Biography
In some ways, The Sweet epitomized all the tacky hubris and garish silliness of the early 1970s. Fusing bubblegum melodies with crunching, fuzzy guitars, the band looked a heavy metal band, but were as tame as any pop group. They racked up a number of hits in both the UK and the US. Most of those hits were written by Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman, a pair of British songwriters that had a way with silly, simple, and catchy hooks.
Sweet signed to RCA Records in 1971, where they were placed under the direction of songwriters Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman. 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 UK charts. Following "Funny Funny", 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.
During this time, Sweet were writing their own B-sides and album tracks. All of the group's compositions were harder than Chinn and Chapman's songs, featuring crunching hard rock guitars. Consequently, the duo decided to write tougher songs for the group. "Blockbuster", the first result of Chinn and Chapman's neo-glam rock approach, was the biggest hit Sweet ever had in the UK, reaching #1 on the charts in early 1973 and eventually going platinum. For the next two years, Sweet continued to chart with Chinn and Chapman compositions, including the Top 10 hits "Hell Raiser", "Ballroom Blitz", "Teenage Rampage" and "The Six Teens".
Hits & Audio
| Title | Year | Chart Position | Play |
|---|---|---|---|
| Funny Funny | 1971 | UK 13, DE #5, NL #1 | |
| Co-Co | 1971 | UK #2, US #99, DE #1, CH #1, NL #3 | |
| Poppa Joe | 1972 | UK #11, DE #3, CH #2, NL #1 | |
| Little Willy | 1972 | UK #4, US #3, DE #1, CH #2, NL #7 | |
| Wig-Wam Bam | 1972 | UK #4, DE #1, AT #5, CH #2, NL #6 | |
| Block Buster | 1973 | UK #1, US #73, DE #1, AT #1, CH #3, NL #1 | |
| Hell Raiser | 1973 | UK #2, DE #1, AT #4, CH #3, NL #4 | |
| The Ballroom Blitz | 1973 | UK #2, US #5, DE #1, AT #5, CH #3, NL #4 | |
| Teenage Rampage | 1974 | UK #2, DE #1, AT #16, CH #2, NL #11 | |
| The Six Teens | 1974 | UK #9, DE #4, AT #9, CH #6, NL #7 | |
| Turn It Down | 1974 | UK #41, DE #4, AT #14 | |
| Fox On The Run | 1975 | UK #2, US #5, DE #1, AT #3, CH #3, NL #2 | |
| Action | 1975 | UK #15, US #20, DE #2, AT #3, CH #4, NL #6 | |
| The Lies In Your Eyes | 1976 | UK #35, DE #5, AT #17, NL #9 | |
| Fever Of Love | 1977 | DE #9, AT #12 | |
| Love Is Like Oxygen | 1978 | UK #9, US #8, DE #10, AT #23, CH #6, NL #16 |
