Sweet (referred to as The Sweet on one album) were a popular British rock group of the 1970s, and beyond.
Although Sweet were largely known for their Glam Rock image, and several, teenage anthem, hit singles, they also released several albums throughout a ten year career. The extent of Sweet's domination of the charts in Europe resulted in eight number one singles in Germany, with pop oriented tunes as "Co Co", "Little Willy", and "Wig Wam Bam". Sweet's success continued with more rock oriented tunes, such as "Blockbuster", "Hellraiser", "Ballroom Blitz", "Teenage Rampage", and "Fox On The Run". The group had a world-wide following (clocking up no less than 18 top 20 hit singles) and were most notably popular in the UK, Germany and Australia.
The classic Sweet line-up consisted of vocalist Brian Connolly, drummer Mick Tucker, bassist Steve Priest, and guitarist Andy Scott. Sweet are perhaps best remembered for their glam stage clothing - glitter, platform boots, chain mail shirts, and makeup - practically defining the camp extreme of the glam rock look. Scott would later say it only happened because they needed an excuse to meet Top of the Pops dancers Pan's People and reasoned that going to the make-up room was a good method of doing so.
Sweet's origins go back to 1965, with UK soul band Wainwright's Gentlemen, which included drummer Mick Tucker and vocalist Ian Gillan. Gillan quit in May 1965 to join Episode Six, and later, Deep Purple. Gillan's replacement was vocalist Brian Connolly. Tucker and Connolly remained with the band until 1968.
In 1968, Brian Connolly and Mick Tucker left Wainwright's Gentlemen, to form another band. They recruited a bass guitarist/lead vocalist named Steve Priest, from a local band called The Countdowns. Along with a guitarist named Gordon Fairminer, the band was called Sweetshop. Gordon Fairminer's stay was brief, and he was replaced by Frank Torpy. It didn't take long for Sweetshop to develop a following on the pub circuit, and they were signed to the Fontana Label. At the time, another U.K. band released a single under the same name Sweetshop, so the band shortened the name to Sweet. Their debut single "Slow Motion" failed to chart. Sweet were released from their contract, and Frank Torpy left.
