The Sweet is so underrated. They were doing the harmonizing vocal thing before Queen. They could all sing well, and were great musicians. Mick Tucker, phenomenal drummer.
They weren't under rated. All their good songs made the charts, and those songs were all over the airwaves, but then you'd go buy the album and alot of the songs weren't nearly as good as the song that got you to buy the album in the first place. That's the thing with them and a lot of bands in the 70's, the albums were never consistently good; there wasn't any follow up, but their good songs, yea, they Were great.
Mick Tucker is one of the most underrated drummers of all time. Some great drummers since go out of their way to give him props. Most people have never heard of him. He was unique and a fantastic drumner!
I will always love "Love is like Oxygen." I was 15 that year and music was the only thing keeping me grounded. Alcoholic father, ghost of a mother, angry siblings, living out in the country with no idea what the future would or could bring. Drawing my little comic strips for myself, looking over at the woods. I was a sad kid, a 'dime a dozen,' as my father called me. But songs like that just energized me and kept me going. Thank you for the history.
Mary, I was the same kid in the 90’s. It was Megadeth, Pantera, Slayer, and the like that made me feel real and alive. My asshole father used that same dime a dozen bullshit too, his second favorite was telling me doors were closing and I was gonna end up flipping burgers for a living if I had a bad grade in grammar school. As a personal rule in life, I’d rather die than flip a burger for employment, never have never will.
The attack on Brian… or rather the aftermath of the attack, is one of the saddest and most overlooked stories in the history of rock and roll. It just destroyed him, and in the long term it destroyed Sweet. I’ve seen and listened to some interviews with the other members of Sweet talking about how there was a big “before and after” thing, where Brian was concerned. They all basically said that before it happened, Brian was a pretty carefree, happy go-lucky kind of guy who liked to drink, but never let the booze get the better of him until after the assault. According to Steve Priest, Brian was like a completely different person afterward. He almost instantly became paranoid, agoraphobic, and his drinking just started spiraling out of control. By the time of the Level Headed album (1978), he was so messed up that he wasn’t capable of touring, so that’s when they had no choice but to part ways with him. They obviously were never anywhere near as good as a 3-piece. That pretty well ended Sweet, even if they did try to make a go of it for a few more years. Brian just never did process through what happened. Just tried to drown it out of his mind with booze. It was a long, dark descent and it ultimately led to him dying with a wet brain. Just f’n tragic.
@@alexcerdan4500 I’m honestly not sure what the outcome of that was, or whether or not Brian’s attackers were ever identified or arrested. I’m not even really sure why he was attacked, other than it started as a car chase. The only witness who was close to Brian was one of Sweet’s roadies, and he’s changed his stories several times, for whatever reasons. No one’s really sure how it started. There were rumors of a jealous husband (or maybe boyfriend), but that’s never been confirmed. They never really found out if the attack was random or personal. The one thing all the witnesses agreed on was that it was extremely vicious and brutal in nature, and the kick to the throat was intentional. There were three attackers, and one of them was heard to say “Yeah, that should do it” right after the throat-kick. Finding legitimate information regarding this incident on the internet has always proven a bit challenging. Brian didn’t like to discuss it in interviews and he didn’t really talk much about it with his bandmates or even his family and close friends. He took the story to the grave with him. Like I mentioned, the roadie is the only one who saw everything, and he can’t seem to come clean with any of it.
Another tragic bit of fallout that occurred in the immediate aftermath of the attack was the fact that they had to cancel what would have been their most important concert ever. I copy and pasted this bit from a 2010 article in The Guardian: “It also meant cancelling the most important concert of Sweet's career. Pete Townshend had invited them to support the Who at Charlton Athletic's football ground in May 1974, where Scott believes they would have proved to critics and fans alike that they were serious rock contenders, not a superficial glam machine.” Now, whether or not “superficial glam machine” was the way everyone viewed Sweet in 1974, at the pinnacle of their success and popularity, to me is quite debatable. It wouldn’t be the first time Andy has talked out of his neck… but either way that concert probably would have boosted Sweet to the next level. For all intents and purposes, the attack really was the point of origin for Sweet’s demise.
@@spinynormanbest6410 3 -‘Identity Crisis’ was their last album in ‘81 , but was never released in the states. The title track saves the forgettable album. I listen to it when it comes around in rotation. I even listen to ‘Funny How Sweet Coco Can Be’. I like the teeny bop songs( even though it was just their voices) besides the B- Sides as you know. ‘Waters Edge’ is known as SWEET 6 in the states. I hung with them in the ‘70’s. One of my all time favorite groups! Steve was going to sing on one of my band’s new tunes at the time songs but we broke up.( The BEAST N.J. Born To Metalize and the Power Metal e.p. plus others)
Ballroomblitz , I’m from Glasgow and I was ten years old in 1973, and there was an almost electromagnetic pulse in the air about the sweet, I was pre teen, but it totally became all consuming yolk around me ( I wasn’t into bay city rollers and nothing had ,had any impact on my blossoming rock and roll heart, The Sweet changes my world with that song , and all of a sudden life became exciting. I’ve subbed this channel and thank you for your brilliant work professor, when you told that story about your dads shop you playing the Eight track tape, it just shows that you sir are the genuine article as a rock journalist and a custodian of the rich history of all great band your research and presentation was sublime and on point, I’m glad your around fella, guys like yourself tell it as it should be told with genuine passion and authentic information. Thanks man , I vote you to be prime minister and president of Rock and what it truly means.. where’s the voting booths ? …
As a wee bairn myself (born in 1966), I never thought of Sweet and Bay City Rollers as having anything in common. Yeah, Ballroom Blitz changed everything, then for me Fox on the Run changed it again. I always loved rock music, even as a 2 yo boy, but those two songs (plus Hocus Pocus by Focus) absolutely hooked me on the hardest, highest energy rock. (That meant I had to start buying my own records. My parents were into Hendrix, Steppenwolf, James Gang - great music, but it didn't fill me with the frenetic energy the Sweet brought.)
I'm 59 years old, and I still recall the precise moment I heard Ballroom Blitz on the radio for the first time. I absolutely loved this band from '73 until '78. My favorite songs? Blockbuster and Action. Lovely memories. Mick Tucker - what a drummer.
I’m just a few years younger but my brother and I were huge fans! We used to dance to their songs and sing! They were a big, wonderful part of my childhood.
Hi Todd, i loved The Sweet in my teen years, went to see them about 12 times in total. Still rocking in my mid 60's! I had a picture of them from Jackie magazine on my bedroom wall. Very happy memories of a fab band. From 1972 onwards we were spoilt for choice with great bands in England. xx
i am 66 and remember seeing brian performing on his own at butlins holiday camp, he was accused of being drunk but he looked like he had a stroke, he had a limp and it wasnt a brilliant performance but respect to him xx
@@LittleCarol We'd get on well ! I also loved T Rex and David Bowie and later on, Queen, ELO, & Wings (of course), but The Sweet were something else xx
One of my very earliest musical memories was listening to Sweet's "Fox on the Run" on my AM transitor radio. What a fantastic AND very versatile band, playing bubble-gum pop, radio pop, rock, metal, jazz, etc. Sweet should have been much bigger in America.
Given the amount of talent in other countries that never gets a chance in the US, Sweet did all right. 🙂 The four hits that I remember from the AM radio play they got (Little Willy, Ballroom Blitz, Fox on the Run, and Oxygen) were huge and in constant rotation, and I loved the first 3. Forgive me, but I was a kid, and Oxygen was just a bit too weird for me. I needed Queen to expand my mind a bit before I was ready for the weird stuff. Funny I didn't feel that way about Ballroom Blitz... And yeah! I still can't hear Fox on the Run without remembering my old transistor radio, cranking it full volume and holding it to my ear! Something about that song and the way it sounded over AM, through that cheesy little speaker, knowing the awesome musical power the band put into it - that was such a rush!
Soooo stoked you covered Sweet! "The 6 teens" is one of the best rock songs of the 70's...and they were on par with and possible influencers of Queen in my ol' book!
I will connect the two bands. There is a singer named Joe Retta who was in sweet. He later joined a band named heaven and earth. They released a singer of a Bad Finger song. However Joe is not the singer on this I believe. Look up Heaven and Earth No matter what cover.
@@phillipmarlowe0525 The version of Sweet you speak of is totally unrelated to this version in the video. Andy Scott's version of The Sweet (which also had Mick Tucker in the band imitially) have been around since 1985. In January 2008, Priest formed his version of the Sweet, but as he wanted to use the same name, it was decided that he could do so only if he stuck to touring within the USA, since Andy's version of the band were already constantly touring the rest of the world.
@@magnu75 It was the Steve Priest version . Granted not the Original or classic line up but still had at least one member from the glory days. Joe Retta and Stuart Smith went on to become Heaven and Earth.
So glad you gave Sweet some press! They had 3-4 excellent hard rock albums from 1972-77. They were all fabulous musicians! FYI...their drummer is Mick Tucker, not Taylor. Being a drummer myself, I'd say he's a top 10 drummer of the 70's. Hardly ever gets mentioned by other drummers...what a shame.
@Geoff Edmonds So do I . Yes they created what is called Bubblegum Metal. I said on other threads that Motley Crue and Def Leppard owe them acknowledgement. Later a fan informed me that the personnel of Motley Crue said that Sweet was a huge influence on them . Gene Simmons of Kiss said “ You have no Sweet , you have no Kiss .”
It was my "rediscovery" of Sweet's music, and connecting with various band members on Facebook ,that got me out of a very dark and scarey mindset after the loss of my Mom to cancer in Oct. of 2011. I will always owe Sweet for that .
Glam Rock underpinned my last year at school and my first year at Technical College. TRex and Sweet took the UK by storm in the early 70’s in a way that’s quite difficult to describe today. Just thinking of those days makes me feel privileged and grateful to have experienced it all first hand. Excellent presentation and contact Professor of Rock 👌
I discovered Sweet in my early teens in about 1998. It was very "uncool" at the time, but it was when I was going through my 70s phase. I discovered this stunning, beautiful, energetic music. If Brian had avoided that beating, kept on top of his finances, and kept away from the bottle... who knows where they would've ended up. It's such a tragic tale, and I still find myself routing for them.
What blows my mind is that I was ten when “The Ballroom Blitz” hit the airwaves and it still sounds as fresh, amazing and electrifying today as it did then. Thanks for the in-depth look at a great band and their great music! ❤️
Brian Connonly was a TRUE front man. He had it all. Hair, looks, talent. Mick and Andy had talent. Steve Priest had talent and balls. He showed them in every video. Mick and Andy must have come across as scary as they did not receive much camera time in their videos. One of the greatest bands of the 70;s , an absolute favorite of mine.
I first heard Ballroom Blitz as a 10 year old in the summer of 1974. I loved the energy of the drums, guitar and vocals. Sad to hear Andy is the only surviving band member. I fondly recall Little Willie, Fox on the Run and Love is Like Oxygen. Thank you Sweet for for the great music.
So your saying its a crime people don't like sweet as much as you do . Your comment is stupid, people either like a band or they don't. They were a very average glam rock band and sounded like every glam rock band at the time.
@@trtr-bc3zl Another internet dropkick, He's saying ,and is 100% correct, they were criminally underrated, have you even ever heard that term used before ? , stop being a pedantic clown. Sweet sounded like NOTHING else in their time, They had the best harmonies in rock. You obviously weren't there...
@@MickH60 how is he 100 percent correct ? If a band has success and they reach their peak that's it ! It's nothing to do with ratings it's to do with limited appeal. They were very average like most glam rock bands of that time . Shite in my opinion 😴 now mr man you keep your nasty name calling to your tiny little self .for you to Abuse someone on TH-cam just because they don't agree with you makes you a sad little person. Don't reply.....
Let's be real, every track on Desolation Boulevard(America's version)is just pure "sweetness"! I love this album/8-track. I owned and wore out this tape in 1975.
Lee I have owned this album at least 5 times and is still my favorite album. The first album I ever owned. Great stuff. And yes I wore out at least two copies of it. 😁
I play Desolation Blvd about once a week. Fantastic album. I counted once...way back...and came up with six recorded and popularly known covers of songs from this album.
I think they were highly rated as a band in their time, I have a collection series called History of Pop and they were featured in that. They just were not able to keep churning out the hits, was it injury, not able to refashion themselves when punk came along, or was it something else?
@@FrozenHero2010 I don't know if that is true, but even orchestras don't create their own music so calling them talentless is a bit of sour grapes there maaate
@@FrozenHero2010I always thought the same. If only they had written their own stuff they would have been up there with Slade, T Rex, Roxy Music, etc. I’ll always remember Blockbuster because of the ending, when I was a kid at Youth Club, everyone would sing, Bastxxxd Bastxxxd Black Bastxxxd, it fit perfect, good old days.
I remember being a teen, mid 70’s and hearing Fox on the Run, wooooooow,! An ultimate song, never forgotten, still get excited listening to it over 45 years later. First heard it on my best friend’s big sisters’s portable record player in a little outback mining town in Australia. Now streaming it on my $20G stereo. Max volume, still as exciting to listen. Always loved The Sweet since. Great to learn about their history. Thanks so much.
Sweet. One of the true glam rock bands that had so much real talent. Desolation was indeed one of my first album purchases. I have memories of my lawn cutting business as I was a teen screaming lyrics to Sweet as no one could hear me over the riding mower. As an aging man in my 50's, I struggled to get any of my bands to cover Ballroom. And absolute favorite of mine. As like the record companies, most of my bandmates never "got it." I still have yet to play it live! But I never stop trying!
I could never get any of the bands I've been in to cover Ballroom Blitz either, and I've never understood it - it's such a 'jumpy about' high energy fun track!
Man, being eight years old in the mid-1970s, I heard “Fox On The Run” probably a thousand times on the radio, never knew what they were singing about, but the enthusiasm and the joy were so VIVID, so pleasing.
I remember being at a football match and Blockbuster was playing, near the end the whole crowd was singing, Bastard, Bastard, black Bastard. At the ref. I still sing it when I hear the song, it fits perfect.
@@hardlines2635 Oh God, you hit on something there. (First off, I hope you not a racist , because my soul is black.)I have done that with so many songs. Silly little things in life we don’t talk about.
@@TheJetfighter666 : not sure if you meant that LITERALLY, sir - I'm also a HUGE 70's soul & funk fan (including the more obscure acts, like Automatic Man - off-topic perhaps but, I actually grew up with Tony MacAlpine, was in elementary school with him for a time.....)
When my kids were growing up I'd do the intro to this song to rally them into the car, calling their names and then, "Well let's GOOOOOO!!!" Eventually they asked me what I was doing and I played Ballroom Blitz to show them. They're all adults now. Just last week we were all together and getting ready to hop in the car and I guess I was moving a little slow. I hear my son call out "Well let's GOOOOOO!!!"
It's sad all the bad things that happened to these guys - they had talent. They were showmen in every sense of the word. Had Connoly not been kicked in the throat, those guys would've taken off when The Who brought them along, there is no doubt in my mind that would've been the case. Once again @Professor of Rock - thank you for the trip down memory lane. I enjoyed this one, immensely..
What a talented Band Sweet was. Lots of tragic details though. So many great songs, and some real rockers too. Harmonies were so cool. It’s no wonder why Def Leppard were such fans of theirs. Mick Tucker was an AMAZING drummer.
Casey Kasem told the story of the beating when "Love is Like Oxygen" was on the charts. I did not know at the time it was Sweet's last hit and alcohol was slowly killing Connally. Very sad story. I do think Ballroom Blitz qualifies as proto-punk. High-speed, raucous, and dangerous! I always get a kick out of it.
Ballroom Blitz doesn't get its due. It was exactly the type of infectious attack that the Ramones were aiming for when they started out.They were also into the Bay City Rollers! In trying to match these bands' pop-rock hooks with their limited skills came Blitzkrieg Bop and Beat on the Brat. In fact, I still think Action could have been written by Dee Dee Ramone, it sounds so Ramone-ish to me. Come to think of it, I wish Sweet had the brilliance to cover the Ramones early on. It would be interesting to see what their musicianship and production chops could have brought to a song or two. And Lord knows the Ramones needed the money and exposure. Punk history would be very different without the Ramones and the Ramones would be different without Sweet.
@@carlodave9 Absolutely the Ramones! The funny thing about glam, like Sweet, is you can hear and see its influence in sheeny synth pop bands! Ultravox and Duran Duran are two of my faves from that genere!
@@carlodave9 The Sweet continued to record and perform after Brian was out of the band. They recorded 3 albums as a 3 piece, then Steve Priest decided to leave and moved to America. Andy Scott continued working together in outher potential band projects (that can be heard on various Sweet titled CDs released of their 'Wilderness Years'). They then decided to put together a new version of the band, but after a short while Mick had to leave and passed away shortly after. They are still going, even though there has been many lineup changes and only have Andy left from the familiar lineup. I was actually writing akk of this because on their last studio album (If you don't count one they did since called Isolation Boulevard, a rerecording of hits). New York Connection, they do covers of songs by other artists, including the aforementioned Blitzkrieg Bop by The Ramones. Here's a live video:- th-cam.com/video/jv-HNZo1uKQ/w-d-xo.html&ab_channel=LadySElisabeth
I would say Everybody Wants a Piece of the Action is even more proto punk. In fact if you didn't know the Sweet, and said it was an early Punk band , it would pass muster.
My favorites from Sweet are "Fountain" "Fox On The Run" "Love Is Like Oxygen" "Little Willy" "Action" and so many more. They've always been one of my favorite bands.
When you mentioned the giant stereo lighting up and the little needle going ‘woowoowoo’ that seriously brought me back. I love the personal connections you share to the music.
Thank you for doing Sweet. Very underrated band. The talent of each member was tremendous. And the vocal harmonies of all four was wonderful and mostly unmatched in rock. I bought Desolation Blvd the day it came out and was hooked. Mick was a superb drummer and vocalist, as well as showman. And most people familiar with Little Willy and Ballroom Blitz do not realize how heavy most Sweet songs were. Sweet FA, Action, and others. I think my favorite English bands from that time frame were/are Sweet and UFO. Another underrated band.
I've been a huge 'Sweet' fan since I first heard 'Ballroom Blitz' on the radio in 1974, when I was 13 years old. While I love the song 'Ballroom Blitz', my favorite song by Sweet is 'Fox On The Run'.
Same for me. Heard it on the radio as an 11 year old in ‘77. Felt like “what is this?” Been a fan ever since. Recently turned my 16 yr old guitar playing son on to Sweet. His response? “ what is this?”
Mick Tucker was without a doubt the most underrated drummer the UK ever produced, listen to " The Man with the golden arm ". Taken too soon and sadly missed by many.
I took the time to investigate the Sweet albums about five years ago. Imagine my surprise when I heard they were a proper hard rock band more like Deep Purple and not bubblegum pop like the hits. I would definitely recommend desolation boulevard and sweet fa albums. Mick Tucker's drumming was phenomenal, like an octopus. There is some great footage of them playing in Germany about 1974 on TH-cam. Love is like oxygen is in my all time top 10 songs and a lot of people think it is ELO
I was stoked when I was able replace my Desolation Blvd with a CD. That’s still one of my all time favorite albums. Micks drumming was superb. An underrated rock band
Mick Tucker and the Ballroom Blitz are the reason I wanted to learn to play the drums. Thanks to You Tube, I found out that he was even better than I thought.
I grew up with their music and they have always been one of my favorite bands.Very sad how their career took such a tragic nosedive. Ballroom Blitz definitely has it's place in both memories and appreciation of the powerful energy. Love Is Like Oxygen is another one. But it's difficult to to say which song is the biggest favorite since they had several SWEET songs that are still just as enjoyable today as back when. Thanks for this wonderful segment once again Mr. Professor!!🎵
Ballroom Blitz is simply one of those energetic, infectious, feel good songs that just grabs you from the first listen. Even though it wasn't part of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, it sure sounds like it should be.
I do wonder how much the vicious assault on Brian contributed to his battles with the demon drink. For a singer to lose vocal range would be like a painter losing their hands. It is so sad the way his life came to its inevitable end. He deserved better. As for the song Ballroom Blitz - it is a true classic - and I loved Tia's cover of it in Wayne's World.
I believe the assault was the beginning of the end for Brian. I also believe it was a targeted attack, to put him out of action, by stamping on his throat.
Thank you sir!! As a GenXer as a kid, I loved new wave, punk, gothic rock, and “alternative” including Thr Smiths and U2, and my all time faves, The Police - the Second British Invasion -it was not until much later as I became much more fascinated by Bowie’s incredible career (and saw him live three times) that I delved into the glam rock movers and shakers. To this day I adore Slade - who seem to have been ripped off by virtually every rock band that followed with their distorted guitars and razor-sharp hooks and octave splitters on the guitars, then the underrated defining of rock god-dom with T. Rex andp Marc Bolan, his flowy shimmery shirts, gorgeous hair and his beautiful lovely tough and quivering voice, and I love Sweet for creating one of the very best tunes of the 70s with a monster keyboard sound, “Fox on the Run.” As with Bolan’s tragic early death in a car crash, we also lost Brian (Sweet vocalist) *way* too soon. It all hurts still.
I actually first heard "Ballroom Blitz" when Krokus did a heavy metal version in the mid-'80s, which led me to discover Sweet, just a fantastic glam band...
Krokus...heavy metal? lol More like a hard rock version. Krokus idolized the ACDC sound after starting out as a prog rock band. And when I say ACDC, I am referring to the band not the song.
I knew these guys personally. I was still at school but was in rock bands from the age of 10. They became good mates & spent many a crazy weekend at after gig parties with these guys & they were all great chaps. Sadly had to witness brians slow & painful downhill slide. Miss them very much. ♥️
When I was in my 20s we used to rehearse in a rehearsal studio called Ram Studios in Hayes, Middlesex. Brian would sometimes be just hanging out there for no apparent reason. By this time his mind was gone. I tried to talk to him but he really didn't know what was going on. It broke my heart to see a guy go from this good looking and very funny man to an incoherent mess. I'm in my 60s now and I still think of those guys. ✌❤
@@coot1925 yes it’s a sad story alright🥲i guess not everybody make’s it i suppose😩ī been listening to the ‘level headed tour rehearsal’s’ a lot cause i love the sound they generate it sounds fantastic but brians voice changed dramatically really raspy and can’t hit any high notes you can hear his frustration that he’s knows his days were numbered as a quality vocalists✊🏻obviously when that tour finished he just drank himself stupid to ease the pain of not doing what he loved 🥰another rock tragedy unfortunately😵💫rock on bro🤘🏻
One of your best videos ever, Professor!! The attention to detail regarding the band members is extraordinarily focused and much appreciated.The long version of “Love is like Oxygen “ remains one of my favorite all-time songs. Brilliantly crafted with stellar guitar and drum play. I was graduating high school in ‘78 when it became a hit, and I recall only the best FM stations in Philly would play the long version. Thanks for this great report on one of the most under appreciated and misunderstood rock bands Sweet. Love your channel!!
@@ProfessorofRock The full song is a must listen, because most radio stations cut down “Oxygen” to fit the norm, and eliminated the mid-song instrumental which is one of my all time favorites!
A really good insight to this incredibly talented band, certainly a massive influence and along with T Rex and Slade wrote the glam rock book. So sad about their demise, Brian's daughter is a close personal friend of mine and its upsetting when she talks about him. Tragic but he and the rest of this band will never be forgotten that's for certain.
Stop it! The Sweet, T Rex, and Slade (along with Deep Purple) were my favorite bands as a teenager and beyond. Still loving and listening to Glam Rock.
I first heard this song when Kroukus put it out. This was in my headbanger days. I later discovered the Sweet version and fell in love with the song all over.
I played hard rock/ heavy metal professionally for about 20 years and always felt Ballroom Blitz was key to bridging glam rock and punk which culminated into metal.
Punk maybe, but Sabbath had like 5 albums out by the time Ballroom Blitz was released. Metal came from Sabbath. Maybe you're thinking of Motley Crue and Poison but that 80s glam garbage was never metal.
I have known about the Brian Connolly attack for a lot of years now and I always had a very very bad negative feeling about that incident. I think about it from time to time. Such a tragic tale -Especially when it was learned that it was, or may have been, done on purpose. I do say: Thank you... Thank you for bringing it out in the light today
In Steve Priest’s book, he alluded that Andy Scott played a role in that attack on Brian; he was that jealous of him. I never forgot that, and I believe it’s true.
@Dan begs Hun, both Toni and I own our subjectivity - so I invite you to also dare to own yours instead of hiding behind objective terms. And the fact that your subjectivity differs from ours doesn't change our subjectivity the slightest.
You have officially won me me over by knowing so much about this band. I was born in the 70's but when my uncle dared to throw out his record collection in the 80's I rescued them and have become a avid vinyl collector since and appreciate anyone who knows so much about these wonderful bands. You are amazing.
So glad to see The Sweet getting some love here! Thanks Professor! Steve and Brian maintained a close friendship right up to Brian's death. I used to love Steve's antics and watching Mick laughing at Steve. As you might have guessed, Steve was my crush. His interjection in Ballroom Blitz and many other songs were classic. "We just haven't got a clue what to do!" There will never be another band like them.
I was a kid when Sweet was big. My family was stationed in Germany in the early 70s. We went to a festival one weekend and Sweet was playing. I was amazed by their sound, and have been a fan every since
Thank you for putting the spotlight on one of the most influential Rock bands of the 70’s! I loved Ballroom Blitz when I first heard it as a pre-teen, And in my late teens I bought all the Sweet albums , my favorite being “Give us a wink” fantastic album! Thanks again for all the great info.
Steve Priest's falsetto and costumes went way beyond the simple "Glam" designated given. There are many things truly iconic about Ballroom Blitz, but his over-the-top contribution is too perfect for mere words.
They actually were huge - during the seventies, no party without a couple of Sweet or Slade songs, you HAD to play them or there was no party. Well, maybe not in the US, if that's what you mean.
@@lta6494 As a teenager in the 70's i was blessed to pick this band as my first and favorite. It had all the ingredients that nourished me musically . Early heavy metal sound punk rock attitude, Great singing flamboyant drumming and so on. Great respect to Andy Scott still playing in his 70's.
We were on a family vacation in Poland in the early 70's. We were in the seaside town of Gdynia and I remember hearing Little Willy playing over the PA system. I might've been 6 at the time. The song struck me and became permanently stuck in my head. Played it for my kids and my grandkids and it had the same effect on them. I went on to love Led Zeppelin, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Blue Oyster Cult and Jeff Beck, etc. We all loved Sweet from the first time we heard it and all still do!!!
Thanks for throwing Sweet some much deserved love! Though I was pretty solidly in the hard rock, Deep Purple, Thin Lizzy, Priest et al, I found Sweet in 79 and listened regularly. There was nothing like them. The b-sides were crazy good. The Healer, White mice, man those arrangements were great.
I NEVER heard this song until about 1983 or 84.. I went to sleep over at my friend's house and she played it for me. I was blown away!! Have loved it ever since.
I did live in Switzerland in the seventies, and the sweet where tremendously loved by us teenagers, had a huge fan base in the German speaking young people community. Nice to hear someone reporting on them.
Yet another great review of a legendary rock group. Thanks so much for these absolutely brilliant histories of some of the very best names in music, this brings back many memories of the time, and some of the classic tracks from these guys. RIP Folks, still well remembered.
Sweet we’re one of my favourite bands when I was a kid. I loved all the Glam Rick stuff back then. Sweet had so many great songs . This one is great although my favourite is The Six Teens
Heartbreaking story!!! I was about 10 or 11 when I first heard ballroom blitz, and my whole body felt like it was going to explode with joy 🤩 So many great songs by this band. God bless them for their music that will live forever.
What happened to Brian Connolly was so sad. It basically killed his confidence and voice exacerbating his alcoholism and robbing the world of a first-class rock band from being as big as they deserved to be.
True that. I was a bit surprised when they couldn't carry on without him. Every member of that band was a high quality singer. There must have been other weirdnesses going on that crippled their ability to take hold to the extent their talent deserved.
I think he had serious PTSD from that attack. That must’ve been terrifying! Brian Connolly was no slouch. He had been in the navy but there was no defending himself against such an attack. I wonder why the creeps that did this were never arrested and penalized.
@@carlodave9 Steve and Mick formed the band with Brian. He wasn’t just the voice or the singer, he was their friend. They were watching their friend spiral out of control. Must’ve been horrible.
@@mimilini1 It was the 70's. Just about everyone got a good hiding now and then ! It was considered "Normal" I'm 5'2" (Born in 61), you should try being a short arse in the 70's
"Action" and "Wig Wam Bam" are still absolute joys to listen to. I'm 29, and my dad played a 'greatest hits' CD that he'd bought for about 5 bucks, when I was about 8 years old. I enjoyed all of the stuff on that album.
You'd probably enjoy the entire "Give Us A Wink" album then. It's their hard rock album, and it really rocks hard from beginning to end. It's the album that "Action" came from, and every song is done in that hard and fast and catchy style.
I remember being a junior in High School in south Australia when I got my first Sweet album and playing the Blitz over and over and I wanted to play all the instruments and do the vocals all at once on stage. I then decided on being a drummer ... and have been ever since. I still play that iconic song in my head from time to time. May it live forever. cheers
It was such a great band. I feel so sorry that only one member of Sweet still alive. Time is flying and all those memories of music when we were young gradually disappear into eternity.
Oh yeah - I LOVED Sweet from the first time I heard “Little Willy” when it came out! I think early Queen reminds me a little of them. My husband always mistook “Love is like oxygen” for an ELO song, and I can hear a similar sound, too. Thanks for this, Professor!
I loved Sweet growing up. Had Little Willy, Fox on the Run, and Love is Like Oxygen 45s (Oddly enough, never owned Ballroom Blitz). Rediscovered them again many years later and realized just how amazing they were. Steve Priest's vocals were through the roof. Few people can hit those notes, but Steve didn't just hit them, he stayed up there for the whole song! They were every bit as good live as they were on record. There was a bubblegum element to their sound that possibly made them hard to take seriously by their contemporaries, but they could rock!
I love Fox on the Run. My real test for how great a song is… is when another band covers it and it’s still as good. Meaning it’s so good that another band can’t even fuck it up.
Sweet is one of my faves and Desolation Boulevard has to be the best album they did. I still spin the vinyl and I have 2 copies of Desolation Boulevard. Thanks for the background on Sweet! I learned a lot in 18 minutes!!
Ballroom Blitz reminds me of my dad driving me to hockey practice at 6 AM, four times a week. It seemed like it came on the radio each trip that year. Fond childhood memories! Miss you, dad.
I loved these guys! Their voices harmonized so well together! Very underrated Band! Little Willy was the first song I heard from them - Then came Ballroom Blitz!
Ballroom Blitz was everywhere in '73 and while trendy at the time, has aged remarkably well. Connolly was a truly unique and theatrical vocalist who heralded the early days of glam rock. While he led a life of extremes, it's quite sad how things ended up for him.
I strongly recall SWEET hits: Little Willy Ballroom Blitz Love Is Like Oxygen very fondly. I'm only 50...but even for the newest generation, this band's songs actually stand the test of time🎶
I had totally forgotten about them until about 5 years ago when Steve Priests version of Sweet played in Deadwood, SD and I had to go online to remember what songs they were known for so when I got there I knew every song they played. They were awesome. Unfortunately Steve was already in poor health and had to play the whole show seated but the band was incredible. Really sad that most have passed on. But the music lives forever.
Horrible misogynistic lyrics though. "If she don't spread I'm gonna bust her head" -- 'Sweet FA. .But then again, if you enjoy the Bible then you'd be no stranger to misogyny, it's probably why you mentioned that song first.
Like millions of others, I was introduced to "Ballroom Blitz" via Tia's performance in Wayne's World from 1992. That wasn't mind blowing enough; I was pretty blown away to first hear the Sweet original 3 years later, coincidentally with beginning to learn how to play guitar. Eight years later, my bandleader at the time dubbed for me 2 CDs with the Def Leppard albums *Pyromania* and *Hysteria,* with the *Best of Sweet* compilation split between the 2 discs. That hit the spot, especially since we'd been playing "Little Willy" and had toyed with the idea of also adding "Fox on the Run" and (the radio edit of) "Love is like Oxygen".
You said it best. A song that brings out the electricity in a human being. It's a perfectly recorded song. I never get tired of it! Brian was such a wonderful vocalist.
I have heard that song on the radio since I was a young kid...never even knew what the title was or who preformed it. Thanks for that little 15 minute class on the song and the artist. I can honestly say I learn something ever single day whether I want to or not. Thanks Professor- I bow to your greatness!
What a story! My favorite song when I was in the 4th grade was Little Willy. I even named the first car I bought, Little Willy. Sweet had some truly great songs: Ballroom Blitz is great, and I loved Fox on the Run.
I remember drinking with Brian in a pub years ago, whenever he had a beer he would have a half pint in a pint glass due to his hand shaking so much but, despite his health he always said he wouldn't change anything for the world.
The first time I heard Ballroom Blitz was the Krokus cover of the song. When I went back and listen to the original it was everything I had hoped it would be; raw and energetic!! Great song👍🏼
This is when I first heard it too…. My dad heard me playing it and let me hear the original from the Sweet….. just like Nazareth’s “Love Hurts” is a cover from the Everly Brothers…..
Thanks so much for this video I checked out more of The Sweet's music after watching it. I only knew a few of their singles before. This was one of the best bands ever. Now I'm planning on buying a few of their albums. Better late then never to discover The Sweet!
So great that even now, somebody want to know about sweet, hopes it never ends, they was very talented, they played pop but also very good i will call it heavy rock, i think they showed the way for many heavy rockers. Stay safe
@@miketzai9209 so far Fanny Adams is my favorite album and I love the other albums too. This band should have been bigger than what they were especially here in America.
Where's the LIKE 100 TIMES BUTTON?! Love this so much. So terribly sad about Brian, but the music and performances of SWEET are indeed completely electrifying! 👍👍 (yeah I already commented months ago, back for another complete play-through of this excellent summary!)
The Sweet were also one of the earliest, yet least talked about, contenders for speed metal. Lots of classic, heavy tracks on their second album "Sweet Fanny Adams", and throughout their catalog.
You are correct! Several of Sweet's songs are metal masterpieces. The whole Give Us a Wink album is a metal masterpiece. When someone asks me what metal should sound like, I play Sweet F. A. for them, loud!
Omg! I am 69 years old. I had forgotten about this band, until now! Great songs! Thank you for bringing them back to mind. So very sad how it all ended up, but they were super while they were still rocking.
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Poll: What is your pick for the most compelling album cover of the 70s... One that made you want to listen to the record just from seeing the cover?
ELO's "Out of the Blue"... So futuristic at the time!
The ones I really like were Dark side of the Moon and Born to Run
Just a Game, by Triumph
Rainbow Rising
Machine Head. Deep Purple.
The Sweet is so underrated. They were doing the harmonizing vocal thing before Queen. They could all sing well, and were great musicians. Mick Tucker, phenomenal drummer.
Sweet ,Lawrence
Brian Connoly had one hell of a voice
At the same time as Queen
I still listen to Sweet! Steve Priest, my favorite bassist! BTW Professor 8tracks didn't rewind
They weren't under rated. All their good songs made the charts, and those songs were all over the airwaves, but then you'd go buy the album and alot of the songs weren't nearly as good as the song that got you to buy the album in the first place. That's the thing with them and a lot of bands in the 70's, the albums were never consistently good; there wasn't any follow up, but their good songs, yea, they Were great.
SWEET's iconic Drummer was MICK TUCKER! not 'Mick Taylor', he was the STONES guitarist ...
I know. I was going top of head and messed up. Sometimes that happens. I apologize.
@@ProfessorofRock It’s alright since you are still sublime!
@@xxlilly_playsxxkiz9980 Yeah, and the Micks are both Great Brits. It's an easy mistake to make.
Mick Tucker is one of the most underrated drummers of all time. Some great drummers since go out of their way to give him props. Most people have never heard of him. He was unique and a fantastic drumner!
mick tucker is so under the radar ‘rolling stone’ magazine failed to have him in their top 100 drummers of all time😡criminal
I will always love "Love is like Oxygen." I was 15 that year and music was the only thing keeping me grounded. Alcoholic father, ghost of a mother, angry siblings, living out in the country with no idea what the future would or could bring. Drawing my little comic strips for myself, looking over at the woods. I was a sad kid, a 'dime a dozen,' as my father called me. But songs like that just energized me and kept me going. Thank you for the history.
Bless you, every child deserves better.
Mary, I was the same kid in the 90’s. It was Megadeth, Pantera, Slayer, and the like that made me feel real and alive. My asshole father used that same dime a dozen bullshit too, his second favorite was telling me doors were closing and I was gonna end up flipping burgers for a living if I had a bad grade in grammar school. As a personal rule in life, I’d rather die than flip a burger for employment, never have never will.
It's pronounced Kilmarnoook!
Got to love an American pronouncing Scottish town names 😂🤣😂
you're describing my life
Little Willy is my favorite Sweet song
The attack on Brian… or rather the aftermath of the attack, is one of the saddest and most overlooked stories in the history of rock and roll. It just destroyed him, and in the long term it destroyed Sweet. I’ve seen and listened to some interviews with the other members of Sweet talking about how there was a big “before and after” thing, where Brian was concerned. They all basically said that before it happened, Brian was a pretty carefree, happy go-lucky kind of guy who liked to drink, but never let the booze get the better of him until after the assault. According to Steve Priest, Brian was like a completely different person afterward. He almost instantly became paranoid, agoraphobic, and his drinking just started spiraling out of control. By the time of the Level Headed album (1978), he was so messed up that he wasn’t capable of touring, so that’s when they had no choice but to part ways with him. They obviously were never anywhere near as good as a 3-piece. That pretty well ended Sweet, even if they did try to make a go of it for a few more years.
Brian just never did process through what happened. Just tried to drown it out of his mind with booze. It was a long, dark descent and it ultimately led to him dying with a wet brain. Just f’n tragic.
I hope the creeps that beat him got caught.
@@alexcerdan4500 I’m honestly not sure what the outcome of that was, or whether or not Brian’s attackers were ever identified or arrested. I’m not even really sure why he was attacked, other than it started as a car chase. The only witness who was close to Brian was one of Sweet’s roadies, and he’s changed his stories several times, for whatever reasons. No one’s really sure how it started. There were rumors of a jealous husband (or maybe boyfriend), but that’s never been confirmed. They never really found out if the attack was random or personal. The one thing all the witnesses agreed on was that it was extremely vicious and brutal in nature, and the kick to the throat was intentional. There were three attackers, and one of them was heard to say “Yeah, that should do it” right after the throat-kick.
Finding legitimate information regarding this incident on the internet has always proven a bit challenging. Brian didn’t like to discuss it in interviews and he didn’t really talk much about it with his bandmates or even his family and close friends. He took the story to the grave with him. Like I mentioned, the roadie is the only one who saw everything, and he can’t seem to come clean with any of it.
Another tragic bit of fallout that occurred in the immediate aftermath of the attack was the fact that they had to cancel what would have been their most important concert ever. I copy and pasted this bit from a 2010 article in The Guardian:
“It also meant cancelling the most important concert of Sweet's career. Pete Townshend had invited them to support the Who at Charlton Athletic's football ground in May 1974, where Scott believes they would have proved to critics and fans alike that they were serious rock contenders, not a superficial glam machine.”
Now, whether or not “superficial glam machine” was the way everyone viewed Sweet in 1974, at the pinnacle of their success and popularity, to me is quite debatable. It wouldn’t be the first time Andy has talked out of his neck… but either way that concert probably would have boosted Sweet to the next level. For all intents and purposes, the attack really was the point of origin for Sweet’s demise.
Well said. God bless you.
😢
Not enough people talk about this band. Thank you for the tribute. They had so many good, catchy tunes.
And several Deep Purple would have been proud of
Sweets last two lp’s without Brian are pretty good also- check ‘em out!!
@@thomasadrian9854 : "Mother Earth", SHOULD'VE been ANOTHER of their Top 40's in 1979.....
I saw them live in a small club in the 80s and they really rocked - not just catchy but loud and heavy !
@@spinynormanbest6410 3 -‘Identity Crisis’ was their last album in ‘81 , but was never released in the states. The title track saves the forgettable album. I listen to it when it comes around in rotation. I even listen to ‘Funny How Sweet Coco Can Be’. I like the teeny bop songs( even though it was just their voices) besides the B- Sides as you know. ‘Waters Edge’ is known as SWEET 6 in the states. I hung with them in the ‘70’s. One of my all time favorite groups! Steve was going to sing on one of my band’s new tunes at the time songs but we broke up.( The BEAST N.J. Born To Metalize and the Power Metal e.p. plus others)
Ballroomblitz , I’m from Glasgow and I was ten years old in 1973, and there was an almost electromagnetic pulse in the air about the sweet, I was pre teen, but it totally became all consuming yolk around me ( I wasn’t into bay city rollers and nothing had ,had any impact on my blossoming rock and roll heart, The Sweet changes my world with that song , and all of a sudden life became exciting.
I’ve subbed this channel and thank you for your brilliant work professor, when you told that story about your dads shop you playing the Eight track tape, it just shows that you sir are the genuine article as a rock journalist and a custodian of the rich history of all great band your research and presentation was sublime and on point, I’m glad your around fella, guys like yourself tell it as it should be told with genuine passion and authentic information. Thanks man , I vote you to be prime minister and president of Rock and what it truly means.. where’s the voting booths ? …
As a wee bairn myself (born in 1966), I never thought of Sweet and Bay City Rollers as having anything in common. Yeah, Ballroom Blitz changed everything, then for me Fox on the Run changed it again. I always loved rock music, even as a 2 yo boy, but those two songs (plus Hocus Pocus by Focus) absolutely hooked me on the hardest, highest energy rock. (That meant I had to start buying my own records. My parents were into Hendrix, Steppenwolf, James Gang - great music, but it didn't fill me with the frenetic energy the Sweet brought.)
I'm 59 years old, and I still recall the precise moment I heard Ballroom Blitz on the radio for the first time. I absolutely loved this band from '73 until '78. My favorite songs? Blockbuster and Action. Lovely memories. Mick Tucker - what a drummer.
I’m just a few years younger but my brother and I were huge fans! We used to dance to their songs and sing! They were a big, wonderful part of my childhood.
Hi Todd, i loved The Sweet in my teen years, went to see them about 12 times in total. Still rocking in my mid 60's! I had a picture of them from Jackie magazine on my bedroom wall. Very happy memories of a fab band. From 1972 onwards we were spoilt for choice with great bands in England. xx
i am 66 and remember seeing brian performing on his own at butlins holiday camp, he was accused of being drunk but he looked like he had a stroke, he had a limp and it wasnt a brilliant performance but respect to him xx
@@audreyharalambos2592 😢
@@LittleCarol We'd get on well ! I also loved T Rex and David Bowie and later on, Queen, ELO, & Wings (of course), but The Sweet were something else xx
One of my very earliest musical memories was listening to Sweet's "Fox on the Run" on my AM transitor radio. What a fantastic AND very versatile band, playing bubble-gum pop, radio pop, rock, metal, jazz, etc. Sweet should have been much bigger in America.
Given the amount of talent in other countries that never gets a chance in the US, Sweet did all right. 🙂 The four hits that I remember from the AM radio play they got (Little Willy, Ballroom Blitz, Fox on the Run, and Oxygen) were huge and in constant rotation, and I loved the first 3. Forgive me, but I was a kid, and Oxygen was just a bit too weird for me. I needed Queen to expand my mind a bit before I was ready for the weird stuff. Funny I didn't feel that way about Ballroom Blitz...
And yeah! I still can't hear Fox on the Run without remembering my old transistor radio, cranking it full volume and holding it to my ear! Something about that song and the way it sounded over AM, through that cheesy little speaker, knowing the awesome musical power the band put into it - that was such a rush!
Soooo stoked you covered Sweet! "The 6 teens" is one of the best rock songs of the 70's...and they were on par with and possible influencers of Queen in my ol' book!
I will connect the two bands. There is a singer named Joe Retta who was in sweet. He later joined a band named heaven and earth. They released a singer of a Bad Finger song. However Joe is not the singer on this I believe.
Look up Heaven and Earth No matter what cover.
@@phillipmarlowe0525 The version of Sweet you speak of is totally unrelated to this version in the video. Andy Scott's version of The Sweet (which also had Mick Tucker in the band imitially) have been around since 1985. In January 2008, Priest formed his version of the Sweet, but as he wanted to use the same name, it was decided that he could do so only if he stuck to touring within the USA, since Andy's version of the band were already constantly touring the rest of the world.
@@magnu75
It was the Steve Priest version . Granted not the Original or classic line up but still had at least one member from the glory days. Joe Retta and Stuart Smith went on to become Heaven and Earth.
Sweet were seen as Queen rivals by the british music press as all four members sang just like in Queen.
@@giannizhivago3373 It's the other way around. Sweet allready had a sound which queen did some time later.
So glad you gave Sweet some press! They had 3-4 excellent hard rock albums from 1972-77. They were all fabulous musicians! FYI...their drummer is Mick Tucker, not Taylor. Being a drummer myself, I'd say he's a top 10 drummer of the 70's. Hardly ever gets mentioned by other drummers...what a shame.
I bought Hell Raiser by the Sweet, a brilliant record in 1973 then and now. TH-cam, label it as Disco - wrong! It is in the mould of Ballroom Blitz
check out the vid titled the man with the golden arm.
"the professor of rock"
The man with the golden arm.
He was 1 of the best drummers ever
To me these guys where just ahead of their time and their recording sound was just so clean crisp and clear, love em to this day!!
I agree!
Definitely way ahead of their time!
Agreed!
Yes, waaay ahead of their time.
Give us a Wink was a Metal Masterpiece.
@Geoff Edmonds So do I . Yes they created what is called Bubblegum Metal. I said on other threads that Motley Crue and Def Leppard owe them acknowledgement. Later a fan informed me that the personnel of Motley Crue said that Sweet was a huge influence on them . Gene Simmons of Kiss said “ You have no Sweet , you have no Kiss .”
It was my "rediscovery" of Sweet's music, and connecting with various band members on Facebook ,that got me out of a very dark and scarey mindset after the loss of my Mom to cancer in Oct. of 2011. I will always owe Sweet for that .
I’m sorry for your loss
@@sean5662a❤
Glam Rock underpinned my last year at school and my first year at Technical College. TRex and Sweet took the UK by storm in the early 70’s in a way that’s quite difficult to describe today. Just thinking of those days makes me feel privileged and grateful to have experienced it all first hand. Excellent presentation and contact Professor of Rock 👌
I discovered Sweet in my early teens in about 1998. It was very "uncool" at the time, but it was when I was going through my 70s phase. I discovered this stunning, beautiful, energetic music. If Brian had avoided that beating, kept on top of his finances, and kept away from the bottle... who knows where they would've ended up. It's such a tragic tale, and I still find myself routing for them.
What blows my mind is that I was ten when “The Ballroom Blitz” hit the airwaves and it still sounds as fresh, amazing and electrifying today as it did then.
Thanks for the in-depth look at a great band and their great music! ❤️
I’m the same age as you and I agree totally with “The Ballroom Blitz” phenomenon…as soon as it starts I’m transported back to those days it’s amazing.
Sweet (with Foghat) was my 1st concert.
Same here dudes.
I knoooo, same age first album. Desolation Blvd.s sound is timeless!
I was twelve the first time I heard "Little Willy" by The Sweet. Damn, I loved that! Two years later was "Ballroom Blitz" and I was a fan.
Brian Connonly was a TRUE front man. He had it all. Hair, looks, talent. Mick and Andy had talent. Steve Priest had talent and balls. He showed them in every video. Mick and Andy must have come across as scary as they did not receive much camera time in their videos. One of the greatest bands of the 70;s , an absolute favorite of mine.
Great rock band! They deserve to be in rock and roll hall of fame.
Criminally underrated band. Rest In Peace Brian, Mick, and Steve.
I first heard Ballroom Blitz as a 10 year old in the summer of 1974. I loved the energy of the drums, guitar and vocals.
Sad to hear Andy is the only surviving band member. I fondly recall Little Willie, Fox on the Run and Love is Like Oxygen. Thank you Sweet for for the great music.
So your saying its a crime people don't like sweet as much as you do . Your comment is stupid, people either like a band or they don't. They were a very average glam rock band and sounded like every glam rock band at the time.
@@trtr-bc3zl Another internet dropkick, He's saying ,and is 100% correct, they were criminally underrated, have you even ever heard that term used before ? , stop being a pedantic clown. Sweet sounded like NOTHING else in their time, They had the best harmonies in rock. You obviously weren't there...
@@MickH60 how is he 100 percent correct ? If a band has success and they reach their peak that's it ! It's nothing to do with ratings it's to do with limited appeal. They were very average like most glam rock bands of that time . Shite in my opinion 😴 now mr man you keep your nasty name calling to your tiny little self .for you to Abuse someone on TH-cam just because they don't agree with you makes you a sad little person. Don't reply.....
@@toddblanks You got that right! TOTALLY shit!
Let's be real, every track on Desolation Boulevard(America's version)is just pure "sweetness"! I love this album/8-track. I owned and wore out this tape in 1975.
I had that 8- track!
me too!
There wasn't a bad track on that album!
Wowsers! Me too!
I was digging that album on 8-track in friends of our family's pool room, shooting pool - good times.
Lee I have owned this album at least 5 times and is still my favorite album. The first album I ever owned. Great stuff. And yes I wore out at least two copies of it. 😁
“Desolation Boulevard” is one of the most underrated rock albums of all time. Sweet should have been one of the biggest bands of the 70’s
I play Desolation Blvd about once a week. Fantastic album. I counted once...way back...and came up with six recorded and popularly known covers of songs from this album.
@@woodrowsmith3400
So many great songs. Every one is a classic.
Abso-fugggin-tootly
"Love Is Like Oxygen" is one brilliant gift to us all. What a piece it is. Thank you Professor for such an interesting look at Sweet.
First time I heard it, I thought it was that old "Light Bright" commercial, but rocked up a bit... Yep, I'm old!
The best song of the bunch imo. Great tune 👌
Love is Like Oxygen was partly influenced by Supertramp, and sounds like it could be ELO!
@@chrisearl5970 Until this video, I thought it was by ELO.
One hell of a guitar riff...!! Great song! 😊
It breaks my heart all they went through. They were so talented. May they RIP .... Rock in Peace
Andy still alive, he has a blonde/ white look now. He still rocking!
One of the most underestimated bands of all time fantastic musicians, vocalists, great harmonies kickin' songs and showmanship t'boot, ICONIC!
I think they were highly rated as a band in their time, I have a collection series called History of Pop and they were featured in that. They just were not able to keep churning out the hits, was it injury, not able to refashion themselves when punk came along, or was it something else?
@@tommyrotton9468 TBH they didn't have the talent to create their own music.
@@FrozenHero2010 I don't know if that is true, but even orchestras don't create their own music so calling them talentless is a bit of sour grapes there maaate
@@FrozenHero2010I always thought the same. If only they had written their own stuff they would have been up there with Slade, T Rex, Roxy Music, etc. I’ll always remember Blockbuster because of the ending, when I was a kid at Youth Club, everyone would sing, Bastxxxd Bastxxxd Black Bastxxxd, it fit perfect, good old days.
@@FrozenHero2010 Wrong, the B sides of their singles rocked a lot harder than most of their A sides.
I remember being a teen, mid 70’s and hearing Fox on the Run, wooooooow,! An ultimate song, never forgotten, still get excited listening to it over 45 years later. First heard it on my best friend’s big sisters’s portable record player in a little outback mining town in Australia. Now streaming it on my $20G stereo. Max volume, still as exciting to listen. Always loved The Sweet since. Great to learn about their history. Thanks so much.
Sweet. One of the true glam rock bands that had so much real talent. Desolation was indeed one of my first album purchases. I have memories of my lawn cutting business as I was a teen screaming lyrics to Sweet as no one could hear me over the riding mower. As an aging man in my 50's, I struggled to get any of my bands to cover Ballroom. And absolute favorite of mine. As like the record companies, most of my bandmates never "got it." I still have yet to play it live! But I never stop trying!
Well .... the meat sack may be aging but sounds to me like your soul is forever young 👍🏻
many blessings 💓
They also had some heavy metal songs too
I could never get any of the bands I've been in to cover Ballroom Blitz either, and I've never understood it - it's such a 'jumpy about' high energy fun track!
Man, being eight years old in the mid-1970s, I heard “Fox On The Run” probably a thousand times on the radio, never knew what they were singing about, but the enthusiasm and the joy were so VIVID, so pleasing.
I remember being at a football match and Blockbuster was playing, near the end the whole crowd was singing, Bastard, Bastard, black Bastard.
At the ref. I still sing it when I hear the song, it fits perfect.
@@hardlines2635 Oh God, you hit on something there. (First off, I hope you not a racist , because my soul is black.)I have done that with so many songs. Silly little things in life we don’t talk about.
@@TheJetfighter666 : not sure if you meant that LITERALLY, sir - I'm also a HUGE 70's soul & funk fan (including the more obscure acts, like Automatic Man - off-topic perhaps but, I actually grew up with Tony MacAlpine, was in elementary school with him for a time.....)
@@ogam5 Micheal Sreave!!
@@TheJetfighter666 : TAKING that E-Train ;)
When my kids were growing up I'd do the intro to this song to rally them into the car, calling their names and then, "Well let's GOOOOOO!!!" Eventually they asked me what I was doing and I played Ballroom Blitz to show them. They're all adults now. Just last week we were all together and getting ready to hop in the car and I guess I was moving a little slow. I hear my son call out "Well let's GOOOOOO!!!"
🤩 I LOVE THIS Comment!!
Great stuff!
That’s good parenting right there dad. Thank you for keeping the music alive.
Are their names Andy, Steve, Mick? - That is classic! Wish I had thought of that!
Love it Dad!
It's sad all the bad things that happened to these guys - they had talent. They were showmen in every sense of the word. Had Connoly not been kicked in the throat, those guys would've taken off when The Who brought them along, there is no doubt in my mind that would've been the case.
Once again @Professor of Rock - thank you for the trip down memory lane. I enjoyed this one, immensely..
What a talented Band Sweet was. Lots of tragic details though. So many great songs, and some real rockers too. Harmonies were so cool. It’s no wonder why Def Leppard were such fans of theirs. Mick Tucker was an AMAZING drummer.
Casey Kasem told the story of the beating when "Love is Like Oxygen" was on the charts. I did not know at the time it was Sweet's last hit and alcohol was slowly killing Connally. Very sad story. I do think Ballroom Blitz qualifies as proto-punk. High-speed, raucous, and dangerous! I always get a kick out of it.
Ballroom Blitz doesn't get its due. It was exactly the type of infectious attack that the Ramones were aiming for when they started out.They were also into the Bay City Rollers! In trying to match these bands' pop-rock hooks with their limited skills came Blitzkrieg Bop and Beat on the Brat.
In fact, I still think Action could have been written by Dee Dee Ramone, it sounds so Ramone-ish to me. Come to think of it, I wish Sweet had the brilliance to cover the Ramones early on. It would be interesting to see what their musicianship and production chops could have brought to a song or two. And Lord knows the Ramones needed the money and exposure.
Punk history would be very different without the Ramones and the Ramones would be different without Sweet.
@@carlodave9 Absolutely the Ramones! The funny thing about glam, like Sweet, is you can hear and see its influence in sheeny synth pop bands! Ultravox and Duran Duran are two of my faves from that genere!
@@carlodave9 The Sweet continued to record and perform after Brian was out of the band. They recorded 3 albums as a 3 piece, then Steve Priest decided to leave and moved to America. Andy Scott continued working together in outher potential band projects (that can be heard on various Sweet titled CDs released of their 'Wilderness Years'). They then decided to put together a new version of the band, but after a short while Mick had to leave and passed away shortly after. They are still going, even though there has been many lineup changes and only have Andy left from the familiar lineup. I was actually writing akk of this because on their last studio album (If you don't count one they did since called Isolation Boulevard, a rerecording of hits). New York Connection, they do covers of songs by other artists, including the aforementioned Blitzkrieg Bop by The Ramones. Here's a live video:- th-cam.com/video/jv-HNZo1uKQ/w-d-xo.html&ab_channel=LadySElisabeth
I would say Everybody Wants a Piece of the Action is even more proto punk. In fact if you didn't know the Sweet, and said it was an early Punk band , it would pass muster.
@@magnu75 As far as I know, Andy's Sweet had a big euro hit a couple of years ago with a song called 'Defender' which is actually very good .
My favorites from Sweet are "Fountain" "Fox On The Run" "Love Is Like Oxygen" "Little Willy" "Action" and so many more. They've always been one of my favorite bands.
I love Fox on the Run
@@mistiroberts1576 : NO song LIKE it, before OR since - and one I do LOVE singing; FILLS the freaking SKIES.....
They did fox on the run????
@@pika23 yep
@@pika23 Yes, it's one of their best known songs. A top 5 hit during the summer and fall of 1975.
When you mentioned the giant stereo lighting up and the little needle going ‘woowoowoo’ that seriously brought me back. I love the personal connections you share to the music.
Oh man The Sweet is one of my favorite bands - totally overlooked and forgotten, but a GREAT band!!!
Glad you profiled them!
Thank you for doing Sweet. Very underrated band. The talent of each member was tremendous. And the vocal harmonies of all four was wonderful and mostly unmatched in rock. I bought Desolation Blvd the day it came out and was hooked. Mick was a superb drummer and vocalist, as well as showman. And most people familiar with Little Willy and Ballroom Blitz do not realize how heavy most Sweet songs were. Sweet FA, Action, and others. I think my favorite English bands from that time frame were/are Sweet and UFO. Another underrated band.
Fox on the Run was my favorite song at the skating rink. 🥴 I’m loving the behind the scenes stories about the bands from back in the day.
Skating Rink Classic for sure. They should release a compilation covering that!
Such a great song!
Mine too!! Still checking in with that song regularly but not the skating.....so many great memories!
This was a great tribute to the band, Professor! Love it. Thanks for doing it.
I've been a huge 'Sweet' fan since I first heard 'Ballroom Blitz' on the radio in 1974, when I was 13 years old. While I love the song 'Ballroom Blitz', my favorite song by Sweet is 'Fox On The Run'.
That’s my favorite too. And the first single actually written by the band.
The synthesizer wind up at the beginning
Same for me. Heard it on the radio as an 11 year old in ‘77. Felt like “what is this?” Been a fan ever since. Recently turned my 16 yr old guitar playing son on to Sweet. His response? “ what is this?”
For ‘Foxsake’ is a classic moment in pop music…
1973 christmas eve at the rainbow was grand!!
Mick Tucker was without a doubt the most underrated drummer the UK ever produced, listen to " The Man with the golden arm ". Taken too soon and sadly missed by many.
Yep,up there with the best of them,what a sound he had👍
Man With The Golden Arm blew me away -please give it a listen,all you SWEET EES -you will be glad you did!!
I took the time to investigate the Sweet albums about five years ago. Imagine my surprise when I heard they were a proper hard rock band more like Deep Purple and not bubblegum pop like the hits. I would definitely recommend desolation boulevard and sweet fa albums. Mick Tucker's drumming was phenomenal, like an octopus. There is some great footage of them playing in Germany about 1974 on TH-cam. Love is like oxygen is in my all time top 10 songs and a lot of people think it is ELO
I was stoked when I was able replace my Desolation Blvd with a CD. That’s still one of my all time favorite albums. Micks drumming was superb. An underrated rock band
"Love is like Oxygen" hit me like a ton of bricks when I first listened to it. Just an awesome rock song!
yes that footage you about is musikladan ‘74 totally ‘live’ i love that stuff ☝🏻highly recommended
This!
Mick Tucker and the Ballroom Blitz are the reason I wanted to learn to play the drums.
Thanks to You Tube, I found out that he was even better than I thought.
There was nothing like being on the dance floor when this song came on in the 80s. Pure energetic ecstasy.
I grew up with their music and they have always been one of my favorite bands.Very sad how their career took such a tragic nosedive. Ballroom Blitz definitely has it's place in both memories and appreciation of the powerful energy. Love Is Like Oxygen is another one. But it's difficult to to say which song is the biggest favorite since they had several SWEET songs that are still just as enjoyable today as back when. Thanks for this wonderful segment once again Mr. Professor!!🎵
Ballroom Blitz is simply one of those energetic, infectious, feel good songs that just grabs you from the first listen.
Even though it wasn't part of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, it sure sounds like it should be.
I've always thought the same thing! Wow very cool!
I remember a couple of instances in which it was used when total pandemonium broke out in some movie...wish I could recall the titles.
It’s so infernally catchy and energetic! The right kind of song for an upbeat and sociable gal like me!
I haven’t seen The Rocky Horror Picture Show since around 1978. I thought the exact same thing. The dining scene I believe. 😂
Checkout songs like "" Yesterday's Rain"" It's not wrong for loving me"" Sweet FA"& Action"" are just some greats they hugely influenced Queen
I do wonder how much the vicious assault on Brian contributed to his battles with the demon drink. For a singer to lose vocal range would be like a painter losing their hands. It is so sad the way his life came to its inevitable end. He deserved better. As for the song Ballroom Blitz - it is a true classic - and I loved Tia's cover of it in Wayne's World.
Tia??? LMAO ughhh
@@freetob1 she introduced it to a new generation....gotta give credit to Wayne's World for that🤷♀️
@@LauraBeeDannon In the 80's the band Krokus covered it and sounded great! The drummer of Krokus was my art teachers son.
I believe the assault was the beginning of the end for Brian. I also believe it was a targeted attack, to put him out of action, by stamping on his throat.
Tia sounded like a dadgum chipmunk 🐿️.
Thank you sir!! As a GenXer as a kid, I loved new wave, punk, gothic rock, and “alternative” including Thr Smiths and U2, and my all time faves, The Police - the Second British Invasion -it was not until much later as I became much more fascinated by Bowie’s incredible career (and saw him live three times) that I delved into the glam rock movers and shakers.
To this day I adore Slade - who seem to have been ripped off by virtually every rock band that followed with their distorted guitars and razor-sharp hooks and octave splitters on the guitars, then the underrated defining of rock god-dom with T. Rex andp Marc Bolan, his flowy shimmery shirts, gorgeous hair and his beautiful lovely tough and quivering voice, and I love Sweet for creating one of the very best tunes of the 70s with a monster keyboard sound, “Fox on the Run.” As with Bolan’s tragic early death in a car crash, we also lost Brian (Sweet vocalist) *way* too soon. It all hurts still.
I actually first heard "Ballroom Blitz" when Krokus did a heavy metal version in the mid-'80s, which led me to discover Sweet, just a fantastic glam band...
I'd forgotten it existed, but if memory serves the first version of "Ballroom Blitz" I heard was Krokus's cover of it.
@@DinsdalePiranha67 same here! I still prefer the Krokus cover
Same here. Their version is very good.
Krokus...heavy metal? lol More like a hard rock version. Krokus idolized the ACDC sound after starting out as a prog rock band. And when I say ACDC, I am referring to the band not the song.
The Damned also done a mad version too.
I knew these guys personally. I was still at school but was in rock bands from the age of 10. They became good mates & spent many a crazy weekend at after gig parties with these guys & they were all great chaps. Sadly had to witness brians slow & painful downhill slide. Miss them very much. ♥️
@coot I just hope that the cowardly thugs who kicked Brian are rotting in hell.
one more thingi luv about’the sweet’is they were down to earth easygoing and accessible to the fans and the press👌🏼they are and were good sorts☝🏻
When I was in my 20s we used to rehearse in a rehearsal studio called Ram Studios in Hayes, Middlesex. Brian would sometimes be just hanging out there for no apparent reason. By this time his mind was gone. I tried to talk to him but he really didn't know what was going on. It broke my heart to see a guy go from this good looking and very funny man to an incoherent mess. I'm in my 60s now and I still think of those guys. ✌❤
@@coot1925 yes it’s a sad story alright🥲i guess not everybody make’s it i suppose😩ī been listening to the ‘level headed tour rehearsal’s’ a lot cause i love the sound they generate it sounds fantastic but brians voice changed dramatically really raspy and can’t hit any high notes you can hear his frustration that he’s knows his days were numbered as a quality vocalists✊🏻obviously when that tour finished he just drank himself stupid to ease the pain of not doing what he loved 🥰another rock tragedy unfortunately😵💫rock on bro🤘🏻
Good memories to have. Good stories.
One of your best videos ever, Professor!! The attention to detail regarding the band members is extraordinarily focused and much appreciated.The long version of “Love is like Oxygen “ remains one of my favorite all-time songs. Brilliantly crafted with stellar guitar and drum play. I was graduating high school in ‘78 when it became a hit, and I recall only the best FM stations in Philly would play the long version. Thanks for this great report on one of the most under appreciated and misunderstood rock bands Sweet. Love your channel!!
Absolutely incredibly sad. Brilliant documentary thank you
The Sweet was Queen before Queen was Queen.
Yep.
Their "Love Is Like Oxygen" has an iconic riff, and is my favorite from them!
Absolutely great song. Actually better than Ballroom Blitz.
Ballroom Blitz is a classic 13 year old girls pajama parties.
Totally agree!
Love it! Epic song one of the greatest soft rock hits in history
Such a great song!
@@ProfessorofRock The full song is a must listen, because most radio stations cut down “Oxygen” to fit the norm, and eliminated the mid-song instrumental which is one of my all time favorites!
A really good insight to this incredibly talented band, certainly a massive influence and along with T Rex and Slade wrote the glam rock book. So sad about their demise, Brian's daughter is a close personal friend of mine and its upsetting when she talks about him. Tragic but he and the rest of this band will never be forgotten that's for certain.
Stop it! The Sweet, T Rex, and Slade (along with Deep Purple) were my favorite bands as a teenager and beyond. Still loving and listening to Glam Rock.
I hope she is proud to have had such an awesome dad.👍
@@merlin5476 she is massively yes, but living within that existence created trauma's that are still unhealed in so many ways.
@@craiglevy8144 - Me too, especially T.Rex. We got very little of Marc here in Canada.
@@merlin5476 who will not be proud of that......
I first heard this song when Kroukus put it out. This was in my headbanger days. I later discovered the Sweet version and fell in love with the song all over.
Awesome band, real pioneers. The Sweet had such a big impact on rock music. Bands like Def Leppard were clearly influenced by The Sweet.
Man you've sent me back in time to my youth in the seventies so many times and I am totally addicted to your show. Keep up the great work.
I played hard rock/ heavy metal professionally for about 20 years and always felt Ballroom Blitz was key to bridging glam rock and punk which culminated into metal.
Yeah, they were almost unique in the level musicianship they brought to glam.
Punk maybe, but Sabbath had like 5 albums out by the time Ballroom Blitz was released. Metal came from Sabbath. Maybe you're thinking of Motley Crue and Poison but that 80s glam garbage was never metal.
@@rodakjones7574 Evolution. Study the geneaology of rock with its multitude, not singular influences shaping the different genres.
I danced to this as a kid at family parties. Blockbuster was my favourite though.
Thanks for posting! Love from the UK. ❤
I have known about the Brian Connolly attack for a lot of years now and I always had a very very bad negative feeling about that incident. I think about it from time to time. Such a tragic tale -Especially when it was learned that it was, or may have been, done on purpose.
I do say: Thank you...
Thank you for bringing it out in the light today
In Steve Priest’s book, he alluded that Andy Scott played a role in that attack on Brian; he was that jealous of him. I never forgot that, and I believe it’s true.
@@chynnadoll3277 @Chynna Doll Woah-oh wow... I had no idea. For real? That will mess with me, too....
@@chynnadoll3277 What's the name of the book please ? tia.
@@danvelgtr are you ready Steve
Sweet, one of the greatest rock bands of all times - in our youth in the 70ths in germany we compared Sweet with Queen, the Stones and the Beatles
We did the same in Denmark and Belgium!
@Dan begs
Hun, both Toni and I own our subjectivity - so I invite you to also dare to own yours instead of hiding behind objective terms.
And the fact that your subjectivity differs from ours doesn't change our subjectivity the slightest.
Then they became the BEATLES, PART Two!
You have officially won me me over by knowing so much about this band. I was born in the 70's but when my uncle dared to throw out his record collection in the 80's I rescued them and have become a avid vinyl collector since and appreciate anyone who knows so much about these wonderful bands. You are amazing.
He knew everything except the drummers proper last name. Give me a break...
The whole band came and sat at our table between performing at a nightclub in the 70s .Great guys , down to earth and great music of course.
So glad to see The Sweet getting some love here! Thanks Professor!
Steve and Brian maintained a close friendship right up to Brian's death. I used to love Steve's antics and watching Mick laughing at Steve. As you might have guessed, Steve was my crush. His interjection in Ballroom Blitz and many other songs were classic. "We just haven't got a clue what to do!" There will never be another band like them.
I was a kid when Sweet was big. My family was stationed in Germany in the early 70s. We went to a festival one weekend and Sweet was playing. I was amazed by their sound, and have been a fan every since
Thank you for putting the spotlight on one of the most influential Rock bands of the 70’s! I loved Ballroom Blitz when I first heard it as a pre-teen, And in my late teens I bought all the Sweet albums , my favorite being “Give us a wink” fantastic album! Thanks again for all the great info.
Steve Priest's falsetto and costumes went way beyond the simple "Glam" designated given. There are many things truly iconic about Ballroom Blitz, but his over-the-top contribution is too perfect for mere words.
The Sweet shoulda been HUGE. Check out the live acoustic set from '74 for proof of just how talented this band was.
They actually were huge - during the seventies, no party without a couple of Sweet or Slade songs, you HAD to play them or there was no party. Well, maybe not in the US, if that's what you mean.
I'm glad they quit doing bubblegum rock. Desolation Blvd. was a monster of an album. US release of course.
@@lta6494 As a teenager in the 70's i was blessed to pick this band as my first and favorite. It had all the ingredients that nourished me musically . Early heavy metal sound punk rock attitude, Great singing flamboyant drumming and so on. Great respect to Andy Scott still playing in his 70's.
They were huge
They WERE huge, in the 70s you heard them everywhere in the UK at least they were massive 😎💕🖖
We were on a family vacation in Poland in the early 70's. We were in the seaside town of Gdynia and I remember hearing Little Willy playing over the PA system. I might've been 6 at the time. The song struck me and became permanently stuck in my head. Played it for my kids and my grandkids and it had the same effect on them. I went on to love Led Zeppelin, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Blue Oyster Cult and Jeff Beck, etc. We all loved Sweet from the first time we heard it and all still do!!!
Thanks for throwing Sweet some much deserved love! Though I was pretty solidly in the hard rock, Deep Purple, Thin Lizzy, Priest et al, I found Sweet in 79 and listened regularly. There was nothing like them. The b-sides were crazy good. The Healer, White mice, man those arrangements were great.
I NEVER heard this song until about 1983 or 84.. I went to sleep over at my friend's house and she played it for me. I was blown away!! Have loved it ever since.
I did live in Switzerland in the seventies, and the sweet where tremendously loved by us teenagers, had a huge fan base in the German speaking young people community. Nice to hear someone reporting on them.
Yet another great review of a legendary rock group.
Thanks so much for these absolutely brilliant histories of some of the very best names in music, this brings back many memories of the time, and some of the classic tracks from these guys.
RIP Folks, still well remembered.
Sweet we’re one of my favourite bands when I was a kid. I loved all the Glam Rick stuff back then. Sweet had so many great songs . This one is great although my favourite is The Six Teens
Another great song!
Heartbreaking story!!! I was about 10 or 11 when I first heard ballroom blitz, and my whole body felt like it was going to explode with joy 🤩
So many great songs by this band. God bless them for their music that will live forever.
What happened to Brian Connolly was so sad.
It basically killed his confidence and voice exacerbating his alcoholism and robbing the world of a first-class rock band from being as big as they deserved to be.
True that. I was a bit surprised when they couldn't carry on without him. Every member of that band was a high quality singer. There must have been other weirdnesses going on that crippled their ability to take hold to the extent their talent deserved.
I think he had serious PTSD from that attack. That must’ve been terrifying! Brian Connolly was no slouch. He had been in the navy but there was no defending himself against such an attack. I wonder why the creeps that did this were never arrested and penalized.
@@carlodave9 Steve and Mick formed the band with Brian. He wasn’t just the voice or the singer, he was their friend. They were watching their friend spiral out of control. Must’ve been horrible.
@@mimilini1
It was the 70's. Just about everyone got a good hiding now and then !
It was considered "Normal"
I'm 5'2" (Born in 61), you should try being a short arse in the 70's
@@0utcastAussie I was born in 66. I’ve got three older brothers. An attack such as that can cause PTSD as well as TBI. That’s the fact, Jack.
"Action" and "Wig Wam Bam" are still absolute joys to listen to. I'm 29, and my dad played a 'greatest hits' CD that he'd bought for about 5 bucks, when I was about 8 years old. I enjoyed all of the stuff on that album.
Wig warm bam my favourite
You'd probably enjoy the entire "Give Us A Wink" album then. It's their hard rock album, and it really rocks hard from beginning to end. It's the album that "Action" came from, and every song is done in that hard and fast and catchy style.
I remember being a junior in High School in south Australia when I got my first Sweet album and playing the Blitz over and over and I wanted to play all the instruments and do the vocals all at once on stage. I then decided on being a drummer ... and have been ever since. I still play that iconic song in my head from time to time. May it live forever. cheers
It will
Me too, I'm from South Australia too and Sweet were/are my all time favourite band. Mick made me want to take up drums. Still playing today.
It was such a great band. I feel so sorry that only one member of Sweet still alive. Time is flying and all those memories of music when we were young gradually disappear into eternity.
Oh yeah - I LOVED Sweet from the first time I heard “Little Willy” when it came out! I think early Queen reminds me a little of them. My husband always mistook “Love is like oxygen” for an ELO song, and I can hear a similar sound, too. Thanks for this, Professor!
I thought it was ELO too..until this video .
They made so many catchy tunes.
It didn't sound like ELO to me....It sounded more like Queen....
I thought it was 10cc.
I have the same ELO disorder!
I loved Sweet growing up. Had Little Willy, Fox on the Run, and Love is Like Oxygen 45s (Oddly enough, never owned Ballroom Blitz). Rediscovered them again many years later and realized just how amazing they were. Steve Priest's vocals were through the roof. Few people can hit those notes, but Steve didn't just hit them, he stayed up there for the whole song! They were every bit as good live as they were on record. There was a bubblegum element to their sound that possibly made them hard to take seriously by their contemporaries, but they could rock!
I love Fox on the Run. My real test for how great a song is… is when another band covers it and it’s still as good. Meaning it’s so good that another band can’t even fuck it up.
I was the opposite…. Those were my 3 least favourite tracks from them…. They were great live…. And I still listen to them today….
@@petem7118😐🤡
Sweet is one of my faves and Desolation Boulevard has to be the best album they did. I still spin the vinyl and I have 2 copies of Desolation Boulevard.
Thanks for the background on Sweet! I learned a lot in 18 minutes!!
I’ll take Give Us A Wink all day.
Ballroom Blitz reminds me of my dad driving me to hockey practice at 6 AM, four times a week. It seemed like it came on the radio each trip that year. Fond childhood memories! Miss you, dad.
I loved these guys! Their voices harmonized so well together! Very underrated Band! Little Willy was the first song I heard from them - Then came Ballroom Blitz!
Not underrated for those of us that are old enough to have known their smashing fame in the beginning of the 70s ;)
Ballroom Blitz was everywhere in '73 and while trendy at the time, has aged remarkably well. Connolly was a truly unique and theatrical vocalist who heralded the early days of glam rock. While he led a life of extremes, it's quite sad how things ended up for him.
Truly is. So sad...
He died tragically in his 50s…such a young age. Andy Scott is the only surviving original member.
I strongly recall SWEET hits:
Little Willy
Ballroom Blitz
Love Is Like Oxygen
very fondly.
I'm only 50...but even for the newest generation, this band's songs actually stand the test of time🎶
fox on the run
I'm 60 and love Sweet.Little Willy is the best!
51 here, Little Willy was my favorite when I was little.
Fox on the Run is one of my favorite Sweet songs
I had totally forgotten about them until about 5 years ago when Steve Priests version of Sweet played in Deadwood, SD and I had to go online to remember what songs they were known for so when I got there I knew every song they played. They were awesome. Unfortunately Steve was already in poor health and had to play the whole show seated but the band was incredible. Really sad that most have passed on. But the music lives forever.
"There only a few songs which bring about that kind of electricity in a human being!" Well put.
Their songs "" Sweet FA " Turn it down"" Action"" the lies in your eyes "" The juicer"" Yesterday's Rain"" are just some of so many great jams
Set Me Free, Sweet FA,Hellraiser
Horrible misogynistic lyrics though. "If she don't spread I'm gonna bust her head" -- 'Sweet FA. .But then again, if you enjoy the Bible then you'd be no stranger to misogyny, it's probably why you mentioned that song first.
Like millions of others, I was introduced to "Ballroom Blitz" via Tia's performance in Wayne's World from 1992. That wasn't mind blowing enough; I was pretty blown away to first hear the Sweet original 3 years later, coincidentally with beginning to learn how to play guitar. Eight years later, my bandleader at the time dubbed for me 2 CDs with the Def Leppard albums *Pyromania* and *Hysteria,* with the *Best of Sweet* compilation split between the 2 discs. That hit the spot, especially since we'd been playing "Little Willy" and had toyed with the idea of also adding "Fox on the Run" and (the radio edit of) "Love is like Oxygen".
Tia ruined that song.
She what, @@bryangirod9173???
You said it best. A song that brings out the electricity in a human being. It's a perfectly recorded song. I never get tired of it! Brian was such a wonderful vocalist.
Nailed it with Sweet! Now for some other "overlooked" talent from that era, "Ian Hunter", "Be Bop Deluxe", and "Its a Beautiful Day"
In the uk be bop had 3 silver selling albums so done quite well ,Ian Hunter with mott the hoople were big from 1972 till they split in 74 .
Mott The Hoople were CRIMINALLY overlooked in the states. They were so good it wasn't even believable.✌️
I have heard that song on the radio since I was a young kid...never even knew what the title was or who preformed it. Thanks for that little 15 minute class on the song and the artist. I can honestly say I learn something ever single day whether I want to or not. Thanks Professor- I bow to your greatness!
You are never too old to learn something new. It’s why I always come back here to this community that helps keep the music alive.
What a story! My favorite song when I was in the 4th grade was Little Willy. I even named the first car I bought, Little Willy. Sweet had some truly great songs: Ballroom Blitz is great, and I loved Fox on the Run.
It’s a very simple catchy song!
I’ve heard that the song is about a cat that used to hang out at their rehearsal space.
I remember drinking with Brian in a pub years ago, whenever he had a beer he would have a half pint in a pint glass due to his hand shaking so much but, despite his health he always said he wouldn't change anything for the world.
Sweet was ahead of their time.
That's what makes them so influential.
The whole Desolation Boulevard album kicks your ass.
Give Us A Wink...ACTION.
sweet FA kicks arse as well☝🏻
'Heartbreak Today' is a serious banger.
@@scottsteel4230 - Give Us A Wink is their best, IMO. The whole album kicks serious ass!!
@Rick Thomas - More accurately, Sweet was 100% of their time, but were copied by many, which helped create the sub-genre of glam rock.
The first time I heard Ballroom Blitz was the Krokus cover of the song. When I went back and listen to the original it was everything I had hoped it would be; raw and energetic!! Great song👍🏼
First time I heard it was Wayne's World.
This is when I first heard it too…. My dad heard me playing it and let me hear the original from the Sweet….. just like Nazareth’s “Love Hurts” is a cover from the Everly Brothers…..
I'm glad somebody finally mentioned Krokus
Thanks so much for this video I checked out more of The Sweet's music after watching it. I only knew a few of their singles before. This was one of the best bands ever. Now I'm planning on buying a few of their albums. Better late then never to discover The Sweet!
Enjoy the ride, fantastic band!
So great that even now, somebody want to know about sweet, hopes it never ends, they was very talented, they played pop but also very good i will call it heavy rock, i think they showed the way for many heavy rockers.
Stay safe
@@miketzai9209 so far Fanny Adams is my favorite album and I love the other albums too. This band should have been bigger than what they were especially here in America.
Where's the LIKE 100 TIMES BUTTON?! Love this so much. So terribly sad about Brian, but the music and performances of SWEET are indeed completely electrifying! 👍👍 (yeah I already commented months ago, back for another complete play-through of this excellent summary!)
The Sweet were also one of the earliest, yet least talked about, contenders for speed metal. Lots of classic, heavy tracks on their second album "Sweet Fanny Adams", and throughout their catalog.
You are correct! Several of Sweet's songs are metal masterpieces.
The whole Give Us a Wink album is a metal masterpiece.
When someone asks me what metal should sound like, I play Sweet F. A. for them, loud!
One of my favorite bands of all time. All incredible musicians.
Omg! I am 69 years old. I had forgotten about this band, until now! Great songs! Thank you for bringing them back to mind. So very sad how it all ended up, but they were super while they were still rocking.