Sweet-The Collection

Another one from The Collector Series this one is a U.K. import from 1989 probably bought at the record store off Cottman Ave. when I was living in Philly. The Sweet (later just Sweet) were a Bubblegum/Pop band from England that recorded songs written by the songwriting team of Chinn/Chapman in the early 70’s. “Little Willy” was a big Top 40 hit in the U.S. that I remember from that time, as was “Ballroom Blitz” their best known song. Neither of those songs are on this compilation. This collection focuses on their Glam Rock period of the mid 70’s. I originally had the Desolation Boulevard album bought around 1975 which was different from the European release and had the singles “Ballroom Blitz” and “Fox On The Run” as well as songs from their previous record Sweet Fanny Adams. All but two songs from that record are on this one. “AC/DC” and “Sweet F.A.” were played as background music to an X-rated movie I saw around 1979 while some “activities” were going on. I can’t hear those two songs without thinking of that. There are some good Rockers on here like “Solid Gold Brass”, “Into The Night”, and “Set Me Free” as well as a cover of an early 60’s song “Peppermint Twist”. There are five penned by Chinn/Chapman including “The Sixteens”, No You Don’t” and “AC/DC”. Three songs are from 1975’s Give Us A Wink, another one I used to have, the mellow (for them)”Lady Starlight” being the best of them. “Lost Angels” from ’77’s Level Headed is the newest song on the album. Guitarist Andy Scott is the only surviving member of the line-up that recorded these songs.

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