Suzi Quatro of Happy Days is ''hurt'' about not being in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

"It doesn't make sense," the rocker says in a new interview.

There was a reason they called her Leather. The younger Tuscadero sister was one tough customer on Happy Days. Who else had the ability — not to mention the nerve — to steal Fonzie's wallet and comb? 

The character, the sibling of Pinkie Tuscadero, first appeared in the episode "Fonzie, Rock Entrepreneur," fronting her band, the Suedes. Leather would show up in seven episodes of the sitcom throughout seasons five and six. In her final tale, "Marion: Fairy Godmother," Leather goes with Ralph to his college dance, in perhaps her least rock 'n' roll moment. But overall, she rocked. In a TV series that was originally going to be called Cool, Leather Tuscadero was a true injection of cool. 

That true cool came from the casting of Suzi Quatro, an actual rock pioneer. The Detroit native was just 27 when she got the Happy Days gig, but had been a veteran rocker for more than a decade. Quatro got her start as a teen in the all-female garage combo the Pleasure Seekers. In 1971, the bassist moved to England, where she launched a solo career under the tutelage of producer Mickey Most. 

Quatro scored European hits while touring with glam bands and proto-punks. She opened for Thin Lizzy, Slade and Alice Cooper. She sold more than a million copies of her singles "Can the Can," "48 Crash" and "Devil Gate Drive." She paved the way for the likes of Joan Jett and the Runaways.

Joan Jett is in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Quatro is not. This is a fact that irks Quatro, as she preps a new album, No Control, for a March release.

"So my feelings are hurt," Quatro tells Billboard in a new interview. "I've been very polite about it for many years, and now I don't want to be polite anymore. It doesn't make sense. The truth is the truth, history is history, the timeline is the timeline. I need to be in that Rock and Roll Hall of Fame."

This year, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame welcomes new inductees Janet Jackson (who had a recurring role on both Good Times and Diff'rent Strokes), Def Leppard, The Cure, Radiohead, Stevie Nicks, Roxy Music and the Zombies. 

"I'm a real stickler for the truth, and I'm pissed off that history is being rewritten," she says. "I was first, right? I was there before anybody else had a twinkle in their eye."

Read the full interview at Billboard.com. So, what do you think? Does Quatro deserve a place in Cleveland? 


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28 Comments

Snickers 29 months ago
I don't feel she should be in the Hall of Fame.
Sliderider 46 months ago
She achieved most of her fame in the UK, Europe and Japan. She wasn't well known enough in the U.S. outside her role as Leather Tuscadero on Happy Days. That's the price she now has to pay for leaving the U.S. before her career had a chance to take off here.
RadioMattM 68 months ago
She must not have been with the right label. I think the night janitor at Atlantic is in the R&R HOF.
LindaGordon 68 months ago
The Monkees are still waiting to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. Probably won't happen until they are all gone. :(
AnnettePartridge 69 months ago
Don't you have to have sold your soul to the Illuminati to be recognised nowadays? Why would you even care? The real fans know you should have gotten more recognition than you did in America back in the day, their loss i reckon.
AnnettePartridge 69 months ago
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I don't know who that is :/ I guess we all have artists who we know and admire and others we have no clue about, doesn't mean that they aren't talented musicians who deserve to be bagged because we dont know of them
AnnettePartridge 69 months ago
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ChasLaw 69 months ago
Quite a number of ignorant comments on this post. Suzi Quatro is literally a rock legend whether in the hall of fame or not. While not a musical household name in many American homes, she was famous in just about every other country with a string of hits. As for the American scene, if you were in the music know, you knew about Suzi. She was unbelievably influential to almost every female rocker from the 70s on. If you only know her from Happy Days, that's too bad. Go on YouTube and seek out her music. Her gripe is legitimate - beyond legitimate. And for the the person or people who are throwing out names of other artists who are not in the Hall, you're right: they should be in the hall, too. But you are absolutely nuts and willfully ignorant if you do not believe Suzi has a place waiting for her in the Hall. She has been waiting way too long. Time to rectify the issue. In the meanwhile, check out Suzi. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3raDV3PIVsE
ChasLaw 69 months ago
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Sliderider ChasLaw 46 months ago
I like her, but the truth is, she didn't achieve sufficient fame in the U.S. She left, and never looked back, because she wasn't making it here. It's great that she found her niche abroad, but nobody is going to nominate or vote for someone they probably never heard of. She's not the legend you're making her out to be.
Snickers Sliderider 29 months ago
Could not agree more. Other than being on Happy Days I never heard of her.
Saint1 69 months ago
Get over yourself Suzi- look who's not in the R&R Hall of Fame; Jethro Tull, The Doobie Brothers, Emerson Lake and Palmer and dozens of others who actually deserve to be there.
MrsPhilHarris 69 months ago
I remember some of her music but I really remember her on an episode of Absolutely Fabulous.
SalIanni 69 months ago
She might have a better case for the Television Hall Of Fame if they ever get around to recognizing Happy Days. Speaking of which, my favourite Leather Tuscadero episode was the one in which she gets to date Ralph Malph.
RottyAngel 69 months ago
I don't agree with Joan Jet being in the RR hall of fame either. But to each their own. But Suzi Quatro? Wow. These people must live in a bubble. Her 15 minutes was up 40 years ago. I don't mean to sound harsh, but sometimes we all need a little reality check.
ChasLaw RottyAngel 69 months ago
You don't sound harsh. You sound ignorant.
ChasLaw 69 months ago
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JoeOnley 69 months ago
No chance, she didn't have the success here in the US, not that it's the only factor, but honestly, how many songs of hers does anyone know? I personally don't know any! It would take one hell of a push from her European fans to make it happen.
ChasLaw JoeOnley 69 months ago
Evie, Rock Hard, Mind Demons, Stumblin' In, Lipstick, Devil Gate Drive, etc
ChasLaw 69 months ago
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Sliderider ChasLaw 46 months ago
It takes more than one fan in the US to qualify her for hall consideration.
Deleted 69 months ago
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Dario 69 months ago
Exactly. Besides her success as a rocker was strictly as an American expatriate in Europe scoring major hits over there. Her beef for not being in the RNRHOF has validity whatsoever. 😑
MaryHelen 69 months ago
from yur opening statements, don't you mean NO validity...?
MaryHelen 69 months ago
yep the only way anyone knows of her-- never heard past or present her songs on radio or anywhere else; for a long time, I thought she was not a real singer, but created/made up for the Happy days role
ChasLaw 69 months ago
Do you still put butter on burns? Asking for a friend who also uses narrow-minded precepts to judge the world.
bettyluvsgators 69 months ago
All these awards and halls of fame are phony. They are just tools of liberal celebs who want to push an agenda. BORING! If you are not a liberal who tows the liberal line than you get nothing, They are all a bunch of sheep who do not think for themselves but repeat whatever banter they think the powers want pushed.
bettyluvsgators 69 months ago
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Couldn't you just confine your comments to "Get off my lawn!!!"? You never do anything but screech about liberals, not matter what the topic.
Barry22 69 months ago
No. So she put out some albums, and she put out some singles. Nothing remarkable about her music. Do they still play her stuff on the radio? I don't always agree with The R&R HOF selections, (Dave Clark 5?) but not everyone deserves to get in.
ChasLaw Barry22 69 months ago
Do you know how many hits the Dave Clark 5 had? Do you know how many people have covered their songs over the years. Totally influential and still played often on oldies stations.
Sliderider ChasLaw 46 months ago
Dave Clark 5>Suzi Q. You can still hear their music played on oldies stations all across the country. Nobody EVER plays any of Suzi's songs. I tried making a request to a station in New York. New freakin' York, and they had NOTHING of hers in their library. If this had been a station serving a tiny market in the mid-west, it would be understandable, but not a major market like New York. If she was as famous as you think, they would have had some of her music.
Snickers ChasLaw 29 months ago
Never heard of Suzi Q and could care less about her WHINNING.
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