Stumblin' In

This song, which Quatro performed as a duet with Chris Norman, the frontman for Smokie, was a departure from her hard rock sound, as the pair sing about stumbling into love with someone they never expected to be with. This song turned out to be by far the biggest American hit for both performers.

This was written and produced by the team of Mike Chapman and Nicky Chinn, who were responsible for the lion's share of hits for both Smokie and Suzi Quatro. Smokie had cut ties with the team, but in 1978 Chapman was producing Quatro's album If You Knew Suzi, which they were recording in Cologne, Germany. In a spell of serendipity, Smokie received an award in nearby Dusseldorf at this time, and after the ceremony, Quatro and Chapman joined them at a party where music broke out. Chapman sang a medley of the hits he wrote with Chinn, and later, Quatro took the stage with Chris Norman. As Quatro played bass, Norman put his arm around her, and Chapman got an idea. The next day when he was working with Quatro, he came up with the line "our love is alive" and started hashing out the song "Stumblin' In," which he pitched to Quatro as a duet with Norman. She loved the idea. Chapman finished writing the song with Chinn, and the duet was included on Quatro's album.

Quatro had nine UK Top 40 hits to this point, but none in America. Smokie had 11 in the UK Top 40, but just one in America: "Living Next Door To Alice," which made #25 in 1977. This song reversed that trend, taking off in the US but topping out at #41 in the UK. Quatro told Songfacts: "I was a part of the glam rock scene, but I don't think that glam rock transferred to the USA. I had lots of radio play with 'All Shook Up' and 'Skin Tight Skin,' and 'Can The Can' got in the lower end, but my biggest hit was a country-rock record, 'Stumblin' In.'" Quatro's biggest cultural impact in America was her role as Leather Tuscadero on the TV show Happy Days from 1977-1979.