wombatboter Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 My first record was "Ballroom Blitz"....still blows me away. I've got a greatest hits-cd which is just great...so many good songs and so well played and sung.. Teenage Rampage, Hellraiser, Action, The Sixteens, The Lies in your eyes, Love is like oxygen. Sort of band which inspired me to be a musician myself one day.. So magical : "Are you ready, Steve ? Andy ? Mick ? Allright fellas, lets gooooooooooooooo !" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big_Stu Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 [quote name='dave_bass5' timestamp='1323090346' post='1459060']The singer (who was also playing bass) and guitarist in my current band were doing something with Brian Connolly just before he died. [/quote] Your singer is Dave Glover?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave_bass5 Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 No, this was something that never got out of basic rehearsals apparently. I wasnt involved so cant really confirm what happened but i think they quit when they realised it wasn't going anywhere. Could be that this wasn't the final project Brian did. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big_Stu Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 I met BC about a year before he died; sadly by then most of what he intended to do was in his imagination only; though he was still a really nice guy - and well aware of his failings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave_bass5 Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 (edited) Knowing what my guys are like i can well imagine it not going anywhere. They did say he would turn up and just sit in the corner, looked like he was asleep most of the time, and couldn't sing in the correct key. Edited December 5, 2011 by dave_bass5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skychaserhigh Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 I did a gig with Sweet on the bill once , they were just awesome ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassmachine2112 Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 Andy Scott-what a guitar player.Tottaly underated. He did all the layered stuff,listen to Action-big layers of guitars and vocals. [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6JIMWhERbA"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6JIMWhERbA[/url] Top stuff this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassmachine2112 Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XTGVOAp7tE&feature=related"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XTGVOAp7tE&feature=related[/url] oops another one Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveK Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 Having worked, in the late 80s, with many bands from the [i]Glam[/i] era, I came across BC's Sweet many times and got to know the lads a little. I have to be honest and say that watching BC on stage was not a pleasant experience. He was clearly not well. To the normal ticket buying punter he would look drunk, I had even heard that gig reviews would often refer to a 'drunk Brian Connolly'. He wasn't drunk, the fact was, he had been very ill and was on serious medication. During one of these shows Dave Dee (sadly also, no longer with us) and I were in the wings discussing BC and his performance, I remember saying, 'Jeez, he looks and sounds awful, he should knock it on the head...why does he still do it?' To which Dave Dee replied, 'It's that or the dole!' hmm, not too much to argue with there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big_Stu Posted December 6, 2011 Share Posted December 6, 2011 [quote name='SteveK' timestamp='1323127974' post='1459734'] ...why does he still do it?' To which Dave Dee replied, 'It's that or the dole!' hmm, not too much to argue with there. [/quote] It's a common theme on the nostalgia circuit; most of those you see are the ones who didn't write the hits - or if so - very few of them. The track "Action" was written about the music-business (no names mentioned) all wanting their cut from the band. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonybassplayer Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 Guilty pleasure band for me Some excellent guitar riffs and sing a long choruses. Heard quite a few local bands covering some of the more rockier songs over the last few years and they still sound great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gicut58 Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 Pure class, with or without Chinn & Chapman, with or without Connolly (RIP), oh to be a young teenager in the early 70's. Their vocal harmonies were credited as the model for Queen's vocal harmonies, and if I remember right AS got himself an Ivor Novello award for 'Love is Like Oxygen', still one of my all time favourites. I may be wrong, but last I heard It's not over, DP was (is) pushing his version of the band west of the atlantic and AS in Europe.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big_Stu Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 [quote name='gicut58' timestamp='1323270053' post='1461335'] and if I remember right AS got himself an Ivor Novello award for 'Love is Like Oxygen',[/quote] He was nominated - but - IIRC - lost out to"Baker Street", DP?? Steve Priest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gicut58 Posted December 8, 2011 Share Posted December 8, 2011 yes, him. Just the Alzh kicking in for a second :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike f Posted December 8, 2011 Share Posted December 8, 2011 THE first band I ever stole the singles off my big brother to play..., over and over and over again. I must've been about 5 or 6. Fox On The Run, Hellraiser, Blockbuster and Teenage Rampage filled my head and started me off with my love of rock music. Great stuff! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NancyJohnson Posted December 8, 2011 Share Posted December 8, 2011 I loved The Sweet as a kid...great singles/b-sides band and in my opinion peaked with Sweet Fanny Adams and Desolation Boulevard. Sadly the only time I saw 'them' live was on a horrific double-bill of Les Gray's Mud and Brian Connoly's Sweet at Guildford Civic Hall about twenty years ago. Connolly was a gibbering wreck at that time and barely moved two feet from his mic-stand; he had to be led on and off stage. His voice had gone and the drink had obviously wrecked his system. He was being heckled horribly by some blokes in the audience (someone shouted, 'You fat bastard!' and he stammered through response of, 'I've lost forty pounds actually.'). Awful. It's an image I just can't shake, even after all these years. P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lozz196 Posted December 8, 2011 Share Posted December 8, 2011 (edited) In the late 80s I did a gig, and the guy doing the PA regularly worked with Brian Connolly. Apparently, at the end of the shows, when the curtains closed he would just fall backwards onto the stage. He would have to be picked up, and held in place til the curtains opened for the encore - the "hands" then running with the curtains, til the end, when the same thing would happen again. Such a shame. I`m glad I remember The Sweet from Top of The Pops in the early 70s - such good fun, and to me, the best songs from the bands of that era - tho Marc Bolan was a definate contender. Edit - just listening to my Best Of The Sweet cd - superb! Edited December 8, 2011 by Lozz196 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmccombe7 Posted December 9, 2011 Author Share Posted December 9, 2011 So many sad stories of Brian. Kinda beginning to wish i hadn't opened this thread. I've always had great memories of sweet. Always seems a shame to hear these things about a guy who was a great inspiration to so many kids at that time. Still i have the albums and the memories and that'll do for me. Good times as they say. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NancyJohnson Posted June 1, 2016 Share Posted June 1, 2016 I know this thread is about five years old, but the restored version of the Live/Studio double 'Strung Up' dropped through my letterbox at the weekend and I've been playing that along with Sweet Fanny Adams and Desolution Boulevard almost exclusively for the last few days. Some 40 years on, I'm still knocked out by how good they were, or more to the point, what a great product they bought to the market. I can still remember the excitement I felt when, as a ten year old kid, I read in Disco 45 that the next single would be called Ballroom Blitz (whatever that actually meant). These three albums (along with a handful of Sparks and Mott The Hoople albums), formed the backbone of what consituted my record collection as a pre-teenage kid and I've come to accept that it was probably Steve Priest who initially made me want to play the bass in the first place. Great stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bikenbass Posted June 1, 2016 Share Posted June 1, 2016 A greatly underrated and overlooked band imo. I was lucky enough to see them at the then Hammersmith Odeon after they returned from touring the States. A fantastic concert. They used to rehearse at Ram Studios in Hayes Middlesex and my Mum would often tell me they'd been in the bank where she used to work. Surprisingly, a very hard rocking band. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Man Riva Posted June 1, 2016 Share Posted June 1, 2016 [quote name='NancyJohnson' timestamp='1464792072' post='3062598'] I read in Disco 45 that the next single would be called Ballroom Blitz (whatever that actually meant).[/quote] 'Disco 45'.. Blimey, that's a blast from the past. It felt like rough book paper and was in an odd/vibrant colour each month! My overriding memory of that publication is seeing the lyrics to Ride a White Swan in print and it nearly blowing my tiny head off - what could it all mean, it sounds amazing but makes no sense?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColinB Posted June 2, 2016 Share Posted June 2, 2016 Sweet Fanny Adams was the first album I ever bought...... I still listen occasionally. Fantastic band. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul S Posted June 2, 2016 Share Posted June 2, 2016 (edited) Some old 'lost' live footage from a show on German TV in '74 has recently appeared. Quality stuff. [media]http://youtu.be/Ndnidos5HRU[/media] http://youtu.be/8rGYtfC0R_U Edited June 2, 2016 by Paul S Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beerdragon Posted June 2, 2016 Share Posted June 2, 2016 Supported Andy Scott and his brother few times when they where in a band called Elastic Band, Proper Prog Rock. Hammond organ, Flute. they made one album, split.The Singer joined Love Affair. the Drummer joined Mayfields Mule and Henry Cow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmccombe7 Posted June 3, 2016 Author Share Posted June 3, 2016 [quote name='ColinB' timestamp='1464850344' post='3063060'] Sweet Fanny Adams was the first album I ever bought...... I still listen occasionally. Fantastic band. [/quote] Think this was my first proper band album too (after the usual TOTP's compilation albums) Also the Strung Up album is a fantastic remix of the old songs. New singer does a great job as a replacement for Brian. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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