Artist:Suzi Quatro and Chris Norman
Song:Stumblin' In
Album:The Best of Suzi Quatro: Legend
Suzi Quatro is probably best known for playing Leather Tuscadero in the popular 70s sitcom Happy Days. But she was a very successful rocker especially in England. The 1978 single Stumblin' In was her biggest hit in the US. She was born June 3, 1950 in Detroit. Her father was an Italian immigrant who worked at GM and was an amateur musician. Her mother was Hungarian. The family name was shortened from Quattrocchi to Quatro. Her sister Patti was in the all girl rock band Fanny. Her brother Mike Quatro is a singer songwriter and pianist. I saw him perform live in the early 70s. Watching Elvis Presley perform on TV inspired Suzy to be a musician. At the time there were no female role models in rock. But Suzi admired Billie Holiday and Mary Weiss of The Shangri-Las because "she looked hot". Suzi taught herself to play bass and joined her sister's band The Pleasure Seekers. Her father gave her a 1957 Fender Precision bass which she still uses. In The Pleasure Seekers, Suzi called herself Suzi Soul and Patti called herself Patti Pleasure. They released a couple of singles including one for Mercury Records. The band name was changed to Cradle in 1969. Her brother Mike convinced British producer Mickie Most to see Cradle. He liked Suzi and brought her to England in 1971. Suzi was attracting attention from labels who thought she could be the new Janis Joplin. Most brought in the songwriting and production team of Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman. They wanted Suzi to be a rocker. She had success when the 1973 single Can the Can topped the British charts. This is her biggest hit overall. But as I said, most of her success was in England and Europe. The US market wasn't interested. For the 1978 album If You Knew Suzi..., Chinn and Chapman got the idea of putting Suzi together with Smokie lead singer Chris Norman. Chapman saw them on stage together. And the next day he wrote Stumblin' In. It has a much softer sound than Suzi's usual music. It reached #4 on the Billboard Hot 100. It only reached #41 in England. At first Stumblin' In was released only as a single. But it was picked up by RSO Records and added to If You Knew Suzi... That was Suzi's final big hit. You can get all her hits on this comp. It all ended when Chapman and Chinn split up and Chapman's new record label was a failure. Suzi continues to tour and record. She released an album last year. So she's still around but probably forgotten by most. Here's the video for Stumblin' In by Suzi Quatro and Chris Norman.
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