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Sunday, December 1, 2013

Thunder...Legend isnt strong enough a word






There are some bands that just grab hold and refuse to let go...and I can safely say that Thunder is just such a band...I first saw them in a local gig guide in London town sometime around 89 when i was on a Contiki piss up tour of Europe THEN I saw them at a gig at the Town & Country before I hit the continent and that was me hooked ...I even went back to Donnington when they were playing with Whitesnake etc..rather expensive year that one....

ANYWAY.... a few years went by and at the $ten dollar c.d shop in Sydney I saw a Thunder compilation and wasnt I a happy f**ker ...thankfully shortly after a few more of their albums showed up in Sydney stores and I bought them all....Hell, I even jumped on their website and bought a mountain of visual entertainment...

SO, in the tradition of great blues englsh rock bands...I present for your enjoyment ...THUNDER....get amongst it !



Vocalist Danny Bowes and lead guitarist Luke Morley first played together when they were 15-year-old classmates in London. The two later formed the band Terraplane, which released two albums but broke up in 1988. 



Bowes, Morley, and drummer Gary "Harry" James then formed Thunder, recruiting bassist Mark "Snake" Luckhurst and rhythm guitarist Ben Matthews. The group's first two singles both hit the U.K. Top 40 and earned Thunder a support slot for Aerosmith and a gig at the 1990 Monsters of Rock festival. Backstreet Symphony, released just a year and a half after the group's live debut, reached the U.K.'s Top 20 and was certified gold. The follow-up, Laughing on Judgement Day, appeared in 1992, followed three years later by Behind Closed Doors. 1996 saw the release of their fourth full-length album, the radio-ready Thrill of it All. A series of live recordings and compilations peppered the next five to seven years, followed by the arrival of 2003's Shooting at the Sun. 2005 saw the release of Magnificent Seven, followed by Robert Johnson's Tombstone in 2006, all three of which were put out on the Frontiers label.



If the grunge revolution hadn't occurred in the early '90s, there's a chance that Thunder would have followed the likes of Whitesnake and Bon Jovi up the charts. Already blowing up back home in the U.K. (with their 1990 debut Backstreet Symphony), the group enjoyed some spins on Headbanger's Ball in the U.S., and made admirers the likes of David Coverdale and Axl Rose. 



But unlike most of the other similarly styled metal bands that seemed to vanish during the early to mid-'90s, Thunder continued to issue albums and 2005 saw the release of The Magnificent Seventh!. Unlike some other acts from the hair metal era who decided to update their sound upon returning to the scene in the early 21st century, Thunder continue on in the melodic rock direction they've followed all along, as evidenced by such tracks as "I Love You More Than Rock n' Roll" and "Monkey See, Monkey Do."



Luke Morley and Danny Bowes first met at Haberdashers' Aske's Hatcham College in 1975. At the age of 14  Danny talked his way into a band Luke had formed with Paul Caple, he couldn't play an instrument so claimed to be a singer; the band auditioned him and he was deemed good enough to join. The boy he replaced was pushed aside to become a bass player but by a twist of fate would one day become Thunder's manager. 



The band went on to call themselves Nuthin' Fancy, in following years they played in pubs around the London area and released an independent single ‘Looking For A Good Time’. When Harry James joined after the previous drummer left, the band renamed themselves Terraplane. As Terraplane they played many gigs, including regular gigs at the Marquee Club and a performance at the 1982 Reading Festival. They were signed by Epic Records and ultimately released two albums, but they became frustrated by the more pop orientated direction the record company was guiding them in. After a trip to the US showed them that there was a vibrant rock scene developing they realised that there was a place for the sort of music they wanted to make and came back to England to form Thunder. 



Thunder were signed quickly with EMI after performing a demo audition in 1989, and soon began recording their first album Back Street Symphony. With their producer, Andy Taylor (of Duran Duran) they created many blues-rock and atmospheric ballads, steering away from the melodic power pop of their previous band. The album was a huge success in the UK, helped by a prestigious appearance opening the 1990 Monsters of Rock festival at Donington Park. Their performance at this event was almost universally praised and elevated them to new levels of popularity.



A follow-up album, Laughing on Judgement Day appeared in 1992 and reached number 2 in the album charts at a time when the grunge scene was beginning to change the hard rock landscape. All four singles released from the album were Top 40 successes, and A Better Man made the UK Top 20 in early-1993. However, this period was the most turbulent in the band's career; Snake quit the band after the subsequent tour and was replaced by Swedish bass player Mikael Höglund. Meantime, rumours of an approach by Whitesnake singer David Coverdale to recruit Luke Morley were circulating (Although in 2002 Danny Bowes stated that "the whole thing was made up" by the band to engineer some press interest). and it would be another two years before the third album appeared.


That album, Behind Closed Doors was reasonably successful, reaching number 5 in the album charts, despite this it was to be the band's last studio album for EMI, and they parted company with the label with a compilation: Their Finest Hour... And A Bit, notable for its inclusion of several unreleased tracks, in particular a cover of the Python Lee Jackson song In a Broken Dream. For personal reasons Mikael Höglund was unable to participate in the recording of the band's fourth album The Thrill Of It All; Luke Morley handled bass duties and the album was released on the independent B Lucky record label. The band recruited bassist Chris Childs for the tour; and he remained with them for the rest of their career..



In 1998, the band released Live. The album was a concert recorded at Wolverhampton and Shepherd's Bush Empire in London. A DVD was released also featuring the video to the album. Later that year two EPs were released containing the single The Only One. One EP featured the studio recording while the other featured the live version. Both EPs contained three extra bonus tracks.



In 1999 they released their fifth studio album "Giving The Game Away"; toning the guitars down in favour of a mellower approach with more keyboards. This album was released to coincide with the band's tenth anniversary; however they announced in autumn 1999 that they were to split, much to the dismay of their fanbase, many of whom had followed them from the beginning. Following a UK tour in November 1999, and some dates in Japan in early 2000, they bowed out on 4 May 2000 with a show at Camden Dingwalls in London, which was recorded for the album They Think It's All Over... It Is Now.



Luke Morley returned to the scene the following year with the solo album El Gringo Retro and played a brace of live shows at the Borderline in London, backed by virtually all of his former bandmates (Danny Bowes being the exception) and with the McDonald sisters on backing vocals Tara McDonald & Anna McDonald. Morley and Bowes reunited in 2002 for the soul influenced album Moving Swiftly Along again with Tara McDonald & Anna McDonald on backing vocals......In 2009, Luke Morley teamed up with Peter Shoulder to form The Union (band), who released their first album in 2010 and second in 2011.



Thunder were tempted back into action by a slot on the touring Monsters of Rock UK arena shows in late 2002. They returned in November 2003 with a new album called Shooting at the Sun released on their own label - STC Recordings.



Their second self-released album, The Magnificent Seventh spawned a top 30 single, "I Love You More Than Rock And Roll" in March 2005, reaching #27 in the UK Singles Chart.
Their resurgence can be traced through the venues booked for their live tours. In 2006 Thunder returned, for the first time since the days of the EMI released Back Street Symphony album, to headline the Hammersmith Apollo at the end of a 12 date UK tour.
The band also took part in the return of the Monsters of Rock festival in 2006 at Milton Keynes, sharing the bill with Deep Purple, Alice Cooper, Journey, Queensrÿche, Ted Nugent and Roadstar. Hailed as one of the stars of the show Thunder justified their reputation as one of the best British live acts.



The band released their eighth studio album on 30 October 2006, entitled Robert Johnson's Tombstone. It follows Thunder's traditions of good honest blues rock albums, with big riffs and big sing-along choruses....The single "The Devil Made Me Do It" taken from this album reached #40 in the UK Singles Chart on 10 December 2006, and the video, produced and animated by Andy Doran, also enjoyed significant success on its first week when uploaded to the YouTube site, and has received airplay on Scuzz TV.



Thunder undertook a European Tour in early 2007, their first in nearly 12 years, playing small venues in Spain, France, Belgium, Holland, Germany and Italy. A further UK tour took place in November and December 2007. In February 2008 it was announced Thunder would be the opening act on the second leg of Def Leppard and Whitesnake's co-headline UK arena tour. The second leg in July 2008 opened in Cardiff International Arena before heading to Liverpool Arena and Nottingham Arena.





Thunder released their ninth studio album 'Bang!' in the UK on 3 November 2008 through their own STC label and in mainland Europe via Frontiers Records on 7 November 2008.[4] While writing the album they released three limited edition EPs, Six Of One,...Half A Dozen Of The Other and The Joy Of Six.



Thunder announced a decision to split ("hitch up our wagons and ride into the sunset") on 28 January 2009 via their website. The band cited outside interests as the reasons for the split with members of the band playing in other bands when not touring with Thunder. Bowes mentioned the stresses of managing a website for the band, along with management and vocal duties taking their toll, added to the decision to split. Many tributes from classic rock websites and radio shows were published[who?] along with well wishes from fans.




 The band played at Download-2009 (Tuborg stage) on Sat 13 June 2009, toured Europe and Japan before returning home for the British leg of their farewell tour in July 2009, their final full gig was played at the Hammersmith Apollo on 11 July, however the band made an appearance at the Rock of Ages festival in Germany on 31 July. Their very final appearance took place at the Sonisphere Festival, Knebworth where thanks to another band pulling out they were able to arrange a place on the bill at late notice. On Saturday 1 August 2009 at around 11pm Thunder took to the stage in a packed Bohemia tent and played a short final set.




Harry James has appeared as Magnums drummer. Danny Bowes has appeared as occasional vocalist for Kenney Jones's band the "Jones Gang" singing live at Kenney's Polo Club. Luke Morley has teamed up with Peter Shoulder in the band "The Union" and has played the High Voltage Festival in 2010. Chris Childs has joined the "Ultimate Eagles" an Eagles tribute band and toured extensively.




In February 2011, it was announced that the band would reunite for a one-off live performance, at that year's High Voltage Festival in July 2011. Thunder played on the Sunday and were 3rd on the bill below Dream Theater and Black Country Communion.

Thunder played two Sold-Out Christmas Shows on 20/21 December 2011 at Nottingham Rock City.....In January 2012 Danny and Ben played a tour under the title of "Danny & Ben From Thunder" performing acoustic versions of Thunder songs, cover versions and telling stories of Thunder on the road. 



In April 2012 it was announced that Thunder would play a Christmas show at Manchester Academy on 21 December 2012. The show sold out within 6 hours of tickets going on sale, leading to the announcement of another show at the same venue the following night. This also sold out well before the show.

The band toured the UK with Whitesnake and Journey in May 2013.... Thunder also played the Download festival 2013 on 15 June on the Zippo Encore second stage. They  also performed at Wacken Open Air 2013 on 1 August.





Members
Danny Bowes - lead vocals (1980-2000, 2002-2009, 2011-2013)
Luke Morley - guitar, vocals (1980-2000, 2002-2009, 2011-2013)
Paul Caple - drums, percussion (1980-1983)
Mac McKenzie - bass guitar (1980-1983)
Gary 'Harry' James - drums, percussion (1983-2000, 2002-2009, 2011-2013)
Nick Linden - bass guitar (1983-1989)
Rudi Rivière - guitar (1985-1989)
Ben Matthews - guitar, keyboards (1989-2000, 2002-2009, 2011-2013)
Mark 'Snake' Luckhurst - bass guitar (1989-1992)
Mikael Höglund - bass guitar (1993-1996)
Chris Childs - bass guitar (1996-2000, 2002-2009, 2011-2013)





1990 Backstreet Symphony
1992 Laughing on Judgement Day
1995 Behind Closed Doors
1997 The Thrill of It All
1999 Giving the Game Away
2003 Shooting at the Sun
2005 The Magnificent Seventh
2006 Robert Johnson's Tombstone
2008 Bang!







LUKE'S CURRENT GIG.....THE UNION

After the breakup of Thunder in August 2009, guitarist Luke Morley announced that he had formed a new group with Pete Shoulder, whose previous band, Winterville, had split in 2007. The band was to be called The Union. The pair had met each other eight years previously and had "worked together ever since whenever our previous commitments allowed us time". Chris Childs (also previously in Thunder) and Phil Martini (from Down 'n' Outz) were later named as the bassist and drummer respectively for the band, although not as 'full' members of the group, as they intend to have a more "fluid line-up"



Band members

Luke Morley - guitars and backing vocals (2009–present)
Peter Shoulder - lead vocals and guitars (2009–present)
Chris Childs - bass guitar (2009–present)
Phil Martini - drums (2009–present)
Dave McCluskey - drums (September 2010–present)
Former
Geoff Holroyde - drums (April 2010-August 2010)


Discography
Studio albums
2010 The Union
2011 Siren's Song
2013 The World Is Yours











Monday, November 25, 2013

Faster than speeding bullets ...The tale of Dragonforce



www.dragonforce.com

The same day I saw my first Hammerfall clip was the same day that I saw DragonForce (with ZP on vocals) for the first time, the Golden Gods Awards show actually...since then they have become one of my personal favourite power/speed metal bands, Lots of people reckon their dull cause of their long winded guitar solos ...these people are usually RUSH fans..so, explain that to me...They think they too widdly widdly and the shows are too guitar based..um, THATS THE ATTRACTION..for me anyway, I could listen to Li and Trotman belt shit outta their geetars for hours on end...BUT, I will admit, their probably an acquired taste...ANYWAY to the boys themselves...



Formed in 1999, the group has a reputation for long and fast guitar solos, fantasy-based lyrics, and electronic sounds in their music to add to their retro video game-influenced sound. Guitarists Herman Li and Sam Totman are the only two remaining founding members in the group since ZP Theart's departure. Marc Hudson was announced as Theart's replacement in March 2011  A new studio album, The Power Within, was released on 15 April 2012.



DragonForce was founded in 1999 by guitarists Herman Li and Sam Totman under the name of DragonHeart. The two later found singer ZP Theart through an advert, and soon after acquired drummer Matej Setinc, bassist Steve Scott and keyboardist Steve Williams. Totman and Li had a former musical ensemble experience in the band Demoniac. DragonHeart then released a demo, toured with Halford and Stratovarius, and headlined their own shows under that name. The band later found that another power metal band with this same name already existed and renamed it  to DragonForce in 2002.



Drummer Matej Setinc left the band in December 1999 to continue his studies in Slovenia, he was replaced by Didier Almouzni. The band parted ways with Steve Williams in early 2000, and Steve Scott in November 2000. Williams later rejoined and left once again in December 2000, days ahead of the band's tour with Halford and Stratovarius. Steve Scott went on to join Shadowkeep, then Power Quest.

Bassist Diccon Harper joined the band in November 2000 with keyboardist Vadim Pruzhanov joining in February 2001 to complete the lineup for recording their first album.
Harper performed on DragonForce's debut album, Valley of the Damned in its completion, but left the band in 2002 because of a tendon problem that required surgery.



Valley of the Damned (2000–2003)
DragonForce recorded their first demo in 2000. It was an independent release, however it was enough to make them one of the most popular independent power metal bands in the UK at that time. Their song "Valley of the Damned" was released as their first single shortly after they changed their name permanently to DragonForce. A promotional video featuring live footage from their tour around Europe was released along with the song. The song was also a huge success on MP3.com where it charted at No. 1 for 2 weeks as the most downloaded song. Shortly after the demo was released keyboardist Steve Williams and bassist Steve Scott both left the band and were replaced with Ukrainian born Vadim Pruzhanov on keyboard and British born Diccon Harper on bass. Steve Williams later went on to form power metal band Power Quest.


In 2003, the band signed to Noise Records and began recording their debut full-length album, Valley of the Damned. The title track, re-released in promotion of the album, it is one of the most known DragonForce songs to date and is a staple of their live performance to this day. The band's tour for Valley of the Damned lasted until 2004, with the tour ending in Tokyo, Japan.

Sonic Firestorm (2004–2005)
The band's follow-up album, Sonic Firestorm, proved to be even more successful with the lead single "Fury of the Storm". Sonic Firestorm was the first DragonForce album featuring Adrian Lambert on bass and Dave Mackintosh on drums. When Mackintosh entered the band in 2004, they began referring to their style of music as "extreme power metal" due to his fast blastbeats and double bass rhythms. It was around this time that the band began becoming popular internationally and adopted nicknames such as "Bon Jovi on speed" and "Journey meets Slayer



The tour was much longer than the band's recent tour for "Valley of the Damned" and featured many more headline shows than the previous. The band toured with many well-known metal bands such as W.A.S.P. and Iron Maiden. On the album they also added a video commentary to talk about Sonic Firestorm.

Inhuman Rampage (2006–2007)

DragonForce underwent various lineup changes before settling with the six-man lineup they would retain until the departure of Theart. The band was introduced to the mainstream with their third album Inhuman Rampage, released in 2006 after signing with Roadrunner Records in UK, USA, Canada, France and Australia. The song "Through the Fire and Flames" is one of their most famous songs and is featured on the games Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, Guitar Hero: Smash Hits, Brutal Legend and as downloadable content for the Rock Band franchise. Lindsay Dawson of Herman Li and Sam Totman's former band, Demoniac, appeared as backup vocalist for this album. Before the release of the album, bassist, Adrian Lambert, left the group to raise his newborn son in November 2005. He was replaced with Frédéric Leclercq for the remaining of the Sonic Firestorm Tour. Frederic later became an official member of the band in January 2006. He was also featured in the band's music video for their second single off Inhuman Rampage, Operation Ground and Pound. The 'Through the Fire and Flames' single reached gold disc status in USA and Canada.



Ultra Beatdown (2007–2008)
The band toured with Disturbed and Slipknot throughout the summer of 2008 on the Rockstar Energy Metal Mayhem Festival. The band returned in the Fall with the release of their 4th studio album, Ultra Beatdown. The first track and first single, "Heroes of Our Time", was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance on 3 December 2008, losing out to Metallica with their song "My Apocalypse". A short version of "Heroes Of Our Time" is also featured in the video games Skate 2 and the full version in NHL 10.




On 22 January 2009, the music video for their song "The Last Journey Home" was released to the Xbox Live Community a week before it was released online




DragonForce carried out the Ultra Beatdown tour in Latin America, North America and Europe. They were supposed to play in Latin America in May 2009,[10] but the tour was postponed to late 2009 due to the swine flu outbreak. They performed at the Two Days a Week Festival in Weisen, Austria on 4 September. Then, they performed in several cities of Canada and United States from 15 September to 11 October, with special guests Sonata Arctica and Taking Dawn.  The next tour was in Germany, from 16 to 30 October, followed by a single live performance in Luxembourg on 31 October.  Then, they went to Latin America to perform in Curitiba, Porto Alegre, São Paulo, Mexico City, Santiago, Buenos Aires and Bogotá from 6 to 14 November. The final part of the tour was carried entirely in the United Kingdom, from 19 November to 12 December




Departure of ZP Theart (2010)
Herman Li stated that DragonForce would stop touring in December, spend time at home for Christmas, and then would begin writing and recording a new studio album scheduled to be released in 2011.



On 22 February 2010, the band re-released their first two albums, Valley of the Damned and Sonic Firestorm. Valley of the Damned included newly remixed and remastered tracks while both albums included bonus tracks, updated packaging and DVDs featuring live footage, commentary, and more. Both albums were also released in a box set which featured a T-shirt, a card of guitar picks, and an inflatable guitar.




On 8 March 2010, it was announced via Roadrunner that DragonForce had parted ways with vocalist ZP Theart and would now be seeking a new frontman. Herman Li stated:
“It is with great regret that DragonForce announce a parting of the ways with singer ZP Theart. This is due to insurmountable differences of musical opinion but the rest of the band sincerely wishes ZP great success with his future projects.
While the creative core members have begun writing the fifth album, they have also started a worldwide search for a new vocalist. We are looking for a powerful, melodic singer to write a new chapter of DragonForce with us.

This story was removed the same day, but officially confirmed by the band a day later in a press statement that also contained a link to request an audition.

Twilight Dementia
The band released their first live album on 13 September 2010 in Europe and 14 September 2010 for US and Canada. It is a double-disc set entitled Twilight Dementia. The album art, title, and release date were revealed on the band's official website on 22 June 2010. The performances were recorded on the final leg of the Ultra Beatdown World Tour. Regarding the album, guitarist Herman Li stated:
“For years, fans have been asking us to record a live album, but honestly, we never really had the time due to our worldwide touring commitments and studio album recording. However, due to the overwhelmingly positive feedback from fans on the 'Ultra Beatdown World Tour', we decided to finally put some real thought into it...These recordings really capture the raw sonic energy of a Dragonforce show in fine detail. It is so real that you can hear the noise of the crowd and experience the show as it was that night – you can even hear the guitar pedals being stepped on!


The band has been working on a new album since early 2010, recording in various studios in California, London, England and the South of France.
The band confirmed that they would be the opening act for Iron Maiden in two UK shows in August. The first at Odyssey Arena in Belfast on 3 August 2011 and the second at The O2 Arena in London on 5 August 2011.




New vocalist Marc Hudson (2010–2011)
On 2 March 2011, DragonForce announced their new singer, Marc Hudson. He had previous experience performing in a band, but was not a professional musician before joining Dragonforce. His first show with DragonForce was an opening for Iron Maiden. On the shows opening for Iron Maiden they started performing a new song called "Cry Thunder".


The Power Within (2011–2013)

Pythia's vocalist Emily Ovenden provided backing vocals for DragonForce's new album, released on 15 April 2012. During the North American warm up shows, DragonForce performed a new song called "Fallen World", along with "Cry Thunder". According to the band, "Fallen World" is the fastest, most intense DragonForce song to date. The completion of this new album was announced on 14 January 2012. On 2 February, DragonForce announced via their official web-page that their new ten-track album would be entitled The Power Within. The album was released worldwide on 15 April 2012 via the band’s own Electric Generation Recordings, distributed by Essential Music (UK), Roadrunner Records (North America), 3Wise (Australia) and JVC Victor (Japan). In March 2012 DragonForce announced North American headlining tour for April and May. Starting from late September, DragonForce embarked on a UK and Ireland tour; they were supported by Cavorts, The Defiled and Alestorm. 



the boys  played the Soundwave Festival in Australia in February 2013. Also in 2013, DragonForce recorded a new short song called "Galactic Astro Domination", which was recorded for a Capital One commercial featured on YouTube. In the video, guitarists Herman Li and Sam Totman are performing the song on an asteroid in space while using Capital One's Mobile Banking App.



On April 12, 2013, DragonForce announced that writing for a follow up to The Power Within has been completed, and that the band would be entering the studio in May. On May 19, 2013, DragonForce entered Fascination Street Studios in Sweden with Jens Bogren as the producer of DragonForce's sixth album. The band stated: "Right now, everyone in the band is itching to get into the studio to record probably the most epic DragonForce music ever written. With so many ideas flying around and songs already written, we decided to team up with producer Jens Bogren to help us take the DF sound to the next level and beyond!"


Much of DragonForce's idiosyncratic style comes from the high-speed dual guitar sound of Totman and Li, by playing at a high tempo and within the upper registers of their instruments, their sound becomes similar to the "bleepy" arpeggios and quick pitch-bends normally associated with chiptunes, usually heard in the third generation of video game music. The band often plays homage to this influence in their videos. Although the band has frequently referred to their style as power metal, Herman Li commented on descriptions of the band's style in an interview with Guitar World: "'Nintendo metal', 'extreme power metal', 'Bon Jovi on speed', 'Journey meets Slayer', ... people are always coming up with weird labels for us." The band has sometimes been labeled as a speed metal band


THE DRAGONS
Current members
Herman Li – guitar, backing vocals (1999–present)
Sam Totman – guitar, backing vocals (1999–present)
Vadim Pruzhanov – keyboards, keytar, synthesizer, theremin, backing vocals (2001–present)
Dave Mackintosh – drums, backing vocals (2004–present)
Frédéric Leclercq – bass, backing vocals (2005–present)
Marc Hudson – lead vocals (2011–present)

Former members
Matej Setinc – drums (1999)
Steve Scott – bass guitar, backing vocals (1999–2000)
Steve Williams – keyboards, keytar, backing vocals (1999–2000, 2000)
Didier Almouzni – drums (1999–2003)
ZP Theart – lead vocals (1999–2010)
Diccon Harper – bass guitar, backing vocals (2000–2003)
Adrian Lambert – bass guitar (2003–2005)




Studio albums
Valley of the Damned (2003)
Sonic Firestorm (2004)
Inhuman Rampage (2006)
Ultra Beatdown (2008)
The Power Within (2012)

LIVE ALBUMS 
Twilight Dementia (2010)







So there you go Dragon Force...think i'll go plug in guitar hero and have a crack





















Thursday, November 21, 2013

Suzi who?...




Picture this if you can...6th grade, Punchbowl Public school 1975(if memory serves),.it was a concert day and every other "act" mimed to Suzi Quatro...yep...we got 48 crashed that day....It got me listening to Quatro and still have some vinyl of hers...anyway, to the tale of the Devil Gate Drive


Susan Kay "Suzi" Quatro (born 3 June 1950) is a British-based American singer-songwriter, bass guitar player, and actor. She is the absolute most recognisable (and probably best) female bass player that became a major rock star. Suzi kicked a BIG friggin hole in the glass ceiling and the runaways , Joan Jett and Lita ford follwed her in, yep, Quatro broke the barrier in bloody half

In the 1970s Quatro scored a string of hit singles that found greater success in Europe and Australia than in her homeland. But, following a recurring role as a female bass player on the popular American sitcom Happy Days, her duet "Stumblin' In" with Chris Norman reached number 4 in the USA in 1979.



Between 1973 and 1980 Quatro was awarded six Bravo Ottos. In 2010 she was voted into the Michigan Rock and Roll Legends online Hall of Fame. Quatro has sold over 50 million albums and continues to perform live, worldwide. Her most recent album was released in 2011 and she also continues to present new radio programmes.

In 1964, after seeing a television performance by The Beatles, Quatro's older sister, Patti, had formed an all-female band called The Pleasure Seekers with two friends. Quatro joined too and assumed the stage name of Suzi Soul; Patti was known as Patti Pleasure. The band also featured another sister, Arlene. Many of their performances were in cabaret, where attention was (initially) focussed more on their looks than their music. They sometimes wore mini-skirts and wigs, which Quatro later considered to be necessary evils in the pursuit of success.



 One of the few all-girl garage bands who played their own instruments, they recorded a fine, gritty single for the local Hideout label, "Never Thought You'd Leave Me"/"What a Way to Die" (both sides were reissued in the 1980s on the What a Way to Die '60s garage compilation). Another single followed for Mercury, and the group even toured Vietnam to entertain troops. In 1968, though, Arlene quit the band to raise her kids (one of whom is actress Sherilyn Fenn), to be replaced by yet another sister, Nancy.

The Pleasure Seekers became Cradle, which placed more emphasis on hard rock and original material. In the early '70s, British producer Mickie Most (the Animals, Lulu, Donovan, Herman's Hermits) happened to see Cradle while he was in Detroit to work on an album with Jeff Beck at Motown's studios. Most let Quatro know he was interested in working with her as a solo act; six months later, Cradle split, and Suzy was on her way to London 



After her first single flopped, Most hooked her up with songwriters Mike Chapman and Nicky Chinn, who were also supplying material to the Sweet. The Chapman-Chinn-penned "Can the Can" went to number one in the U.K. in 1973, and over the next few years the same team would write about ten other British chart hits for her, including four Top Ten entries. These fused glitter and bubblegum in much the same way as the Sweet did, though Quatro was perhaps a tad raunchier (without ever getting downright scary). Quatro and her guitarist (and husband) Len Tuckey did write some of her material, though these efforts were usually confined to albums. In the U.S., though, she could barely get into the Top 100, though she did get on the cover of Rolling Stone.




In autumn 1972, Quatro embarked as a support act on a UK tour with Thin Lizzy and headliners Slade. RAK arranged for her to use Thin Lizzy's newly acquired PA system during this, incurring a charge of £300 per week that enabled the Irish band to effectively purchase it at no cost to themselves.[14] In May 1973, her second single "Can the Can" (1973) - which that drooling nitwit Philip Auslander described as having "seemingly nonsensical and virtually unintelligible lyrics" – was a number one hit in parts of Europe and in Australia.



"Can the Can" was followed by three further hits: "48 Crash" (1973), "Daytona Demon" (1973), and "Devil Gate Drive" (1974). "Can the Can", "48 Crash" and "Devil Gate Drive" each sold over one million copies and were awarded gold discs,  although they met with little success in her native United States, where she had toured as a support act for Alice Cooper.  RAK artists had generally not succeeded in the US and her first album, Suzi Quatro, was criticised by Alan Betrock for its lack of variety, for its Quatro-written "second-rate fillers" and for her voice, described as "often too high and shrill, lacking punch or distinctive phrasing." Writing for Rolling Stone, Greg Shaw was also downbeat, saying that the album "may be a necessary beginning".

Musicians who acted as her backing band around this period included Alastair McKenzie, Dave Neal and Len Tuckey  with Robbie Blunt also being listed by some sources. Tuckey's brother, Bill, acted as tour manager.



With the exception of Australia, her chart success faltered thereafter until a change to a more mellow style produced the 1978 single "If You Can't Give Me Love" that became a hit there and in the United Kingdom. Later that year, "Stumblin' In", a duet with Chris Norman of the band Smokie, reached number 4 in the U.S. Both tracks featured on the If You Knew Suzi... album. A year later, Quatro released Suzi...and Other Four Letter Words, which she called her favourite album.[when?] This featured the hits "She's in Love with You", which made number 11 in Britain, "Mama's Boy" (number 34), and "I've Never Been in Love" (number 56).



Her American fortunes changed in the late '70s, when she had a short-lived, semi-regular stint on the sitcom Happy Days as the guitar-playing, sassy Leather Tuscadero. In 1979, she made the American Top Five with "Stumblin' In," although this was a duet with Chris Norman. Undoubtedly an influence upon the Runaways and Joan Jett, and thus by extension a mild influence on a subsequent generation of female rockers, she's kept a low profile in the '80s and '90s, although 



In December 2005, a documentary chronicling Quatro's life, Naked Under Leather, named after a 1975 bootleg album, recorded in Japan, directed by former member of The Runaways, Victory Tischler-Blue, appeared. In February 2006, Quatro released Back to the Drive, produced by Sweet guitarist Andy Scott. The album's title track was written by her former collaborator, Chapman. In March 2007, Quatro released a version of the Eagles song "Desperado", followed by the publication of her autobiography, Unzipped. By this time, Quatro had sold 50 million records.



On 11 June 2010, she headlined the 'Girls night out' at the Isle of Wight Festival.[citation needed] Quatro was also inducted into the Michigan Rock and Roll Legends online Hall of Fame in 2010, following an on-line vote.

In August 2011, Quatro released her fifteenth studio album, In the Spotlight (and its single, "Spotlight"). This album is a mixture of new songs written by Mike Chapman and by herself, along with cover versions. A second single from the album, "Whatever Love Is", was subsequently released.



On 16 November 2011, a music video (by Tischler-Blue) for the track "Strict Machine" was released onto the Suzi Quatro Official YouTube channel. The track is a cover of Goldfrapp's "Strict Machine", but Quatro's version contains two lines from "Can the Can", referencing the similarity of the tunes for the two songs.



In April 2013, she performed in America for the first time in over 30 years, at the Detroit Music Awards, where she received the Distinguished Lifetime Achievement Award, presented to her by her sister, Patti.

As of September 2013 Suzi is currently working on an anthology 6-CD box set with her record company CherryRed records in the UK. This will have some new material on it, Suzi has said that Mike Chapman has written her another hit which will be nicely placed into the anthology of hits that he has already written for her with Nicky Chinn. The Anthlogy yet to be titled is scheduled for release in the first half of 2014.



A Spanish rock band called Suzy & los Quattro released two albums on No Tomorrow in 2006 and 2008; in the tradition of Ramones and the Donnas, all of the bandmembers except for Suzy Chain list their last name as Quattro.





Suzi Quatro (1973), RAK Records 
(Can the Can in Australia)
Quatro (1974)
Your Mamma Won't Like Me (1975)
Aggro-Phobia (1976)
If You Knew Suzi... (1978)
Suzi...and Other Four Letter Words (1979) 
Rock Hard (1980)
Main Attraction (1982)
Annie Get Your Gun - 1986 London Cast (1986)
Oh Suzi Q. (1990)
What Goes Around (1996)
Unreleased Emotion (1998)
Free the Butterfly (1998)
Back to the Drive (2006)
In the Spotlight (2011)

Live albums
Live and Kickin' (1977) –
 Japan & Australia only live album; 
re-released as double CD in 1990 in Australia

Compilation albums
The Suzi Quatro Story – 12 Golden Hits (1975) 
Suzi Quatro's Greatest Hits (1980)
The Best of... (1984) – limited to RSO years
Highs in the Mid-Sixties, Volume 6 (1984), AIP Records – The Pleasure Seekers
The Wild One – the Greatest Hits (1990)
The Gold Collection (1996)
Greatest Hits (1999)
The History (2010), Cradle – distributed by CD Baby
What a Way to Die (2011), The Pleasure Seekers – distributed by CD Baby
The Essential (2012)


SO...there you go, the Queen of Rock...have a bonz day