Interview by Devorah Ostrov
During a Rave-Up holiday in London, my friend Sara and I met onetime Sweet vocalist Brian Connolly. Sadly, it was not the wonderfully fun encounter you might have imagined.
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| Sweet - 1973 Bravo magazine (Photo: Gered Mankowitz) |
If I'd known beforehand how much they yearned to be a normal-looking, normal-sounding hard rock outfit, I could've prepared some earnest questions. (Or perhaps skipped the whole thing and avoided what was probably once, a long time ago, Connolly's sure-fire pick-up line: "Come sit next to me, little girl.") Instead, I blundered my way through this (as it turned out) very short and somewhat awkward exchange with the group's former lead singer. At least he was mildly interested when he heard that Sara and I were from California.
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Brian Connolly on the cover of Music Star - 1974
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Q: But we loved Sweet's glam image and all those Chinn and Chapman songs!
Brian: Oh, we got away with it, but we didn't think we would in the States. We thought we would shake off the glitter and the lipstick. We thought America was ready for rock, and we could be the rock band we wanted to be. We arrived in Los Angeles, got to the Sunset Strip, and there it was in huge glam rock neon: WELCOME THE SWEET!
Q: So, you guys didn't like the Chinn and Chapman tunes? You wanted to be a hard rock band.
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| The Sweet (publicity photo) |
Brian: "Ballroom Blitz" was written during the time of the ballrooms, when they were literally going berserk in this country. We had "stomp-mania." It was us and Slade. We were literally pulling gigs to bits with people just going berserk!
Q: Would you consider working with Steve, Andy, and Mick again?
Brian: Yeah, I'd love to do an album with them again! I'm talking to them now. Steve's in for it. Andy wants to do an album, but not roadwork. I know Mick is in for it 'cause he's the only one that has nothing going for him. With the way things are going for me, I have a good chance of going out by myself anyway.
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R.I.P. Brian Connolly, who passed away in February 1997 after suffering several heart attacks and liver failure.
R.I.P. Mick Tucker, who passed away in February 2002 from leukemia.
Thank you. Have you considered putting these great stories in book form (e-book or print)? I'd buy it.
ReplyDeleteThank you! I've considered the idea, but so far not taken any action.
DeleteI don't get what was so awkward about this interview. Seems pretty normal to me.
ReplyDeleteIt's four questions long & mostly to do with how much he disliked everything I loved about the band. At the time, I didn't know the backstory, or I would have steered the interview in a more serious direction. Plus, I was really creeped out when he said, "Come sit next to me, little girl." I'd never wanted to sit further away from anyone in my life!
Delete"never wanted to sit further away from anyone in my life!" Why do you say this?? He'd suffered a lot, he'd used to be a gentle handsome man and lost his life to alcoholism. He was not a crap!
DeleteI didn't think that interview was that bad. I was expecting a lot worse from the way you described it. But it's weird that you didn't know that Sweet hated the Chinn Chapman crap. They said that so many times in magazine interviews.
ReplyDeleteI thought Sweet were incredibly talented musicians. The guitar and drum work on Desolation Boulevard is so amazing. I do think Swet were a little too gimmicky and kiddy at times though considering their talent. Their vocals were always amazing. I also think Queen copped a lot from The Sweet.
Chinnichap were pop geniuses. Sweet's own material with a couple of exceptions was totally inferior.
DeleteI'm glad to hear that other people think this interview is OK. But it still makes me cringe with embarrassment. I had no idea about Sweet's history or internal struggles. I only knew the singles I'd heard on the radio when I was a kid and the only things I'd read about them were published in teenybopper magazines - so, I probably knew their favorite colors when I was 10! I didn't have a chance to do any research before the interview. I met Brian's publicist one afternoon, and thought it would be fun to talk about the good old glam rock days. Sadly, that was the last thing Brian wanted to talk about.
ReplyDeleteYeah Brian was just being Brian. Guys in the 70s had a different mantra. Remember we look at these guys as rock artists. But behind the scenes of the Sweet there was a lot and I mean a lot of tension. Andy and Brian did not get along too well. The realities of living and travelling with people you have a hard time with, can add up. If you read about they're experiences recording Level Headed, Brian was really out of it on the booze. Yeah they're music mostly sucked after Give Us A Wink, but they lived on as musicians of the highest grade. Mick was an incredible drummer, Andy? great guitarist one of the best. Steve? again a great bassist, and Brian was a good front man with a good voice
ReplyDeleteOf course, you're completely right.
DeleteThank you for your contribution!
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