No Soul/No Control

Album: No Control (2019)
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Songfacts®:

  • The lead single to Suzi Quatro's 2019 album, "No Soul/No Control" finds the rocker asserting her independence.

    You can't take away my soul
    You can't break me 'cause I'm in control


    In a Songfacts interview with Quatro, she explained: "It's been my mantra my whole life. All you really have is yourself and you shouldn't give that up for anybody - professionally or privately. All you've got is you. This is your little light, let it shine - nobody can take it from you."

    She added: "Everybody has had it happen before, where they've fallen into a situation or into a relationship where they try to take your soul and your control. And I say, 'No soul, no control.' Done. I'm me, you can't have this. This is mine."
  • Quatro was raised in a musical family and as a teenager was in a band with her sister, Patti, called The Pleasure Seekers. In 1969, they changed their name to Cradle and got the attention of the British producer Mickie Most, who offered Suzi a record deal. She took the offer in 1971, moving to England, where she became a star.

    With The Pleasure Seekers, Quatro had to follow the strictures of rock, which meant wearing skimpy outfits and playing more lighthearted music. Many of her friends simply gave up - she often told a story about a female drummer who could totally rock out, but whose parents convinced her to do something more sensible and ladylike. She did, and was miserable. Moving to England, Quatro found a more welcoming audience and proceeded to break barriers, landing two #1 UK hits before The Runaways even formed. She insists that a key to her success was venturing out as a solo artist instead of becoming a member of a band. That gave her control of her career, and her soul.
  • The majority of the material on No Control consists of collaborations with Quatro's son from her first marriage, Richard Tuckey. She recalled how this song originated:

    "We were busy as hell, buried in the songs. Richard had a new idea and showed me. It was very unusual and I liked it. A very basic guitar and drum track was put down for me to work on the melody and lyric. I went into the living area of the studio and about 15 minutes later, it was done. It flew out of its own accord, as the best songs do."

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