The Sweet - Then And Now

[JJ88]

I have been immersed in the Sensational Sweet box set. For someone who only bought the singles at the time, it has been a real eye-opener. There were in effect two Sweets: the chart-topping pop group and the guitar-crunching rock band of the albums. Most of the singles didn't appear on the albums as the band sought a rock audience.

I can't think of another band like them with in effect two separate personas.

I agree that it is very marked with the Sweet, but see also Manfred Mann. Pleasant enough pop singles, yet the album tracks/B sides/EPs went all over the map.

Thinking about it both were reliant on outside writers for many of the singles. The divide became less obvious with Sweet from 'Fox On The Run' onwards because the singles were self-penned from that point.

[iguana]

The booklet is crammed with photos. Not sure why there are two essays though, covering much the same ground. I'd have preferred a longer essay with new recollections from the surviving members ........rather like the excellent article about Blockbuster that appeared in Uncut Feb 2018.

allow me to chip in once more – the long essay was especially commissioned by SONY MUSIC for this set from renowned rock scribe dave ling. he also wrote a lengthy piece for the “action” set two years earlier, albeit in a slightly different tone. this new one is more in-depth … the shorter pieces on the individual albums within this set are from the label direcly. i helped a bit with editing and lectorate but the content is all theirs. glad you enjoy the set!

[Iris]

The cds in the Sensational Sweet box are a treasure trove for those interested in the band. I have been listening to a live recording of the band at London's Rainbow just before Christmas 1973. This is the Sweet doing their best Deep Purple. Of course there's a drum solo and of course it lasts for a fortnight. I did like the bit where Brian tries to introduce a couple of songs with something like 'the first one you know and the second song is ................' but is then interrupted by a voice from the back with 'the second song is the one after that'. Dunno is that was Andy or Steve but it made me smile.

[iguana]

let’s revive this thread on the sad occasion of steve priest’s passing. RiP blockbuster.

[SteveSly]

I will be spinning my 2 CD Sweet Anthology today. I had almost all of the albums on vinyl back in the day, but no longer have a turntable. One of the more under rated bands of the 70's IMO.

[JJ88]

A few of my favourites from their albums.

[Dave (in MA)]

"Are you ready, Steve?"




I pretty much lost interest after that, but Desolation Boulevard might have been one of the first non-Beatle/Stones/Who albums I bought.

[Steve983]

I always loved Love Is Like Oxygen



RIP Steve

[jlneudorf]

I always loved Love Is Like Oxygen



RIP Steve

Me as well. Always loved that song.

Very sad. RIP.

[Yeswave]

Me as well. Always loved that song.

Very sad. RIP.

Tremendous. Reminds me of dancing about my living room with my sisters to Top of The Pops. Surely some kind of legacy.

[Udi Koomran]

Bill MacCormick Quiet Sun Matching Mole

Sorry to hear of the death of fellow bass player Steve Priest of The Sweet. In one of the more bizarre decisions made by a concert promoter in the history of concert promotion The Sweet, Matching Mole and the MC5 (I mean, wtf?) were all booked to play a ‘festival’ (really just an excessively long all-nighter) in the equivalent of an aircraft hangar in Ostend on 22nd July 1972. Robert and I watched, and hugely enjoyed, The Sweet’s performance so much so that we chatted to them afterwards. They lived up to their name by being the nicest and funniest bunch of guys with hair-dos to make one jealous. I gather only Andy Scott is left of that line-up so best wishes to him and bon voyage to Steve Priest.

[Jerjo]

I played Desolation Boulevard this AM - damn, that album rocks. RIP, Steve Priest.

[2000jw]

I agree that it is very marked with the Sweet, but see also Manfred Mann. Pleasant enough pop singles, yet the album tracks/B sides/EPs went all over the map.

Thinking about it both were reliant on outside writers for many of the singles. The divide became less obvious with Sweet from 'Fox On The Run' onwards because the singles were self-penned from that point.

And another thing Manfred Mann & The Sweet had in common: a single called "Fox On The Run"

Steve Priest came from my hometown (or should that be the other way around?) - Hayes, Middlesex. I remember one Sunday afternoon in the early 70s, seeing Brian Connolly walking down the street there: impossibly glamorous, particularly against the backdrop of a grey suburbia.

Regarding the uncanny similarity between "Block Buster!" & "Jean Genie", David Bowie's biography has a story from Nicky Chinn (of Chinn & Chapman) describing a meeting with Bowie after "Block Buster!" got to number 1 & "Jean Genie" didn't. Chinn says Bowie "looked at me completely deadpan and said 'Cunt!' And then he got up and gave me a hug and said, 'Congratulations...'"