Uh-huh… R.I.P. Steve Priest.
Sad news that bassist and singer and co-founder of Sweet, Steve Priest, has died aged 72.
Of all the glam rockers out there from the British golden age of the 1970s, Sweet and Slade were the best, with a bunch of still remembered classic hits but also a number of excellent “deeper cuts”.
With Sweet they did the Chinn and Chapman penned hit singles and wrote their own B-Sides and album tracks, which led to them putting out their own work as singles, with huge hit like their first “Fox on the Run”, it’s follow up “Action” didn’t fair as well in the UK charts, even though it’s a great track, maybe a bit to heavy for the little girls.
They liked a bit more of the heavier stuff and when you listen to their live album “Live at the Rainbow 1973” you wonder if those screaming girls really know what Brian Connolly was singing about.
Steve Priest was probably most remembered for his line “we just haven’t got a clue what to do” from the Chinn and Chapman penned “Block Buster!”, especially his appearance on Top Of The Pops all glammed up in a German uniform with helmet.
Priest recalled talking to David Bowie backstage on Top of the Pops: “I was plastering this make-up on, and Bowie’s going: ‘Oh no, no, no. You’ve got to be subtle.’ Bowie just didn’t get it. It isn’t supposed to be subtle. I’m supposed to look like an old tart.” Wiki
In this age of streaming “Sensational Sweet (Chapter One: The Wild Bunch)” a nine disc boxset of the original six studio albums from 1971-1978, along with the “Rainbow” gig, along with a rarities and B-sides disc, and a live at the BBC disc, was probably the last CD I bought… and well worth the money…