"Can the Can" is the second solo single by American singer-songwriter

Suzi Quatro Susan Kay Quatro (born June 3, 1950) is an American singer, bass guitarist, songwriter, and actress. In the 1970s, she scored a string of hit singles that found greater success in Europe and Australia than in her homeland, reaching No. 1 in th ...

and her first to reach number one in the UK, spending a single week at the top of the chart in June 1973. It also reached number one on the

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

an and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

n charts in whose market Quatro achieved her most consistent success throughout her career as a recording artist. The single belatedly became a hit in the US peaking at number 56 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in 1976. It was re-released as a single in the UK, with "

Devil Gate Drive "Devil Gate Drive" is a song by American singer Suzi Quatro. It was Quatro's second (and final) solo number one single in the UK, spending two weeks at the top of the chart in February 1974. According to ukcharts.20m.com, she only reached numbe ...

" as the B-side, in 1984, but failed to chart. The single made the charts again in 1987 in the UK at number 87, it also appeared on her 1995 album ''

What Goes Around "What Goes Around" may refer to: *"What Goes Around", a song by Ringo Starr from his 1992 album ''Time Takes Time'' * ''What Goes Around'' (Dave Holland album), 2002 * ''What Goes Around'' (Statik Selektah album), 2014 * ''What Goes Around...'', ...

''. This single made Quatro the first female bass guitar player to become a major rock star and therefore broke a barrier to women's participation in rock music.

Background

This, Quatro's second solo single, was released after she moved from the United States to Britain. In the United States, she had already released two singles with the all-female band The Pleasure Seekers. Her first solo single, "

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

," was recorded with session players. "Rolling Stone" only achieved popularity in Portugal, where it went to number one. For "Can the Can," Quatro had organized her own band, which had toured the United Kingdom as the warm-up act for

Slade Slade are an English rock band formed in Wolverhampton in 1966. They rose to prominence during the glam rock era in the early 1970s, achieving 17 consecutive top 20 hits and six number ones on the UK Singles Chart. The ''British Hit Singles ...

and

Thin Lizzy Thin Lizzy are an Irish hard rock band formed in Dublin in 1969. Their music reflects a wide range of influences, including blues, soul music, psychedelic rock and traditional Irish folk music, but is generally classified as hard rock or some ...

, and they had new songwriters/producers

Mike Chapman Michael Donald Chapman (born 13 April 1947) is an Australian-American record producer and songwriter who was a major force in the British pop music industry in the 1970s. He created a string of hit singles for artists including The Sweet, Suzi ...

and

Nicky Chinn Nicholas Barry Chinn (born 16 May 1945) is an English-American songwriter and record producer. Together with Mike Chapman he had a long string of hit singles in the UK and US in the 1970s and early 1980s, including several international number- ...

. The song "Can the Can" was written, composed, and produced by Mike Chapman and Nicky Chinn. It has the

refrain A refrain (from Vulgar Latin ''refringere'', "to repeat", and later from Old French ''refraindre'') is the line or lines that are repeated in music or in poetry — the "chorus" of a song. Poetic fixed forms that feature refrains include the vi ...

: According to songwriter Nicky Chinn, the phrase "can the can" means "... something that is pretty impossible, you can't get one can inside another if they are the same size, so we're saying you can't put your man in the can if he is out there and not willing to commit." The song "Ain't Ya Something Honey," with which "Can the Can" was backed, was written and composed by Quatro and produced by

Mickie Most Michael Peter Hayes (20 June 1938 – 30 May 2003), known as Mickie Most, was an English record producer behind scores of hit singles for acts such as the Animals, Herman's Hermits, the Nashville Teens, Donovan, Lulu, Suzi Quatro, Hot Chocolate ...

Accolades

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Sales and certifications

References

{{authority control 1973 songs 1973 singles 1976 singles Suzi Quatro songs Number-one singles in Australia Number-one singles in Germany Number-one singles in Switzerland UK Singles Chart number-one singles RAK Records singles Song recordings produced by Mike Chapman Songs written by Mike Chapman Songs written by Nicky Chinn