Suzie Cappetta

Suzie Cappetta and her younger brothers, Michael and Robert, got their start in the music industry while growing up in Redondo Beach, California in the 1960s.

At the age of 15, Suzie wrote a song about a local Los Angeles, California disc jockey "Dave Hull The Hullabalooer" which became a regional hit when she, her two brothers, and two cousins recorded the song in the winter of 1964. The recording was chosen by Casey Kasem as a KRLA "DJ Pick To Hit". Casey's prediction was correct when the song made the Top 40 charts in Los Angeles on March 7, 1965.KRLA Beat: L.A.'s first rock-and-roll newspaper 12.01.10 [http://krlabeat.sakionline.net/blog.html We're not much on fancy words...]Las Solanas Consulting [http://las-solanas.com/arsa/charts_item.php?hsid=30717 KRLA 1110 AM Los Angeles, California Week: 03/01/65]Las Solanas Consulting [http://las-solanas.com/surveys/KRLA/KRLA_1965-03-01_1.jpg KRLA TEEN - TOPPERS, TOP SIXTY TUNE - DEX]

The Quintet was dubbed "The Scuzzies" by Dave Hull himself when he first aired the song on his radio show. Suzie also wrote and recorded, with the help of her brothers, several jingles for Los Angeles radio station KRLA. Among those was a jingle the Scuzzies recorded promoting Baskin-Robbins' new "Scuzzy" ice cream flavor combination.

As the Scuzzies, they made television appearances on "9th Street West" with Sam Riddle in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California and "TV-8 Dancetime" with Bob Hower in San Diego, California. They were featured in Bob Eubanks' Cinnamon Cinder and Casey Kasem's Clubs. One of the highlights for the Scuzzies in 1965 was when they became the opening act for "Sonny & Cher" at the Grand Opening of "Jamaica West Jr." in Torrance, California.

1969 saw brother Michael fulfilling his obligation in the US Navy, while Suzie toured with the USO shows in 1970, singing and playing bass guitar in "The Harrison & Tyler Show", the first all-female band in USO history.{{Citation needed|date=September 2019}} The show, promoted by Johnny Grant, performed for U.S. troops in Viet Nam and Thailand.

By 1972, Suzie and Michael got together again to become a musical duo, entertaining in nightclubs in the South Bay, Los Angeles California area. Six months later, younger brother Robert joined Suzie and Michael as their drummer, to form a family trio.

In 1973, Suzie and her two brothers headlined as "The Cappetta Company". The popular trio was booked in the Reuben's Restaurant chain five nights a week throughout the 1970s.

As "The Cappetta Company", the trio performed "LIVE" music sets on KGBS-FM during the Glen Falkenstein Show in the mid-1970s, broadcasting from the Star Theater at Universal Studios in Hollywood, showcased in Las Vegas, Nevada in the Casinos of the Mint and Hacienda Hotels, and continued to headline in major hotels, restaurants, and night clubs throughout the 1980s and into the early 1990s. Their versatility in musical styles can be heard in their "live" performances and in their studio recordings which have received airplay on many radio stations from the Pacific Coast, to the Atlantic Coast of America, and even across the Atlantic to the UK.

;Other groups

In later years she was a member of group Cold Fire that consisted of herself on vocals and acoustic guitar, Michael Cappetta on vocals and bass guitar, Martin Pomeroy on vocals guitar and keyboards, Richard Martinez on drums and Ken Roberts on guitar.GoPro [http://www.gobyhero.ru/watch/RDwnibBM9Kk/Nowhere+Man+Beatles+cover+Cold+Fire+1982.html Nowhere Man - Beatles cover Cold Fire 1982] Drummer Martinez would later become the General Manager for the Music is Hope Foundation.The Examiner October 6, 2014 - Julian Lennon new 'Summertime' EP released to support Music is Hope Foundation © Liz H Kelly, National Digital Entertainment Columnist]The Rex Hotel [http://www.therex.ca/get_content.html?id=1554&year=2015&month=06 Kevin Crabb Quartet (Los Angeles)] She would work with Roberts again with Stevie & the Saints,Firestream Music Vault [https://firestreamvault.com/band.php?id=1592#.Vxd66U0ViUk Stevie & the Saints] and with Jimmy Ellis.All Music [http://www.allmusic.com/album/red-hot-blues-mw0000092448/credits Jimmy Ellis Red, Hot & Blues, Credits] As a member of hard rock Christian group, Stevie & the Saints, she sang lead and backup vocals for the band fronted by guitarist Steve Olson.Untombed Christian Metal and Rock E-Magazine [https://firestreamvault.com/band.php?id=1592#.VeQhiU0ViUk Bands /S /Stevie & the Saints]

Suzie and co would work and perform in Las Vegas and Southern California during the 1990s.Los Angeles Daily News, October 20, 2020 = [https://www.dailynews.com/2020/10/19/remembering-a-beatle-connected-krla-radio-legend-so-popular-he-had-his-own-flavor-of-ice-cream/ Remembering Dave Hull, the KRLA radio legend so popular he had his own flavor of ice cream By Richard Wagoner]

In 1996 she contributed background vocals to Jimmy "Preacher" Ellis's album Red, Hot & Blues.All Music [http://www.allmusic.com/album/red-hot-blues-mw0000092448/credits Jimmy Ellis - Red, Hot & Blues Credits] She would do the same work again with this artist from Arkansas on his 2008 album, That's Why We All Have the Blues.Paris Djs 20 January 2013 [http://www.parisdjs.com/index.php/post/The-Story-Of-Jimmy-Preacher-Ellis-1963-1972 The Story Of Jimmy 'Preacher' Ellis 1963-1972 - out on Tramp Records]All Music [http://www.allmusic.com/album/thats-why-we-all-have-the-blues-mw0000507146/credits Jimmy Ellis - That's Why We All Have the Blues Credits]

In 1993, Cappetta had colon cancer. Five years later, she began to have heart problems, ultimately leading to congestive heart failure, which caused her health to decline more rapidly after the year 2000.

She died on April 13, 2007, at the age of 58.Dead Rock Stars Club [http://thedeadrockstarsclub.com/2007.html 2007 January to June]Hullabaloo!: The Life and (Mis)Adventures of L.A. Radio Legend Dave Hull, By Dave Hull, Bill Hayes [https://books.google.com/books?id=SwtcDQAAQBAJ&dq=%22The+Scuzzies%22Suzie&pg=PT166 A Scuzzy Smash!]

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Category:1948 births

Category:2007 deaths

Category:American women pop singers

Category:Musicians from Redondo Beach, California

Category:Place of birth missing

Category:Place of death missing

Category:American pop guitarists

Category:20th-century American women

Category:21st-century American women