So friend of PowerPop (and me) Sam Walters, a heavy metal kid whom attentive readers will remember me touting as the lead singer for an incomparable NYC band called King Hell -- seen here live, doing to Duran Duran's "Hungry Like the Wolf" what always should have been done to it....
...has apparently developed (or perhaps finally copped to) an obsession with 70s British glam rock gods The Sweet. As witness this item he put up at Facebook last week. (If you can't read the caption, it says ""So, Sam, what do you do?" "I listen to Sweet around the clock and drive my wife @#$!* nuts.")
For those of you who don't remember the Sweet, you're not alone, at least in this country, where they're mostly known solely for their 1972 hit "Little Willie," which was sort of bubble-gum Who.
Me, I loved that song at the time (still do), but most of the rock critics in the Rolling Stone axis never took the band terribly seriously, and perhaps as a result, they never quite caught on here. In the rest of the world that listened to pop music, however, they were household word superstar teen idols. I mean, we're talking like the biggest glam act of them all.
In any event, this song, from 1975, is more or less considered their signature tune, and at the time it was a smasheroo, there were probably very few places on the planet (save for the USofA) where you wouldn't have heard it blasting out of your neighbor's stereo at all hours. (I should add that the video also gives you a pretty good idea of what a cool live act they apparently were; I particularly dig drummer Mick Tucker's Buddy Rich/Gene Krupa inspired stick-twirling action.)
Anyway, I hadn't thought much about them lately until Sam posted about his band-crush the other day, and I thought I'd share my response at the time (slightly re-edited). As I said, this is massively self-indulgent.
Hey Sam -- the summer of 75 that "Fox on the Run" was a hit everywhere but the USA, I spent a week on vacation in Spain -- Torremolinos, and it's a hell of a town. The night before I was due to fly home, I found myself at a local club chatting with a lovely British gal -- a governess, BTW -- who I had met that evening. Her name was Stefanie, and she was from Bournemouth (which I found terribly exotic) and she was totally out of my league, with jet black bangs, alabaster skin, a plummy accent and the bluest eyes I ever got lost in. I had not previously heard FOTR, but somehow, I found myself dancing with her every time it came over the sound system (which was at least thrice, if memory serves) and I was in heaven each time. Nothing further (or unsuitable for mentioning in a family blog) transpired, and I never saw her again after saying goodbye that night. Still, it remains one of the most vivid and magical memories of my adult life. And for this -- if nothing else -- I will forever be in the Sweet's debt,
Hey, I said this story would be self-indulgent. I didn't mention that it would also be boring.
5 comments:
They were a bit too bubble-gummy, but they did have some catchy tunes. I always liked Ballroom Blitz:
https://youtu.be/tqketmsRz1E?si=mUix9npz-DNRbhBA
Rodney Bingenheimer's English Disco was playing Sweet's UK hits at least a year before they broke in the USA. I think the US version of Desolation Boulevard is classic. Great for parties. Every song's a winner. I mean, Ballroom Blitz, Fox On the Run, The 6-Teens, No You Don't, Sweet F.A., I Wanna Be Committed, and the wonderful A.C.D.C. (She's got some other woman as well as me). Such fun.
Being a denizen of the Sunset Strip, I love the album cover as well. I've been in every one of those businesses pictured and it's all associated with fun. They even have the ARCO station where the owner would let me park free of charge, so long as I topped off my tank with his whorehouse priced gas. And also captured is Power Burger. They had these pita pocket chili burgers that were great called Power Burgers. It was right across from the Whisky so we'd eat there a lot either pre-show, post-show and sometimes during. Perfect munchies but a little messy. I'd change clothes in the back "Employees Only" room without permission. The place is long gone, just like every other business on the cover. Except Turner's Liqour, where I once bought two candles which were well-formed boobs with wicks coming out of the nipples. That was the night of the Runaways-Weirdo's gig at the Whisky. Turner's Liquor is now Terner's Liquor. The new owner didn't wanna pay for a new sign. Filthy McNasty's became the Central (where we once had drinks with Keith Richards) and then the Viper Room. The Classic Cat went out and became Tower Video till they went out of biz. Sorry for the memory lane lapse.
But, yeah, the Sweet were a Top 5 band in SoCal. Every car I traveled in seemed to have an 8-track or cassette of it in its tape box. It was as popular around my neck of the woods as Frampton Comes Alive would become later. Ironically, I don’t think the Sweet ever played the Sunset Strip prior to this album. They kicked ass live when we saw them at the Santa Monica Civic, though.
VR
P.S. Steve- I don't think your story's boring at all. Sounds fun. No cigar, but at least you didn't have to worry about STD's or how you'd perform. There's a sweet mystery in purity.
P.S.S. I guess the new Stones album is pretty good. Haven't listened to it yet. Been too busy wallowing in Dwight Twilley. Very sad. He was a great guy. And super cute.
Meanwhile, Slade--who are downright *goofy*; The Wiggles of their time--have full-length documentaries about them... I don't get it. And thanks for the look-back plug!
VR -- I should qualifed the stuff about Sweet not being big in the US with all that LA stuff.
I regret the error.
Count me in as a Sweet fan. Their earliest stuff- Lollipop Man- is bona fide juvenile. Funny Funny is very infectious in an Archies vein. But they hit their stride when they came under the golden touch of Svengali Mike Chapman. Blockbuster, Wig Wam Bam, Action, et al are just plain great pop-rock 45s. After Fox on the Run they went heavier and album-oriented. Mick Tucker was a top drummer, and sole survivor Andy Scott is still touring under the Sweet banner.
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