Suzi Quatro’s favourite song by Eagles: “It never stops touching me”
Do you ever wonder if there are any musical gems from the early days of specific genres that fell through the cracks? It seems that throughout the 1960s and ‘70s, as musical minds such as John Lennon, Jimmy Page, and Suzi Quatro made themselves known and new styles of music cropped up left and right, the world of sound evolved at a million miles an hour, and it leaves us pondering, at times, whether some people got left behind.
Chances are, some did. However, the important thing to note about many artists who ended up defining genres and bursting through the mould throughout these decades is that their influences were far from linear. When bands started making groundbreaking music, it was only expected that many other bands would try to copy them.
The best artists took on board what was happening around them but didn’t let it define them. They let their taste in music define them individually and then put their individual selves into whatever art they tried making. As a result, a blend of different genres and influences played a part in establishing certain artists’ sounds, but those sounds came out as nothing like those that influenced them.
A great example of this mindset is Suzi Quatro. Growing up, she was a big lover of jazz music, thanks to her dad. Equally, though, she was around for the boom of rock ‘n’ roll and was caught in the hysteria caused by a hip-thrusting Mississippian and a barrage of other artists. Both of these stayed with her and will have somehow influenced the music she went on to create.
Another huge influence for Quatro was the music she encountered when she moved to Europe. As artists such as T Rex, Slade and David Bowie made a name for themselves, Quatro was swept up in the power of their sound and completely enamoured by it. It was in England that she got her start as a mainstream artist, and no doubt her ability to channel this kind of music while putting her own personal spin on it will have contributed substantially to her success.
The world of music today would be very different without Quatro. She was a big inspiration to DIY artists, particularly women, as she climbed the ranks in a male-dominated profession and gained recognition and respect in doing so.
Even though moving to Europe clinched it for Quatro, she never forgot where home was, and as such, she was happy listening to the rock-infused and humble music coming out of America. At the forefront of this kind of sound was Eagles, so it’s no surprise that when Quatro was asked to name her favourite songs on Desert Island Discs, she offered up the band’s 1973 hit ‘Desperado’.
The track resonated with Quatro when she first heard it and has stayed with her ever since, so much so that on her 2022 album Back To The… Spotlight, she performed a cover of it. In a post on social media, she spoke about the track, saying, “Desperado……Been singing this song since I first heard it in the seventies. It never stops touching me, and I hope I never stop touching all of you.”
