Sweet start to series on bands performing at Rock the Lake
EDITOR’S NOTE: The following is the first in a series of five interviews with musicians performing at Rock the Lake, Aug. 10-12 at Prospera Place.
Steve Priest isn’t quite sure what to make of his band, Sweet, turning 50 years old. “I can remember Brian (Connolly) doing an interview and saying, ‘If somebody gives me 10 grand, I’ll retire right now.’ He didn’t and nobody offered it to him, which is another matter,” Priest said in a phone interview from California, the place he’s called home for the past 30 years.
Sweet is among the headliners at the third annual Rock the Lake, Aug. 10-12 at Prospera Place in Kelowna. Sweet performs on the Saturday evening, beginning at 6:40 p.m.
Sweet enjoyed an incredible 10year run in the U.K. with more than 20 singles landing in their top 40, including five that reached No. 2 and one which went all the way to No. 1 (“Block Buster”).
Success on this side of the Atlantic wasn’t as strong, but they did score top-10 hits on Billboard’s U.S. charts with “Little Willy,” “The Ballroom Blitz,” “Fox on the Run,” and “Love Is Like Oxygen.”
“It’s rock and roll. It became rock and roll in the late ’60s and onwards and it has just become part of our culture,” Priest said, reflecting on the music’s longevity. “We’re just in touch with what people like in music. ‘Fox on the Run’ is immortal. In 10 years’ time, it will still be played. It’s simple and effective.”
Priest is the last original member of the band, which debuted in 1968 with its first hit, “Funny, Funny.” There are currently five musicians in the group, and Priest plays bass and sings backup vocals.
He’s perhaps best known for being referenced in the count in for “The Ballroom Blitz” with, “Are you ready, Steve?” — which was the title he chose for his 1994 tell-all autobiography. (He did the spoken-word vocal on “The Ballroom Blitz.”)
Like most glam-rock bands, Sweet eventually had a downturn in popularity. Sweet’s followed “Love Is Like Oxygen” in 1978. But, they remain a popular touring band, especially on the festival and nostalgia circuit. Their music also shows up just about everywhere, most recently in “Guardians of the Galaxy 2.”
Twenty-five years ago, a Sweet song was part of a hit movie. Even though it introduced the band’s music to a new audience, Priest despised Tia Carrere’s remake of “The Ballroom Blitz,” which was used prominently in “Wayne’s World.”
“It was awful. I would have rather they not used it at all, rather than decimate and destroy it,” he said.
Of the band’s hits, Priest had a co-writing credit on “Action,” released in 1975 and covered nearly 20 years later by Def Leppard.
“I came up with the title and we worked back from that,” he recalls. “We were getting ripped off by so many management and agents. I thought, ‘you’ve all got big offices and I’m struggling to pay a mortgage.’ What’s wrong with that picture? That’s why I came up with ‘everyone wants a piece of the action.’ I was angry. I still am — and I’m 250 years old.”
Of the songs he composed, he’s proudest of “Anthen No. 1 (Lady of the Lake),” the opening track on the second side of their 1978 album “Level Headed.”
“It’s my opus. I wrote it. I did the arrangements. I just love the whole feel of the song. We used to do it live, but it’s not on the set list at the moment. I don’t know if I can talk the rest of the band into doing it. It’s extremely hard to play, not to say that this band can’t play it. I love it, but that doesn’t mean I have to force it on anyone else.”
He never tires of playing the oldies but goodies that audiences grew up with.
“I tend to try and get the guys to put another song in here and there (on the set list), and they’re open for that. Obviously, we’re going to have to do the hits. I’m not one for not doing what the people want to hear.”
He’s also appreciative of the new generation of fans.
“It’s difficult to put a highlight on what I’ve been doing for the past 50 years. There have been a lot of high and lowlights, but it’s amazing. I go on stage and I see these 15-year-olds down in the front, singing along with the lyrics. Wow. You remember them, because I don’t. Whenever we do a gig that goes well, then I’ve won.”
Tickets and passes for Rock the Lake are available online, through the Prospera Place box office or by phone at 250-762-5050.