Suzi ... and Other Four Letter Words explained

Suzi...and Other Four Letter Words
Type:studio
Artist:Suzi Quatro
Cover:Suzi Quatro Suzi...and Other Four Letter Words album cover.jpg
Released:1979
Studio:MCA/Whitney Studios, Glendale, California
Genre:
Length:31:29
Label:Rak
Producer:Mike Chapman
Prev Title:If You Knew Suzi...
Prev Year:1978
Next Title:Rock Hard
Next Year:1980

Suzi ... and Other Four Letter Words, released in 1979, is the sixth studio album by American singer-songwriter, bass guitar player, and actress Suzi Quatro. this was still Quatro's highest-charting album in Norway (at number 4) and her second-highest-charting album in the United States (at number 117).[1] [2]

The album contains three singles, all of which charted. "She's in Love with You", a number 1 hit in South Africa (where it topped the chart for 7 weeks), a top 20 hit in the United Kingdom, Austria, the Netherlands, Norway, and Switzerland, a top 40 hit in Australia and also a minor chart hit in New Zealand and the United States. "Mama's Boy" made chart appearances in both the United Kingdom and in the Netherlands and "I've Never Been in Love" charted in the United States as well as the United Kingdom.

Background

This, Quatro's sixth studio LP, was released after she moved from the United States to Britain. It is her last studio album before she decided not to renew her contract with record producer Mickie Most's RAK Records label. (Instead she signed a contract with Dreamland Records, which had been set up by songwriters/producers Mike Chapman and Nicky Chinn).[3]

Critical reception

Writing for Smash Hits in 1979, Red Starr described the album as "ten immediately accessible chunks of bouncy, straightforward pop-rock". In his retrospective review for AllMusic, Donald A. Guarisco sees Quatro as making "a strong return to her hard-rocking roots" with the album. Example "bracing rocker" tracks are "I've Never Been in Love" and "She's in Love with You". These are "judiciously balanced with a string of tuneful, keyboard-based mid-tempo tunes" such as "Hollywood" and the "pop-inflected reggae groove" of "Four Letter Words". Guarisco feels that the downside of the album is that "many of the songs recycle the same double-time backbeat" and singles out "You Are My Lover" whose melody "is minimalist to the point of being repetitive". He concludes that:

"Despite these minor problems, Suzi...and Other Four Letter Words remains a solid slab of rock that is guaranteed to please the Suzi Quatro fanbase."

Commercial performance

Suzi...and Other Four Letter Words (1979) was still Quatro's highest-charting album in Norway, beating both Quatro (1974), which reached number 5, and Suzi Quatro (1973), which reached number 6. It was also her second-highest-charting album in the United States, behind If You Knew Suzi... (1978), which reached number 37 in The Billboard 200.[4]

Track listing

  1. "I've Never Been in Love" (Melissa A. Connell) – 3:02
  2. "Mind Demons" (Suzi Quatro, Len Tuckey) – 2:25
  3. "She's in Love with You" (Mike Chapman, Nicky Chinn) – 3:32
  4. "Hollywood" (Quatro, Tuckey) – 2:57
  5. "Four Letter Words" (Chapman, Chinn) – 3:27
  6. "Mama's Boy" (Quatro, Tuckey) – 3:35
  7. "Starlight Lady" (Quatro, Tuckey) – 3:36
  8. "You Are My Lover" (Jack Lee) – 3:12
  9. "Space Cadets" (Quatro, Tuckey) – 4:18
  10. "Love Hurts" (Quatro, Tuckey) – 2:45

Personnel

Technical

Charts

Album

ChartPeak
position
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[5] 47
Norway4[6]
Sweden36
United States, The Billboard 200117[7]

Singles

"She's in Love with You" / "Space Cadets" (or "Starlight Lady" in the US)

ChartPeak
position
United Kingdom11[8]
Austria4
Netherlands6
New Zealand24
Norway10[9]
Switzerland6
United States, The Billboard Hot 10041

"Mama's Boy" / "Mind Demons" (1980 single)

ChartPeak
position
United Kingdom34
Netherlands43[10]

"I've Never Been in Love" / "Starlight Lady" (or "Space Cadets" in the US) (1980 single)

ChartPeak
position
United Kingdom56
United States, The Billboard Hot 10044

Notes and References

  1. Auslander . Philip . 28 January 2004 . I Wanna Be Your Man: Suzi Quatro's musical androgyny . Popular Music . 23 . 1 . 1–16 . United Kingdom . . PDF . 10.1017/S0261143004000030 . 191508078 . 5 September 2012. dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120401201239/http://www.lcc.gatech.edu/~auslander/publications.html#music . 1 April 2012. dmy-all.
  2. Web site: BBC Queens of British Pop, Suzi Quatro – David Jensen film clip 2009 . www.bbc.co.uk . BBC . London, UK . 5 September 2012.
  3. Rock Hard. Rock Hard (album). Suzi Quatro. February 2011. Phil. Hendriks. Tim Smith. CD booklet. 7T's Records. GLAM CD 126. London, United Kingdom.
  4. Web site: Unterberger . Richie . Suzi Quatro – Awards . . Ann Arbor, US . 25 August 2012.
  5. Book: Kent, David. David Kent (historian). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. illustrated. Australian Chart Book. St Ives, N.S.W.. 1993. 0-646-11917-6. 243.
  6. Web site: norwegiancharts.com – Suzi Quatro – Suzi ... and Other Four Letter Words . norwegiancharts.com . Hung Medien . Dietikon, Switzerland . 22 August 2012.
  7. Web site: Guarisco . Donald A . Suzi...And Other Four Letter Words – Suzi Quatro: Awards: AllMusic . www.allmusic.com . . Ann Arbor, USA . 22 August 2012.
  8. Web site: SUZI QUATRO / Artist / Official Charts . officialcharts.com . The Official UK Charts Company . London, United Kingdom . 1 September 2012.
  9. Web site: norwegiancharts.com – Suzi Quatro – She's In Love With You . norwegiancharts.com . Hung Medien . Dietikon, Switzerland . 1 September 2012.
  10. Web site: norwegiancharts.com – Suzi Quatro – Mama's Boy . norwegiancharts.com . Hung Medien . Dietikon, Switzerland . 1 September 2012.