The Sweet Biography

The Sweet is a British glam rock band that rose to worldwide fame in the 1970s with hits as Little Willy, The Ballroom Blitz, and Fox on the Run.

Early Formation

Founding members were vocalist Brian Connolly, bassist Steve Priest, guitarist Frank Torpey and drummer Mick Tucker. Starting out as the Sweetshop, they changed their name to simply Sweet and were signed to Fontana/EMI in 1970.

Career Beginnings

Following a bad start, Torpey left the group and was replaced by Andy Scott. The new line-up was signed by RCA Records in 1971 and released several singles like Funny Funny. It reached number 13 on the UK charts followed by other bubblegum Top 40 tracks.

Success

Deciding to change to a hard rock vibe and write their own songs Sweet presented the first UK number 1 hit Blockbuster. The band took more control over their music and released the debut album Sweet Fanny Adams. In 1975, the song Fox on the Run was a Top 10 hit in the UK and the US. The American album Desolation Boulevard spawned another hit with Ballroom Blitz. In the next years, they managed to maintain moderate success, with albums one better than the other.

Disbandment

After the release of the track Love Is Like Oxygen in 1978, Connolly left the band and was replaced by Gary Moberley and they continued for 3 more years until finally disbanding in 1982. Sweet reunited a few times over the course of a decade. However, in 1989, Scott and Tucker re-grouped and released a live album. In addition, each member performed at one point under the name of Sweet often changing it because of legal issues. At the present, there are versions of the Sweet touring the world. In 2016, The Ballroom Blitz was present in the Suicide Squad trailer and Fox on the Run on the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. trailer.

Photo source Dayviews