Brian Connolly

The Legacy
Sweet is a success story that begins in 1970. When Brian Connolly and Mick Tucker left Wainwrights Gentlemen in 1968 to form their own band "Sweetshop", later shortened to "The Sweet", little did they know what lay ahead. They recruited Steve Priest on bass who was gaining a reputation with his band, The Army. After two guitarists, Frank Torpey and Mick Stewart and four singles which failed to make the charts the band were at a crossroads, almost at the point of splitting when Andy Scott, from The Elastic Band, joined. The year was 1970 and the "Classic" Sweet line up was complete.

Glam Rock

Brian Connolly, the band's original lead vocalist, had the good fortune to meet record producer, Phil Wainman at the BBC, who had met a couple of songwriters, Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman, their songs needed a singer and eventually a band. The first Sweet single "Funny Funny" was among the original recordings and the rest as they say is history. The early years brought chart success but did not satisfy the band musically. "CoCo" and "Poppa Joe" gave the band the hits they craved but lacked credibility. The change came with the onset of Glam - "Little Willy" and "Wig Wam Bam" had a tongue in cheek innuendo but when "Blockbuster!" hit the number one spot in the UK, Sweet were arguably the hottest ticket in town. Several more hits followed, "Hellraiser", "Ballroom Blitz", "Teenage Rampage", "The Six Teens" and "Turn It Down" as well as two acclaimed albums "Sweet Fanny Adams" and "Desolation Boulevard".

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Level Headed
In 1974 The Who invited Sweet to play on the legendary Charlton Athletic gig but  sadly it was not to be after Brian Connolly was involved in a nasty attack outside a night club and sustained injuries to his throat. In 1975 the USA had discovered Sweet and the band embarked on their toughest touring schedules to date but with it brought success in the form of albums and singles. "Fox On The Run" hit the top 3 in the USA and is still the biggest selling single worldwide, hotly followed by the musicians' favourite "Action", Sweet were at the very top. The albums "Give Us A Wink" and "Off The Record" and the subsequent singles, "Lies In Your Eyes", "Lost Angels", "Fever Of Love" and "Stairway To The Stars" had less impact but the hectic touring continued and the writing was on the wall - Sweet needed a fresh start.

Enter "Love Is Like Oxygen" from the album "Level Headed". This immediately propelled the band back to the top, a worldwide hit single and album, just what was needed. In 1978 "Love Is Like Oxygen" written by Andy Scott and Trevor Griffin won an Ivor Novello nomination and an Ascap Award in the USA, the future was looking good. With good news there is often bad and Brian was soon to leave Sweet. His well documented alcoholism damaged his health during the gruelling tour schedules of the USA and things were never the same after his departure [Brian sadly died on 9th February 1997]. "Cut Above The Rest" and "Waters Edge", though highly rated by reviewers did not reach the same criteria with sales. The band finally ran out of road by 1981/82 with the posthumous release of "Identity Crisis". With Steve now living in the USA and Mick coming to terms with life after the sudden death of his first wife, the Sweet found themselves at a crossroads once again.

The Reformation
It was just before Christmas 1984 with Andy now living in Central London when he met Sweet's former agent in the street. They went for a pint and the seed was sown for Sweet to reform and go back on the road. Andy's career as a solo artist/record producer/session musician was just about ticking over and he finally came to the conclusion that the triumphant return of Sweet would be a good idea and has never looked back since.
After a couple of late nights with Mick Tucker, Andy contacted Agent Nigel and the grand reformation was set in motion. Steve was duly contacted and it looked for a while that he would rejoin when the plan was solid. Steve eventually pulled away from the reformation citing that he did not want to tour any more, leaving Mick and Andy to find other musicians.

The first reformed line-up of Sweet in 1985 was very much a heavy rock ensemble. Vocalist - Paul Mario Day [ex Iron Maiden], Keyboards and Vocals - Phil Lanzon [ex Grand Prix now with Uriah Heep] and on Bass and Vocals -  Mal McNulty [ex Weapon now with Slade] joined Andy and Mick to begin the new chapter of Sweet. Tours of Australia and Europe were first on the agenda selling out everywhere. "Live At The Marquee" was recorded during a three night sell out blitz at The Marquee Club in London just before the infamous venue closed it's doors for good and has pride of place as an historic event for the band. All good things must change so when Paul decided to live permanently in Australia and Phil left to join Uriah Heep the band needed new blood. After a couple of dry runs the new band had Mal McNulty move to Lead Vocals, Steve Mann [ex Lionheart and Michael Schenker Group] on Keyboards/Guitars and Jeff Brown [ex Statetrooper] on Bass. Tours of USA, Europe followed as the band continued it's upward surge. In 1990 Mick Tucker fell ill on one of the biggest tours to date, a European venture that was to take in 9 countries in 6 weeks. He'd had an epileptic fit and a recurrence of a previous health problem, pancreatitis. His place was taken by Bodo Schopf [ex MSG] as a temporary drummer but Mick was never to return to the band [Mick Tucker died on 14th February 2002 after a 6 year battle with Leukaemia].

'Sweet' continue to perform, tour, and record, in 2025, with Andy Scott the only surviving original member

From the Sweet official web site.
https://www.thesweet.com/