other since teenagers,
going back, back to Detroit to honor the MC five and singing it face to face in the studio. So then it made sense. And when you hear it, it's it you hear the connection. You see Detroit, you feel Detroit, you hear the connection that we have. Sure, and the other one, Going Down, which I was going to mention at the end. Yes, so that's the other one with the different artists. It's a bonus tag. See, you must have known I was going to link them together, knowing there
was... But yes, so tell us all about Going Down and how that collaboration came about and why. Was it the same as Alice Cooper? Maybe, I don't
know. Well it was it was suggested again my son wanted to cover that night kept saying cuz i like bb king, and we always have the argument albert freddy or bb i'm a bb king fan and he said he'd like to do that because you will sing the ass off this one and he was right because i and it's a feel you got a groove that's such an important group if you can't play it right you shouldn't touch the song but actually went out there and did one take. So he was right.
Yes, it was right. It was right down my street. And I put a little personal lyrics about Detroit in it myself, you know, so. This is Nick and Sue with Chatterbox, giving you all you need to know about musical entertainment. Chatterbox, Chatterbox, Chatterbox, Chatterbox, Chatterbox. And we've got a bonus track, track 13. Completely different, completely different. It all comes down to you. Yeah. Again, the same theme, because it's all about who you are, choose yourself,
blah, blah, blah, blah. But we were doing, we had a a song in a movie a house music kind of song in a movie and we had written three or four for that project and this one was a perfect bonus track it's the same theme but a bonus track should be totally different than everything else and this is okay yeah i understand that i understand that a couple of questions i'd like to ask you before we sort of move on about the tour and uh obviously we talk about the book as well because
we need an update um when we spoke last time we did speak about obviously susie quattro being your real name and so on One question I wanted to ask, at any point before you said to Mickey most about changing your name or what should it be, what names did you have in mind? Did you have any ideas of what your stage name should be before you were told you got the best name in the world? No, no, I didn't. I just assumed I needed I needed a new name. But he said no.
Everybody asked me that. What's your real name? Because it sounds it sounds like a stage name. Yeah. Yeah. It's a great name. It's a very strong name, isn't it? It's the best name in the world for us music guys. The honest truth is, you couldn't make it up. No, you couldn't. You couldn't make it up. And one last one. Also, just when you came to the UK. Did you know the UK was going
to be where you made it big time? Did something inside tell you or did you know Mickey beforehand and he got you here or how did you end up in the UK because it worked pretty well and pretty
quick really when you got here? Well I was in a band called Cradle which was the second wave of the Argo band and my little sister came in and I was kind of pushed back from the front position to mainly being the bass player which is great because I got really good on my instrument at that point jamming all the time and doing solo. and blah, blah, blah. And that's the band that Mickey saw in Detroit. And I only did two
songs and he offered me a solo contract. And it was the second offer in one week that I'd have to go solo. The one guy from Elector wanted to make me into the next Janis Joplin, no thank you. And Mickey said, come to England and I'll make you into the first Suzy Quattro. And I was a fan of Mickey's production too. all the stuff he did, but I particularly liked Donovan. I like the production on that. And so when I said Mickey Mouse, I went, yeah, that's the guy I want to
go with. And he saw me. He saw me who I was, you know. Fantastic. I always wondered. That's great. And of course, Mickey Mouse, to those of us over a certain age, not only on the record side, of course, he was well known on TV. He was on New Faces as one of the paddlers. He was up there, wasn't he? Yeah, he was. He was. Fantastic. Absolutely. Sue? Yes, Susie, I've got a couple of questions for you. What keeps Susie Quattro going? My passion and my need. I need to do what
I do. I like that. And how is your book going, the one about the gravestones? We like that. Yeah, yeah, yeah, very good. In fact, I'm working on a screenplay as we speak. We're trying to turn it into a 20 part TV series. So, yeah. Well, a couple of our regular listeners on the Hit or Miss show saw you in a show in the last two months, I'd say, in London. And it wasn't like you singing or doing it. It was like a night with Susie Quattro, an anecdote show. It was
hilarious. They loved every minute of it. So that was really good. I love doing stuff like that. Anyway, I'm a real communicator. Yeah, I loved it. It was feedback from two listeners. So I thought I'd give that back to you. But they loved everything. That's nice. That's nice. Right. Back to the present day. This tour, Susie, tell us all about April. I will. I'm going to read them out. I'm going to read them out so I'd be a good girl. Okay. April the 7th, Glasgow, 8th.
Gateshead ninth manchester eleven th walford twelve oxford fourteen south and fifteen my fourth time at the london palladium seventeen seventeen bath nineteen birmingham and twentieth and born with so it's a great tour there's gonna be two songs two songs from the album going in the show freedom of course and probably kick out the jams
cuz i think that's coming out. As the third single which will be just in time along with the release of the album that'll be the third single altogether So looking forward to doing this talk very much. Well singles was something I was going to mention. So you've done that Well, this show also goes to Quite a lot of the Commonwealth countries Australia included. I know that you've been there so many times I think you might be there last
year. Were you Australian last last year and at the end of this year that will be my 40 second time in Australia. Wow. That's where I was going. So the Australian people listening to this show, they know you're coming back again this year. Fantastic. They do. Brilliant. Susie, Nick's received the press release about you. There's a picture of you, a picture and there's a motorbike in it. What's that about? Oh, that's that. That was to say that that was my vision. As soon as
I decided. That freedom would be the single and the title of the album cuz we like i said it was gonna be choose something soon as freedom had to be the single and i had the vision of i saw the album cover i saw it in my mind. And I put the word out to everybody who's photographed me for many years. And Julie, Julie Ainsworth from Australia, she found a picture of me from the back with my base. And then she had a I create this my vision with her photo. And then, of course,
the art department got involved then. And then they made it into artwork and they took out the one, but they took the idea. So it's exactly how I saw this title and this album cover. Wonderful cover. Wonderful. Very good cover. I like it. Everything from the cactus to the right on the
right hand side to everything. And the freedom and the freedom along the road, you know, and the bass in my hand, the fist up and you see my face in the rear view mirror and you see my logo on the tailpipe, you know, so it's it's great. Great. Fantastic. Very good. And of course, the other thing about you about you carrying on, of course, it is. You're a natural on stage. you know you are, you're a perfectionist, and
you do it for the fans. We've been getting a buzz off radio, what it's like for you on there doing what you do, but I know you do, I know you love every second of it up there. I do. And we're talking about, you were in your 60s when we were latecomers getting to know you I suppose, but now you're 75, you ain't going no place are you? We'll be talking to you when you're well in your 80s and hopefully further on with that, but you're not going anywhere are you? No, I've
got no intention of going anywhere. So what's next then? Yeah, I am. I've got, like I said, the screenplay for Grave Runner Takis. We're working on a movie script, a two part of my life working on that. I'm thinking about maybe the next film, maybe I'll make it Susie and Friends. I'm thinking about that. I've got eight books published. I will be doing one more poetry book, which I've got. Maybe 15 done already, writing songs, just doing what I do, being an artiste.
Well, there's certainly plenty more to talk about this year, isn't there, at some point? So, obviously we wish you every success. Suzy Quatre and Freedom, the album, is released on the 27th of March, so pre -order your copies now. That's today, isn't it? No, darling, this is 27th of February. Oh, 27th of March, sorry. That's okay. I am so sorry. I do stuff like that all the time. I'll tell you why it throws you, because when Mike was booking this up with us, with Susie and today...
We're Friday, this is 28 days of February. It's easy. 27th of February, 27th of March. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know why you've done that. I know exactly why you've done that. Mike honestly did the same. We'll take that bit out. We might not. No, it's funny. Leave it in. It's natural. Absolutely. Susie, so social media, so people can take another look at you and order tickets and do whatever they want to do really. all yours websites and
so on please uh www .susiequatra .com um susie quatra reveal is my instagram i'm on tiktok i'm everywhere facebook i'm everywhere all the social medias are being attended to my video for freedom was just released on the 25th on youtube so you can go on that and watch the video the video is great oh i love the video for this Really, really good job. We're looking at it now. We're looking at it now. As I say, every success, Susie. Look forward to the next. Thank you. And enjoy
your tour. Thank you very much. And we'll talk again, I'm sure. Absolutely. Thanks for coming back on Shatterbox. Thanks. Thank you very much.
Bye. Thanks. Bye. You've been listening to the Chatterbox Redux Podcast with Sue and Nick and today our special guest was Susie Quatro If you're interested in becoming a future guest on the Chatterbox Redux Podcast or the radio show Chatterbox UK you're welcome to submit songs, books or whatever it is you do and send us a CV, synopsis or press release However, we receive several thousand such press releases every week and it's impossible
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