Patti Quatro and I pick up our discussion from the previous episode about the emotional impact of going to the Far East to entertain the U.S. troops in March, 1969. Patti was so moved by her experience and witnessing the cruel realities of being in battle that she wrote her first original song for the Pleasure Seekers called “Mr. Power.” The song and lyrics together conjure a powerful poetry of music and sound to underscore and highlight the horrific arc of war. Patti then tells us about continuing music shifts in Detroit and what she was seeing firsthand and up close. This crystallized for her once the Pleasure Seekers started playing larger venues and pop festivals around Michigan, Ohio, and Canada. From March through that August, Patti recognized that the band needed to mix things up a bit to keep up with the changing music and times. Enter baby sister, Nancy Quatro, to the Pleasure Seekers as an additional vocalist, and wow, did she shake things up! Barely sixteen-years-old, she looked like Michelle Phillips of the Mamas and the Papas and could wail like Robert Plant from Led Zeppelin. Patti tells us about Nancy’s first performance with them, which was at the Mt. Clemons Pop Festival in August. We listen to another original song by the Pleasure Seekers called “Where Have You Gone?” and it includes Nancy’s knock out vocals. Patti’s instincts to mix things up by bringing in her kid sister even exceeded her wildest expectations, and the audiences went wild over this new Pleasure Seekers line up.

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