98-492: The Demolition Doll Rods were an American three-piece glam / garage rock band from Detroit , Michigan . The band, known for outré stage attire, released its first record in 1994. The original line up included Dan Kroha as Danny Doll Rod (formerly of The Gories ) on guitar, vocals, and harmonies, Margaret Doll Rod on guitar and lead vocals, and songwriting, Christine Doll Rod, also known as 'The Thump'/Thumper/Thumpurr on drums. In March 2006 Christine went on "maternity leave" and
196-592: A Harley Street specialist, managed to complete the album. The band did not publicise the incident and told the press that subsequent cancelled shows were due to Connolly having a throat infection. This incident reportedly permanently compromised Connolly's singing ability, with his range diminished. No previous singles appeared on the album, and none were released, except in Japan , New Zealand and Australia , where " Peppermint Twist /Rebel Rouser", apparently released by their record company without their knowledge, gained
294-807: A 1972 interview in which he noted that other artists described as glam rock were doing different work, said "I think glam rock is a lovely way to categorize me and it's even nicer to be one of the leaders of it". Bolan and Bowie were soon followed in the style by acts including Roxy Music , Sweet , Slade , Mott the Hoople , Mud and Alvin Stardust . The popularity of glam rock in the UK was such that three glam rock bands had major UK Christmas hit singles ; " Merry Xmas Everybody " by Slade, " I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday " by Wizzard and " Lonely This Christmas " by Mud, all of which have remained hugely popular. Glam
392-466: A 30-day writing session at Clearwell Castle in the Forest Of Dean UK, the album represented a new musical direction, largely abandoning hard-rock for a more melodic pop style, interspersed with ballads accompanied by a 30-piece orchestra. The ballad, "Lettres D'Amour", featured a duet between Connolly and Stevie Lange (who would emerge as lead singer with the group Night in 1979). With
490-623: A No. 1 chart position in the latter. Sweet Fanny Adams would be Sweet's only non-compilation release to break the UK Albums Chart Top 40. Sweet were invited by Pete Townshend to support the Who , who were playing at Charlton Athletic 's football ground, The Valley in June 1974. However, Connolly's badly bruised throat kept them from fulfilling the role. Sweet had frequently cited the Who as being one of their main influences and played
588-412: A US tour with emerging US rockers Aerosmith , did not play any live dates in support of the album and, in fact, did not play a single concert for the whole of 1977. Sweet left RCA in 1977 and signed a new deal with Polydor though it would not come into force until later in the year. Sweet's manager David Walker, from Handle Artists, negotiated the move which was reputed to be worth around £750,000. In
686-655: A Wink , was released in March 1976. A third single from the album, "4th of July", was issued in Australia. All of this highlighted the band's image change from glam to a tougher jeans and leather look. Sweet were striving to build on their growing popularity in America, with fifty headline concert dates commencing in January 1976. Even though Give Us a Wink was released during the tour, the band's hard rock set drew largely on
784-416: A boast: "Your mother can't tell if you're a boy or a girl." Glam was butch and femme at once: bisexuality in sound." The Rocky Horror Show , soundtracked by primarily glam rock, was a keystone of LGBTQ media in the 1970s. A song from the show, " Sweet Transvestite ", was noted as "the first big, glam rock aria of the musical" and that glam rock "was a queering (or camping ) of the genre of rock music" in
882-642: A combination of cheek and chic, pose and poise'. It reads like a glam manifesto." Showmanship and gender identity manipulation acts included the Cockettes and Alice Cooper , the latter of which combined glam with shock rock . Glam rock emerged from the English psychedelic and art rock scenes of the late 1960s and can be seen as both an extension of, and a reaction against, those trends. Its origins are associated with Marc Bolan , who had renamed his acoustic duo T. Rex and taken up electric instruments by
980-539: A darker lyrical content than their British counterparts. In the UK, the term glitter rock was most often used to refer to the extreme version of glam pursued by Gary Glitter and the independent band with whom he often performed known as the Glitter Band . The Glitter Band and Gary Glitter had between them eighteen top ten singles in the UK between 1972 and 1975. A second wave of glam rock acts, including Suzi Quatro , Roy Wood 's Wizzard and Sparks , had hits on
1078-410: A full six months after Connolly's throat injury, with band and critics noting a rougher edge to his voice and a reduced range. The album also featured a group composition, "Fox On The Run", which was to be re-recorded months later. The US version of Desolation Boulevard was different from the UK version and included several songs from Sweet Fanny Adams in addition to the "Ballroom Blitz" and "Fox on
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#17327907727641176-547: A large fan-base among teenagers, The Sweet were not happy with their ' bubblegum ' image. The group had always composed their own usually heavy-rock songs on the B-sides of their singles to contrast with the bubblegum A-sides which were composed by Chinn and Chapman. During this time, The Sweet's live performances consisted of B-sides, album tracks, and various medleys of rock and roll classics; they avoided older novelty hits like "Funny, Funny" and "Poppa Joe". A 1973 performance at
1274-484: A medley of their tracks in their live set for many years. Their third album, Desolation Boulevard , was released later in 1974, six months after Sweet Fanny Adams . By that stage, producer Phil Wainman had moved on and the album was produced by Mike Chapman. It was recorded in six days and featured a rawer "live" sound. One track, " The Man with the Golden Arm ", written by Elmer Bernstein and Sylvia Fine for
1372-566: A more conventional hard rock sound and appearance. Sweet Fanny Adams also featured compressed high-pitched backing vocal harmonies , which was a trend that continued on all of Sweet's albums. During sessions for the album, Brian Connolly was injured in a fight in Staines , on High Street. His throat was badly injured and his ability to sing severely limited. Priest and Scott filled in on lead vocals on some tracks ("No You Don't", "Into The Night" and "Restless") and Connolly, under treatment from
1470-539: A show in Lochau , Austria , on 5 May 1991. He later was diagnosed with a rare form of leukaemia . Three drummers, Andy Hoyler, Bobby Andersen and Bruce Bisland (Weapon, Wildfire, Praying Mantis ), provided short-term relief before Bodo Schopf ( McAuley Schenker Group ) took over. They recorded an album during this period, simply titled A . Before the band embarked on the supporting tour for A in 1992, Bodo left and Bisland returned as permanent percussionist. Scott changed
1568-424: A solo career with an interest in recording country rock . Sweet continued as a trio with Priest assuming the lion's share of lead vocals, though Scott and Tucker were also active in that role. The first single release for the trio was "Call Me". Guest keyboard player Gary Moberley continued to augment the group on stage. Guitarist Ray McRiner joined their touring line-up in 1979, with a small tour with Journey in
1666-746: A teaching job in late 2005. Grant then jumped from keyboards to lead vocals and bass as Phil Lanzon returned on keyboards for a tour of Russia and Germany in October/November. New singer Mark Thompson Smith (ex-Praying Mantis) joined in November 2005 for some Swedish gigs, while Jo Burt (ex- Black Sabbath ) was temporary bass player. Tony Mills (ex- Shy ) was slated to be Sweet's new singer in early 2006 but failed to work out and left after six shows in Denmark. At this point, O'Hora came back as fill in front man and then Grant did another turn himself as
1764-469: A throat infection, Jeff Brown assumed lead vocals and bass duties. After this, the band was stable again for the next five years. The mid-2000s brought further rotations. Tony O'Hora (ex- Onslaught , Praying Mantis ) replaced Brown as lead vocalist in 2003. Ian Gibbons came back for a third stint as fill-in keyboardist in June 2005 for a gig in the Faroe Islands . O'Hora decided to split to take
1862-535: Is most noted for its sexual and gender ambiguity and representations of androgyny , beside extensive use of theatrics. It was prefigured by the flamboyant English composer Noël Coward , especially his 1931 song " Mad Dogs and Englishmen ", with music writer Daryl Easlea stating, "Noël Coward's influence on people like Bowie, Roxy Music and Cockney Rebel was absolutely immense. It suggested style, artifice and surface were equally as important as depth and substance. Time magazine noted Coward's 'sense of personal style,
1960-425: Is still active with his version of the band. Sweet have sold over 35 million albums worldwide. The Sweet's origins can be traced back to British soul band Wainwright's Gentlemen. Mark Lay's history of that band states they formed around 1962 and were initially known as Unit 4. Founding members included Chris Wright (vocals), Jan Frewer (bass), and Jim Searle and Alfred Fripp on guitars. Phil Kenton joined on drums as
2058-546: Is thought to have been recorded in 1965. Gillan quit in May 1965 to join Episode Six , and later, Deep Purple . Cully remained as vocalist before departing some time later. Gillan's and Cully's eventual replacement, in late 1966, was Scots-born vocalist Brian Connolly, who hailed more recently from Harefield . Tony Hall had joined on saxophone and vocals and when Fripp left he was replaced by Gordon Fairminer. Fairminer's position
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#17327907727642156-940: The Give Us a Wink album with German sound engineer Reinhold Mack , who later recorded with Electric Light Orchestra and co-produced Queen . The new album release was deferred until 1976 so as not to stifle the chart success Desolation Boulevard was enjoying, peaking at number 25 in the US and number 5 in Canada. With Give Us a Wink being held over, RCA issued a double album in Europe, Strung Up , in November. It contained one live disc, recorded in London in December 1973, and one disc compiling previously released singles (plus an unused track by Chinn and Chapman – "I Wanna Be Committed"). At
2254-671: The Marquee Club in London in February 1986, with the shows recorded and gaining release a few years later, bolstered by four new studio tracks including a cover of the Motown standard " Reach Out I'll Be There ". This line-up also toured Australian and New Zealand pubs and clubs for more than three months in 1985 and for a similar period again in 1986. Singer Paul Day married the band's Australian tour guide and relocated there. He continued with Sweet commuting back and forth to Europe for
2352-533: The New York Dolls , and also The Cramps ; the band members appearing in drag or in costume, occasionally wearing food items and often almost nothing at all. One memorable performance featured the band performing with only toy cartoon mouse heads covering their breasts, and only plastic wrap and semi-strategically placed slices of Swiss cheese covering their nether regions. In the last few years of their existence they wore leather pieces that they had made by Tom
2450-445: The "overall denim dullness" of "a deadly boring, prematurely matured music scene". Visually, it was a mesh of various styles, ranging from 1930s Hollywood glamour, through 1950s pin-up sex appeal, pre-war cabaret theatrics, Victorian literary and symbolist styles, science fiction , to ancient and occult mysticism and mythology ; manifesting itself in outrageous clothes, makeup, hairstyles, and platform-soled boots. Glam rock
2548-463: The 1955 Frank Sinatra movie of the same name, featured drummer Mick Tucker performing an 8 and half minute solo (although this was not included in the US release). This had been a staple of the band's live performance for years. The first single from the LP, the heavy-melodic "The Six Teens" (July 1974), was a Top 10 hit in the UK and still part of the amazing unbroken string of No. 1's in Denmark. However,
2646-642: The Archies ' "Get on the Line" (June 1970), all of which failed to chart. Stewart then quit, and was not replaced for some time. Connolly and Tucker had a chance meeting with Wainman, who was now producing, and knew of two aspiring songwriters, Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman , who were looking for a group to sing some demos they had written. Connolly, Priest, and Tucker provided the vocals on a track called "Funny, Funny" which featured Pip Williams on guitar, John Roberts on bass, and Wainman on drums. The latter began offering
2744-565: The British single charts in 1973 and 1974. Quatro and T.Rex directly inspired the pioneering Los Angeles based all-girl group The Runaways . Existing acts, some not usually considered central to the genre, also adopted glam styles, including Rod Stewart , Elton John , Queen and, for a time, the Rolling Stones . After seeing Marc Bolan wearing Zandra Rhodes -designed outfits, Freddie Mercury enlisted Rhodes to design costumes for
2842-697: The Countdowns who had been produced and recorded by Joe Meek . Frank Torpey was again recruited to play guitar. The quartet made its public debut at the Pavilion in Hemel Hempstead on 9 March 1968 and they gradually developed a following. They were managed by Paul Nicholas , who later went on to star in Hair . Nicholas worked with record producer Phil Wainman at Mellin Music Publishing who
2940-673: The Darkness , and has inspired pop artists such as Lady Gaga . Its self-conscious embrace of fame and ego continues to reverberate through pop music decades after the death of its prototypical superstar, Marc Bolan of T. Rex, in 1977. As an elastic concept rather than a fixed stratosphere of '70s personalities, it is even equipped to survive the loss of its most enduring artist, David Bowie . The glam rock scene that emerged in early 1970s London included numerous openly bisexual musicians, including Queen's Freddie Mercury, Elton John, and David Bowie. Medium 's Claudia Perry felt that "Glam rock
3038-668: The European mainland. The group achieved success in the US with the top ten hits " Little Willy ", "The Ballroom Blitz", "Fox on the Run", and " Love is Like Oxygen ". Sweet had their last international success in 1978 with "Love Is Like Oxygen". Connolly left the group in 1979 to start a solo career, and the remaining members continued as a trio until they disbanded in 1981. From the mid-1980s, Scott, Connolly and Priest each played with their own versions of Sweet at different times. Connolly died in 1997, Tucker in 2002 and Priest in 2020. Andy Scott
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3136-453: The Hollies , with distorted guitars and a heavy rhythm section. This fusion of pop and hard rock would remain a central trademark of Sweet's music and prefigured the glam metal of a few years later. The Sweet's initial album appearance was on the budget label Music for Pleasure as part of a compilation called Gimme Dat Ding , released in December 1970. Sweet had one side of the record;
3234-535: The LGBTQ+ community. They helped pave the way for greater acceptance and understanding." Movies that reflect glam rock aesthetics include: The Sweet Sweet (known as The Sweet until the early 1970s ) are a British glam rock band who rose to prominence in the 1970s. Their best-known line-up consisted of lead vocalist Brian Connolly , bassist Steve Priest , guitarist Andy Scott and drummer Mick Tucker . The band formed in London in 1968, originally with
3332-547: The Leatherman who designed costumes for Parliament/Funkadelic in the late 1970s. The Doll Rods played a genre-crossing, minimalist Detroit rock style incorporating rhythm and blues and garage rock . The three piece band featured lead and rhythm guitars backed by the most basic bass-drum-floor-tom-and-snare drum kit. Their lyrics made frequent reference to sex , drug overdoses , drag racing , boys , girls , dogs , cats and good times. On April 4, 2007, Dan Kroha posted
3430-550: The Noize " and " Mama Weer All Crazee Now ") or composed new songs based on Slade templates. While highly successful in the single charts in the UK (Slade for example had six number one singles), very few of these musicians were able to make a serious impact in the US; David Bowie was the major exception, becoming an international superstar and prompting the adoption of glam styles among acts like Lou Reed , Iggy Pop , New York Dolls and Jobriath , often known as "glitter rock" and with
3528-682: The Palace Theatre and Grand Hall in Kilmarnock ended in The Sweet being bottled off stage; the disorder was attributed by some (including Steve Priest) to The Sweet's lipstick and eye-shadow look, and by others to the audience being unfamiliar with the concert set (the 1999 CD release Live at the Rainbow 1973 documents a live show from this period). The incident would be immortalised in the hit " The Ballroom Blitz " (September 1973). In
3626-533: The Pipkins (whose sole hit, " Gimme Dat Ding ", gave the LP its name) had the other. The Sweet's contribution consisted of the A- and B-sides of the band's three Parlophone singles. Andy Scott appears in the album cover shot, even though he did not play on any of the recordings. The Sweet made their UK television debut in December 1970 on a pop show called Lift Off , performing the song "Funny, Funny". A management deal
3724-602: The Pops "permitted a generation of teeny-boppers to begin playing with the idea of androgyny". T. Rex's 1971 album Electric Warrior received critical acclaim as a pioneering glam rock album. In 1973, a few months after the release of the album Tanx , Bolan captured the front cover of Melody Maker magazine with the declaration "Glam rock is dead!" From late 1971, already a minor star, David Bowie developed his Ziggy Stardust persona, incorporating elements of professional makeup, mime and performance into his act. Bowie, in
3822-512: The Pops Christmas edition, Priest aroused complaints after he appeared replete in a German military uniform, Hitler moustache and displaying a swastika armband. The band also capitalised on the glam rock explosion, rivalling Gary Glitter , T. Rex , Queen , Slade , and Wizzard for outrageous stage clothing. Despite The Sweet's success, the relationship with their management was becoming increasingly tense. While they had developed
3920-588: The Run" singles (both of which peaked at No. 5 in the US). Side One of the album contained all Chapman-Chinn penned songs, while Side Two featured songs written and produced by Sweet. In 1975, Sweet went back into the studio to re-arrange and record a more pop-oriented version of the track " Fox on the Run ". Sweet's first self-written and produced single, "Fox on the Run" was released worldwide in March 1975 and became their biggest selling hit, reaching number one in Australia, Germany, Denmark, and South Africa , number two in
4018-637: The Scaffold. The band rehearsed for a number of weeks before Scott made his live debut with Sweet on 26 September 1970 at the Windsor Ballroom in Redcar . The Sweet initially attempted to combine diverse musical influences, including the Monkees and 1960s bubblegum pop groups such as the Archies, with more heavy rock-oriented groups such as the Who. The Sweet adopted the rich vocal harmony style of
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4116-477: The UK chart, remaining there for five consecutive weeks. After their next single "Hell Raiser" was released in May and reached number 2 in the UK, the band's US label, Bell, released the group's first American album The Sweet in July 1973. To promote their singles, The Sweet made appearances on UK and European TV shows such as Top of the Pops and Supersonic . In one performance of "Block Buster!" on Top of
4214-534: The UK charts during the 1970, having thirteen Top 20 hits, with " Block Buster! " (1973) topping the chart, followed by three consecutive number-two hits: "Hell Raiser" (1973), " The Ballroom Blitz " (1973) and "Teenage Rampage" (1974). The band turned to a more hard rock style with their mid-career singles, such as 1974's " Turn It Down ". " Fox on the Run " (1975) also reached number two on the UK chart. The band were popular in West Germany and other countries on
4312-454: The UK such as Adam and the Ants and A Flock of Seagulls extended glam, and its androgyny and sexual politics were picked up by acts including Culture Club , Bronski Beat and Frankie Goes to Hollywood . Gothic rock was largely informed by the makeup, clothes, theatricality and sound of glam, and punk rock adopted some of the performance and persona-creating tendencies of glam, as well as
4410-519: The US Billboard Hot 100 after a re-issue in 1973, thus becoming the group's biggest American hit. Although "Wig-Wam Bam" remained largely true to the style of their previous recordings, the vocals and guitars had a harder, more rock-oriented sound, largely because it was the first Chinn-Chapman single on which only members of the band played the instruments. In January 1973 " Block Buster! " became The Sweet's first single to reach number 1 on
4508-581: The United Kingdom, Ireland , Norway , and the Netherlands , and number three in Austria and Switzerland . In Australia, it not only made it to the top of the chart, it also became the biggest selling single of that year, and eventually the seventh biggest seller in Australia for the entire decade. The song reached number two in Canada and number five in the US. The release of this track marked
4606-518: The United States, Canada, and Japan, Capitol had issued Sweet's albums since 1974 and would continue to do so through to 1980. The first Polydor album, Level Headed (January 1978), found Sweet experimenting by combining rock and classical sounds " a-la clavesin ", an approach similar to Electric Light Orchestra 's, and featured the single " Love Is Like Oxygen ". Largely recorded during 1977 at Château d'Hérouville near Paris, France after
4704-463: The United States, where he had been living since late 1979. When Polydor released Identity Crisis in October 1982, the original Sweet had been disbanded for almost a year. Andy Scott and Mick Tucker organised their own version of Sweet with Paul Mario Day (ex- Iron Maiden , More , Wildfire) on lead vocals, Phil Lanzon (ex-Grand Prix) on keyboards and Mal McNulty on bass. The band performed at
4802-435: The addition of session and touring musicians keyboardist Gary Moberley and guitarist Nico Ramsden ( Byzantium , Boys Don't Cry ), Sweet undertook a short European and Scandinavian tour followed by a single British concert at London's Hammersmith Odeon on 24 February 1978. However, " Love Is Like Oxygen " (January 1978) was their last UK, US, and German Top 10 hit. Scott was nominated for an Ivor Novello Award for co-composing
4900-575: The album, "Fever of Love", represented the band's singles heading in a somewhat more Europop style with the bulk of the album continuing in a polished hard rock style. "Fever of Love" dented the charts in Germany, Austria and Sweden, while reaching number 10 in South Africa. On this album, Sweet again worked with Give Us a Wink engineer Louis Austin, who would later engineer Def Leppard 's On Through The Night 1980 début album. The band cancelled
4998-432: The audience saw Brian Connolly give a drunken and incoherent performance that terminated early in the set with his collapse on stage, leaving the rest of the group to play on without him. The band returned briefly to Britain before resuming the second leg of their US tour in late May supporting other acts, including Foghat and Alice Cooper . Concluding the US tour in early July 1978, Brian's alcoholism and estrangement from
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#17327907727645096-618: The band changed its name to Wainwright's Gentlemen (due to there being another band known as Unit 4 ). Managed by Frewer's father, the band performed in the Hayes , Harrow and Wembley area. By 1964 the group was also playing in London, including at the Saint Germain Club on Poland Street. In January 1964 the band came fifth in a national beat group contest, with finals held at the Lyceum Strand on 4 May 1964. Highlights of
5194-474: The band played in Porto Alegre and Curitiba , Brazil , their first and only South American shows. The tour was called the 'Sweet Fanny Adams Tour'. The band toured again in March 2008 under the name 'Sweet Fanny Adams Revisited Tour'. In May and June, Scott's Sweet were part of the "Glitz Blitz & 70s Hitz" tour of the UK alongside The Rubettes and Showaddywaddy . In March and April 2010, Scott
5292-456: The band's name to 'Andy Scott's Sweet' after Tucker's departure but truncated it to simply 'The Sweet' once again after Tucker's death in 2002. Mal McNulty , now lead vocalist, departed in 1994, though he would return briefly that year to fill in for Jeff Brown on bass (as he would again in 1995 as lead singer for a few dates while Rocky Newton subbed on bass). Sweet's former keyboard men Gary Moberley and Ian Gibbons also did fill-in jaunts with
5390-537: The book Trans Representations in Contemporary, Popular Cinema . The musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch from 2001 also used glam rock to tell the story of a gender-affirming surgery gone awry. In discussing why glam rock was used for Hedwig, the article goes on to say "by showcasing a more fluid approach to gender expression, glam rock artists like David Bowie, Marc Bolan, and Freddie Mercury became icons for
5488-468: The brash guitar riffs of hard rock , stomping rhythms, and 1950s rock and roll , filtering them through the recording innovations of the late 1960s. Ultimately, it became very diverse, varying between the simple rock and roll revivalism of figures like Alvin Stardust to the complex art pop of Roxy Music . In its beginning, it was a youth-orientated reaction to the creeping dominance of progressive rock and concept albums – what Bomp! called
5586-525: The demands of constant touring and the enduring after-effects of his 1974 assault. Between October 1976 and January 1977, Sweet wrote and recorded new material at Kingsway Recorders and Audio International London studios for their next album. An advance single from the album, "Lost Angels", was only a hit in Germany, Austria and Sweden. A new album, Off the Record , was released in April. The next single from
5684-453: The eastern United States and Cheap Trick in Texas in the spring and summer of '79 to support Cut Above The Rest (which was released in April 1979). McRiner would also contribute the songs "Too Much Talking" and the single "Give The Lady Some Respect" to the next Sweet album, Waters Edge (August 1980), which was recorded in Canada. In the US, Waters Edge was titled Sweet VI . It featured
5782-457: The end of the 1960s. Bolan was, in the words of music critic Ken Barnes , "the man who started it all". Often cited as the moment of inception is Bolan's appearance on the BBC music show Top of the Pops in March 1971 wearing glitter and satins, to perform what would be his second UK Top 10 hit (and first UK Number 1 hit), " Hot Love ". The Independent states that Bolan's appearance on Top of
5880-535: The end of the formal Chinn-Chapman working relationship and the band stressed it was now fully self-sufficient as writers and producers. The following single release, a hard rock track called " Action " (July 1975), peaked at number 15 in the UK. Now confident in their own songwriting and production abilities, Sweet spent the latter half of 1975 in Musicland Studios in Munich , Germany, where they recorded
5978-532: The end of the year, Andy Scott released his first solo single, "Lady Starlight" b/w "Where D'Ya Go". Tucker played drums on both tracks. January 1976 saw the release of the single "The Lies In Your Eyes", which made the Top 10 in Germany, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, the Netherlands, and Australia, but only reached No. 35 on the UK chart. Sweet's first album to be fully produced and written by themselves, Give Us
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#17327907727646076-565: The final half-dozen or so dates to be cancelled. Following the end of the tour, the band went on to Scandinavia and Germany. The band also spent a week at the Who 's Ramport Studios in Battersea demoing material for a new album before abandoning the project and playing eight dates in Japan. By the end of the Japanese shows Connolly's extremely hoarse singing voice was manifest evidence of
6174-489: The following message to the band's Myspace page: To all our beloved and loyal fans . . . This is Danny. I have decided that after thirteen years of non-stop Doll Rod action, it is time for me to take a break for a while (don't really know how long). I am very proud of all we've done as a band and I want to thank everyone who has loved and supported us all these years. The band has since been inactive, with members concentrating on other musical projects. Margaret Doll Rod released
6272-398: The future Sweet producer joined on drums and the group cut some singles with Errol Dixon . In early 1966, Stewart left and later worked with Johnny Kidd & The Pirates . The Sweet signed a new record contract with EMI 's Parlophone label. Three Bubblegum pop singles were released: "Lollipop Man" (September 1969), "All You'll Ever Get from Me" (January 1970), and a cover version of
6370-474: The genre's emphasis on pop-art qualities and simple but powerful instrumentation. Glam rock has been influential around the world. In Japan in the 1980s, visual kei was strongly influenced by glam rock aesthetics. Glam rock has since enjoyed continued influence and sporadic modest revivals in R&;B crossover act Prince , bands such as Marilyn Manson , Suede , Placebo , Chainsaw Kittens , Spacehog and
6468-614: The genre, artists such as Elton John , Rod Stewart and Freddie Mercury of Queen also adopted glam styles. In the United States, the scene was much less prevalent, with Alice Cooper and Lou Reed the only American artists to score a hit in the UK. Other American glam artists include New York Dolls , Sparks , Suzi Quatro , Iggy Pop and Jobriath . Glam rock declined after the mid-1970s, but influenced other musical genres including punk rock , glam metal , death rock and gothic rock . The New Romantic movement, which began as an underground fashion subculture movement in nightclubs in
6566-425: The group that year, as did Chris Goulstone. Chad Brown (ex- Lionheart ; no relation to Jeff) was the new front man. Glitz Blitz and Hitz , a new studio album of re-recorded Sweet hits, was released during this period. In 1996 Mann left to take a job in television and Gibbons came back for a short time before Steve Grant (ex- The Animals ) became the permanent keyboardist. When Chad Brown quit in 1998 after developing
6664-552: The group was steadily becoming a greater issue. In late October, having spent further time at Clearwell Castle to write for their next album, Sweet arrived at The Town House studio in Shepherd's Bush , London to complete and record Cut Above the Rest (April 1979). Due to tensions between various members attributed to Connolly's health and diminishing status with the group, his long-time friend and fellow founding member, Mick Tucker,
6762-405: The group's first international hit, climbing to the Top 20 on many of the world's charts. EMI reissued their 1970 single "All You'll Ever Get from Me" (May 1971) and it again failed to chart. Their next RCA release " Co-Co " (June 1971) went to number two in the UK and their follow up single, "Alexander Graham Bell" (October 1971), only went to No. 33. These tracks still featured session musicians on
6860-482: The group's major hits and who had cultivated the band's glam rock image, with Sweet rejecting the song Dyna-mite , which instead went on to become a hit for Mud that reached number 4 in the UK singles chart in November 1973. The band and their producer Phil Wainman, assisted by engineer Peter Coleman, recorded the album Sweet Fanny Adams , which was released in April 1974 and featured self-penned hard rock tracks such as "Sweet F.A." and "Set Me Free". Sweet also adopted
6958-523: The group's tours until this proved to be too cumbersome. He departed in late 1988. As McNulty moved into the front man spot, Jeff Brown came in to take over bass early in 1989. Lanzon too went back and forth between Sweet and Uriah Heep during 1986–1988 before Heep's schedule grew too busy. Malcolm Pearson and then Ian Gibbons (who had played with The Kinks and The Records ) both filled in for Lanzon until Steve Mann (Liar, Lionheart , McAuley Schenker Group ) arrived in December 1989. Tucker departed after
7056-563: The instruments with the quartet providing only the vocals. The Sweet's first full LP album, Funny How Sweet Co-Co Can Be , was released in November 1971. It contained a collection of the band's recent singles, supplemented by some new Chinn/Chapman tunes (including "Chop Chop" and "Tom Tom Turnaround") and pop covers (such as the Lovin' Spoonful 's " Daydream " and the Supremes ' " Reflections "). The album, recorded at Nova Studios in London,
7154-578: The late 1970s before becoming mainstream in the early 80s, was also inspired by the visuals of the glam rock era. Glam rock can be seen as a fashion as well as musical subgenre. Glam artists rejected the revolutionary rhetoric of the late 1960s rock scene, instead glorifying decadence , superficiality, and the simple structures of earlier pop music. In response to these characteristics, scholars such as I.Taylor and D. Wall characterised glam rock as "offensive, commercial, and cultural emasculation". Artists drew on such musical influences as bubblegum pop ,
7252-409: The meantime, The Sweet's chart success continued, showing particular strength in the UK, Denmark, Germany, Sweden, and Australia. By the end of 1973, the band's name evolved from "The Sweet" to "Sweet". The change would be reflected in all of their releases from 1974 onward. From mid 1973 to early 1974, Sweet were growing increasingly tired of the management team of Chinn and Chapman, who had written
7350-495: The name the Sweetshop, and achieved their first hit, " Funny, Funny ", in 1971, after teaming up with songwriters Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman and record producer Phil Wainman . During 1971 and 1972, their musical style showed a marked progression, from the Archies -like bubblegum style of "Funny, Funny" to a Who -influenced hard rock style, supplemented by a use of high-pitched backing vocals. The band achieved success in
7448-459: The next Queen tour in 1974. Punk rock , in part a reaction to the artifice of glam rock, but using some elements of the genre, including makeup and involving cover versions of glam rock records, helped end the fashion for glam from about 1976. While glam rock was exclusively a British cultural phenomenon, with Steven Wells in The Guardian writing "Americans only got glam second hand via
7546-501: The now dated 'Desolation Boulevard' plus the new US hit single "Action". During an appearance at Santa Monica Civic Auditorium in California on 24 March, Sweet played " All Right Now " with Ritchie Blackmore as a tribute to mark the death of Free guitarist Paul Kossoff , who was to have supported Sweet with his band Back Street Crawler . The US tour was not financially successful, with small audiences at many venues leading to
7644-563: The posh Bowie version", covers of British glam rock classics are now piped-muzak staples at US sporting events. Glam rock was a background influence for Richard O'Brien , writer of the 1973 London musical The Rocky Horror Show . Although glam rock went into a steep decline in popularity in the UK in the second half of the 1970s, it had a direct influence on acts that rose to prominence later, including Kiss and American glam metal acts like Quiet Riot , W.A.S.P. , Twisted Sister , Bon Jovi , Mötley Crüe and Ratt . New Romantic acts in
7742-463: The rock scene's first openly gay star, was also part of the glam rock scene. Glam rock hits " Walk on the Wild Side " by Lou Reed and " Rebel Rebel " by David Bowie also brought attention to non-heteronormative situations in the world of rock. When discussing "Rebel Rebel", Tim Bowers of The New York Times recalls that "glam's vocals had a fruity theatricality, supporting lyrics that presented as
7840-644: The show were presented on BBC1 by Alan Freeman . Chris Wright left the line-up in late 1964 and was replaced by Ian Gillan . Ann Cully also joined the band as a vocalist. Mick Tucker, from Kingsbury , joined on drums replacing Phil Kenton. The band recorded a number of tracks including a cover of the Coasters - Hollies hit "Ain't That Just Like Me", which was probably recorded at Jackson Sound Studios in Rickmansworth . The track includes Gillan on vocals, Tucker on drums and, according to band bassist Jan Frewer,
7938-583: The singer/bassist (Steve Mann depped on keyboards) until the group finally landed a new permanent front man when Peter Lincoln (ex- Sailor ) arrived in July 2006. The line-up then consisted of Scott, Bisland, Grant and Lincoln. Scott produced the Suzi Quatro album Back to the Drive , released in February 2006. March 2006 saw the US release of his band's album Sweetlife . In 2007 the group played in Germany, Belgium, Austria and Italy. In May of that year,
8036-494: The singles "Sixties Man" and "Give The Lady Some Respect". Tragedy befell Mick Tucker when his wife Pauline drowned in the bath at their home on 26 December 1979. The band withdrew from live work for all of 1980. One more studio album, Identity Crisis , was recorded in London during 1980–81 but was only released in West Germany and Mexico. Sweet undertook a short tour of the UK and performed their last live show at Glasgow University on 20 March 1981. Steve Priest then returned to
8134-939: The solo LP Enchanté on the Rockin' Bones label and formed the band Heartthrob Chassis, who signed with Milan Records . Dan Kroha performs solo and leads the band Danny and the Darleans, in addition to occasional touring with a reformed Gories. Glam rock Glam rock is a style of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom in the early 1970s and was primarily defined by the flamboyant clothing, makeup , and hairstyles of its musicians, particularly platform shoes and glitter . Glam artists drew on diverse sources, ranging from bubblegum pop and 1950s rock and roll to cabaret , science fiction , and complex art rock . The flamboyant clothing and visual styles of performers were often camp or androgynous , and have been described as playing with other gender roles . Glitter rock
8232-586: The song. One more single from the album, "California Nights" (May 1978), featuring Steve Priest as the lead vocalist, peaked at number 23 on the German chart. Between March and May 1978 Sweet extensively toured the US, as a support act for Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band. The tour included a disastrous date in Birmingham, Alabama on 3 May, during which visiting Capitol Records executives in
8330-403: The subsequent single release, "Turn It Down" (November 1974), reached only No. 41 on the UK chart and No. 2 in Denmark. "Turn It Down" received minimal airplay on UK radio and was banned by some radio stations because of certain lyrical content – "God-awful sound" and "For God sakes, turn it down" – which were deemed "unsuitable for family listening." The band resumed playing live shows nearly
8428-512: The track to various recording companies. The band held auditions for a replacement guitarist and settled on Welsh-born Andy Scott. He had most recently been playing with Mike McCartney (brother of Paul ) in the Scaffold . As a member of the Elastic Band , he had played guitar on two singles for Decca , "Think of You Baby" and "Do Unto Others". He also appeared on the band's lone album release, Expansions on Life , and on some recordings by
8526-490: Was a more extreme version of glam rock. The UK charts were inundated with glam rock acts from 1971 to 1975. The March 1971 appearance of T. Rex frontman Marc Bolan on the BBC's music show Top of the Pops —performing " Hot Love "—wearing glitter and satins, is often cited as the beginning of the movement. Other British glam rock artists included David Bowie , Mott the Hoople , Sweet , Slade , Mud , Roxy Music , Alvin Stardust and Gary Glitter . Though not central to
8624-435: Was a queer paradise of sorts. Watching Mick Ronson and Bowie frolic onstage gave hope to every queer kid in the world. John's flamboyancy was also of great comfort. Marc Bolan of T. Rex is still the subject of speculation (a friend who worked at Creem remembers him coming on to just about everyone when he came through Detroit, but this clearly isn't definitive)." Glam also rock helped to normalise androgynous fashion. Jobriath,
8722-592: Was absent from a couple of gigs due to ill health and Martin Mickels stood in. Scott revealed later that he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer and was treated at the Bristol Royal Infirmary . After a course of treatment and rest, he was back to full touring fitness. In 2010 the band played at venues in Europe and back at Bilston in October. In March 2011 there was a short tour of Australia, Regal Theatre – Perth, and Clipsal 500, Adelaide with
8820-453: Was approached to play for them when Torpey decided to leave The Sweet after a gig at Playhouse Theatre, Walton-on-Thames , on 5 July 1969 but turned the job down as he wanted to concentrate on other interests. Guitarist Mick Stewart joined in 1969. Stewart had some rock pedigree, having previously worked with The (Ealing) Redcaps and Simon Scott & The All-Nite Workers in the mid-1960s. In late 1965, that band became The Phil Wainman Set when
8918-475: Was dismissed. Tucker was replaced by Roger Hills. When the Gentlemen eventually broke up, Hills and Box joined White Plains who eventually scored a hit with " My Baby Loves Lovin' ". In January 1968, Connolly and Tucker formed a new band, calling themselves The Sweetshop. They recruited bass guitarist and vocalist Steve Priest from a local band called The Army. Priest had previously played with mid-'60s band
9016-471: Was eventually assumed by Frank Torpey (born Frank Edward Torpey, 30 April 1945, Kilburn , North West London) – a schoolfriend of Tucker's who had just left West London group The Tribe (aka The Dream). Torpey only lasted a few months, and in late 1967 Robin Box (born 19 June 1944) took his place. Searle disappeared from the scene. Tucker and Connolly remained with Wainwright's Gentlemen until January 1968, when Tucker
9114-508: Was not only a highly successful trend in UK popular music, it became dominant in other aspects of British popular culture during the 1970s. A heavier variant of glam rock, emphasising guitar riff centric songs, driving rhythms and live performance with audience participation, were represented by bands like Slade and Mott the Hoople , with later followers such as Def Leppard , Cheap Trick , Poison , Kiss , and Quiet Riot , some of which either covered Slade compositions (such as " Cum On Feel
9212-526: Was produced by Phil Wainman and engineered by Richard Dodd and Eric Holland. It was not a serious contender on the charts. February 1972 saw the release of "Poppa Joe", which reached number 1 in Finland and peaked at number 11 on the UK Singles Chart . The next two singles of that year, " Little Willy " and " Wig-Wam Bam ", both reached No. 4 in the UK. "Little Willy" peaked at No. 3 on
9310-513: Was replaced by Tia "Baby T" Dollrod. The band first found national exposure in the mid-1990s on the second stage at Lollapalooza and as an opening act for, respectively, Iggy Pop , The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion , and The Cramps . The band's sound has been influenced primarily by other famous Motor City rockers like the MC5 and the Stooges . Their stage performances have been likened to those of
9408-490: Was signed with the songwriting team of Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman. Phil Wainman resumed his collaboration with The Sweet, as executive producer. This management deal also included a worldwide record contract with RCA Records , with the exception of North America: in the United States and Canada, the band's records were distributed by Bell Records until late 1973, followed by Capitol Records . In March 1971, RCA issued "Funny, Funny", written by Chinn and Chapman, which became
9506-497: Was sufficiently impressed to record them. This led to a contract with Fontana Records . Just weeks before their debut release an unrelated artist released a single under the name Sweetshop, so the band abbreviated their moniker to The Sweet. "Slow Motion" (July 1968), produced by Wainman, failed to chart. The Sweet were released from the recording contract and Frank Torpey left after a further year of fruitless toil. In his autobiography Are You Ready Steve , Priest says Gordon Fairminer
9604-420: Was tasked to produce Connolly's vocals. It was felt Tucker would extract a better performance than Scott from Connolly. A number of tracks were recorded featuring Connolly. However, these efforts were deemed unsatisfactory and Brian left the band on 2 November 1978. On 23 February 1979, Brian Connolly's departure from Sweet was formally announced by manager David Walker. Publicly, Connolly was said to be pursuing
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