The Sweet
Legacy
British rock band “The Sweet “aka “Sweet” rose to worldwide fame in the 1970s as one of the top three “Glam Rock Acts” of its era. This movement carved out a decade of new style & horizons for both music and fashion which in turn helped fuel a new sexual revolution embracing an anything-goes attitude into Western society. “The Sweet’s” influence has been touted & revered across many genres, from Boy George to Kiss, to Poison to Guns & Roses. Yes “Sweet” a leading architect that did change music and fashion forever.
The band achieved huge success with 39 #1 singles around the globe including “Ballroom Blitz,” “Fox On the Run” “Love Is Like Oxygen,” “Little Willy,” “No You Don’t” “Blockbuster,” “Action,” “Teenage Rampage,” and “AC/DC,” among many more…
Decades later the late great founder Steve Priest came out of retirement to put together his version of how he wanted his legacy to be presented and preserved into the future. After hearing drummer Richie Onori & keyboardist Stevie Stewart, he was sold that he had finally found the perfect chemistry to forge ahead respectively and in honor of his fallen comrades. The three of them enlisted two more top-caliber musicians who could equally capture & deliver with the same intensity and prowess that his original line-up did. They were off to the races performing hundreds of shows around the globe.
Currently, Stevie & Richie’s talented line-up proudly features the amazing Patrick Alan Stone on lead vocals, blazing guitarist Jimmy Burkhard and the Keyboard wizardry of Dave Shultz “The Sweet” and its new blazing hot fun packed audience corralling show, is capturing the hearts & minds of a whole new generation of fans with the upcoming release “Little Miracle”.
It’s anybody’s guess how long this iconic brand and band will delight music fans across both generational and societal divides but, as Axl Rose, (lead singer for Guns & Roses) put it on the Jimmy Kimmel show interview, he gave credit to two bands that influenced him the most growing up.
“Sweet” & “Queen” That says it all doesn’t it?
Legendary rock band The Sweet shot to the top of the charts in the 1970s with such hits as Ballroom Blitz, Fox On The Run, Love Is Like Oxygen, Little Willy, Hellraiser, Teenage Rampage, Blockbuster and Action.
Formed in the U.K. in 1968, the original lineup featured vocalist Brian Connolly, bassist/vocalist Steve Priest, drummer Mick Tucker and guitarist Frank Torpey (later replaced by Mick Stewart and, subsequently, by Andy Scott). In 1973, the band produced their first number one hit, Blockbuster, which went on to achieve platinum status. Sweet toured extensively and continued to chart with Chinn and Chapman compositions.
Fans were increasingly attracted to the heavier rock songs written by the group which appeared on the B sides of their singles, and the struggle for creative control ultimately led to a split with Chinn and Chapman. 1975 Fox on the Run (the band first self-penned single) reached the number two spot in the U.K. and top five in the U.S. charts. The Give Us A Wink album, released in 1976 and featuring the top twenty single Action, attained gold status in America and continued the group’s move toward album-oriented rock. Sweet bounced back onto the charts in 1978, scoring another top ten hit in both the U.S. and the U.K with Love Is Like Oxygen. After Brian Connolly’s departure in 1979, Sweet carried on as a three-piece outfit for three more albums before disbanding in 1981.
The Sweet back catalog is available on iTunes:
“The Sweet on iTunes”