Watch The Sweet perform live in archive footage from 1973
Alongside the likes of T. Rex and David Bowie, The Sweet enjoyed a brief period in which they became one of the best-known glam rock groups on the planet. To date, they have sold 35 million albums and had numerous UK top ten hits, but their career was blighted by a lot of tragedy.
Comprised of lead vocalist Brian Connolly, bass player Steve Priest, guitarist Andy Scott, and drummer Mick Tucker, The Sweet rose to prominence in the 1970s. They formed in London in 1968 and, following a collaboration with songwriters Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman, had their first hit with 1971’s ‘Funny Funny’.
Throughout their career, The Sweet struggled to shake off their glam rock adjacent, bubble-gum pop image. But post ‘Funny Funny’, they made a hard pivot from their usual Archies style upbeat nature to a more hard rock style supplemented by high-pitched backing vocals.
Many of their fans recognised The Sweet’s genuine potential as a rock outfit, and among them was Pete Townshend, who invited the band to support The Who at Charlton Athletic’s football ground in 1974. Just as they were about to shake off their old image, tragedy struck. Lead singer Brian Connolly was attacked by three men outside a bar in Staines after nipping out to buy a pack of cigarettes, with one of the attackers viciously stomping on his throat. The incident has caused much debate, with The Sweet bassist Steve Priest alleging it was pre-meditated.
“It was a set-up job,” Priest told the Guardian. “He’d annoyed someone. There were three guys attacking him and one of them kicked him in the throat. Brian heard him say, ‘That should do the job’. The only one who knows the truth is an ex-roadie of ours, and he won’t tell.”
The incident forever changed the band’s trajectory, permanently damaging Connolly’s vocal cords and crushing his confidence. Shortly after, he started drinking heavily and taking drugs, and The Sweet pulled out of their gig with The Who, and Connolly quit the band in 1979.
But the archive footage below of The Sweet playing London’s Rainbow Theatre serves as an enduring artefact of the band at their best, recorded at the height of their fame in Christmas 1973. Part of the concert was released on The Sweet’s double album Strung Up in 1975 before getting a full release on Live at the Rainbow 1973 in 1999, and features hits like ‘The Stripper’, Rock ‘n’ Roll Disgrace’, ‘Ballroom Blitz’ and ‘Teenage Rampage’.
The set highlights the band’s ability to evolve, playing a few of the pop tunes but interspersing them between the higher-octane rock songs. You can listen to The Sweet play The Rainbow Theatre below.
