Music / Business & brands
Michael Quatro
born 1943 · keyboardist, songwriter, promoter
Detroit keyboard prodigy and eldest brother of Suzi and Patti Quatro, who mixed Bach with rock, promoted festivals and managed his sisters' band Cradle.
- Born
Detroit, Michigan
age 83- Also known as
- Mike Quatro · The King of Rock and Bach
- Detroit years
- 1943–1970s
- Field
- Music, Business & brands
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Michael Quatro began classical piano at six or seven, studied with the Detroit teacher Mischa Kottler, and played with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra as a teenager. In the late 1960s he became a booking agent and promoter, organizing the 1969 Detroit Black Arts Festival and pop festivals in Cincinnati in 1970. He managed Cradle, the heavy rock band of his sisters Suzi, Patti, Arlene and Nancy, and persuaded English producer Mickie Most to see them when Most was in Detroit, which led to Suzi's signing in London. His own Michael Quatro Jam Band, which used the term “jam band” as early as 1970, released classically flavored, keyboard-driven progressive rock from 1972; Rick Wakeman later said Quatro was a favorite keyboardist. He played Detroit clubs and FM radio for years and has continued promoting Detroit acts.
Highlights
- Performed with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra as a teenager
- Organized the 1969 Detroit Black Arts Festival
- Managed Cradle and brought Mickie Most to see Suzi Quatro
- Eleven albums of symphonic progressive rock since 1972