GLAM GODZ...the tale of The Sweet !!

QUOTES:

Without Sweet, there would be no KISS

We wanted to be The Sweet - Motley Crue

Tis is the band I wanted to be in - Joe Elliot of Def Leppard

Sweet were formed in 1968 as The Sweetshop and achieved ABSOLUTELY nothing till their first hit "Funny Funny" in 1971 after teaming up with songwriters Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman and record producer Phil Wainman...

The band achieved a stack of success in Blighty, with a awesome run of  thirteen..that's 13,  Top 20 hits during the 1970s alone, with "Block Buster!" (1973) topping the chart, followed by three consecutive number two hits in "Hell Raiser" (1973), "The Ballroom Blitz" (1973) and "Teenage Rampage" (1974). Their first self-written and produced single "Fox on the Run" (1975) also reached number two on the UK charts. ...
.From 1976...well, the success started to decline, right along with Brians substance problems, and Sweet had their last Top 10 hit in 1978 with "Love is Like Oxygen".

The band had quite the string of albums, and I must admit to not knowing about 55% of them, I mean I'd mostly bought Greatest Hits collections...THEN...I came across a box set called
THE SWEET 1971-1989......I played them and discovered a stack of stuff that's really REALLY the grouse...only shows to go you dont it...if you expand your horizons, you end up with a fuller mp3 gizmo

Back to the band....I thinks its fair to say, that most of my mates thought the Sweet had a touch of the poof about them, I asked one guy, then explain all the chicks?...he couldnt....I seen 'em live in '75 with Connolly, there was nothing poofy about them, they weren't bubblegum in a live situation...not in the tiniest bit.

70's promoters must of been chewing on magic mushies A LOT...We have all heard of strange bills at rock shows , right?..how about this one  -BOB SEGER and THE SILVER BULLET BAND and THE SWEET

in 1978, Sweet extensively toured the US, as a support act for Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band....(this included the infamous gig where the record company showed up and Brian Connolly passed out on stage blitzed out of his skull)...

The boys returned briefly to England to dry Brian out,  before resuming the second leg of their US tour in late May supporting Seger, bands on that tour were FOGHAT and ALICE COOPER...now, going out with Coop makes sense,  Alice and The Sweet...BUT FOGHAT?

Back home, the boys arrived at The Town House studio in Shepherds Bush, London to write and record new material for their next album, Cut Above the Rest...a few songs were recorded with Brian singing. BUT for the most part they flat out sucked and a good percentage of the tracks were erased from the album..

On 23 February 1979, Brian Connolly's departure from Sweet was announced by Handle Artists' Manager, David Walker, at a press conference. Publicly, Connolly was said to be pursuing a solo career with an interest in recording country rock....privately, he was a raging alcoholic

Since the mid-1980s, Scott, Connolly and Priest have each played with their own versions of Sweet during different periods of time. Connolly died in 1997, and Tucker died in 2002. The two surviving members are still active in their respective versions of the band; Scott's is based in the United Kingdom and Priest's in the United States.

ROCK IN PEACE

Brian Connolly died at the age of 51 on 9 February 1997 from liver failure and repeated heart attacks, attributed to his earlier 1970s and early 1980s chronic drinking.... Mick Tucker subsequently died on 14 February 2002 from leukaemia, aged 54.

I think its fair to say that we all know Sweets BIG hits...so to that point...here are some of my personal favourite tracks......ANYWAY....OH, and just in case your wondering...my favourite Sweet album is DESOLATION BOULEVARD

GODZ of GLAM