wow, Bowie's Jean Genie was a rip off of Sweet's Blockbuster? didn't know that.
wow, Bowie's Jean Genie was a rip off of Sweet's Blockbuster? didn't know that.
i did a bit of work for SWEET over the last three years and i finally got to see the current euro version live in june which was very entertaining. recently SONY MUSIC has undertaken some sizable effort to revive their RCA catalogue. SWEET were caught in that unfortunate conundrum by signing up for stardom early and ending up being remote-controlled by their suits for some time … hence all the chinn/chapman penned (albeit hideously catchy) naffness, although they were in the good company of suzi quatro, SMOKiE et al. in that respect. they wrote hard rock singles early on and (at least) managed to whack them in as single b-sides, which eventually groomed them for their further path.
it's important to note that SWEET exert more influence than is generally acknowledged. the entire 1980s glam/hair metal scene would not have happened without their foundation laying. joe elliot of DEF LEPPARD has namedropped them from very early on in their own carreer and when i saw POiSON live on a very rare german date in 1990, loads of people exclaimed afterwards that they “sound a bit like SWEET” (such was/is their stature here). due to these early pop years they were sort of handed the short end of the stick when it comes to sheer influentiality and, thus, seminal status but i think that albums like “desolation blvd” and “give us a wink” (feat. the immortal “QUEEN are a bunch of winkers” quip on the artwork for ripping off their multi-track harmonies) still stand up today and their traces can be heard throughout the rock oeuvre of the 1980s.
oh, and those final interviews with brian connolly that can be found on youtube are nothing less than heartbraking. he passed practically penniless and forgotten. “love is like oxygen” is still a monolithic song which could not ever be bettered or re-imagined.
A couple of more recent videos from Andy Scott & Steve Priest:
Another vote for "Love Is Like Oxygen", which I never heard until 5 or 6 years ago, on an oldies station that had just come to Austin ("The Bat"). I just assumed it was a 10cc song that was not on any of their albums. When I found out it was Sweet, I was very surprised...
[QUOTE=zzorchering;829385]A couple of more recent videos from Andy Scott & Steve Priest:
ha, i did that one … (box set design and vinyl artwork restoration) … feel free to book me for any special packaging adventures ;-)>
[QUOTE=iguana;829708]That's interesting. Can you tell us any more about your work on this box set?Originally Posted by zzorchering
[QUOTE=Iris;829743]sure. SONY MUSIC has been re-examining their existing RCA-catalogue (eg. all albums with the original four members except “level headed”) for a few years now and released a first greatest hits package called “action” in 2015 as a double CD and 3DVD-set. i did the design & packaging for that one as well, but this was all original artwork with inclusion of vintage photos and memorabilia which we received partially straight from andy scott via his management. “are you ready” – i even came up with the title which didn't take me long ;-)> – was an even bigger challenge posed, because we had to scan and refurbish existing vinyl sleeves and prepare new prepress files from that which was an ordeal second to none, especially when it came to remodel some of the effects that the originals had such as the die cuts on “give us a wink”. at the time i thought that some of the sleeves i was given had hibernated in a flooded part of someones cellar, such were the cracks and crevices that had to be ironed out!
having all of this artwork available in (now) mint condition the next release was a similar CD-box set under a new title (“sensational SWEET”, 2017) which now featured a 52 page booklet with a comprehensive essay (by UK journalist dave ling) and more memorabilia. “level headed”, the last one with connolly and originally released by polydor/universal, has been licensed back for this set exclusively. it also features three new original albums which previously had not been available. “the rainbow” (also on double vinyl in the box set above) is a live recording from london 1973 and there is also a “lost singles” set from the pre-album pop days as well as a very early BBC session (“the sweet at the beeb”). all three have new design … plus, i did the cover illustration sketchings for the vinyl set using a charcoal effect filter on some old band pics as orientation. glad to see that the record company splashed out on an embossed metallic print for the title and some spot gloss varnish for the sketches!
yep, a lot of work done to bring the original four and their very extensive catalogue back into the public conscience. now, if only as much effort was being put into doing something with the three trio-albums sans connolly (“cut above the rest”, “water’s edge” and “identity crisis”) … i did have some knowledge of the band beforehand and although not the largest SWEET fan at the best of times i enjoyed that particular trip down memory lane. as a matter of fact i did similar things for their peers and cohorts SMOKIE just beforehand … but that sort of thing would have to go far into the O/T-forums here! i now work as a freelance artist and do have some specialisation going on into the refurbishment and reproduction of original album/vinyl art. thank you for asking!
[QUOTE=iguana;829755]
And thank you for replying. I have just ordered Sensational Sweet and this provides interesting background. Good luck with your future commissions.
[QUOTE=Iris;829794]cheers for that, also for ordering!
Really loved Give us a wink and Desolation boulevard..
Hated the love is like oxygen album and stopped there..
Just like listening to older Queen they are always fun every once in a while...
Enjoy the moment... It's the only way to fly!
Played a festival in Germany with them last weekend, lovely guys, very down to earth!
[QUOTE=iguana;829755]All you will probably ever need to own by Sweet. A must!
[QUOTE=iguana;829755]I love the Smokie re-releases. Great music - almost English country rock - and well designed. A tip of the hat to you sir!
Alan Silson's solo record was a bit of a corker too!
Can you add any more to that? Were they the headliners? What songs are the mainstays of their set these days? Cheers.
I liked those glamrock-bands, at least Sweet, Slade and the Dutch band Catapult, but never owned anything by any of them.
[QUOTE=the ferret;830143]thank you kindly! being a genXer from germany my standard quip is that without SMOKiE all of us wouldn't existyep, i did the SMOKiE GOLD 1975|2015 (CD/DVD) and some artwork restoration for them as well (“greatest hits” on white vinyl 2LP, chris norman’s solo album “rock away your teardrops” which is actually a SMOKiE album in disguise, performed by norman/spencer/silson/uttley and “midnight delight, a later one). i also redesigned alan silson’s solo CD “solitary bird” which was a very indie release but is now also part of the SONY/RCA catalogue. SMOKiE were indeed pitched to be the english EAGLES with their strong country/western influx mixed with some very restraintful glammy bits from chinn/chapman.
both SWEET and SMOKiE did a double headlining show here which i attendend. i'll have to side more with SWEET because they were hugely entertaining and their current vocalist, pete lincoln (also on bass), is very good indeed. plus, they have an element of the old NWOBHM within their ranks with guitarist/keyboardist/vocalist tony o'hora, who used to be in brit metal merchants ONSLAUGHT. top band that andy scott has with him now.
SMOKiE delighted the audience (terry uttley – bass – is the lone original member now) who were there to be delighted, although i quickly grew tired of mike craft's rather artificial rasp re-enactment. but their drummer – given that he only has largely mid-tempo plodders to work with – was excellent. very agile, generous with little details and fun to watch. a working men’s club jeff porcaro in hiding!
however, don't ask me who the **** alice is … i've no clue.
ROCK OF AGES by any chance? to my knowledge SWEET have largely retired from bare-knuckles gigging but continue to play one-offs and festivals/weekenders.
It is my belief that The Sweet actually forged the sound of modern heavy metal... long before Judas Priest, Iron Maiden and Metallica came along.
If you listen to the linear driving guitar and rhythm section on this track, they were years ahead of the metal curve. Some might argue Black Sabbath dark and heavy etc... but what I am talking here is sonically.
If you can find a band that had this "sound" earlier than 1973, then hats off to you...
But I believe "The Sweet" forged the sonic sound of heavy metal music, and have been uncredited for doing so.
Oddly enough, the bridge in FA sounds like it could have fit nicely on Hackett's Voyage....
The guitar solo at the end is very Ritchie Blackmore - ish and sounds a lot like what Blackmore would be playing a few years later in "Rainbow".
I view The Sweet as a VERY "artsy" band that explored all their musical possibilities without limits and refused to be pigeonholed by anyone. They would play cheesy pop hits, prog stuff like "Love is Like Oxygen"..... metal driven music like FA and then do a disco tune. Excellent production values and just a very diverse creative band that stands the test of time because of their various eccentric output.
Last edited by Skullhead; 08-12-2018 at 01:48 PM.
I think you are spot on with your comment. Sweet went through 3 very distinct phases. The early bubblegum rock stuff, the middle glam rock / hard rock stuff, and the later more exploratory, and at times, even progressive stuff. I have always thought they were very underated.
Indeed.
Spot on, I say. I think you'll find many who agree with most if not all of this, esp. the heavy metal bit.
The Sweet in my opinion were one of the best feeder bands into prog there was. I have no doubt that they could have been one of the major prog acts of the decade, but they certainly wanted a broader audience. The level of musicianship was there for them to do just about anything they could have imagined. They also had excellent producers and engineers working with them.
The bubble gum stuff they did was actually very good for what it was. A song like Fox on the Run might get played right along with Lief Garrett or the Partridge Family, but then that same listener buys their albums and hears "Love is Like Oxygen". They would present a sophistication into the music in a sly and calculated way, never pretentious or bombastic.
I once won a 6 pack of beer off a guy who swore "Love is Like Oxygen" was ELO and I of course new it was not ELO. The sixer of St Pauli Girl tasted really good as we went over to a friends house and cranked the tune on a mountain stack of JBL's off one of the those monster Kenwood 9600 series amps.
Liked the single a lot as a spotty youth. Half a life time later I discover that there's an extended version and its great. Thanks Mr Skullhead!
Deep Purple "In Rock." I immediately thought of "Flight of the Rat."
"The White Zone is for loading and unloading only. If you got to load or unload go to the White Zone!"
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.
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.
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