
The Sweet
evolved out of a 60's outfit
called" Wainwright's Gentlemen", a
pub band playing Motown, R & B and
psychedelic numbers. Drummer Mick
Tucker and vocalist Brian Connolly
broke away to form Sweetshop,
later shortened to Sweet, and
recruited bassist Steve Priest and
guitarist Frank Torpey. Torpey was
later replaced by Andy Scott and
this new line-up signed to RCA
Records. The band were then
introduced to the writing p
artnership of Chinn and Chapman,
who were to provide the band with
a host of hit singles, one of the
biggest being "Blockbuster", which
reached number one in the UK in
early 1973. (Further hits included
"The Six Teens", " Ballroom
Blitz", " Hell Raiser" and
"Teenage Rampage", most of which
had a distinct "bubble-gum" feel).
The band's debut album, " Sweet
Fanny Adams", recorded w ithout
the assistance of Chinn and
Chapman, was released in 1974, and
it r eached number 27 on the UK
charts, but disappeared after two
weeks, most probably due to the
fact that the band had changed
direction to a more hard rocking
style. Our featured number reached
number two in the UK and renewed
RCA's faith in the band as a
commercial proposition. They went
on to release a number of
unfortunately disappointing albums
throughout the seventies, f inally
splitting in 1982, although they
did reform in 1989 and r eleased a
further album.
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Biography by Stephen Thomas
Erlewine
In some ways, the Sweet
epitomized all the tacky hubris
and garish silliness of the
early '70s. Fusing bubblegum
melodies with crunching, fuzzy
guitars, the band looked a heavy
metal band, but were as tame as
any pop group. It was a
dichotomy that served them well,
as they racked up a number of
hits in both the U.K. and the
U.S. Most of those hits were
written by Nicky Chinn and Mike
Chapman, a pair of British
songwriters that had a way with
silly, simple, and catchy hooks.
Chinn/Chapman and Sweet were
smart enough to latch on to the
British glam rock fad, building
a safer, radio-friendly and
teen-oriented version of Queen,
T. Rex, and Gary Glitter. By the
end of the '70s, the group's
time at the top of the charts
had expired but their hit
singles lived on not only as
cultural artifacts, but also as
the predecessors for the
pop-metal of the '80s.
Originally, the Sweet were
called the Sweetshop and
consisted of Brian Connolly
(vocals), Mick Tucker (vocals,
drums), Frank Torpey (guitar),
and Steve Priest (bass). In
1970, the group truncated their
name to Sweet and signed a
record contract with
Fontana/EMI, releasing four
unsuccessful singles. Following
the failure of the four singles,
Torpey left the group and was
replaced by Andy Scott. The new
lineup of Sweet signed to RCA
Records in 1971, where they were
placed under the direction of
songwriters Nicky Chinn and Mike
Chapman. Chinn and Chapman wrote
a number of light bubblegum pop
songs for the group, the first
of which, "Funny Funny," reached
number 13 on the U.K. charts.
Following "Funny Funny," the duo
wrote five more Top 40 hits for
the group — including "Little
Willy" and "Wig-Wam Bam" — which
were all lightweight bubblegum
numbers loaded with double
entendres. During this time,
Sweet were writing their own
B-sides and album tracks. All of
the group's compositions were
harder than Chinn and Chapman's
songs, featuring crunching hard
rock guitars. Consequently, the
duo decided to write tougher
songs for the group.
"Blockbuster," the first result
of Chinn and Chapman's neo-glam
rock approach, was the biggest
hit Sweet ever had in the U.K.,
reaching number one on the
charts in early 1973 and
eventually going platinum. For
the next two years, Sweet
continued to chart with Chinn
and Chapman compositions,
including the Top Ten hits "Hell
Raiser," "Ballroom Blitz,"
"Teenage Rampage," and "The Six
Teens."
By the summer of 1974, the
members of Sweet had grown tired
of the control Chinn and Chapman
exerted over their career and
decided to record without the
duo. The resulting album, Sweet
Fanny Adams, reached number 27
in the U.K., but it yielded no
hits. In the spring of 1975,
Sweet had their first
self-penned hit with "Fox on the
Run," which reached the Top Ten
in both the U.K. and the U.S.
"Fox on the Run" appeared on the
collection Desolation Boulevard;
in America, it's release helped
"Ballroom Blitz" reach the Top
Ten in the summer of 1975.
Strung Up, released in the fall
of 1975, continued the group's
move toward album-oriented rock.
For the rest of the decade, the
group continued to churn out
albums, which were all less
successful than their
predecessor. Sweet bounced back
into the charts in 1978 with
"Love Is Like Oxygen," but the
single proved to be their last
gasp; they never reached the Top
Ten again, neither in the U.S.
or the U.K.
Connolly left the band after
"Love Is Like Oxygen" and the
group replaced him with
keyboardist Gary Moberley. The
group carried on for three more
years, releasing three more
albums that all achieved little
success. After several years of
little success or attention,
Sweet broke up in 1982. In the
decade following their breakup,
Sweet reunited on various
occasions. In 1985, a dance club
medley of their hits called
"It's the Sweet Mix" became a
British Top 50 hit and,
following the single's success,
the group re-formed for a tour
that proved to be less
anticipated than expected. Later
in the decade, Scott toured as
part of the group Paddy Goes to
Holyhead. In 1989, Scott and
Tucker re-formed Sweet to record
a live album at London's Marquee
Club.

Brian
Connolly
Gary Moberley
Steve Priest
Andy Scott
Mick Tucker
Frank Torpey

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Marc Bolan
Kenny

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email me - Japie Marais.


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