Season Three is here with Dr. Kristen Hillaire and Patti Quatro! We talk in depth about the groundbreaking all-female Detroit rock ‘n’ roll band, the Pleasure Seekers, formed in 1964.

At the ages of sixteen and seventeen, Patti and her two best friends, Nan Ball and Diane Baker, were hanging out together and noodling on their instruments in a basement in the suburbs of Detroit. Like so many other teens, the British invasion was having a huge influence on the cultural shifts occurring in music, and after seeing the Beatles live at Olympia Stadium, Patti was hooked on rock ‘n’ roll. She recruited younger sister, Suzi, and Nan’s younger sister, Mary Lou, at the age of fourteen, and the Pleasure Seekers were ready to go!

Also in 1964, Dave Leone’s and Ed “Punch” Andrews’ “Hideout” opened as a teen club in the suburbs of the city. It was an explosive time in Detroit – the music, the Motor City, the mayhem, and the magic! The Pleasure Seekers and the Quatro sisters were not only there to bear witness to it all, they helped to create the distinct and dynamic sounds of early rock ‘n’ roll in Detroit.

When the Pleasure Seekers (and Cradle) were inducted into the Detroit Music Awards at the Fillmore Theater in 2012, Dennis “Machine Gun” Thompson of the MC5 wrote, “The Quatro girls were the first all-female band that played instruments well, and forerunners for many bands to follow. One kick-ass band!”

On this episode, Patti Quatro and I talk about the extended time the Pleasure Seekers spent in Miami Beach, Florida during the first few months of 1968. Patti tells us about the nightclubs they played, starting to getting national T.V. recognition, and Mercury Records was promoting their newly-signed band across the press! We read from two of the many articles written about the band, and the understanding that making it in rock ‘n’ roll was not a straightforward trajectory, but instead relied on many factors. This included the right material. Patti’s sister, Arlene, was the focus of one of the articles we read from, and it immediately becomes evident that she was not only sexy, but smart and savvy. All the Quatro sisters were, because they were taught by their musician-father, Art Quatro, to put it all out on the stage in terms of looks, performance, attitude, and a tight sound. The Pleasure Seekers were making waves in Miami, and the fans, music insiders, and management all recognized the big potential of the band becoming the first all-girl rock ‘n’ rollers to have a hit record.

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