SIX DEGREES ENTERTAINMENT

Sweet is a success story that begins in 1970..

 

When Brian Connolly and Mick Tucker formed 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. 

 

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. "Co Co" 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". 

 

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.

 

"Love Is Like Oxygen" from the album "Level Headed" 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).

 

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. Even though the band has gone through several line ups over the last few decades, the current line up is stronger than ever before.

 

The current line up is:

Pete Lincoln - Lead vocals and Bass Guitar.

Bruce Bisland - Drums and Vocals.

Tony O’Hora - Guitar, Keyboards and Vocals.

Andy Scott - Guitar and Vocals.

 

Drummer BRUCE BISLAND [ex Weapon, Wildfire and Statetrooper] joined about 20 years ago and Andy had worked with Bruce on recording sessions as a producer and musician so knew he could be the right man for the job .

 

PETE LINCOLN is the most complete vocalist the band has had. He has spent many years touring the world with the likes of Sir Cliff Richard, Shaking Stevens and Sailor. The band now performs all of the hits and many album tracks, including "Set Me Free" the song most covered by other artists and Pete has grasped the position of Lead Vocalist and made it his own. 

 

TONY O’HARA joined, left and rejoined the Sweet on Keyboards/Guitars and Vocals. This is without doubt the finest vocal combination yet and we are all looking forward to the future.  His vocal range is stratospheric and once the band realised that he could play bass too then like a phoenix rising we were on our way. Tony brought a new dimension that is still prevalent today.

 

This particular line up of Sweet heralded a bright future for the band and Sweet's appearance on many festivals and the concert footage from the shows bear witness to this. The band today is constantly touring the world and has a strong following of fans, old ones and certainly a lot of new ones coming to the shows.

 

SWEET - a band from the past for the future!