Matthew Sweet

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Sidney Matthew Sweet

Origin Athens, Georgia
Country USA
Years active 1980s - present
Genres power pop
Labels Columbia Records
A&M Records
Website(s) http://www.matthewsweet.com

Sidney Matthew Sweet (born c. October 6, 1964) is a pop-rock musician from Lincoln, Nebraska, USA. He was part of the burgeoning Athens, Georgia music scene in the early and mid-1980s before gaining commercial success during the early 1990s.

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[edit] Early career

As a teenager in Lincoln, Sweet wrote and recorded songs on four-track cassettes, and in the ninth grade joined the band the Specs. Sweet set off to Athens, Georgia in the early '80s to attend college and join the vibrant Athens music scene, most famous as the home base for R.E.M. and The B-52's. In 1983, Sweet collaborated with R.E.M. member Michael Stipe under the name Community Trolls as well as being in Stipe's sister Lynda Stipe's band Oh-OK, and that year also formed another band, Buzz of Delight.

In 1986 he was signed to a solo recording contract with Columbia Records. One album, Inside, was released by Columbia in 1986 to little success.

Sweet was then picked up by A&M Records where he released his second album, Earth (1989), again without commercial success. This period marked a personal and professional low point for Sweet, as A&M lost interest and his marriage failed.

Sweet quickly recovered and formed a new band including Richard Lloyd, Robert Quine, Greg Leisz, Lloyd Cole, and Fred Maher. The new group spent 1990 assembling Sweet's next work, originally titled Nothing Lasts.

[edit] Commercial breakthrough

In 1990, A&M released Sweet from his contract, and he signed with rival Zoo Entertainment. The album, still under construction, was retitled Girlfriend and released in October 1991. This album featured a classic set of pop-rock songs, was considered by many to be an artistic breakthrough, and quickly garnered impressive U.S. sales (spawning a Top 10 single with the title track). The video for the title track was aired on MTV and MuchMusic and features anime-style animation, of which Sweet is a fan. The animated clips in the video for "Girlfriend" are taken from the movie Space Adventure Cobra, and the video for "I've Been Waiting" uses clips of the Urusei Yatsura character Lum, of whom Sweet has a tattoo.

Sweet's follow-up album, 1993's Altered Beast, was borne out of an apparent determination not to become mainstream. A more diverse and less immediately accessible album than Girlfriend, the album divided fans and critics who had mixed reactions to emotionally intense and brooding tracks like "Someone to Pull the Trigger" and "Knowing People."

In 1995, Sweet released 100% Fun. The album mixed bouncy pop style with darker lyrics, including a leadoff track, the self-deprecating "Sick of Myself." The track has frequently been covered live by fellow '90s power poppers The Posies.

[edit] Recent history

Decidedly out of the musical mainstream, Sweet would issue a few more albums in the second half of the decade and maintain a devoted core of fans, but critical acclaim and chart success would be hard to come by.

Sweet's international success had been somewhat limited by his fear of flying[citation needed]; however he gained a significant following in Japan and his 2003 album Kimi Ga Suki * Raifu, was initially a Japan-only release.

In early 2002, he formed the supergroup The Thorns with Shawn Mullins and Pete Droge.

He released a new album of solo material, Living Things in late 2004, though the material on the album was recorded in 2002.

In April 2006 he partnered with Bangles rhythm guitarist-vocalist Susanna Hoffs to release a collection of 1960's classics, titled Under The Covers. Featuring their take on such widely known '60s hits as "Monday, Monday" and "The Kids Are Alright," the album represented a return to the accessible and melodic approach associated with Sweet's early breakthroughs.

[edit] Discography

[edit] Other work

  • Sweet has contributed numerous tracks to compilations and soundtracks, ranging from the Carpenters tribute album If I Were A Carpenter, to soundtracks for Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Josie and the Pussycats and Can't Hardly Wait, as well as "Superdeformed" to the AIDS benefit album No Alternative and "Scooby Doo, Where Are You?" to the compilation Saturday Morning Cartoons' Greatest Hits.
  • Sweet provided guitar, bass and/or vocals on a number of tracks on Lloyd Cole's albums Lloyd Cole (1990), Don't Get Weird on Me Babe (1991) and Bad Vibes (1993), as well as bass on Cole's recording of "Chelsea Hotel," on the Leonard Cohen tribute album I'm Your Fan.
  • Sweet coproduced the Velvet Crush albums Teenage Symphonies to God and Free Expression and cowrote two songs on the latter.
  • Sweet and Jules Shear collaborated to write the title track for Everything's Different Now, the third and final album by 'Til Tuesday.
  • He has also co-written at least one song with the Jayhawks, "Stumbling Through the Dark," on which he sang backing vocals, and has provided backing vocals on at least one other Jayhawks song, "Sixteen Down." In addition, the Thorns recorded a Jayhawks tune, "Blue."
  • Sweet collaborated with Delerium on a song called "Daylight" from their 2001 album Poem.
  • Sweet was also the guitarist in Ming Tea, a band featured in the first Austin Powers movie, with Susanna Hoffs and Mike Myers.
  • Sweet worked with Anton Fier's Golden Palominos in 1986, Blast of Silence CD, reissued in 1998.
  • In 2001, he co-wrote song "Underneath" with the re-emerging rock band Hanson. The song appeared on Hanson's 2004 album Underneath.
  • Girlfriend is featured in the video game Guitar Hero II.

[edit] External links

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