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The Sweet

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File:Sweet-1974.jpeg
Sweet, on the cover of their 1974 Desolation Boulevard LP. From left to right: Andy Scott, Steve Priest, Brian Connolly, & Mick Tucker.

Sweet (referred to as The Sweet on one album) were a popular British rock group of the 1970s.

Although Sweet were largely known for their Glam Rock image and several teenage anthem top forty singles, they also released several albums throughout a ten year career. The extent of Sweet's domination of the charts in Europe resulted in eight number one singles in Germany with pop oriented tunes as "Co Co", "Little Willy", and "Wig Wam Bam". Sweet's success continued with more rock oriented tunes such as "Blockbuster", "Hellraiser", "Ballroom Blitz", "Teenage Rampage", and "Fox On The Run". Worldwide, Sweet achieved no less than twenty hit singles during 1971-1978.

The classic Sweet line-up consisted of vocalist Brian Connolly, drummer Mick Tucker, bassist Steve Priest, and guitarist Andy Scott. Sweet are perhaps best remembered for their glam stage clothing - glitter, platform boots, chain mail shirts, and makeup - practically defining the camp extreme of the glam rock look. Scott would later say it only happened because they needed an excuse to meet Top of the Pops dancers Pan's People and reasoned that going to the make-up room was a good method of doing so.

History

Sweet's origins go back to 1965, with UK soul band Wainwright's Gentlemen, which included drummer Mick Tucker and vocalist Ian Gillan. Gillan quit in May 1965 to join Episode Six, and later, Deep Purple. Gillan's replacement was vocalist Brian Connolly. Tucker and Connolly remained with the band until 1968.

In 1968, Brian Connolly and Mick Tucker left Wainwright's Gentlemen to form another band. They recruited a bass guitarist/lead vocalist named Steve Priest from a local band called The Countdowns. Along with a guitarist named Gordon Fairminer, the band was called Sweetshop. Gordon Fairminer's stay was brief, and he was replaced by Frank Torpy. It didn't take long for Sweetshop to develop a following on the pub circuit, and they were signed to the Fontana Label. At the time, another U.K. band released a single under the same name Sweetshop, so the band shortened the name to Sweet. Their debut single "Slow Motion" failed to chart. Sweet were released from their contract, and Frank Torpy left.

In 1969 guitarist Mick Stewart joined, and Sweet signed a new record contract with EMI's Parlophone Label. Three more bubblegum pop singles were released, "Lollipop Man", "All You'll Ever Get From Me", and Archies cover, "Get on the Line", which all failed to chart. Stewart then quit and was replaced by ex-Elastic Band guitarist Andy Scott.

With the new line-up now in place, a management deal was secured with a newly formed and unknown song writing team consisting of Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman. Phil Wainman was the executive producer. This management deal also included a worldwide (except USA) record contract with RCA.

Sweet initially attempted to combine various musical influences, including 1960s bubblegum pop groups such as the Archies and The Monkees, with more rock-oriented groups such as The Who. Sweet adopted the rich vocal harmony style of The Hollies, with distorted guitars and a heavy rhythm section. This fusion of pop and hard rock would remain a central trademark of Sweet's music.

Another influence on Sweet's music was 1960s drummer Sandy Nelson, as heard on Mick Tucker's drumming style. In particular, Sweet tracks such as "Ballroom Blitz", "Action", and "Man With the Golden Arm", all contain elements of Sandy Nelson's 1961 U.S. top ten hit, "Let There be Drums".

In March 1971, Sweet's "Funny Funny" single became their first international hit, climbing to number one on many of the world's charts. "Co-Co" was the next single issued, which outsold "Funny Funny". The next single, "Alexander Graham Bell", was only a minor hit. Sweet's first LP, titled Funny How Sweet Coco Can Be was released towards the end of 1971, but failed to chart. As the LP faded into obscurity, Sweet found themselves being labelled by music critics as nothing more than a Top 40 singles band.

In September 1972, "Wig Wam Bam" was released. Although this single remained largely true to the style of Sweet's previous hits, the vocals and guitars were stronger and more more rock-oriented than on the group's previous singles. It was in many ways, a transition single, paving the way for the change of musical emphasis that came with "Blockbuster", Sweet's first single of 1973, which quickly reached number 1.

As the group's popularity grew, Sweet put in a heavy schedule of U.K. and European TV promotional appearances, including numerous Top Of The Pops and Supersonic slots. Sweet soon picked up a large teenage audience. The band also capitalised on the Glam explosion, rivalling Gary Glitter, T. Rex, Queen, Wizzard, and Slade for outrageous stage clothing.

By mid 1974, Sweet had grown tired of the artistic control Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman exerted over their career, hence the group decided to record without the duo. The resulting album, Sweet Fanny Adams, was their first Top 40 chart album, also demonstrating a heavy rock band of considerable talent. Sweet also dropped their Glam image in favour of a more conventional hard rock appearance. In reponse to music critics, Sweet concentrated on proving their musical talents on self-written hard rock/pop album tracks.

The Sweet Fanny Adams album also featured compressed high-pitched backing vocal harmonies, which was a trend that continued on all of Sweet's albums. Sweet, and fellow U.K. band Queen, were both recognised as one of the main exponents of high-pitched harmonies during the 1970s.

A second album was released during 1974, called Desolation Boulevard. One of the tracks off this album was a cover of The Who's "My Generation". Sweet received public praise from The Who's guitarist, Pete Townshend. Sweet also frequently cited The Who as being one of their main influences. At Townshend's invitation, Sweet were invited to support The Who at Charlton Athletics' Football Ground. Unfortunately, in June of 1974, Brian Connnolly was attacked before the group's going on as support, and he took time out from singing as his throat was badly bruised.

In 1975, RCA released an album titled, The Sweet Singles Album, which was only released in Australia and New Zealand. This LP featured hard rock B side single recordings, including the hit singles "Ballroom Blitz", "Teenage Rampage", "Blockbuster", and "Hell Raiser".

In 1975, Sweet's first self-written and produced single, "Fox on the Run", was released worldwide and instantly became their biggest selling hit, reaching number one in several countries.

During 1976, Sweet attempted to gain popularity in America by promoting their Give Us A Wink album with a heavy schedule of more than fifty concert dates. During one appearance, Sweet played All Right Now with Ritchie Blackmore in a tribute to mark the death of Free guitarist Paul Kossoff.

The 1976 and 1977 years featured Sweet as an album oriented pop-metal act. Albums such as Give Us a Wink and Off the Record were undoubtedly Sweet's heaviest studio albums. Indeed, Sweet's 1976 top twenty hit, "Action", was the group's hardest rocking hit single.

Sweet split from RCA in late 1977. The first album for new label Polydor, Level Headed, found Sweet experimenting by combining rock and classical music, an approach similar to U.K. band ELO. Sweet undertook a successful British tour in early 1978. "Love Is Like Oxygen" was their last U.K. top ten hit in 1978.

In February 1979, Brian Connolly left the band under acrimonious circumstances, and neither he nor the band fully recovered. Brian was particularly suffering from the effects of substantial alcohol intake. He also suffered cardiac arrests at the height of his excess.

Before Brian Connolly announced his departure in February 1979, his vocals were erased from the recorded material for the ensuing Cut Above The Rest album, and Sweet continued on as a trio, with Scott and Priest now both handling lead vocals. Keyboard player Gary Moberley completed the four-piece line-up. Three more studio albums were recorded between 1979 and 1982, the year in which Sweet disbanded.

In 1988, Connolly, Scott, Priest, and Tucker briefly reformed to record music for the first time in seven years. Some reworked studio versions of "Action" and "Ballroom Blitz" were recorded in Los Angeles. During the same year, "Blockbuster" was sampled by The Timelords (later The KLF) as part of their number one single, Doctorin' the Tardis. The track also featured samples of Gary Glitter's Rock And Roll (Part 1) and the Doctor Who theme, and reached number one in the UK charts on June 12.

In 1990, all four members were again re-united for the promotion of a video, titled Sweet's Ballroom Blitz. This UK release, which contained UK television performances from the 1970s, including current-day interviews, was released at Tower Records, London. In 1993 Def Leppard released a successful cover version of Action.

Brian Connolly died from liver failure in 1997, aged 52, having been content in his final years to appear in retrospective documentaries to demonstrate the damage he had inflicted upon himself. Mick Tucker died in 2002 from leukaemia, aged 54.

Sweet's two remaining members are still active in the music industry. Andy Scott currently continues to tour with Andy Scott's Sweet.

Album Discography

Hit singles

  • 1971 "Funny Funny" #13 UK
  • 1971 "Co-Co" #2 UK; # 99 US; # 1 Germany;
  • 1971 "Alexander Graham Bell" #33 UK
  • 1972 "Poppa Joe" #11 UK
  • 1972 "Little Willy" #4 UK; #3 US (1973 release)
  • 1972 "Wig-Wam Bam" #4 UK
  • 1973 "Blockbuster" #1 UK; # 1 Germany;
  • 1973 "Hell Raiser" #2 UK; # 1 Germany:
  • 1973 "Ballroom Blitz" #2 UK; #5 US (1975 release); #1 Australia; # 1 Germany
  • 1974 "Teenage Rampage" #2 UK; # 1 Germany
  • 1974 "The Six Teens" #9 UK
  • 1974 "Turn It Down" #41 UK
  • 1974 "Peppermint Twist" #1 Australia
  • 1975 "Fox On The Run" #2 UK; #5 US (1976 release); # 1 Australia; # 1 Germany
  • 1975 "Action" #15 UK; #20 US (1976 release)
  • 1976 "Lies In Your Eyes" #35 UK; #5 Germany
  • 1976 "Lost Angels" #13 Germany
  • 1977 "Fever of Love" #9 Germany
  • 1977 "Stairway To The Stars" #15 Germany
  • 1978 "Love Is Like Oxygen" #9 UK; #8 US; #10 Germany; # 9 Australia
  • 1978 "California Nights" #23 Germany
  • 1985 "It's... It's... The Sweet Mix" #45 UK

Influences

Similar Artists

See also

List of best-selling music artists

External links

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