Customer Reviews

Funny Funny How Sweet Co-Co Can Be

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

Being a SWEET fan since first hearing "Ballroom Blitz" at a friend's house, I have long-time dreamed of one day owning the entire and original (British) SWEET discography. Lucky me, the moment I finally managed to save few dollars, bingo, they release this edition with remastered sound and extra tracks!

This is SWEET in their "infancy" before such songs as "Ballroom Blitz" and "Action". Think more along the lines of the "Partridge Family" meets the "Beach boys". So those of you who are looking for that hard rockin' group, stay away. The guitar's distortion pedal is only used on a couple of songs. For the collectioners (like me) and those who enjoy this type of music, this is the most "bang for the buck" of the entire collection. There are 22 "feel good" songs including great renditions of "Reflections" (The Supremes) and "Paperback writer" (The Beatles). Keep in mind these are older recordings and although they have been remastered, there is some tape hiss present but not enough to ruin the experience and a heck of a lot less hiss then when we used to listen to these songs on mini-cassettes.

Favourite songs include Funny Funny, Be With You Soon, Poppa Joe, Paperback Writer and Little Willie (their first American single I believe and the first SWEET song I ever heard).

Long time fan I am since the days of Hellraiser and blockbuster. I was just a wee fella then but grew up enjoying Sweet's music which I always found bought a smile to my face. This album came as a surprise but a most enjoyable one. I had only heard a couple of their early songs such as Jeanie, Spotlight and Funny Funny and found them nice simple tunes to sing along with. When you feel like listening to some early 70's relaxing tunes on a Sunday on the way to the beach then this sure is the album, and yes Sweet's version of 'Reflections' is a beauty. However if it's Sweet's rockier sound you're after then maybe a later album will suit you, but this album to me proves what a versatile group Sweet were, and although there sound changed over time they were always musically competent and enjoyable.

This is melodic and sweet bubblegummy rock at it's best ,only now with all the added tracks you get later rockier type songs too like 'new york connection' at this point the band (1971) was a pure pop group but they could actually play their instruments and were a tight outfit. Some of the songs are very fun and childlike 'chop chop' etc but others are great songs including the hit single
'coco'. if you like sweet you'll want this because this is where they began other than a cd of rarities from earlier that exists. The band had talent and was more than it seemed from the very beggining. However rock fans should stick to later releases if they don't enjoy sweet bubblegum type rock. Sweet would move on from this style quickly but this is still pure sweetness.

Sweet burst on the scene with their 1971 debut `Funny How Sweet Co-Co Can Be' and at first glance they seemed like a laughing stock. A boy band during the progressive glam rock era with the added indignity of not playing the music on much of their songs was a stigma that Brian Connolly, Steve Priest, Andy Scott and Mick Tucker would have to combat through much of their career. Management felt that Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman were the songwriters that would transform Sweet into superstars and as long as the band played it safe and didn't try to flex their creative juices that the gravy train would roll on. However deep inside the succulent harmonies was a serious hard rock band that wanted to emulate Zep, Deep Purple and Sabbath and show their true prowess and when the time came they would prove to be one of Britain's more formidable hard rock acts. As far as the album at hand goes, `Funny' can be enjoyed if one is in the right frame of mind but I know for a fact that if I wasn't a latent Sweet fan that I would call this record absolute garbage. That might be a tad harsh but at least this CD compilation contains all of Sweet's '71-72 singles which include "Little Willy" which is as subversive as American AM radio (AM Gold!) would ever get and the even more sexually explicit "Wig-Wam Bam" in which the band actually got to play on (the first single that they were given that opportunity). The B-sides were also heavy to those tunes but Sweet had threatened to metallicize on the debut with "Spotlight" and closer "Done Me Wrong Alright" which showed the future. Three stars for the original disc (which is pushing it!) but four for the compilation. Sweet would really be a player in 1974 but that seemed like light years away in candy rock '71.

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..

OK, I'm old enough to remember the first time I heard Sweet -- it was the opening guitar to 'Little Willy' on an AM radio in a crappy VW bug, and I was just a kid, but I was hooked. That was THIRTY SIX YEARS AGO! So now that the age disclaimer is out of the way, here's a quick review.

The sound quality on this release (as well as the rest of the Sony BMG remasters with bonus tracks and Andy Scott's notes) is flat-out terrific. Beats the bejeezus out of that Bell 45 of Little Willy that I wore out, as well as the version on The Best of Sweet CD (Capitol CDP 580324). It's worth the price just to hear it all sounding this good.

If you lived in the states, you probably won't be as familiar with the rest of what's on this disc. And if you joined the Sweet bandwagon with Desolation Boulevard, you're probably going to be left scratching your head as to who this bubblegum band is....Hint: It's actually that same glam metal band you love, the four guys at least a decade ahead of their time in terms of arranging and production values, trapped in the saccharine prison of Chinn-Chapman compositions and a lousy recording contract.

I admit, I would have bought this disc even if the songs sounded like they were pressed on flattened kitty litter (just like the 45s did). I want everything these guys ever did in remastered form because I continue to find their sound so amazing all these years later. If you're of a similar mind and you're ok with some pretty insipid lyrical content, jump on in. I'd love to tell you there are a few nuggets in here that make the complete listen worthwhile, but I can't. So if your Sweet tooth runs more along the lines of Lies In Your Eyes, Action, Sweet F.A. and No You Don't, I'd advise you to pass on this one -- but ONLY this one. Get the rest of the remasters.