The Sweet (Brian Connolly, Mick Tucker, Andy Scott, Steve Priest) started by signing to RCA, then on advice from producer Phil Wainman, teamed up with songwriters Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman - responsible for the highest-selling, lowest-credibility British pop of the 1970s. "Funny, Funny" (1971) was the breakthrough the band had been looking for and went to no. 13 in Great Britain. Over the next four years they recorded a string of dire singalong bubblegum kiddiepop tunes ("Co Co", "Alexander Graham Bell", "Poppa Joe", "Little Willy", "Wig-Wam Bam", "Blockbuster", "Hell Raiser", "Ballroom Blitz" and "Teenage Rampage" - all of which charted respectably).

The technical side of the business was very simple. Chinn and Chapman did it the same way as Status Quo; they used few harmonies and a simple rhythm, saw to the melody, and kept it basic. In combination with powerful management, The Sweet emerged as the country's top singles band and a huge concert attraction.

In the grand glam tradition, the band paid much more attention to their look than to the music and their shows became a fusion of visual effects and sound. Tucker had starred in film version of The Man With The Golden Arm and, apparently not content with native American togs, feather head-dresses, leather and glitter, had the film projected onto a screen behind the band while the drummer had a duel with his filmed self. There was nothing that couldn't be turned to the band's advantage; a controversial single "Turn It Down" was banned by BBC in 1974 and did not even go Top 40 in the UK. As if to compensate though, it became the hottest track of the season in Europe. On the other side of the ocean "Little Willy" won the Outstanding British Record prize of 1973, having been nominated by the Professional Composers and Publishers of America. The hits rolled in, the gigs were all sell-outs, sales surpassed 20 million, but the thrill of teen adulation was wearing off.

Having made their reputation as a bubblegum, glitter-pop band, they started looking for something fresh to do, went off to the studio and returned with Sweet Fanny Adams (RCA; 1974). The guys had been known for giving their tracks schoolyard-risqué names but the similarity between "Sweet F.A." and previously written material ends with the title. Without assistance from Chinn & Chapman the album charted at No. 27 and flopped after just two weeks, a seemingly poor debut as a no-jock hard-rock band. However, if nothing else, it helped to establish their new image and prepared the ground for future serious work. Desolation Boulevard (RCA; 1974) followed Sweet F.A. by only eight months and brought back the confidence that kept them going through the "pop" years. "Fox On The Run" from that album climbed to #2 in Britain.

The Sweet and their fans throughout Europe have pointed out the similarities between Deep Purple's heavier passages and the newborn Sweet, even down to the similar development of the two bands: both had replaced two musicians early on and both left the sunny side of the street ("Hush", Deep Purple's first single is not the kind of music one immediately associates with the band) for the gloomier, heavier side of the tracks.

Despite their success on the continent, after "Sweet Fanny Adams" and "Desolation Boulevard" the band lost momentum. They didn't crack the Top 10 again until 1978 when, back on Polydor, "Love Is Like Oxygen" got to #9. The band's heyday came in the early 70s during their time as part of the ChinniChap stable and has been collected on innumerable "Best Of"s.