Love is like oxygen...

Nostra Dam
Aug 2, 2021
11 min read

Updated: Feb 17

Sweet, better known as The Sweet, is an English band formed in 1968 and originally composed of Brin Connolly, Frank Torpey, Steve Priest and Mick Tucker.

Group which emerges at the beginning under the name of 'The Sweetshop' and which produces a first Single "Slow motion", Single which will go somewhat unnoticed unfortunately...

The group signed with the EMI label a year later in 1969, label with which they released other Singles such as "Lollipop man" the same year and "All you'll ever get from me" and "Get on the line" in 1970. Singles which once again will pass 'through'…

Change of label in 1971 and passage at RCA, a passage which will allow them to finally see their efforts rewarded with the success, and not least, of the Single "Funny funny". The title will become a real planetary hit and project the group on the front of the international scene in a shattering way to say the least. A huge success followed by another even bigger in stride with the release of the title "Co-Co", title which makes the group one of the biggest revelations of the moment.

Two tracks taken from the album "Funny how sweet Co-Co can be", album released the same year and which, paradoxically, will not really experience the same level of recognition as the 2 Singles he wore ...

Singles side, on the other hand, it is still euphoria with the release in 1972 of the title "Poppa Joe" off album, Single which will confirm the incredible dynamic that carries the group at this stage. Followed by little "Little Willy" and "Wig-Wam bam", two other Singles which also came out the same year and also off album. Two titles which will also end in mega hits, a real feat !

You might think that the group had reached the top of the world during that year 1972, but it was bad to know them. Because they will achieve the incredible feat of doing even stronger during the year 1973 with the release of 3 new Singles. Singles released once again outside the album and which will achieve incredible sales scores for two of them, namely "Block buster !" and "The ballroom blitz". The third, "Hell raiser" will be a step below but really from a little hair.

A year 1973 which also saw them change their name from 'The Sweet' to 'Sweet'.

Tired of their slightly too bubble-gum pop image, the group decided to change their image as well as their sound from 1974. With a much more hard rock musical orientation. A year which also coincides with the release of 2 new albums, just that.

Starting with "Sweet Fanny Adams", an album of notorious success but which will be unable to produce any Single of global class. On the other hand, the following one, “Desolation boulevard”, will know a much more favorable fate with to begin the production of two enormous Singles “The six teens” and “Turn it down” the same year.

But the icing on the cake will come a year later in 1975 with the release of a third track "Fox on the run", a Single that will shatter everything on a planetary level and keep the group at a level of success still amazing.

An exceptional year 1975 once again with the release of another huge Single with the title "Action", track taken from their new album "Give us a wink" which was released a year later in 1976.

A year 1976 which corresponds to the breaking point between a first part of a career with exceptional success and a second part with much more limited success.

The albums "Off the record", "Level headed" and "Cut above the best" which will be released in 1977, 1978 and 1979 respectively will experience honorable sales scores but will really struggle to produce Singles in the class of the previous ones. Only the flagship Single "Love is like oxygen" which will be released in 1978 will allow them to win a final star.

Because anything that comes out later will experience only a very limited level of success, resulting in the slow but irreparable demise of a group that will unquestionably remain as one of the most talented of their generation.

To discover or rediscover...

Discography (among others ...) :

60s Decade :

Slow motion 1968
Lollipop man 1969

70s Decade :

All you'll ever get from me 1970
Get on the line 1970
Funny funny 1971
Co-co 1971
Alexander Graham Bell 1971
Poppa Joe 1972
Jeanie 1972
Little Willy 1972
Wig-Wag Bam 1972
Block buster ! 1973
Hell raiser 1973
The ballroom blitz 1973
Teenage rampage 1974
The six teens 1974
Turn it down 1974
Breakdown 1974
Peppermint twist 1974
Fox on the run 1975
Action 1975
Lady starlight 1975
The lies in your eyes 1976
Lost angels 1976
Fever of love 1977
Funk it up (David's song) 1977
Love is like oxygen 1978
California nights 1978
Call me 1979
Big apple waltz 1979

80s Decade :

Give the lady some respect 1980
Sixties man 1980
Tell the truth 1980
Too much talking 1980
New shoes 1982
Love is the cure 1982
It makes me wonder 1982
It’s… It’s… The sweet mix 1984
Sweet 2th - The wigwam Willy mix 1985

90s Decade :

X-Ray-Specs 1991
Stand up 1992
Am I ever gonna see your face again 1992
Do as I say 1992
Mind 1992

2000s Decade :

Do it all over again 2002
Sweetlife 2002
You're crazy 2002
Never say forever 2002

2010s Decade :

Join together 2012
Gold on the ceiling 2012
Shapes of things 2012
Defender 2015

2020s Decade :

Everything 2021
Don't bring me water 2023
Changes 2023
Burning like a falling star 2024
Destination Hannover 2024
Circus 2025

Tracks :

1968 ... the very first steps of a little band out of nowhere. No one can imagine at this stage the incredible career that awaits them behind ...

1969 ... the group shows a more than obvious potential. But there is still a little work to be done before being able to integrate the big leagues in the long term, that's clear ...

1970 ... the 1960s saw them bloom but it was the 1970s that saw them literally explode on the international music scene. At least from 1971 ...

1970 ... in just 3 years they will have reached the level sufficient to be able to compete with the big sizes of the moment. Not only will they compete but they will outright crush the competition...

1971 ... the title of the big takeoff and what a takeoff ! The group goes from shade to light in a shattering way to say the least and will begin to write the legend with this title ...

1971 ... an incredible year 1971 which saw a group crush everything in its path and become in just 2 tracks one of the biggest musical phenomena of the moment. Bluffing !

1971 ... 2 mega hits and 1 top hit. For a band hitherto unknown to say the least, this is what we call a real success. And that's just the beginning !

1972 ... the group found the miracle recipe in an obvious way because everything that comes out now turns immediately into solid gold. All thanks to a talent well above the average ...

1972 ... perfectly on-trend sound, just like the style. The group is a perfect example of the mood of the time ...

1972 ... we thought the band had reached the maximum of its possibilities but it was slightly underestimating them. They still manage to reach a new level with this title, which is truly amazing ...

1972 ... the mega hits follow one another at an incredible speed and make this group one of the major groups of the moment and this undoubtedly ...

1973 ... already 2 years at the top of the bill. One could say that the group may have given the best of himself and that the fall in the Charts will begin. Oh no, it's even the opposite that will happen !

1973 ... the level of success in Charts remains at a stratospheric level and there is absolutely nothing the competition can do at this point to counter them. When it wants, it wants !

1973 ... the group continues to smash everything with completely disconcerting ease. Everything succeeds as if by magic and each title produced instantly creates an event ...

1974 ... the year 1974 starts again on the same bases as the 3 preceding years. An extraordinary group which also displays an extraordinary level of success ...

1974 ... even if the year 1974 will be a cut below the year 1973 in terms of success in the Charts, it still remains at a level that would make 99.9 % of the competition green with envy...

1974 ... the group continues to unroll quietly without worrying too much about the competition and even less about the new musical trends that are emerging. Rightly or wrongly, that's something else ...

1974 ... a 1974 year packed with titles and quality on all levels. We will have to take advantage of this because the years to come will be much less rich in terms of productivity of titles ...

1974 ... the group will have rarely done in the cover but there is a beginning to everything. Here they take this title of Joey Dee And The Starliters dating from 1961 and the result is mind-blowing as they say. Except in the Charts unfortunately ...

1975 ... business takes off again in the fire of God in 1975. The group is at the height of its art and undoubtedly signs here one of its most emblematic titles. MAS-TER-FUL !

1975 ... a year 1975 exceptional in all respects and which saw them literally walking on water. Not sure that it will last like this for a long time unfortunately ...

1975 ... they know how to play in the punchy but they also know how to do in the Intimist and this in an indisputable way. A versatility that is only found with the greatest, necessarily ...

1976 ... after 5 totally euphoric years, the group will start to decelerate sharply from this year 1976. We suspected that even with such a level of success, to maintain himself indefinitely in this way was a matter of the almost superhuman feat ...

1976 ... the deceleration in the Charts will be severe to say the least. We are not talking about outright disappearance but the fall will still be a little faster than expected ...

1977 ... this year 1977 is not going to resemble in any way to the previous years on the Charts side, it is clear. And yet, the group is making real efforts to stick to the latest musical trends of the moment. Frankly shame ...

1977 ... the sound evolution efforts are obvious but nothing helps, the disaffection for the group is obvious. A turnaround to say the least unexpected and above all somewhat inexplicable ...

1978 ... but that's without counting on their incredible ability to bounce back and especially not to let go. They will simply sign one of their most significant titles here and return to the race in a spectacular way, to say the least. HU-GE !

1978 ... an ephemeral return to the head of the race. They relapse directly behind and this time, the fall will be even more violent and above all irreversible ...

1979 ... the loosening was so severe that the delay with the competition is now impossible to fill. A sequel that will necessarily be very complicated to manage, that's clear ...

1979 ... after having been the Kings of the World in the middle of the decade, the group ends the latter in general indifference. What an incredible turnaround to say the least ...!

1980 ... they will attempt the transition to the 80s but unfortunately nothing will help, despite all their efforts. When it doesn't want anymore, it doesn't want anymore ...

1980 ... they will not have been able to anticipate the major changes that were announced for the beginning of the 1980s, with a direct knockout as a result. Hard law of the trade ...

1980...this does not mean the end of the adventure, far from it. Even if the lead is dropped, the group absolutely does not intend to stop there no matter what...

1980...we know that in music everything is always possible and that a return to grace is never to be excluded. So we might as well believe in it a little...

1982...certainly the quality level has weakened somewhat but overall the level remains good enough to allow them to continue to believe in it...

1982...and it's certainly not the core fans who will complain, that's for sure. As long as their favorite band continues its adventure, everything is fine...

1984 ... the last little one hit. And again on a compilation of their greatest titles, nothing very original suddenly ...

1985 ... business does not get better. The group will go through the decade like a ghost in search of a glorious past that they will unfortunately never find again ...

1991 ... the 80s will not have really succeeded for them but they will still try the passage to the following decade. A daring bet and above all a bet lost in advance ...

1992 ... the group tries to reenter by the back door after having adapted its sound and its style in order to stick to the last tendencies of the moment. But it is far too late to reverse the course of time unfortunately ...

1992 ... anyway, they believed it to the end. A hardship to say the least sterile but which commands respect all the same ...

1992...nothing and no one can stop them at this point no matter what. As long as they have something to offer, they will come back !

1992...and they still have things to offer, it must be said. They might as well enjoy themselves until the end in these conditions...

1995...they will not give up until the end and here they are again. Always faithful to the post, always ready to prove that nothing is over concerning them...

2002 ... impossible to stop them little guys ! They come back again and again without bothering about what to say and the total lack of results in the Charts. I say bravo ...

2002...we enjoy seeing them every time in any case because there is still talent in this group, it is undeniable. So we might as well enjoy it until the end...

2002...we are still in the 5th decade of career, which is not nothing. Only the best of each generation make it...

2002...certainly each time we say to ourselves that this title will surely be the last and each time they always come back again and again. Who can say better ?

2012 ... they now come back every 10 years. We do not really know what can still motivate them but they still believe in it anyway ...

2012...they will have seen a lot of musical fashions and yet they will have managed to get through them all without sinking too much...

2012...which is still quite an achievement in itself. Let's hope it lasts as they say, but knowing them we don't worry too much...

2015 ... this time, it's definitely the end. At least for now. Because with them, anything is possible so it could be that we find them again later ...

2021...it was the end for the 2010s decade but certainly not the end at all once again because here they are back, again and again !

2023...nothing can stop them, neither time, nor fashions, nor competition. A truly exceptional longevity...

2023...they really impress with their ability to span the ages in this way. An ability reserved for the best of each generation...

2024...who could have imagined for a single second when they started in 1968 that they would still be here almost 56 years later ? Not many people that's for sure...