They seemed an odd fit for a duet to start. One was a pioneering American artist with a cushy spot on a top television show, the other the lead singer for a British band that didn’t know much success outside their home turf.
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If they were going to do a duet, you would have thought that Suzi Quatro and Chris Norman would have stuck closer to their glam-rocking roots. Instead, they delivered one of the signature soft-rock hits of the late ’70s with “Stumblin’ In.”
The Two Principals
So how did Suzi Quatro and Chris Norman come together anyway? By 1978, which was the year when “Stumblin’ In” was released, Quatro had already released a string of critically acclaimed albums. She was a female solo artist in the glam rock world, which made her something of a trailblazer.
Oddly enough, her music did far better in the UK than it did in America for the Michigan-raised Quatro. But she received a big burst of U.S. exposure when she was cast in a recurring role on the sitcom Happy Days, which was one of the most popular shows in the country at the point.
As for Chris Norman, he was the bassist and chief lead singer of the British band Smokie. They did good business in their native country throughout the ’70s, but their success in America was much more limited. Outside the Top-25 hit “Living Next Door to Alice,” they mostly pecked around the fringes of the Billboard charts.
Startin’ “Stumblin’”
The key to the pairing turned out to be mutual collaborators. Both Quatro and Smokie were guided by the writing/producing pair of Mike Chapman and Nicky Chinn. When it came time for Quatro to record the album that would be titled If You Knew Suzi… when released in 1978, the pair decided they wanted to try something a little bit different with her material to broaden her appeal and cash in on the Happy Days success.
As it turned out, Quatro and Smokie were together at a party in Germany at which Chapman and Chinn were also present. Music was played and at one point, Chapman saw Quatro and Norman on stage together. Thinking they looked like a natural pairing, he decided to approach them about a duet.
The two agreed, and Chapman and Chinn delivered “Stumblin’ In.” The laid-back music was a far cry from what could normally could be expected from the pair. But it struck a chord with the American audiences that had eluded them to that point, reaching No. 4 on the pop charts.
What is the Meaning of “Stumblin’ In”?
“Stumblin’ In” is all about trusting in the unknown future of a relationship, realizing the risks are worth the potentially wonderful rewards. Driving home this point, Norman and Quatro sing in unison at the beginning of the track: Our love is alive, and so we begin / Foolishly laying our hearts on the table / And stumblin’ in.
In the verses, they reinforce this notion: Wherever you go, whatever you do / You know these restless thoughts of mine are following you. They also go back to the beginnings of their courtship: You were so young, oh, and I was so free / I may’ve been young, but baby, that’s not what I wanted to be.
It’s almost as if fate guided them together: Now and then firelight will catch us / Stumblin’ in. Fate certainly connected Quatro with Norman for “Stumblin’ In,” resulting in the biggest hit ever for these two artists and a genuine yacht rock classic.
Photo by kpa/United Archives via Getty Images
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