Sweet Bits

As usual our recent trip to Australia was brilliant. It was an 8-day Blitz! We left Heathrow late on Sunday 13th March for Perth, via Singapore, arriving in the early hours of Tuesday 15th [where did the 14th go?]. We were met by our rather non-sartorial/casually dressed promoter, Les who after the usual pleasantries, proceeded to give us an unscheduled tour of the parking area before launching us on to the highway into town. We had turned left on to the plane so we were generally not feeling the effects of jetlag we had experienced previously and anyway we had 2 days before the first show.

17th March – Regal Theatre, Perth

Our TM was Mike Power who took care of our personal requirements whilst appearing with an acoustic guitar as our support act, banging out a plethora of great rock songs to genuine applause [killed two birds with one stone - genius]. We had not played in Perth for 15 years so when we hit the stage I should not have been surprised by the reaction of the crowd – it was amazing and never let up the whole 90 minutes. After the show an autograph session/meet&greet was hastily arranged in the foyer and what should have been a quick affair turned into us shaking hands with almost the whole audience! Why was I surprised?

18th March – Bunbury Entertainment Centre

Drive an hour or so south of Perth towards one my favourite Wineries, Leeuwins Estates, and you will find Bunbury. Sweet played here in the 80s and the 90s on our previous and aptly named Bar-Room Blitz Tours. The venue is packed and was virtually a re-run of last night, meet&greet et al. Promoter Les had a huge grin on his face and I can confirm that we will return.

20th March – Clipsal 500, Adelaide Racetrack

A crack of dawn start for the band and an even earlier one for the crew – Soundcheck!  That done, back to bed for a couple of hours, watching the race on TV [I did have a VIP Pass for the race itself, thanks Amanda, but decided it was more important to get some rest and it had started to rain on and off, not a good combination]. It had begun to rain again when we arrived at the Backstage area making things under the tented area a little messy but no matter the show must go on. Rogue’s Gallery were on stage directly before us and they were great! Featuring John [Swanee] Swan on vocals, he is Jimmy Barnes’ brother, we had done shows with him previously in Oz, and the Brewster Brothers [Rick and John] from the Angels [Sweet recorded "Am I ever gonna see your face again" in the 90s, written by these guys!]. Loads of hugging and photos afterwards.

When we took to the stage we took the place by storm. It stopped raining during the opening chords of “Hellraiser” – it was almost biblical! A shortened set to accommodate but nevertheless every song we played was a major hit [including "Peppermint Twist"] and the crowd, the organisers, other bands and ourselves were pretty pleased with the performance and it was recorded for posterity. As if by other worldly control the heavens opened again during the outro of “Blitz” – cue X-files theme.

The Doobie Brothers are an impressive band and a hard act to follow, which is why Pete Lincoln and I spent a fair amount of their set on the side of the stage. I heard the first Doobies album in the mid 70s and was a fan immediately, having earlier blurted those words to Pat Simmonds imagine my surprise when he invited me to join them on stage for the encore, “Listen to the music”, I grabbed Pete and before we knew it there we were singing harmonies with the Doobie Brothers in front of a rather large crowd and it had stopped raining! Pat inferred that I could have a job singing with the band, such a gentleman as was proved with the email I received sitting in the Qantas lounge in Adelaide airport, waiting for the flight home.

March was one those months, from Germany to Poland to Australia and back to Switzerland! Our sleeping patterns seem back to normal and we now have some down time through Easter before a couple of Rock Shows with our old mates “Heep”. I must say I am looking forward to that.

A big thanks to those of you who still seem concerned for my health, I am feeling good and glad to be back on stage but your concern is much appreciated.

They say you shouldn’t meet your heroes but to live life that way would be unadventurous to say the least. Most of my heroes are of the sporting kind and I have been lucky enough to have met many of them. At Wrexham FC over the years, I have been in the board room in the company of  Bill Shankly, everyone hanging on his pearls of wisdom ["Football's not a matter of life and death it's far more important than that!"], Tommy Docherty, a brilliant raconteur, so imagine my surprise a week ago when I was in the presence of Sir Alex Ferguson. He and Mike Phelan were at Wrexham to watch their upcoming FA Cup opponents, Crawley Town. At half-time Sir Alex was very nice to me while I played the sycophant and though he had probably heard it all before seemed interested especially when the conversation turned to horses. My chat with Mike was better as he reminded me that he played in the European Cup Winners Cup game against Wrexham in 1990, United winning by an aggregate score 5-0 across the two legs. I was at those games and Wrexham’s exciting forays into Europe as Welsh Cup holders brought back fantastic memories until UEFA closed the door in 1995. So you see, all of us have that hero moment so I suggest you grab it when you can. As Kevin once told me, the first time he ever met The Sweet Mick told him to get out of the way and if that is the worst thing that could happen I think it’s worth the risk!

Andy

Happy New Year!

It is just over a year since my last post and just about a year since I embarked on the journey which began on 1st February 2010 with my HDR Treatment for T3 Prostate Cancer. The first half of the year was written off for me workwise but the positives of coming through and taking the stage again in July were worth every step of this rollercoaster ride.

I did make a brief return during this period, beginning of April, a couple of shows in Germany with Foreigner, Barclay James Harvest and Nazareth. The Icelandic Volcanic Ash Cloud was hovering and the day we flew out all the airports closed AFTER our flight [so no way back]. Add to this my health issues and subsequent panic, I very quickly realised that I had made my comeback far too soon. Now the good bit, BJH had made the trip in a Nightliner Bus and luckily there was space for The Sweet to return to the UK, happy ending – panic over, with huge thanks to Les Holroyd and the guys.

You may have seen my TV Ads for Van Compare and tongue-in cheek as they may be, they seem to have stirred up a certain amount of controversy here and there. To put it into some kind of perspective, I never thought that on reaching 60 I would be invited to appear in TV Ads, something I have not done previously. I have had a go at TV presentation a while back, also had Andy Scott’s Sweet Sounds of the 70s for the good old BBC not so long ago, but TV Ads? When Paul, Van Compare’s boss, approached me with idea to use Sweet’s music in the Ads I had to agree. Good publicity for both sides. So I say to any detractors, I can now see why so many household names do adverts because the reward for a day or two’s work eases the conscience.

Sweet are returning to Australia in March to perform at the Clipsal 500 in Adelaide with the Doobie Brothers. All the hard work put in by our promoter friends in Adelaide has paid off. Their determination in the way they resurrected the tour in 2009 and turned it around to make it a success, has put us on solid ground for the future. We salute you!

Europe is bread and butter to us as a touring band and as such our schedule reflects this. UK is a strange place for nostalgia, you only have to look at TV listings to come to the conclusion that if you are of a certain age only “Later with Jools” has any music content worth investigating, just don’t get me started on the subject of axing “TOTP”. Concentrating on the positive, we will be announcing a “Robin” show soon.

I am getting back to full health gradually and looking forward to seeing you all at a venue in a city or town near you very soon.

Good Health,

Andy

Age – immaterial!

RIP – Gerry Rafferty. His song “Baker Street” beat my own “Love is Like Oxygen” to the Ivor Novello Award for Best Song in 1978. He will not be forgotten – music of this quality lives on forever.

I want to send my warmest congratulations to Francis and Rick for their recognition in the New Years Honours List. They fully deserve it. When we all joined or formed bands in the 60s we did so to be different, not part of the establishment. Therefore their OBEs take on a new focus and confirm that we are the establishment now whether we like it or not. Without Quo, bands like Sweet would certainly have found it more difficult to change from being perceived as a “singles” band to an “album” band ie Pop to Rock. Somebody had to pave the way and that was Status Quo. I am proud to know you and look forward to our next meeting somewhere “on the road”.

It is also a year ago that Spike made himself comfortable in my house. It was below zero then as it is now and he is curled up in front of the fire as usual. We have come to an understanding and tolerance of each other but deep down I’m sure he loves me in his own way (and I him).

Happy New Year to all you Sweet people everywhere.

Andy (Ageless and not counting!)

I am reading Richard Dawkins “The Greatest Show On Earth” at the moment. Evolution or Religion? Make up your own mind. A friend of mine asked recently ‘Why God had put most of the Earth’s resources in such troublesome areas?’, he has a point if you have faith. I am not convinced so I am settling uncomfortably on the fence. Whatever your belief, Christmas is a time for family and friends, especially the younger ones as I will experience next year when my granddaughter Sam comes to live with me. This momentous occasion will take all of my expertise and I am determined to rise to the challenge. She will have her parents here too but there will still be plenty of granddad time. She arrived in this world on my 60th birthday which will result in one hell of a party next year! I say all of this because we have performed at around 100 shows this year and though next year is beginning to look similar, I am determined to have a bit more time at home.

I would like to wish all Sweet fans everywhere a very merry christmas and a happy and prosperous (if that is possible) new year. Live each day as if it is the last, treat everyone as you would like to be treated, give a bit more than you take and finally – Don’t Eat the Yellow Snow……because that’s where the huskies go! (Frank Zappa)

I wish you good health because without it there is nothing,

Andy

First off I would like to apologise for the apparent bad grammar in my last blog but I can only say it was all fine when I wrote it but somehow it all ends up as one big paragraph.

• Again I would like to thank everyone involved with the salvage operation that was this last Aussie tour and to say it was by far the most enjoyable that I have been involved in. That said I have noticed a few people had some complaints about the content of the shows and I would like to explain a few things without getting into any conflict with anyone as I respect the fact that everyone who has paid their money has a right to voice their opinion . The problem we have here is that this is a business whether people like it or not and when you ask the question is it all about the money well the simple answer is yes. That is not meant to sound mercenary but at the end of the day the promoter is the person who puts up the all the money in advance to expedite the tour and takes a great risk in doing so and therefor expects the band to do everything it can to help get a return on that investment so I’m afraid playing obscure songs that the vast majority of the crowd have never heard of simply doesn’t make any sense.

The reality is we are not here to educate or enlighten people,  that is the purpose of an album when it is originally released, we are here to entertain people and, as Hong Kong Mick  ( a man wise beyond his years ) has already said, most people who are now middle aged are just not that interested in songs they don’t know , sorry but that is true . Maybe you could think of it like going into work tomorrow and start doing things that neither your employer nor your customers actually want and then see how long you have a job. That’s the bit that’s often overlooked , this is our job it’s not a hobby. That said we love to stick in the heavier stuff when we can but all that would have been achieved in this instance would have been to squander a great opportunity to build for the future and the possible end of touring in Australia.

Again I’m not saying anyone is wrong if they disagree with what I’ve said and I don’t want to start an argument I just want to try and explain why we do what we do and hope that in the future we can expand the shows once we have solid foundation to work from.

I hope that explains things a bit.

Greetings from Melbourne, we are half way through our revised tour of Oz and loving every minute . Can I just clear up any rumours that have been flying about. This tour was not in any way cancelled or re-scheduled by the band we are fine thank you. It is simply down to a very young and inexperienced agent who bit off more than he could chew and then bailed out leaving some people who had invested a lot of time and money high and dry, and I include ourselves in that as we had kept a whole month clear for this added to the fact that we had already bought our air tickets. So I am very sorry for everyone in Australia who has missed out this time but the silver lining in this case is that two sets of promoters came forward to salvage what they could, that is why we are doing the Adelaide and Melbourne parts of the tour, but more importantly we have found some great people to work with for the future. I know people can’t understand why we don’t just add more shows now that we are out here but believe me it’s not that simple.Anyway, with that explained , let me just say we are having a great time and Adelaide was blast and I have to thank everyone at Star Entertainment but especially Amanda for refusing to let this go. We had a fantastic three days with a sold out show and a trip to the Barossa Valley wineries on my birthday ,                NOICE !!!!!      but seriously the audience were fantastic and we stayed after the show to sign stuff and speak to what seemed like the whole crowd.Now that we are in Melbourne the great gigs continue and the crowds really appreciative and again I must thank Frank at Premier Artists for keeping the faith. We are staying in our favourite place St Kilda which is a real laid back beach suburb and I’m trying really hard not to sample too much of the lovely food and marvellous beer.JEEZ IT’S HOTTa Ta for now

When you trade stories with fly-fishermen and the River Test is mentioned, everyone becomes glassy-eyed at the thought of a days’ fishing on such hallowed water. Therefore imagine my joy when I was given such a day for my 60th Birthday. This was a present from the 60 fans/friends who attended my afternoon session/celebration at the Robin 2 on June 19th (see previous blog) and the look on my face said it all. Well, after a date change then a beat change, we finally cast lines, a bit late in the season though nonetheless enjoyable, on Monday 28th September at Kimbridge, a revered place in fly fishing history. English chalk streams are the envy of the fishing world and as we “walked the water”, something I would recommend to any angler, we were spellbound. This is a place where life is put on hold and the only thing that matters is you and the fish.

There are a few methods used in fly-fishing but dry fly is considered the sporting gentleman’s choice on the Test and so it was. A Royal Wulff actually. We rose several fish and took away a brace of brown trout each as our limit and sadly, the fishing over, made our way to the Mayfly pub to consider the day. As we chatted, stories were exaggerated and naturally, the fish that got away even more so.

I thank everyone of you once again for the most thoughtful and wonderful present and look forward to another days’ fishing soon. The Test, however, is special and I want to keep it that way.

With thanks from Andy and the Rock and Roll Fly-fishers.

My it’s been a hectic couple of months , I should be a stick insect by now but have no fear dear blogee you can be assured that I have kept my stamina up and my portly physique in shape by the rigorous application of the amber-cure-all diet. We had a lovely trip a few weeks back when it took twelve hours to get from southern Germany up to the middle of Sweden, how we all laughed as we went from mini-bus to plane then another plane and finally a five and a half hour bus drive then straight to stage. If anyone thinks being in a band is just one long party I would recommend they try it for a couple of weeks.The next next installment of Suicide Tours Inc had us in four counties in four days including a double show, one in Germany and one in Austria, on the last day. In order to achieve this we had to travel in a private plane which was very nice but maybe the two parties involved should have actually spoken to each other. Unfortunately we arrived at Linz airport and the people from Austrian television, who were promoting the last show, were at Wells airport. Fortunately these two places were not that far apart but it still involved a police escort and a very hairy bus ride to make up some time but it still meant going straight to stage once again. The best bit was the hotel room that night which we didn’t see till after the show. I have never seen such a big bath inside a building, it was also a jacuzzi , about the size of a garden hot tub. There is a short video myself and Mr O’Hora reviewing the standard of the room ,with tongues firmly in cheek and more than a few beers inside us, which I have put on my facebook site but if anyone can tell me how to get it on here I will upload it ( it makes me laugh anyway ).Onwards to Australia

 Facebook Link: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/video/video.php?v=108783835339&ref=mf

If I had been asked the question – What would be your perfect birthday? – my answer would have been so wide of the mark. Here follows a summary of my 60th celebrations, both official and actual, which spanned almost 2 weeks!

The Robin 2 at Bilston on 19th June was chosen as the venue for all Sweet afficionados to come and help me through to my milestone. The afternoon session, my ramblings on an acoustic guitar and footage from early Sweet and even earlier Elastic Band, was well received by the “60″ specially invited guests and at this point I must thank both Kevin Smith and Stewart Roney for their input and organisation. Also a big thank you to Mike and all his staff at the Robin 2 for their part in the smooth running of the event. The evening show was a near 2 hour “Blockbuster” and I hope everyone has forwarded their footage (yes we allowed filming) to Stew or Kev, whatever the quality or content – in fact the stranger the content the better! A huge thank you to Bruce, Pete, Steve, Damian and Adam for their performance, patience and good spirit during the day. Thus ended my “official” Sweet Birthday!

The following week was spent gigging and travelling through Germany, a few more celebrations later with our Deutsche fans left me in need of a break. Sunday 28th – a night off to recuperate so went down to my local so they could wish me a happy birthday. Well I am reminded that this age thing only happens once in your life – the big day looms.

On the day I woke up in Dorset after a low key dinner the previous evening with friends, to find out that I was now a grandfather for the first time but maybe not the last. This was fantastic news, baby Samantha (Sam) now has a connection with her grandfather that is unbreakable. My son Damian, his wife Olga amd Sam will be coming to live with me in the area of the house which was once my Recording Studio – I can think of no better use of the space and I’m looking forward to that day.

Spinal Tap – Wembley Arena – 30th June “One Night Only World Tour”. During the drive up to London I got a phone call from a lovely guy called Steve at Live Nation, Tap’s promoters, asking if I would be willing to get on stage with them at the show – after a couple of heart thumping moments I managed to find myself agreeing and that seemed to be that. We arrived and immediately bumped into Keith Emerson who I hadn’t seen for years, we were then duly taken to the Green Room where we met Justin Hawkins from the Darkness. He was going to appear on stage too which made us both more relaxed. The Backstage Bar before the show was highlight too, Phill Jupitus and Bill Bailey plus Kevin Eldon (Bill’s comedy partner) were there in good form. I found myself in “fan” territory, these guys are the best comedians live and on the box at the moment and we’re having a ball.

The show started with”Tap” appearing as their own support act, The Folksmen (A Mighty Wind) then transforming themselves for the second half into Spinal Tap. Someone backstage had already briefed me that it would probably not be possible for a photo with the guys dressed as Tap because the costume changes were difficult etc blah blah. Understandable but not totally impossible as we found out. The finale, pre-encore song “Big Bottom” got me onto the stage playing bass alongside Justin and Steely Dan’s bassist, Kenny Washington. The song is performed with bass guitars only and I joked with the real bass player, Kenny that he should take care of the dusty end of the instrument ie up the top end of the neck. This was a magical moment for me and has set a bench mark of things achieved.

It wasn’t quite over yet, as we made our way backstage I was stopped by Michael McKean (David St Hubbins) who told me that it had been a pleasure for him to have me on stage because “Love is Like Oxygen” was one of his all time favourite records, in fact he bought the single. That was music to my ears. We then headed off to the bar, made a wrong turn and ended up in Tap’s dressing room with Christopher Guest (Nigel Tufnell) and Harry Shearer (Derek Smalls). After a quick sorry we were invited to stay and when Michael came in I had to get the proverbial photo with them. Unbelievable night – the “actual” birthday.

As I said at the beginning to have had such an eventful birthday which just snowballed and happened as if by fate was incredible. I made it. Thanks to my family and friends, especially Sweet fans/friends for their support throughout my 45 years as a musician. I couldn’t have done without you.

xx