Sweet (band)
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| Sweet | |
|---|---|
| Origin | United Kingdom |
| Genre(s) | Hard rock, glam rock, pop-rock, Heavy Metal |
| Years active | 1968–1981 1985–1991 |
| Label(s) | RCA, Capitol, Polydor |
| Members | |
| Andy Scott Steve Priest Brian Connolly Mick Tucker |
|
| Former members | |
| See: Sweet members section | |
Sweet (referred to as The Sweet on albums before 1974 and singles before 1975) were a popular 1970s British band.
[edit] History
[edit] Origins
Sweet's origins go back to 1965, with UK soul band "Wainwright's Gentlemen", which included drummer Mick Tucker and vocalist Ian Gillan. The group were limited to small UK clubs playing a mixture of R&B and psychedelia. Gillan quit in May 1965 to join Episode Six, and, later, Deep Purple. Gillan's eventual replacement was vocalist Brian Connolly. Tucker and Connolly remained with Wainwright's Gentlemen until early 1968.
[edit] Early years
In January 1968, Brian Connolly and Mick Tucker left Wainwright's Gentlemen to form another band, calling themselves The Sweetshop. They recruited a bass guitarist/lead vocalist named Steve Priest from a local band called 'The Army', having previously played with another local band 'The Countdowns'. Frank Torpey, a friend of Tucker's, was recruited to play guitar. It did not take long for Sweetshop to develop a following on the pub circuit, and they were signed to the Fontana record label. At the time, another UK band released a single under the same name Sweetshop, so the band shortened the name to The Sweet. Their debut single "Slow Motion" (July 1968) failed to chart. Sweet was released from the recording contract, and Frank Torpey left. Steve Priest in his autobiography says Gordon Fairminer was approached to play for them when Torpey decided to leave but turned the job down as they were only receiving £15.00 per week at the time.
[edit] New line-up and new record deal
In 1969 guitarist Mick Stewart joined, and Sweet signed a new record contract with EMI's Parlophone label. Three more bubblegum pop singles were released, "Lollipop Man" (September 1969), "All You'll Ever Get From Me" (January 1970), and a cover version of Archies, "Get On The Line" (June, 1970), which all failed to chart. Stewart then quit, and was replaced by ex-Scaffold, Mayfield's Mule, and Elastic Band guitarist Andy Scott.
Out of all the members, Scott had the most professional experience. As a member of the Elastic Band, he had played guitar on two singles for Decca "Think Of You Baby" and "Do Unto Others". He also appeared on the band's lone album release, Expansions On Life.
With the new line-up now in place, a management deal was secured with a newly formed, and unknown song writing team, consisting of Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman. Phil Wainman was the executive producer. This management deal also included a worldwide (except U.S.) record contract with RCA Records.
Sweet initially attempted to combine various musical influences, including 1960s bubblegum pop groups such as The Archies and The Monkees, with more heavy rock-oriented groups such as The Who. Sweet adopted the rich vocal harmony style of The Hollies, with distorted guitars and a heavy rhythm section. This fusion of pop and hard rock would remain a central trademark of Sweet's music.
Another influence on Sweet's music was 1960s drummer Sandy Nelson, who partially influenced Mick Tucker's drumming style. In particular, Sweet tracks such as "Ballroom Blitz" and "Man With The Golden Arm" contain elements of Sandy Nelson's 1961 U.S. Top 10 hit, "Let There Be Drums".
[edit] First album appearance
Sweet's first album appearance was on a Music For Pleasure release, but The Sweet had one side only, The Pipkins (after whose sole hit, "Gimme Dat Ding", the LP was titled) had the other. The LP features the A-side and B-sides of the three commercially unsuccessful Parlophone singles before Sweet finally found success with "Funny Funny", which was the band's first single release for RCA. Despite the album cover shot of The Sweet featuring Andy Scott, he was not actually a band member until "Funny Funny" and does not feature on any of these recordings. The band's guitarist then was Mick Stewart and wrote two of the featured B-sides on this compilation. The official release date was December, 1970.
In January 1971, Sweet made their UK television debut on a pop show called Lift Off, performing "Funny Funny".
[edit] International success
In March 1971, "Funny Funny" became their first international hit, climbing to the Top 20 on many of the world's charts. Although the next single, "All You'll Ever Get From Me" (May 1971) failed to chart, "Co-Co" (June 1971) became a hit (UK #2). But the following single, "Alexander Graham Bell" (October, 1971) was only a minor hit (UK #33).
Sweet's first official full-size LP album entitled Funny How Sweet Coco Can Be was released towards the end of 1971, and failed to chart. An oddly endearing collection of Chinn/Chapman novelty tunes (including "Chop Chop" and "TomTom Turnaround") and ill-fitting pop covers (such as the Lovin' Spoonful's "Daydream" and The Supremes' "Reflections"), the album on reflection stands fairly well now for devoted Sweet fans, but on release was not a serious contender on the charts, although RCA did press 10,000 copies. As the LP faded into obscurity, Sweet found themselves being labelled by music critics as nothing more than a Top 40 singles band. Furthermore, Chinn and Chapman hindered the band's chance of respectability by bringing in session musicians, a la The Monkees, to play on the records, even though the members of Sweet were competent musically.
The relationship between Sweet and Chinn / Chapman was becoming increasingly tense. One major reason was that Sweet were not happy with the 'bubblegum' image that was being cast on them. At the band's insistence and as a conscious contrast, their B-sides got heavier with each release; for example, "Done Me Wrong All Right", the self-penned B-side of "Co-Co" amazed some listeners who had hated the pop sound but loved their rock style and realised there was more to the band than they had thought. This dichotomy of bubblegum A-sides and heavy rock B-sides only served to confuse their teenage fan following. Indeed, The Sweet's live performances consisted of B-sides, album tracks and various medleys of rock and roll classics; rarely were the singles played live.
In February 1972, "Poppa Joe" was released and stopped at the gates of the United Kingdom Top 10, at number 11. The next two singles of the year, "Little Willy" and "Wig-Wam Bam" both peaked at #4 on the UK Singles Chart. Although "Wig-Wam Bam" remained largely true to the style of Sweet's previous recordings, the vocals and guitars had a harder, more rock-oriented sound - largely because it was the first Sweet single on which the real members of Sweet played. It was in many ways, a transition single, paving the way for the change of musical emphasis that came in January 1973 with "Block Buster!" (an imperative to "Block Buster", later falsely often contracted to "Blockbuster", alluding with wailing siren sounds to Blockbuster bombs of World War II), Sweet's first chart-topping single, which quickly reached #1 on the UK chart. "Hell Raiser" was released in May and reached position #2, the success of which was repeated by the subsequent singles, "Ballroom Blitz" (September, 1973) and "Teenage Rampage" (January, 1974).
As the group's popularity grew, Sweet put in a heavy schedule of UK and European TV promotional appearances, including numerous Top Of The Pops and Supersonic slots. Sweet soon picked up a large teenage audience. In one performance of "Block Buster!" on Top of the Pops, Priest aroused complaints after he appeared wearing a Nazi uniform and displaying a swastika armband. The band also capitalised on the glam rock explosion, rivalling Gary Glitter, T. Rex, Queen, Wizzard, and Slade for outrageous stage clothing.
[edit] Forming a new image
By 1974, Sweet had grown tired of the artistic control Chinn and Chapman exerted over their career, hence the group and Phil Wainman decided to record without the duo. The resulting album, Sweet Fanny Adams, was their first Top 40 entry in the UK Albums Chart. Sweet's technical proficiency was demonstrated for the first time on self-penned hard rock tracks such as "Sweet FA" and "Set Me Free". Sweet also dropped their glam rock image in favour of a more conventional hard rock appearance. In response to UK music critics, Sweet concentrated on proving their musical talents with self-written tracks.
The Sweet Fanny Adams album (first for the band as Sweet) also featured compressed high-pitched backing vocal harmonies, which was a trend that continued on all of Sweet's albums. Sweet, and contemporary UK band Queen, were both recognised as one of the main exponents of high-pitched harmonies during the 1970s. During sessions for the album Brian Connolly was injured in a fight in Staines High Street. His throat was badly injured and his ability to sing severely limited. Priest and Scott filled in on lead vocals on some tracks ("Into The Night" and "Restless") and Connolly under treatment from a Harley Street specialist managed to complete the album. The band did not publicise the incident and told the press that subsequent cancelled shows were due to Connolly having a throat infection.[citation needed]
[edit] Desolation Boulevard
In early 1974 Sweet had received public praise from The Who's guitarist, Pete Townshend. Sweet had also frequently cited The Who as being one of their main influences and played a medley of their tracks in their live set for many years. At Townshend's invitation, Sweet were invited to support The Who, who were playing at Charlton Athletic's football ground, The Valley in June 1974. Connolly's badly bruised throat kept them from fulfilling the role. Some critics maintain that Connolly's voice never really recovered after this incident, and he was unable to sing with the strength and purity he had on their album and single releases.[citation needed]
A second album was released during 1974 called Desolation Boulevard. One of the tracks off this album was a cover of The Who's "My Generation" (not on the U.S. version of the album). This album, produced by Mike Chapman in place of the now-departed Phil Wainman, was recorded in a mere six days and featured a rawer 'live' sound.
The first single from the LP, the heavy-melodic "The Six Teens" (July, 1974) was a Top 10 hit in the UK, Germany and the Netherlands. However, the subsequent single release, "Turn It Down" (November, 1974) reached only #41 on the UK chart. "Turn It Down" received minimal airplay on UK radio and was banned by some radio stations because of certain lyrical content - "god-awful sound" and "For god's sakes, turn it down" - which were deemed 'unsuitable for family listening'.
[edit] The Sweet Singles Album and Strung Up
In 1975, RCA released a compilation album entitled The Sweet Singles Album (Australia and New Zealand only). This LP featured 1972-73 single recordings, including the hits "Ballroom Blitz", "Teenage Rampage", "Block Buster" and "Hell Raiser". The album coincided with their Australian tour and was a big seller. A double album, Strung Up was released in November (except USA), which contained one, and first for the band live disc, recorded in the UK in December 1973, and the other disc being a compilation of previously released A and B side singles (plus a new song by Chinn and Chapman - "I Wanna Be Committed"). Also at the end of the year Andy Scott released his first solo single titled "Lady Starlight". This was accompanied by a solo video clip of Scott playing the song (A subsequent alternative version was later added to the Japanese and U.S. versions of the 1976 Give Us A Wink album, and to the Andy Scott 30 Years CD with an alternate version. This song also appeared on the Desolation Boulevard album, but with a softer remix).
[edit] Writing their own material
In 1975, Sweet went back into the studio to re-arrange and record a more pop oriented version of track "Fox on the Run", which originally appeared on the 1974 Desolation Boulevard LP. Sweet's first self-written and produced single, "Fox on the Run" (March, 1975) was released worldwide and instantly became their biggest selling hit, reaching number one in Germany and Australia, number two in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands and number five in the U.S. (1976 release). The following single issue, "Action" (July, 1975) peaked at UK #15 (Since 1975, all subsequent RCA and Polydor single releases were now referred to as simply Sweet).
Now confident in their own songwriting and production abilities, Sweet spent the latter half of 1975 in Musicland Studios in Munich, Germany, where they recorded the Give Us a Wink album with German sound engineer Reinhold Mack, who later recorded with Electric Light Orchestra and co-produced Queen.
[edit] Decline in popularity
January 1976 saw the release of "The Lies In Your Eyes". This single was not very successful around the world, except parts of Europe and Australia. As a result of its success, Australia was the only country to get the follow up single "4th Of July". Give Us A Wink, Sweet's first fully produced and written LP was released in March 1976.
During 1976, Sweet attempted to gain popularity in America by promoting new material from their Give Us A Wink album, with a heavy schedule of more than fifty concert dates. During an appearance at Santa Monica Civic Center on 24 March, Sweet played "All Right Now" with Ritchie Blackmore as a tribute to mark the death of Free guitarist Paul Kossoff. The second single from the LP, The Lies In Your Eyes went into the Top 10 in Germany, the Netherlands, and Australia, but only reached #35 on the UK charts.
Between October 1976 and January 1977, Sweet wrote and recorded new material at Kingsway Recorders and Audio International London studios for their next album. The first single from the yet to be released album was "Lost Angels". This single was only a hit in Germany. In April 1977, Off The Record was released, which was Sweet's final RCA album release. The next single from the album, "Fever of Love", represented the band heading in a somewhat more Europop hard rock direction. On this album, Sweet again worked with Give Us A Wink engineer Louis Austin, who would later engineer Def Leppard's On Through The Night 1980 debut album.
The 1976 and 1977 years featured Sweet as a more album oriented, glam metal act. Albums such as Give Us a Wink and Off the Record were undoubtedly Sweet's heaviest studio albums. Indeed, U.S. Top 20 chart entry "Action" was the group's hardest rocking hit single. "Stairway To The Stars" was Sweet's final single release for RCA.
[edit] Split from RCA
Sweet split from RCA in late 1977. The first album for new label Polydor, Level Headed, found Sweet experimenting by combining rock and classical sounds "a-la clavesin", an approach similar to UK band ELO - indeed "Love Is Like Oxygen" is often wrongly credited to ELO. The resulting Level Headed album represented a new musical direction with its Led Zeppelin influenced rock style, interspersed with ballads accompanied by a 30-piece orchestra. With the addition of session and touring musicians keyboardist Gary Moberley and guitarist Nico Ramsden, Sweet undertook a short European and Scandinavian tour followed by single British concert at London's Hammersmith Odeon on 24 February 1978. However, "Love Is Like Oxygen" (January 1978) was their last UK, U.S. and German Top 10 hit. Scott was also nominated for an Ivor Novello Award for co-composing "Love Is Like Oxygen". One more single from the album, "California Nights" (May, 1978) only peaked at #23 on the German charts.
[edit] Departure of Brian Connolly
Between March and May 1978 Sweet extensively toured the USA. On this occasion, however, they had been reduced in status to support act for Bob Seger. A calamitous gig in Birmigham, Alabama, in which Brian Connolly's incoherent performance and collapse on stage saw his future in the group uncertain at best. The band regrouped in England before resuming the US tour in late May supporting Seger and other acts including Foghat and Alice Cooper until they returned to the UK in early July 1978. The band began work on their next album in mid-August with writing sessions at Clearwell Castle. Unfortunately, Brian's erratic behaviour and alcoholism was steadily becoming a greater issue. The band left Clearwell in late September with some promising material.
In late October 1978, Sweet arrived at The Town House studio, Shepherds Bush, London, to write and record new material for their next album. A number of tracks featuring Brian on vocals were recorded but were deemed unsatisfactory and an ouster occurred. Just before Connolly announced his departure, his vocals were erased from the recorded material for the ensuing album Cut Above The Rest. Two album tracks titled "That Girl" and "Stay With Me" featuring Connolly on lead vocals remain from the late 1978 Cut Above The Rest recording sessions.
On February 23, 1979, Brian Connolly's departure from Sweet was announced. Publicly, Connolly was said to be pursuing a solo career with an interest in recording country rock. Privately, Brian was suffering from the effects of heavy alcohol drinking which had compromised his professional ability. Although all the Sweet members lived the extreme rock lifestyle during the 70s - with alcohol, drugs, and women, among other things - the others were not as severely affected as Connolly. Andy Scott told Mojo magazine in 2008: "I think we'd known there was a problem [with Brian] as far back as the first U.S. tour in 1975. We'd say: 'Let's try having a non-drinking day', but it was hard." After Connolly's departure, Sweet continued as a trio, with Scott and Priest now both handling lead vocals. keyboard player Gary Moberley completed the four-piece line-up. Two more studio albums, Water's Edge, and Identity Crisis were recorded in 1979 and 1980 before the group finally disbanded in 1981. Sweet performed their last live show at Glasgow University on 20 March 1981. In 1982, Identity Crisis was only released in Germany.
[edit] Connolly's solo career
After leaving Sweet in 1979, Connolly issued two solo singles for Polydor in Germany, and "Take Away The Music" and "Don't You Know A Lady" were both minor hits there in 1980. Connolly's other single was titled "Hypnotised", released in 1982 on the Carrere label in the UK and RCA in Germany.
[edit] Scott's solo career
Scott releases his second solo single titled "Krugerrands". This 1983 release failed to chart, except in South Africa where it was a top 10 hit[1]. In 1984, Scott released two more solo singles, "Let Her Dance" and "Invisible". His only real solo musical achievement was "Lady Starlight".
[edit] Reformation
In 1985, Scott and Tucker re-formed Sweet with various new vocalists and bass players, the most notable being a 1985 reunion featuring Paul Mario Day (very early singer of Iron Maiden), keyboardist Phil Lanzon, and bass player Malcolm McNulty (who is now lead singer for fellow glam rock band Slade). Priest was asked to join Tucker and Scott for the 1985 Australian tour, but declined at the last moment. Vocalist and bass player Jeff Brown joined in 1988. In 1991, Tucker departed due to ill health, leaving Scott as the only original member. He was replaced by the German, Bodo Schopf. After Tucker's departure, Scott changed the band's name to 'Andy Scott's Sweet'. In 2003, Tony O'Hora replaced Jeff Brown as lead vocalist, who left to join BC Sweet along with Sweet's touring keyboard player Gary Moberley. Both Gary Moberley and Jeff Brown left BC Sweet by the end of 2005, with Kevin Moore replacing Brown (who joined The Tremeloes) as lead vocalist. As of 2006, the line-up consists of Andy Scott, Bruce Bisland, Steve Grant and ex-Sailor vocalist Peter Lincoln.
Despite serious health problems (including tremors), Connolly toured the UK and European circuit on a regular basis during the 1980s and 1990s, backed by his 'New Sweet' and 'Brian Connolly's Sweet' backing bands, playing a mixture of Sweet hits and cover versions.
[edit] Final reunions
In 1988, Connolly, Scott, Priest, and Tucker briefly reformed to record music for the first time in nine years. Some reworked studio versions of "Action", and "Ballroom Blitz", were recorded in Los Angeles. However, Connolly's vocals were deemed unsatisfactory by the three other group members, hence the reunion was brief.
In 1990, all four members were again re-united for the promotion of a video music documentary, titled Sweet's Ballroom Blitz. This UK release, which contained UK television performances from the 1970s, including current-day interviews, was released at Tower Records, London.
Brian Francis [McManus] Connolly died from liver failure and repeated heart attacks, attributed to his chronic alcoholism, on 9 February 1997, aged 51, having been content in his final years to appear in retrospective documentaries demonstrating the damage he had inflicted upon himself. He was cremated after a ceremony at Most Holy Name Roman Catholic Church at Old Mill Lane, Denham, Buckinghamshire and his ashes were scattered over the water by his adult daughters Nicola and Michelle. He also left an ex-wife, Marilyn, and a two-year-old son called Brian Junior (BJ) by his girlfriend Jean.
Michael Thomas (Mick) Tucker died 14 February 2002 in Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire from leukemia, aged 54; his funeral took place 25 February 2002. He is buried in an un-named grave in Chorleywood House cemetery. It is marked by a sleeping angel. A wooden bench with a brass plaque funded by fans as a dedication to Mick is also positioned in the grave's vicinity.[2] He left behind a widow, Jan, and a daughter Ayston from his first marriage to Pauline (†1979). According to Steve Priest: "He was the most underrated drummer that ever came out of England. He was the powerhouse of the band. He was technically marvellous. His timing was impeccable, but he had a lot of soul as well and he really felt what he was playing."
At least one of Sweet's two remaining members is still active in the music industry. Andy Scott currently continues to tour as 'Andy Scott's Sweet'. February 2006 saw the release of a new Suzi Quatro album, Back To The Drive, which was produced by Scott. March 2006 saw the U.S. release of a new AS Sweet album, Sweetlife (from 2002).[3] [4] In October 2006, Scott staged a performance of AS Sweet to help save his home town football team, which was experiencing serious financial difficulty.[5]
Priest resides with his family in Los Angeles, California. He has published his autobiography, Are You Ready Steve?, which was a raw expose of his time with Sweet and in 2006 released Priest's Precious Poems, a CD of tracks largely comprised of his more recent material.
[edit] Sweet today
From 26 April to 13 May 2007 AS Sweet played in Germany, Belgium, Austria and Italy. On this tour AS Sweet played songs from Sweet Fanny Adams, including some of their other hits.
At this moment, May 2008, there are two versions of The Sweet. Andy Scott's Sweet who at present are doing a British tour along side The Rubettes & Showaddywaddy in the UK and the new Steve Priest's Sweet who are about to embark on a series of dates in Canada & the US.
[edit] Members
| Sweetshop (1968 - 1969) |
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|---|---|
| Sweet (1969 - 1970) |
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| Sweet (1970 - 1979) |
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| Sweet (1979 - 1981) |
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| Sweet (1981 - 1985) |
Band split |
| Sweet (1985 - 1988) |
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| Sweet (1988 - 1991) |
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| Andy Scott's Sweet (1993 - 1996) |
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| Andy Scott's Sweet (2003 - 2006) |
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| Andy Scott's Sweet (2006 - ) |
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[edit] Session and touring musicians
- Gary Moberley: keyboards (1978-1981)
- Nico Ramsden: rhythm guitar (1978)
[edit] Discography
[edit] Hit singles/Albums (up to 1985)
| Year | Album | UK Singles | AUS | GER | NE | NOR | US |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1971 | "Funny Funny" | 13 | 93 | 5 | 1 | 2 | - |
| 1971 | "Co-Co" | 2 | 42 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 99 |
| 1971 | "Alexander Graham Bell" | 33 | - | 24 | 38 | - | - |
| 1972 | "Poppa Joe" | 11 | 70 | 3 | 1 | 2 | - |
| 1972 | "Little Willy" | 4 | 65 | 1 | 7 | 7 | 3
(1973) |
| 1972 | "Wig Wam Bam" | 4 | 15 | 1 | 6 | 6 | - |
| 1973 | "Block Buster" | 1 | 29 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 73 |
| 1973 | "Hell Raiser" | 2 | 49 | 1 | 4 | 5 | - |
| 1973 | "Ballroom Blitz" | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 5
(1975) |
| 1974 | "Teenage Rampage" | 2 | 10 | 1 | 11 | 2 | - |
| 1974 | "The Six Teens" | 9 | 48 | 4 | 7 | 7 | - |
| 1974 | "Turn It Down" | 41 | - | 4 | - | 4 | - |
| 1974 | "Peppermint Twist/Rebel Rouser" | - | 1 | - | - | - | - |
| 1975 | "Fox On The Run" | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5
(1976) |
| 1975 | "Action" | 15 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 20
(1976) |
| 1976 | "The Lies In Your Eyes" | 35 | 14 | 5 | 9 | 11 | - |
| 1976 | "4th Of July" | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1976 | "Lost Angels" | - | 74 | 13 | - | - | - |
| 1977 | "Funk It Up" | - | - | - | - | - | 79 |
| 1977 | "Stairway To The Stars" | - | - | 15 | - | - | - |
| 1978 | "Love Is Like Oxygen" | 9 | 9 | 10 | 16 | - | 8 |
| 1978 | "California Nights" | - | - | 23 | - | - | - |
| 1979 | "Call Me" | - | - | 29 | - | - | - |
| 1979 | "Big Apple Waltz" | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1980 | "Give The Lady Some Respect" | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1980 | "Sixties Man" | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1981 | "Love Is The Cure" | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1984 | "The Sixteens/Action" | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1984 | "It's... It's... The Sweet Mix" | 45 | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1985 | "Sweet 2th - The Wigwam Willy Mix" | 85 | - | - | - | - | - |
- Sweet and Middle of the Road (one side only), 1970.
- Gimme Dat Ding (one side only), 1971 (EMI Cat.no. MFP 5248).
- Funny How Sweet Co-Co Can Be, November 1971.
- The Sweet's Biggest Hits (compilation), December 1972; # 58 Australia.
- Poppa Joe (compilation), 1972 (RCA, Italy only).
- The Sweet, July 1973 (1971-73 singles compilation, US title - The Sweet featuring Little Willy & Block Buster; RCA/Bell, reissued in 1976 on Kory).
- Lo Mejor De The Sweet (compilation), 1973 (RCA, Spain only).
- Sweet Fanny Adams, April 1974; #27 UK; # 33 Australia.
- Desolation Boulevard, November 1974; # 13 Australia; # 25 US (US version of 1975).
- The Sweet Singles Album (compilation), 1975 (RCA, Australia & New Zealand only); # 2 Australia.
- Strung Up (double live & studio album), November 1975; # 9 Australia.
- Rock Concert (live), 1975 (RCA, Netherlands only).
- Give Us a Wink, March 1976; # 27 US; # 17 Australia.
- Off the Record, March 1977; # 51 Australia.
- Golden Greats (compilation), October 1977 (RCA/Capitol).
- Level Headed, January 1978; # 52 US; # 40 Australia.
- The Sweet (re-issue of Funny How Sweet Co-Co Can Be with new artwork), July 1978 (RCA/Camden).
- Cut Above The Rest, June 1979; # 87 Australia.
- Water's Edge (US title - Sweet VI), April 1980.
- Identity Crisis, November 1982.**
[edit] Cover versions of Sweet material
- The Swedish glam rock group The Ark has played a cover of "Ballroom Blitz" live.
- The Belfast based punk band, Stiff Little Fingers, played a cover of "Block Buster" live at the Ritz club in Stockholm, Sweden in 1983.
- In 1984 Saxon did a cover version of the Sweet track "Set Me Free"; which they included on their album Crusader. This track was also covered by Vince Neil on his solo album Exposed.
- Sweet's hit song "Ballroom Blitz" has been covered by numerous bands. These include The Damned in 1979, The Rezillos on the album 'Mission Accomplished....But The Beat Goes On', Krokus on The Blitz album released in 1984, Nuclear Assault on their album Out of Order in 1991, Tia Carrere (with her fictional band Crucial Taunt) in the film Wayne's World in 1992, plus another by The Peacocks in 2000.
- Pat Benatar covered the Sweet song "No You Don't" on her debut album In The Heat of the Night in 1979.
- Heathen covered "Set Me Free."
- In 1987, the multi-platinum Punk-pop band The Offspring covered "Ballroom Blitz" - live in San Berubin, Canada - a full seven years before they gained fame.
- Acoustic-punk band Calibretto 13 (later Calibretto) released a cover of "Ballroom Blitz" on their debut album Enter The Danger Brigade. The cover even went so far as to parody the original's classic opening with, '"Are you ready Aaron?" "Huh?" "Joe?" "Uhhh...gimme a minute." "Alright fellas -- let's gooooooo!"'
- In 1988, "Block Buster" was sampled by The Timelords (later The KLF) as part of their number one single, "Doctorin' The Tardis". The track also featured samples of Gary Glitter's "Rock And Roll (Part 1)" and the "Doctor Who" theme, and reached number one in the UK Singles Chart on June 12.
- In 1989 LA band Storyteller recorded "Little Willie" which got airplay on pirate radio and was part of their live show.
- In 1992 Love and Rockets author Jaime Hernandez included excerpts of "Wig Wam Bam" in his three-year comics storyline named after the song, in which heroine Maggie Chascarrillo recounts how the single turned her towards punk music and set the rest of her life in motion.
- In 1993 Def Leppard released a successful cover version of "Action", charting as high as the original, and more recently recorded "Hellraiser" for their 2006 covers album, Yeah!.
- In 2005 Canadian rock band, Robin Black, covered the song "Hellraiser" on their second album Instant Classic.
- In 2005, a tribute album entitled The Sweet According To Sweden was produced and released by Rivel Records founder Christian Rivel. It features covers by Rivel's band, Audiovision, as well as other Swedish hard rock/heavy metal artists, including the songs "The Six Teens", "Action" and "Sweet F.A". The album also features an introduction by Steve Priest in its liner notes.
- In 2005, actor/musician Gavin Friday covered "Wig Wam Bam" with fictional glam band "Billy Hatchet and the Mohawks" in Neil Jordan's film Breakfast on Pluto and on the film soundtrack.
- In 2006, Joan Jett covered "A.C.D.C." on her album Sinner. Andy Scott said that "this is a great cover - they even play my solo".
- UK punk band The Cockney Rejects covered "Block Buster" in 1980, on their Greatest Hits Volume 2 album, and also performed it live.
- In 1979 The Damned covered "Ballroom Blitz" on the "I Just Can't Be Happy Today" single (with Motörhead's Lemmy playing bass guitar).
- As of 2006 a casino in St. Louis, Missouri is using the Sweet song "Action" in their television and radio advertisements.
- Deadsy play "Fox on the Run" on Whatever It Takes OST.
- Poison covers "Little Willy" on Poison'd!.
- A cover version of "Ballroom Blitz" appears in the videogame Rock Band; the song already appeared in Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s, but represented by the cover version made by Krokus.
- The Macc Lads used the tune of "Block Buster", and re-named it using different lyrics, for their song, "Fat Bastard".
- 1970's band New World covers the early sweet song "Tom Tom Turnaround"
- Kevin DuBrow, the late Quiet Riot vocalist sang a rendition of "Burn On The Flame" on his solo album "In For The Kill"
- Lita Ford [ex-Runaways guitarist] has covered "Hell Raiser"
- Black 'N' Blue [the Metal band] covered "Action"
[edit] Famous cover versions
- Material Issue: "Blockbuster" & "Little Willy" (Supersonic Hit Explosions promo album for their 1991 International Pop Overthrow release), "Ballroom Blitz (live)"
- The Damned: "Ballroom Blitz"
- Def Leppard: "Action" (not to be mistaken for their own song "Action! Not Words") and "Hellraiser"
- Raven: "Action" and "Hellraiser"
- Saxon: "Set Me Free"
- Krokus: "Ballroom Blitz"
- Pat Benatar: "No You Don't"
- Vince Neil (Mötley Crüe): "Set Me Free"
- Lita Ford: "Hellraiser"
- Joan Jett: "A.C.D.C."
- Steve Stevens: "Action"
- Motörhead: "Ballroom Blitz"
- Nuclear Assault: "Ballroom Blitz"
- Tia Carrere: "Ballroom Blitz"
- Wig Wam: "Ballroom Blitz"
- Eric Singer (KISS): "Fox On The Run"
- Girlschool: "Fox On The Run"
- Red Hot Chili Peppers: "Fox On The Run"
- You Am I: "Fox On The Run"
- Lower Class Brats: "Live for Today"
- Freebass (Roger Taylor of Duran Duran): "Love Is Like Oxygen"
- John Taylor (Duran Duran): "Ballroom Blitz"
- M-Kids: "Poppa Joe"
- Yummie: "Poppa Joe"
- Fireking: "Rebel Rouser"
- Lena Philipsson: "Set Me Free"
- Baltimoore: "Solid Gold Brass"
- Vice Squad: "Teenage Rampage"
- Black Lace: "Wig Wam Bam"
- The Donnas: "Wig-Wam Bam"
- The Rezillos : "Ballroom Blitz"
- Les Wampas: "Ballroom Blitz"
- Moderatto: "Reventon (Ballroom Blitz)"
- The Meatmen: "Rebel Rouser"
- Frankenstein Drag Queens From Planet 13: "Fox on the Run"
- The Macc Lads: "Fat Bastard aka Blockbuster"
- Brides Of Destruction: "Seven Deadly Sins"
- Poison: "Little Willy"
