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The Blockbusters of Glam

It all began in 1966 on the club circuit where vocalist Brian Connolly and drummer Michael Tucker played together in the band,"Wainwrights Gentlemen". The style of music was quite different then to the pop tunes that would follow in later years.
The birth of SWEET came soon after when Steve priest (bass guitar) and later Andrew Scott (guitar) joined the band. They signed up to RCA records and the hits were about to begin. In 1972 now that the band was established and with a few minor hits under their belts they brought in Chinn and Chapman, songwriters known for their successful hit songs. With this partership came a string of hits for the band, "Funny Funny", "Co Co","Poppa Joe","Little Willy" and "Wig Wam Bam". These bubble gum pop hits were very commercial but got the band noticed especially for their heavier rock "b" sides.

At this point Chinn/Chapman realised the Sweet should have a heavier sound on their "A" sides and wrote "Blockbuster" a major hit staying at No1 for weeks and still being played today. I remember Top Of The Pops and wondering if Steve could get any more make up on! Glam Rock Sweet Style...had arrived. The camp lines of Steve's made every single special, no one else was doing it. I remember saying to a mate. "Sweet have got a new record out, I wonder what the catch line will be this time". We never had a clue!!! Even though Bowie and Bolan had dominated Glam Rock since 1971, Sweet took it a step further and gave us some of the best music in 1973. Hits like"Hellraiser", Ballroom Blitz" and "Teenage Rampage" stayed at the top allowing Sweet to dominate the charts here and in Europe.

There was still a much heavier side to the Sweet sound which was evident on their albums. In 1974 the band began to concentrate on the album more than the single. They also left Chinn/Chapman to take full control of their music. Even though the album "Sweet Fanny Adams" was not as big as earlier offerings, it marked the change to this heavier sound and Sweets independence. "Fox On The Run" was a big hit from the Desolation Boulevard album but future hit singles were sparse, instead the albums took centre stage. The bands last big hits were "Action" and "Life Is Like Oxygen".
There are numerous Sweet CD's in the shops but probably the best is the "Sweet Collection" a double album of all their hits and then some.

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