Sweet--Fox on the Run

[pierson]

The Sweet was a British rock band led by Brian Connolly (lead singer), Steve Priest (bass, vocals), Andy Scott (guitar, keyboards) and Mick Tucker (drums).

Brian Connolly died on February 10, 1997 at the age of 52 of renal failure.

Their first song "Co-Co" (co she ga ga oh, as heard in the chorus) (Bell) went to # 99 back in October of 1971.

The next song would become their biggest hit "Little Willy" (Bell) & a gold record which debuted on the Hot 100 back in January 20, 1973.

The song went to # 3 (kept from # 1 by War "The Cisco Kid" (spending it's second week) & "Tie A Yellow Ribbon Round The Ole Oak Tree" by Dawn Featuring Tony Orlando (spending it's third week at # 1) back on my birthday when I turned 8 years old on May 5, 1973.

The next week, it was kept from "You Are The Sunshine Of My Life" (remix with horns) by Stevie Wonder & Dawn With Tony (# 4 week at # 1) in May 12, 1973. Finally, it was kept again from # 1 by Dawn With Tony (# 2) & Stevie which hit # 1 back in May 19, 1973.

The next song "Blockbuster" (Bell) went to # 73 back in July of 1973.

The group signed with Capitol Records in early 1975 & the song "Ballroom Blitz" (Capitol) which debuted in the Hot 100 back in June 14, 1975 & went to # 5 back in October 18, 1975.

The next song "Fox On The Run" (Capitol) which debuted in the Hot 100 back in November 15, 1975 & a gold record that went to # 5 back in January 17, 1976.

The next song "Action" (Capitol) debuted on the Hot 100 back in February 14, 1976 & went to # 20 back in April of 1976.

The song "Funk It Up (David's Song)" (Capitol) went to # 88 back in August of 1977.

The song "Love Is Like Oxygen" (Capitol) debuted on the Hot 100 back in February 18, 1978 & went to # 8 (2 weeks) back in June 24 & July 1, 1978.

The final single "California Nights" (Capitol) went to # 76 back in August of 1978.

The group did NOT Bubbled Under in Billboard.

On the Billboard Top 200 Album Charts, the album "The Sweet" (Bell) debuted back in July 28, 1973 & went to # 191 back in August of 1973.

The company Razor & Tie reissued the CD back in February of 1998 with 5 bonus tracks & it is NO longer made.

The album "Desolation Boulevard" (Capitol) & a gold record debuted back in July 26, 1975 & went to # 25 back in January of 1976.

The album "Give Us A Wink" (Capitol) debuted back in March 6, 1976 & went to # 27 back in May of 1976.

The album "Off The Record" (Capitol) debuted back on May 14, 1977 & went to # 151 back in June of 1977.

The album "Level Headed" (Capitol) debuted back in February 18, 1978 & went to # 52 back in July of 1978.

The album "Cut Above The Rest" (Capitol) debuted back in May 12, 1979 & went to # 151 back in June of 1979.

The album "Sweet VI" (Capitol) from 1980 did NOT chart or Bubbled Under on Billboard.

Matt

MATT: FYI... here's a way to make it easier for the folks to read... yours truly, editor boy, pat pierson... GREAT INFO!

p.s. any info on any Sweet import comps-- newer ones, preferably...???

[Tony Cartmill]

Let me make a correction: 7th grade lyrics... <img border="0" alt="[blech!]" title="" src="graemlins/blech.gif" />

[Gregkevinw]

count me in as a sweet fan...

i do remember thinking the lyrics were "cheesy", but i thought the music was strong so it really did'nt matter to me.

for great lyrics i had "boats".........and jackson browne

[AJ]

On the original post, heard "Fox On The Run" played on 2 stations - Question: Were they both Clear Channel stations? In Cleveland, there's 3 Clear Channel Stations (one's out of Youngstown) that play the best hits of the 70's through today (self-proclaimed). Yesterday, they didn't even bother to stagger the playlist accross their stations - all three played "Here Comes The Sun" by George Harrison at the same time. That's pretty poor! What I wouldn't give to hear actual DJ's again!

The Sweet - When they started out, they were basically an outlet for Chinn and Chapman songs (like Suzi Quatro). Outside of that material, the group's own material tended to strive for 70's Glam Rock (such as Slade and T. Rex). If you listened to their entire albums, the lyrics were all over the board - some songs were sophisticated while others were juvenile. Unfortunately, if your label wants to market you a certain way (and picks which songs to release as singles), you're pretty much stuck unless you can afford to break your contract and risk being sued. Badfinger tried to fight their second label and their release time-table - they didn't fair too well.

[Early Wynn]

I was never a huge Sweet fan, but I did see them on the 4th of July, 1978 in Biloxi, Mississippi. It was Louisiana Le Roux, Eddie Money, Sweet, and Alice Cooper. Overall a pretty good show. I remember being surprised at how good Sweet was and how many hits they had had. They didn't play Ballroom Blitz, though. The thing I remember the most was the well endowed girl that was standing next to me took off her shirt and got up on her boyfriend's shoulders. Quite a thrill for a high school kid. :-)

[ira]

As I'm sure many of you have noticed, some commercials are using some rare musical stuff.Tonite -Monday 9/26/05 -a Chevy Truck commercial on 2 and 1/2 Men featured Sweet's "Teenage Rampage". Before this -my biggest surprise was The Kinks' "Picture Book" in a commercial for "Hewlett Packard" printers.

[Lew Bundles]

Sweet actually opened for the Berries on a show that my friend saw back in either Maine or Mass. baack in 1975...My friend was watching the show with McBride and Mike had made the remark that they were just another insecure band on the Capitol label...

[ira]

My friend Mel who is now a web poster saw them with Eric Carmen at the Tower theater in Philadelphia.

[CURLEW]

Chevrolet now hs TV & radio ads for their Trailblazer model, & if oyu listen closely, they

play in the background the original Sweet recording of 'Teenage Rampage' looping the line

"come join the revolution get yourself a constitution" over & over. Several months ago, there was a TV ad for another pickup truck in which the truck backed up off an auto carrier at

about 30 miles an hour with the sounds of Sweet

doing 'Ballroom Blitz.'

[Bob Allen]

I could be wrong, but I don't believe Sweet ever opened for the Raspberries...Eric opened for Sweet in 1976, as I recall (while I loved the bill, it was sort of a mis-match).

[Matthew C. Clark]

Raspburied: The information on THE SWEET is on Page 2. Matt

[Rasburied]

I did have the pleasure of meeting Steve Priest the original Sweet bass player at his home in LA a decade ago for a fan gathering there. We spent time with him chatting about the old Sweet days and touring with Eric Carmen in 1976. He wrote about it in his autobiography Are You Ready Steve? and I'll leave it at that. Don't want to bring up the negativities. John

[mannoman]

Bob - I think Ira's friend Mel is correct. It was the Raspberries opening for The Sweet at the Tower Theater in Upper Darby (just outside the Philly city limits).