Strung Up, released in the fall of 1975, continued the group's move toward album-oriented rock. "Fox on the Run" appeared on the collection Desolation Boulevard in America, its release helped "Ballroom Blitz" reach the Top Ten in the summer of 1975. In the spring of 1975, Sweet had their first self-penned hit with "Fox on the Run," which reached the Top Ten in both the U.K. The resulting album, Sweet Fanny Adams, reached number 27 in the U.K., but it yielded no hits. For the next two years, Sweet continued to chart with Chinn and Chapman compositions, including the Top Ten hits "Hell Raiser," "Ballroom Blitz," "Teenage Rampage," and "The Six Teens."īy the summer of 1974, the members of Sweet had grown tired of the control Chinn and Chapman exerted over their career and decided to record without the duo. "Blockbuster," the first result of Chinn and Chapman's neo-glam rock approach, was the biggest hit Sweet ever had in the U.K., reaching number one on the charts in early 1973 and eventually going platinum. Consequently, the duo decided to write tougher songs for the group. All of the group's compositions were harder than Chinn and Chapman's songs, featuring crunching hard rock guitars. During this time, Sweet were writing their own B-sides and album tracks. The duo wrote five more Top 40 hits for the group - including "Little Willy" and "Wig-Wam Bam" - which were all lightweight bubblegum numbers loaded with double entendres. Chinn and Chapman wrote a number of light bubblegum pop songs for the group, the first of which, "Funny Funny," reached number 13 on the U.K. The new lineup of Sweet signed to RCA Records in 1971, where they were placed under the direction of songwriters Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman. Following their failure, Torpey left the group and was replaced by Andy Scott. In 1970, the group truncated their name to Sweet and signed a record contract with Fontana/EMI, releasing four unsuccessful singles. Originally, the Sweet were called the Sweetshop and consisted of Brian Connolly (vocals), Mick Tucker (vocals, drums), Frank Torpey (guitar), and Steve Priest (bass). By the end of the '70s, the group's time at the top of the charts had expired but their hit singles lived on not only as cultural artifacts, but also as the predecessors for the pop-metal of the '80s.
Chinn/ Chapman and Sweet were smart enough to latch on to the British glam rock fad, building a safer, radio-friendly, and teen-oriented version of Queen, T.
Most of those songs were written by Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman, a pair of British songwriters who had a way with silly, simple, and catchy hooks. It was a dichotomy that served them well, as they racked up a number of hits in both the U.K. Fusing bubblegum melodies with crunching, fuzzy guitars, the band looked like a heavy metal band, but were as tame as any pop group. In some ways, the Sweet epitomized all the tacky hubris and garish silliness of the early '70s.
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