Stumblin' In to a HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

That was Suzi Quatro's first big hit song, "Stumblin' In" (with Chris Norman), I remember hearing it on WLS every afternoon after school just like it was yesterday: "Our love is alive, and so we begin. Foolishly laying our hearts on the table, Stumblin' in. Our love is a flame, burning within. Now and then firelight will catch us... Stumblin' in..." The vocal harmony stuck in my mind forever.
When my high school buddy from Bessemer City High School, Mark Conrad, told me about a hot new song in 1982, called "Lipstick", I thought, "Hmmm, he's picked some good tunes before, I'll go and buy the 45..." (I was BIG into buying all the latest records at the time). I was both surprised and happy to see "Suzi Quatro" on the Dreamland record label at Chamelot Music in The Eastridge Mall. I didn't think I would ever hear another song by my Suzi, I couldn't wait to get home and play it. Although the song was not a hit here in the states, to me it was just as good as "Stumblin' In", even more powerful and with a stronger beat. And I have never been an advocate of songs that didn't make the Top 10, but this one was strong. I'll never forget the heavy sound on the chorus: "And I nail my mouth to the evil taste of lipstick, inhale the scent of someone else's lipstick..." It was the strongest vocals by a female I had heard since Little Miss Dynamite, Brenda Lee.
Of course there are a couple of other chapters in Suzi Quatro's life story, like her appearances as "Pinky Tuskadero" on Happy Days, the band that she, Lita Ford, and Joan Jett were in called "The Runaways", and more. How synonymous that almost every time Joan Jett has written a note for me, (I have worked in the music industry for 23 years now) she signs her name, then writes "Rock Hard", that was the name of Suzi Quatro's album from which the single "Lipstick" was on. Suzi has done a lot of other stuff too, she is one talented chic.
And look at her pic today... she looks great and even better than when my sex-starved teen-age eyes saw her on Happy Days way back when. She has a new single out this week, and if they still made them on 45 rpm records, I'd buy it, see more on her website at www.suziquatro.com. Happy Birthday, Suzi Quatro. She turns 56 today, lookin' like she just turned 32, serious!