Suzi ... and Other Four Letter Words

Background

This, Quatro's sixth studio album, 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).

While still in the United States, Quatro had released two singles with all-female band The Pleasure Seekers (which became Cradle before breaking up). Next, she signed a contract with record producer Mickie Most's RAK Records label and moved to Britain as a solo artist. Her first solo single, "Rolling Stone", was recorded with session players. "Rolling Stone" only achieved popularity in Portugal, where it went to number 1.

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 awards this album . He 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."

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

Charts

By August 2012 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.