The Sweet Tribute

The Sweet

I remember vividly as a pre-teen getting my first record album. It was the American release of 'Desolation Boulevard'. I had an old record player that played well for that time.

Those are the moments I look back on when I got older, and seeing the movie, 'Wayne's World'. A friend of mine went out and got the sound track. I will never forget his words that day. He made a big mistake.

"Hey Jeff, check out this new band! They are called Sweet. They made a remake of that song by Krokus, called Ballroom Blitz!"

I smiled and did not say a word. If only he knew the truth. His comment made me feel old.

That is not the first blunder I've heard about 'The Sweet'.

I was at a small party in the eighties. Three girls were blasting a new Pat Benatar cassette they purchased, when I heard her version of the tune, 'No You Don't' (In the Heat of the Night LP - 1979).

One of them blurted out "She knows how to write, listen Jeff to a woman's point of view." The girls cheered. I smiled feeling old as I remember 'The Sweet' doing the original (Sweet Fanny Adams LP - 1974).

Vince Neil (Mötley Crüe) even remade some 'Sweet' tunes during one of his solo releases.

There is still a controversy over "Desolation Boulevard" with what songs were and were not released on that album. The Sweet recorded their music in London. The bottom line is there were two big releases. One version of 'Desolation Boulevard" is a UK release. The American release was sort of a greatest hits package, with tracks that were on previous albums. Now that I have the compact disc, I have had the privilege of hearing both versions of "Fox On The Run".

At one time in the seventies, the only way to get the song "Medussa" in America, was to buy the 45 record of "Action'. It was heard on the other side of the single. It was not on any LP in the United States back then.


The Sweet

I turned on my radio the other day, and I heard yet another band who redone another version of a song by 'The Sweet'. This classic Glam Rock group has made a great impact in music. The Sweet has influenced and touched a culture from the nineteen seventies to 'Waynes World' and later a band called 'Sweet FA'.

In the future we may hear many more groups doing different versions on the radio as well as hearing new Sweet material. The Sweet is the kind of band that should always be remembered.

I will never forget the first record album I ever bought. I was a pre-teen. It was the hum of the speakers, and my chest length hair hanging in beads of sweat. My anxious hands cranked the volume full blast. I softly scraped the needle with my thumb to clean off the needle. My bedroom shook from the sound. I took the arm and gently rested the needle, on side one of the American version of the album "Desolation Boulevard"! Suddenly there was a loud roar of the drums! I closed my eyes imagining a big fight. The entire neighborhood began to hear Brian Connolly ask Steve Priest if he was ready. The rest is a Sweet memory.


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