Though the cliché says 'it's a man's world', we would like to
modify that and proclaim that 'Women rock in a man's world' Yes
indeed!
Sachie Amira- vocals- Women in Rock |
When we think of women in music, we
mostly think of Tina Turner, Madonna, Sheryl Crow or the new breed of female
musicians from Avril Lavigne, Adele to Rihanna or Katy Perry. While these
names are certainly popular and can easily proclaim to have sold-out shows from
Madison Square Garden to Wembley, there is a whole category of female rockers
who ruled the FM waves in the 60s and 70s and were an inspiration to the
women of the 80s and 90s and continuing today. We are talking of names such as
Janis Joplin, Suzi Quattro, Ann & Nancy Wilson from Heart, Joan Jett, Lita
Ford, etc. These female rockers were carving a name for themselves in a busy,
commercialized world of music with the likes of top rock names driven by mighty
levels of testosterone- bands like The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Queen, etc.
This post is about Susan Kay, or more
famously known as “Suzi Quattro”, is a bassist and singer-song writer who braved
the 70s and set a standard for women in rock.
Suzi was raised in the United States,
during the revolution of rock n’ roll. She became an icon of the 70’s glam rock
era with her tough girl image as well as being the first female bassist to
become a major rockstar. She proved that it was possible for petite women to
rock on stage with equal prowess as their male counterparts.
When asked in an interview with the
Metro Times about what she achieved for female rockers in general, Suzi said
‘Before I
did what I did, we didn't have a place in rock 'n' roll. Not really. You had
your Grace Slicks and all that, but that's not what I did. I was the first to
be taken seriously as a female rock 'n' roll musician and singer. That hadn't
been done before. I played the boys at their own game. For everybody that came
afterward, it was a little bit easier, which is good. I'm proud of that.’
In the 1970’s, Suzi scored a string of
hit singles such as the famous “Can the Can”, “Stumblin’ In”, “48 Crash”, and “All
Shook Up” just to name a few.' In her musical career, she has achieved
16 hit singles, but moreover, she’s sold over 45 million records and has been
touring since 1964.
The ICOM Celebration Series Women in
Rock musicians will be performing ‘Can the Can' and ’48 Crash’ two popular songs of Suzi Quattro
featuring Sachie Amira and Christine Oh on vocals and supported by an all
female cast of musicians headed by Lavender Looi.
Researched & written by: Caitlynn
Vidya Savari (BTP), Chloe Doyou (BTP)
Edited by: Vinay Prabhakar (Senior
Faculty)