The Sweet

Today's subject is a band that moved all over the music genre spectrum, perhaps maturing along with its fans: The Sweet were originally Bubblegum Pop, then, at their most successful period they fully embraced Glam Rock and eventually went Hard Rock. All that in less than five years.

Sweet's origins can be traced back to British Soul band Wainwright's Gentlemen. They formed around 1962 and were initially known as Unit 4. In late 1964 Ian Gillan (Deep Purple) joined the group. Soon after, Mick Tucker replaced the band's drummer. Gillan's eventual replacement, in late 1966, was Scots-born vocalist Brian Connolly. Frank Torpey - a schoolfriend of Tucker's who had just left West London group The Tribe (aka The Dream) - held the guitarist's position for a few months.

In January 1968 Connolly and Tucker formed a new band calling themselves The Sweetshop. They recruited bass guitarist and lead vocalist Steve Priest of a local band called the Army, who had previously played with another local band the Countdowns. Frank Torpey was again recruited to play guitar.

At the time, another UK band released a single under the same name Sweetshop, so the band changed the name to The Sweet. The band was managed by Paul Nicholas, who later went on to star in Hair, as well as have the part of cousin Kevin in Tommy. Nicholas worked with record producer Phil Wainman and recommended the band to him. Their debut single Slow Motion (July 1968), produced by Wainman, and released on Fontana, failed to chart and owing to its rarity now sells for several hundred pounds when auctioned. Sweet were released from the recording contract and Frank Torpey left.

Guitarist Mick Stewart joined in 1969. The Sweet signed a new record contract with EMI's Parlophone label. Three bubblegum pop singles were released: Lollipop Man (September 1969), All You'll Ever Get from Me (January 1970), and a cover version of the Archies' Get on the Line (June 1970), all of which failed to chart. Stewart then quit, and was not replaced for some time.

Connolly and Tucker had a chance meeting with Wainman, who knew of two aspiring songwriters, Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman, who were looking for a group to sing over some demos they had written together. Connolly, Priest and Tucker provided the vocals on a track called Funny Funny which featured Pip Williams on guitar, John Roberts on bass and Wainman on drums. The latter began offering the track to various recording companies. The band held auditions for a replacement guitarist and settled on Welsh-born Andy Scott. He had most recently been playing with Mike McCartney (brother of Paul) in the Scaffold. As a member of the Elastic Band, he had played guitar on two singles for Decca, Think of You Baby and Do Unto Others.

In March 1971 RCA issued Funny Funny, written by Chinn and Chapman, and freely inspired by The Archies' Sugar Sugar, which became the group's first international hit (#1 in the Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark and South Africa, #2 in Norway, #5 in Germany and Finland, #7 in Ireland, and #13 in the UK).

It was one of the first singles I've ever purchased. I was 11 at the time, and this was a song that I loved dancing to. It was also the song that started Sweet's European reign. They were especially hot in Germany, Denmark, and the UK. In Germany, every single they released but one for the next 5 years made the Top 5. In this period, they also had 8 number ones! In the UK they only had one #1 (although it spent more weeks at #1 than any other song that year). They were, however, the kings of #2, having had 5 #2 hits in 4 years. In Denmark they had 11 #1 hits in 5 years!

Their next single was their first #1 in Germany and Denmark, and their first #2 in the UK. It also peaked at the top in Switzerland and South Africa, at #2 in Sweden and Norway, and at #3 in Ireland and the Netherlands. A breezy tropical-sounding tune, Co-Co was an easy summer hit:

Then the Sweet had their only misstep on their way to chart dominance: Alexander Graham Bell flopped, peaking at #24 in Germany, #33 in the UK, and #38 in the Netherlands. It wasn't less good than the others, in my opinion. These tracks still featured session musicians on the instruments with the quartet providing only the vocals.

They returned to hit-making with Poppa Joe: #1 in Denmark, the Netherlands and Finland, #2 in Sweden, Norway and Switzerland, #3 in Germany, #11 in the UK, #12 in South Africa, and #16 in Ireland.

Little Willy was their first, and in fact their biggest hit in the US; it peaked at #3 and went gold. It also went gold in the UK, peaking at #4. It was their first #1 in Canada, also a #1 in Germany and Denmark, #2 in Switzerland and Finland, #7 in the Netherlands and Norway, and #9 in Ireland and South Africa.

After Little Willy, Chapman realised Sweet were better than the session musicians, and a compromise was reached. The band could play on the A-sides (Wig-Wam Bam, Block Buster!, Hell Raiser), which Chinnichap would continue to write, and the B-sides would showcase Sweet's songwriting and Scott's Hard-Rock riffs.

The Sweet had managed to do what is a necessary step to long-lasing success; they had managed to give the public four separate, distinctive figures, with easily recognizable personal traits: Brian Connolly, the blond-haired frontman with the Heath Ledger look, was the outgoing girl-magnet. On the opposite side of the spectrum, Andy Scott, the guitarist, was the brooding dark-haired rocker. Ginger Steve Priest, the bassist, introduced the camp and outrageous element, while tall and athletic Mick Tucker, the drummer, was the easygoing good guy.

Wig-Wam Bam was their first hit to ease them out of Bubblegum Pop and into Glam Rock. The vocals and guitars had a harder, more Rock-oriented sound, the boys began wearing platform shoes, flashy costumes, and make-up and glitter on their faces, while Priest resumed the role he would occupy all through the group's golden era; dressed and made up more outrageously than the rest, he would have a solo vocal catch phrase in each hit, delivered in the campiest possible manner. None of the band was gay, in fact, and Priest was actually a quiet man who disliked the limelight.

Wig-Wam Bam was #1 in Germany and Denmark, #2 in Switzerland, #3 in Finland, #4 in the UK and Ireland, #5 in Austria, #6 in the Netherlands and Norway, #8 in South Africa, #15 in Australia, and #18 in Sweden. It was also one of the three songs that were heavily featured, along with Bobby Goldsboro's Honey and the Rubettes' Sugar Baby Love, in the great queer film Breakfast On Pluto.

Their next hit consolidated their supergroup status; their only #1 in the UK, it spent 5 weeks at the top. It was also #1 in Germany, the Netherlands, Ireland, Austria, Denmark, New Zealand; #2 in Belgium; #3 in Switzerland, Norway, and Finland; #7 in South Africa; #12 in Spain; #29 in Canada and Australia; #30 in Italy; and only #73 in the US.

Block Buster!'s riff was considered markedly similar to fellow RCA act David Bowie's The Jean Genie, released shortly before, but all parties maintain that this was pure coincidence.

We should also listen to Block Buster!'s B-side, which was a Sweet composition. Need A Lot Of Lovin', as would be the case with all their self-penned B-sides from now on, was a bona fide Hard Rock track:

Musically, Sweet shared the same aspirations as Deep Purple – gigs in city halls to denim-clad audiences – but found themselves playing Top Rank and Mecca ballrooms where hysterical girls would pull them from the stage and hack wildly at their hair with scissors smuggled in their handbags. At one show in Kilmarnock in early 1973, with Block Buster! at No 1 in the charts, Sweet received trouble from both sexes. The men spat at them from balconies above the stage, and the women screamed so loudly they drowned out the music. In Liverpool, the band's driver panicked when fans climbed on the roof of the limousine, and accelerated down a nearby alley which, Priest calculates, "was probably an inch wider than the car. To this day, I have no idea how it was possible."

My favorite single of theirs is the follow-up to Block Buster!, called Hell Raiser. It's a frenzied Rock song, with the verses building to Priest's fabulous cry: "mama you don't understand!" The song was #1 in Germany and Denmark, #2 in the UK and Ireland, #3 in Switzerland, #4 in the Netherlands, Austria, and Finland, and #5 in Norway.

Their next single was another big international hit for them. Most importantly, it was their second Top 5 in the US. The Ballroom Blitz was inspired by the aforementioned incident on 27 January 1973 when the band was performing at the Grand Hall in Kilmarnock, Scotland and were driven offstage by a barrage of bottles. The initial guitar and drum riff of the song has some similarity to a 1963 song by Bobby Comstock called Let's Stomp.

The Ballroom Blitz made #1 in Germany, Canada, Australia, and Denmark, #2 in the UK, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Norway, #3 in Sweden and Switzerland, #5 in the US and Austria, and #10 in Finland.

The B-side was the Sweet-penned rocker Rock and Roll Disgrace:

Early in 1974 came their next hit, Teenage Rampage; yet another #1 in Germany, Denmark, and Ireland, yet another #2 in the UK, as well as in the Netherlands and Switzerland. It also made #5 in Finland, #7 in Sweden, and #10 in Australia.

The Sweet were mostly a singles' act; they had released one album in 1971, Funny How Sweet Co-Co Can Be, which was mainly a collection of hit singles and covers of other people's hits. The album was a local Scandinavian hit; it charted only in Finland (#1) and in Denmark (#15), and flopped everywhere else.

Sweet Fanny Adams, released in April 1974, was their second album; it was a turning point and change in the band's sound. It was more of a Hard Rock album than Pop or Glam. The tone is set with the opening track, Set Me Free, a fiery rocker that blends ultrahigh vocal harmonies to a furious succession of guitar riffs that jack the song up a level of speed metal frenzy.

No You Don't is a Queen-styled putdown of an unkind lover that was later covered by Pat Benatar:

Into the Night is a complex track that pits mid-tempo verse against lighting-fast choruses over a surprisingly funky drumbeat that was later sampled by the Beastie Boys:

However, the album's Heavy Metal masterpiece is the title track, a seedy portrait of juvenile delinquency whose brutal lyrics anticipate the grim imagery of Punk Rock. The song's vivid lyrics are effectively brought to life by a blinding succession of Speed Metal guitar riffs that are fleshed out by the kind of spacy synthesizer work that later graced Fox on the Run.

The album's closing track, a Chinnichap song, was one of the first songs to be released talking specifically about bisexuality. It's appropriately called AC/DC. Here's a live version from 1976:

The album did well commercially; it peaked at #27 in the UK, but eventually achieved gold status. It peaked at #1 in Denmark, #2 in Germany, #3 in Finland, #4 in Sweden, and #6 in Austria.

But in early 1974, in the midst of the Sweet Fanny Adams sessions, came the incident that changed everything. Connolly was beaten up outside a pub in Staines, Surrey. Scott says Connolly was trying to protect his Mercedes from a couple of local vandals. Priest's version is much more sinister. Connolly's car was tailed by persons unknown who waited until he stopped at the pub to buy cigarettes. "It was a set-up job," Priest says. "He'd annoyed someone. There were three guys attacking him and one of them kicked him in the throat. Brian heard him say, 'That should do the job.' The only one who knows the truth is an ex-roadie of ours, and he won't tell."

Priest and Scott filled in on lead vocals on some tracks (No You Don't, Into The Night and Restless) and Connolly, under treatment from a specialist, managed to complete the album.

The assault on Connolly changed the destiny of Sweet. As well as damaging his vocal cords, it shattered his confidence and he began drinking heavily. It also meant cancelling the most important concert of Sweet's career. Pete Townshend had invited them to support the Who at Charlton Athletic's football ground in May 1974, where Scott believes they would have proved to critics and fans alike that they were serious Rock contenders, not a superficial glam machine.

The follow-up album was released just 7 months later. It was called Desolation Boulevard, a wonderfully lightweight collection of fizzy melodies and big hooks. This time it contained all three of their singles at the time. The album hit #2 in Sweden, #4 in Denmark, #5 in Canada, #9 in Germany and Finland, #13 in Australia, and #17 in Norway and New Zealand.

Before listening to the singles, let's hear a couple of album tracks: first off, Andy Scott's Lady Starlight:

... And here's their take on Elmer Bernstein's classic The Man with the Golden Arm:

The first single from the album, was called The Six Teens. The song features softer acoustic verses contrasted with heavier electric guitar-based choruses and was regarded something of a significant departure from the band's Glam Rock sound heard on previous singles. Guitarist Andy Scott, when introducing the song in his current band's live show, often states he regards it as Chinn and Chapman's best work.It made #1 in Denmark, #4 in Germany, #6 in Switzerland, #7 in the Netherlands, and Norway, #8 in Finland, #9 in the UK and Austria, and #15 in Ireland.

Turn It Down was banned from the BBC for some silly reason, so it flopped in the UK (#41). It was a hit in Denmark (#2), Germany and Norway (#4), Sweden and Finland (#10), and Austria (#14).

Fox on the Run returned Sweet to the top of the charts. An insanely catchy song, it peaked at #1 in Germany, Australia, Denmark and South Africa; at #2 in the UK, Canada, Ireland, the Netherlands, and Norway, #3 in Austria, Switzerland and New Zealand, #5 in the US, and #10 in Sweden and Finland.

In Australia it not only made it to the top of the charts, it also became the biggest selling single of that year. The release of this track marked the end of the formal Chinn-Chapman working relationship and the band stressed it was now fully self-sufficient as writers and producers.

The following single release, Action, was a self-written and produced 1975 song. The lyrics refer to Sweet's negative treatment as pop-stars, particularly by the music press, and to the demands of the music industry. The track features a masked 'backwards vocal' with the words 'You kiss my arse'. It peaked at #2 in Germany, Sweden and Norway, #3 in Denmark and Austria, #4 in Australia and Switzerland, #5 in Canada, #6 in the Netherlands, #7 in Ireland, #12 in New Zealand, #13 in Finland, #15 in the UK, and #20 in the US.

Follow-up single The Lies in Your Eyes was a lesser hit: #3 in Denmark, #5 in Germany, #6 in Sweden, #9 in the Netherlands, #11 in Norway, #14 in Australia, #17 in Austria, and only #35 in the UK.

Both of these hits were included in the band's next album, Give Us a Wink (1976). The album was a moderate international success, although definitely a smaller one than their previous.

The group's final big hit came in 1978: Love Is Like Oxygen was a departure from earlier recordings by the Sweet, which were more guitar-driven and featured high vocal harmonies. The extended album version of the song incorporates strings and has some Disco elements. The single peaked at #4 in New Zealand, at #6 in Switzerland, at #7 in Finland, at #8 in the US, Canada, Ireland and Belgium, at #9 in the UK and Australia, at #10 in Germany, at #16 in the Netherlands, and at #23 in Austria.

Connolly's deterioration was too subtle for TV's Pop audiences to notice at first. But his alcoholism put him on a collision course with Scott, who was trying to steer the band through the choppy waters of the mid-to-late 70s. As Punk, New Wave and Disco arrived, Sweet suddenly looked old-fashioned. Connolly and Sweet parted company in 1979. In 1981, the year the remaining three decided to disband, Connolly was rushed to hospital, where he suffered 14 cardiac arrests in 24 hours. He was left with slurred speech, partial paralysis and violent tremors.

In 1988, out of the blue, Mike Chapman contacted them, offering to reunite the classic lineup and finance a recording session in Los Angeles. He was in for a ghastly surprise. "I met them at the airport and Andy and Mick came off the plane," Chapman recalls. "I said, 'Where's Brian?' They said, 'Oh, he's coming.' All the people had come off the plane by now. Then this little old man hobbled towards us. He was shaking, and had a ghostly white face. I thought, 'Oh, Jesus Christ.' It was horrifying." It became clear in the studio that Connolly's voice lay in ruins. Priest remembers Chapman taking him aside and saying, "This is like icing a cake with shit." Sweet's reunion was aborted.

Connolly died in 1997. He had apparently been very distressed by a Channel 4 documentary that had followed his desperate, hopeless attempts to join the Glam Rock comeback trail. Scott calls the programme "sickening". Heartbreaking might be a better word. But there was more sadness to come. In 2002, Mick Tucker, an underrated drummer who had been forgotten by all but the most loyal Sweet fans, succumbed to leukemia. Then, in September 2009, Scott was diagnosed with prostate cancer. In 2010 he underwent a course of radiotherapy treatment to save his life. Priest lives in La Cañada Flintridge, a high-income haven just outside Los Angeles.

Scott and Priest have not met in years and refuse to have anything to do with each other. Scott is allowed to tour under Sweet's name in Europe, while Priest is allowed to tour under Sweet's name in America and Canada.

The two Sweets stay out of each other's territories. Livelihoods are at stake, and if a promoter is uncertain which lineup of a band to book, he ends up booking neither. But there are grey areas, and one of them is Australia. In 2009, Scott's lineup cancelled some dates on an Australian tour. Priest, seeing an opening in a market where he had not played for decades, emailed the promoter, offering to fly over and take Scott's place. It was a dreadful faux pas. Scott had just been diagnosed with cancer, and regarded Priest's act of opportunism as reprehensible. For his part, Priest protests that he had no idea Scott was so ill. This is a sad ending for a band that once was among the most popular in Europe. Unfortunately, such things often happen. I try to remember them as they were in the 70s.