"Can the Can" was the 2nd hit solo single by Suzi Quatro & 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 in Australian, Germany & Switzerland charts, in whose market Quatro achieved her most consistent success throughout her career as a recording artist. The songs reached No.2 in Austria, No.5 in Belgium & Ireland, No.8 in France & No.13 in The Netherlands. 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 B-side single in 1984 but this time it failed to chart. The single hit the charts again in 1987 in the UK at number 87 & also appeared on her 1995 album What Goes Around.
This single made Quatro the first female bass guitar player to become a major rock star & therefore broke a barrier to women's participation in rock music. This, Quatro's 2nd 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," 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 and Thin Lizzy, and they had new songwriters & producers Mike Chapman and Nicky Chinn.

The song "Can the Can" was written, composed, and produced by Mike Chapman and Nicky Chinn. It has the refrain :
"Make a stand for your man, honey, try to can the can.
Put your man in the can, honey, get him while you can.
Can the can, can the can, if you can, well can the can."
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.