Sweet
Give Us A Wink

THE REVIEW

In the early seventies, England was already overflowing with hard rock, rock blues, psychedelic, prog, and jazz-rock bands that managed to achieve international success. Subsequently, the wild and outrageous movement of glam emerged, a musical period characterized by talented and very original bands. The most famous names include Marc Bolan of T. Rex, the Sweet, and the Slade. In America, an interesting lineup of promising bands also emerged, among which Johnny Thunders' New York Dolls stood out. These bands, during concerts, dressed in extravagant and provocative ways, with classic platform shoes, original hairstyles, colorful outfits, etc...

The musical style was rather hard, with strong hard rock influences, but at the same time melodic and engaging. For example, T. Rex had a sound that ranged from cheerful tracks ("Hot Love"), to energetic ("Children Of The Revolution") to bluesy nuances ("Get It On", "Telegram Sam" and "Jeepster"). Slade played in a more catchy yet wild manner, as demonstrated by songs like "Cum On Feel The Noize", "Coz I Love You", "Mama Weer All Crazee Now" and "My Oh My".

The Sweet, on the other hand, qualitatively superior to Slade and on par with T. Rex, offered an original and unmistakable style. They were formed by Brain Connolly on vocals, Steve Priest on bass, Andy Scott on guitar, and Michael Tucker on drums, one of the best drummers in English glam. From the start, they managed to gain much success and interest from critics and audiences, who at that time were used to hearing Deep Purple, Zeppelin & Co.

Their early albums contained hits like "Little Willy", "Wig Wam Bam", "Blockbuster" and "Teenage Rampage", which became true battle horses in live performances. After the great and seminal "Desolation Boulevard", containing "Fox On The Run", "Ballroom Blitz", "Set Me Free" and "Solid Gold Brass", the Sweet recorded "Give Us A Wink".

It was 1976, glam was "almost at an end" and many bands disbanded, as happened the following year with T. Rex, but Brian Connolly and his associates continued on their path. The album features nine very famous songs like "Action", "4th Of July" and others. The sound is even harder and heavier than "Desolation...", thanks to the fast riffs and Brian's aggressive voice, which in this album confirms his excellent vocal qualities.

The work opens with the sensational "The Lies In Your Eyes", a sort of "Fox On The Run" in a harder version, which already lets us understand the style the band will propose. Truly a powerful start with an exceptional track! The second track is "Cockroach" where the band expresses all the anger and grit shown from the start with the crackling drums. The riff supporting Brian's fantastic voice is very hard and raw, thus reaching the boundaries of hard rock from Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple. Together with "She Gimme Lovin'" it is the band's heaviest track.

"4th Of July" is a beautiful and well-played hard rock song, equipped with an effective riff, a great performance by Connolly, and a sensational refrain characterized by perfect and classic falsetto voices. In the rest of the song, the keyboards that support Scott's fast solos are also highlighted appropriately. "Action", one of the quartet's most famous songs is demonstrated by the various covers by bands like Def Leppard and Raven. Connolly's voice is energetic and sharp, the refrain is very catchy yet powerful and fast. Excellent also Scott's work who excels in solos and rhythmic parts, as well as Priest and Tucker. The last track of the album is "Lady Starlight", another great hit from Sweet that with its magic and pure beauty closes "Give Us A Wink" in a masterful and surprising manner.

This work, along with "Desolation Boulevard" is a must for all glam sound lovers. The Sweet continued to play until the early eighties, recording the good "Off The Record", "Level Headed", "Cut Above The Rest", the pop-rock "Waters Edge" and the final "Identify Crisis". Unfortunately, in recent years Brian Connolly and Michael Tucker have passed away, the former taken by a heart attack and the latter by leukemia. Andy Scott is the only one from the group who keeps the quartet's name high, continuing to perform concerts and tours with his Andy Scott's Sweet. Glam rock was very important, if not fundamental, for hair metal, influencing bands like Motley Crue, Ratt, Poison, Nitro, Cinderella, and many others. For me, the glam trilogy that will remain unchanged over time will be "Give Us A Wink" (or "Desolation Boulevard") by the Sweet, "Electric Warrior" by T. Rex, and "Sladest" by Slade.