Old Enough to Forget

Suzi ... and Other Four Letter Words was another in a long line of Mike Chapman produced albums for Suzi Quatro. It's a mystery as to how Mr. Chapman found the time to work in Suzi when he had been working with The Knack and then Blondie on their breakthrough albums that same year.  I never really kept up with Suzi Quatro in real time. I was less than a casual fan and aside from when I heard "Devil Gate Drive" as a kid, didn't know any of her songs. The little AM station in my small town seemed to play it over and over back in 1974. Of course the reality was this all likely happened over the course of a week ... but hey, time is different when you're young. Other than Happy Days and that one song I really didn't know much about her, other than she looked good in black leather. 1979 was the height of new wave (disco was still huge too, but let's pretend it wasn't), Suzi Quatro dropped a glam infused collection of tight pop songs that were honestly a ...

Well, I am a little ashamed to admit that 11 year old me generally didn't think girls should sing rock songs. I mean, I liked some Olivia Newton John songs I heard on the radio, and will even admit that when Helen Reddy sang "I am a Woman" in 1972 I sang along. It was catchy, shoot me. Our shitty AM radio station where I grew up would occasionally play rock songs, and for what seemed like an eternity, "Devil Gate Drive" got special treatment and was played over and over and over. I really liked it. I remember my mum turning off the radio - that just made it better. I mean, it wasn't B.T.O. but she had a growl and she was killing it. I don't think I ever really thought of it again after that brief period of time. Sure, like a lot of other kids when she showed up as Leather Tuscadero on Happy Days it was like, "Ooh." In hindsight I think this pushed her into the realm of caricature and used up any rock credibility she has accumulated. This may ex...