Sweet Schizophrenia

Rip It Up, Issue 106, 1 May 1986, Page 6

Sweet Schizophrenia

Whether it likes it or not, each growing thethéomtw growin GNN HCPS ol w\fy;me generation absorbs and stores the essence of the poptones of its pubescence, even — especially — the mpmrstuff'?hesedaystkezdfivféfltw was&flig”%w%mgdw Stom %%M fl‘ww%,“ 5 }Q : pmrspuescm mew%sthaa%mé&%g@fi“wm sueh s the Weeds and the Sheets both exorcise and " w‘gh’asthw m.fi : es""é‘@a?‘y’s’””‘”fie fi»&%@w,&fieflfé»:fi“gg e exalt stuff like ‘Puppy Love’, ‘Play That Funky e Music’ and ‘Cover of the Rolling Stone’ and strikea Slcy g»« éu R vgy v eetg »wv& LS B R chord withtheirpeers—.." "~ ... ' with } &’éi;:&w%*‘wfithé’f;l{%’gi\%"i»&a y&’l}‘&a@"?~“’%4®§lsev§ana@“§ $ with their pee rsmm%f}}zstgfiéfi” by o ¥ «??%w%y@w?‘*g’%www>>,,> e . Py SRR ~-o.‘--.,..-.o_:z_;,.»;«v" S ra S sw@"%‘*“”fl% ik hwfn,x@;;";';?

And sometimes the ghosts walk. The Bay City Rollers made a kitsch-as-kitsch-can pub tour of Australia last year (1974's milk drinkers-appar-ently start the day with a scotch and cigarette in the 80s), Slade got up and fell over again after Quiet Riot's ‘Cum On Feel the Noize' success, and now ... the Sweet. The Sweet visit New Zealand for a national tour this month — with two of their original lineup, guitarist Andy Scott and drummer Mick Tucker (always the coolest). Interest in the band was rekindled a couple of years ago in Britain with the mild success of the Sweet 16 compilation —7O s tack was back and no one was tackier than the Sweet. A “comeback” would be a ridiculous idea were it not for the fact that the Sweet's genre never took itself too seriously anyway. Chinn-Chapman songs like ‘Little Willy’ and ‘Blockbuster’ were silly, stretchy bubblegum and Phil Wainright’s glitter production had a punchy verve all its own.

What we see live will almost cer-* tainly be tacky (even at their peak the Sweet played Rolling Stones and Who medleys alongside their own singles) but hopefully lotsa fun. It's interesting to speculate whether today’s pop trash will be received and perceived in the same way as this in 10 years' time. But are Go West, A-Ha, et al too po-faced, too “sophisticated’, too ... not enough fun to join the Monkees, Bewitched, Gary Glitter and flares as the nylon icons of their own decade? Who knows? Certainly many of them arent about to make the kind of dumb financial mistakes that would deny them an early retirement anyway. : But for the moment ... : It was like lightning! And the music was frightening! And the band started moving! And we all started grooving! YEAH! YEAH! YEAH! YEAH! I mean, what can you say?

Russell Brown