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 Ep. 35, Patti Quatro and I continue to discuss how the Pleasure Seekers came to be booked on a “Teen Spectacular” stint in 1968 put on by legendary concert promoter, DJ, and music mentor, Pat O’Day. This time we hear from the Pleasure Seekers’ fans, including a fellow Detroit female musician, a male teen from Washington who saw the band live on the circuit, and hear about the launch of the Pleasure Seekers’ official fan club that was started in Seattle. The Pleasure Seekers were such a smash success that Pat O’Day kept them on in the Pacific Northwest to headline with other hot bands that he booked, including Eric Burden and the Animals. It was a momentous time for the Pleasure Seekers as they embraced this new area of the country and the fans, mentors, and fellow musicians who fell head over heels in love with this spectacular all-female rock ‘n’ roll band.

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