Funny How Sweet Co-Co Can Be: Expanded Edition

First,I'd like to say that this remaster is a dramatic improvement in sound quality over the original UK vinyl and the only previous CD release(an obscure German Ariola mid-price CD from the early 1990's).I've owned two different UK vinyl releases,each of which had a different album cover,and this CD presents yet another different set of artwork,one which shortens the title to "Funny How Sweet Co-Co Can Be".Is this the actual original artwork? I don't know.This release adds on all the non-L.P. singles A's & B's from this period,plus two BBC tracks("Paperback Writer" & "Lucille/Great Balls of Fire") and the album outtake "Be With You Soon"...all of which have appeared on German CD's on Repertoire or RCA.The disc is generously filled with music.Too bad that BMG/Sony couldn't have found some actual unreleased material from this period.Much of this material is bubblegum pop,rather than the hard rocking Glam sound for which the group later became known.The group had already been through 2 lead guitarists(Frank Torpey & Mick Stewart)and four failed singles for two labels(Fontana & Parlophone),so when guitarist Andy Scott joined,and the group signed with RCA/UK,they had to agree to a less than ideal setup forced on them by producers Phil Wainman,Mike Chapman & Nicky Chinn:At the time of the first 5 RCA/UK singles and this album,on cover versions or songs written or supplied by the producers,Sweet would appear only as vocalists backed by studio musicians,but on songs written by the group,the group would play the instruments AND sing.The reason for this was because the producers weren't that interested in the group's hard rocking sound.The producers wanted to make bubblegum novelty records.But on the group's 5th RCA/UK single,"Little Willy",the sessionmen created a hard rock sound similar to the group's own.When the record was a huge hit(and U.S.A. breakthrough),there was clearly no more reason to use sessionmen.Starting with the 6th RCA/UK single "Wig Wam Bam",the group would henceforth always play the instruments,whether or not they wrote the song.This album wasn't released in the United States.In fact,with the exception of "Little Willy",the tracks featuring sessionmen were squelched from ever appearing as album tracks in the U.S.A.(though a few had appeared as failed singles on the "Bell" label).For America,a different album was compiled by the "Bell" label,"Sweet,featuring Little Willy & The Blockbuster",which brought together all of the songs to that date which featured the group's real playing.Don't bother with the American CD of "Sweet,Featuring Little Willy & The Blockbuster"(which uses a live version of "Need a Lot of Loving" by mistake).All of the correct takes appear in the new RCA/BMG UK remastered series,many of them on this CD.By the way,for unknown contractual reasons,the group took credit for the songwriting of "Jeannie".Deep Purple's Roger Glover(then an apartment roommate of Sweet's Brian Connolly) actually wrote it.And it wasn't the first time that Connolly had sung Glover's material(see "Questions" on "Sweet-The Early Recordings,a Roger Glover-Ian Gillan composition,with Glover credited under his early writing pseudonym "Roger David").The standout tracks on this disc are the hard rock numbers played by the group("Spotlight","Done Me Wrong Alright","Man From Mecca","New York Connection","Wig Wam Bam" & "Be With You Soon") where the group's real sound emerges.

Most Sweet fans dig the band's bubblegum pop era the most, as it was the time when they were having the most fun, and it showed! The clothing, their being all over the radio, TV, and record charts, the rock star lifestyle of excessive everything to excess, and the music... ahhhh, the music! Throwaway pop songs that allowed for a dabbling in various styles of musicianship, all in 3 minutes or less, which somehow never seemed to grow old. These songs had legs, they had staying power, they could be played over & over again until your record player's stylus broke, or until your voice gave out as you merrily chirped along with the catchiest of catchy choruses. That was The Sweet!This was their first album, a compilation of their first number of hit singles sandwiching some more "serious" rock songs (yep, that was how records came out back in the 70's. Different, eh?) The Sweet showed they could do both and began ratcheting up impressive sales worldwide. Their 4-part melodies were unique, still a rarity in the music world to this day. The music soared at their fingertips, inviting us all to come along for a beautiful ride and to sing along with the band. This CD has almost all their earliest Chinn-Chapman hit singles on it which, in the hands of mssrs. Connolly, Priest, Scott and Tucker, would come to define the way chorus-heavy pop music SHOULD be played! This CD is simply too much sheer fun NOT to own!

Forget peak chart positions. Forget glam image visuals. And forget the "bubblegum" productiond. Forget it all. All but the sound. The Sweet sound. All else is now entirely irrelevant to history. Just get the album.Straight and simply put, by possessing this long-awaited re-release -- amazingly remastered -- our collections contain 28 of the 34 recordings released by The Sweet, 1968 through 1972. Afterwards, a quick focus on acquiring their two '72 live Japanese recordings of "Paperback Writer" and "Lucille"/"Great Balls Of Fire," as well as the four tracks inexplicably left off this release's bonus disc. All 6 recordings are relatively easy to find with above-average fidelity.Beyond that, the UK albums Sweet Fanny Adams and Desolation Boulevard -- imho, the best double-album that never was -- will bring completion as they ready to Give Us A Wink.This and "Sweet Fanny Boulevard" [sic]. ...Three albums, 61 recordings; more than half of The Sweet compleet.P.S: The Desolation Boulevard album predominantly featured on this, the American Amazon.com, is the American album issued in 1975 by Capitol Records using the same title. I strongly recommend seeking and acquiring the 2005 RCA Sony/BMG UK release with the original 1974 sequence.

A must have for Sweet fans. It is early sweet and a lot of the music was not written by the band.

Even though I've had all these songs in one form or another since high school '73, yeah, I'm that old. I've never heard these songs sound so crisp and clear. You can hear how crunchy and heavy the guitar sounds are and the voices are all up front punchy. It makes the wacked out songs like CO-CO And Popa Joe sound like sing along anthems.Great drums and percussion thru-out. And you can hear the Purple influences in the early stages. This was grown-up production, but the music was young bubble gum fun. Even if you think you know this stuff, listen again. With this package including the bonus tracks you get 2 albums worth of stuff and some lone singles. A must have for Sweet Heads..

The Sweet is one of my favorite band ,who ever like them as me ,will enjoy in this expanded edition cd.Highly recommended for every one who love rock music ,7”s Again made great job !!

very good quality of the product, however packing was not reliable enough for long distance forwarding.

First heard of Sweet with the song Little Willy when I was 12 yrs old. When I saw this title I had to have it. Sound great, has a few of their singles with bonus. Worthgettin'.

niente da dire i primi brani degli sweet magici

The Sweet son los mejores. Todo el album es genial. Pero las ultimas 3 o 4 canciones son muy de rock!

wie von Amazon gewohnt kam die LP schnell und gut verpackt an. Die Sound-Qualität ist hervorragend (Plattenspieler von Audio Technica AT-LP 120, Denon Stereo Verstärker PMA AE520), um einiges besser als die Original LP von 1971 (RCA Record) welche ich seit 49 Jahren besitze, die natürlich schon wegen des hohen Alters gelitten hat. Diese Zusammenstellung ist perfekt außer dass der Titel "Done Me Wrong All Right" als Bonus Track aufgeführt ist, was nicht korrekt ist weil auf der Original LP 12 Titel enthalten, sind inclusive des oben genannten Titels, was aber nicht weiter stört weil alle Titel richtig gut abgemischt wurden. Ich bin positiv überrascht und würde sie auf jeden Fall empfehlen....volle Punktzahl

A great nostalgic CD, many early tracks that made them into a pop group. Plus a few previously unheard tracks that show this group were much deserved of their later fame. Highly recommended for those who love retro music, or even if they just like good music. You get both on one CD here.