‘Glammest of the glam rockers’ craved respectability amid a string of hits
Steve Priest, who has died aged 72, was bass guitarist with the Sweet, the glam rockers who were loved by many and despised by others as they cut a swath through the 1970s pop scene, selling 50 million records.
Priest was a talented bass-player, as well as a singer whose falsetto screams on backing vocals were a defining feature of the band’s sound – alongside his camp inserts such as ‘‘We just haven’t got a clue what to do’’ in Block Buster.
He was also the glammest of the glam rockers. He recalled talking to David Bowie backstage on Top of the Pops: ‘‘I was plastering this makeup on, and
Bowie’s going:
‘Oh no, no, no.
You’ve got to be subtle.’ He just didn’t get it. It isn’t supposed to be subtle. I’m supposed to look like an old tart.’’
Stephen Norman Priest was born in Hayes, west London. Having built his own bass, he began playing with local bands, and in 1968 he was invited to join singer Brian Connolly, drummer Mick Tucker and guitarist Frank Torpey (who was soon replaced by Mick Stewart, and then, in the classic lineup, Andy Scott).
They named themselves Sweetshop, becoming the Sweet and then just Sweet. Their first few singles failed to trouble the charts, but when they teamed up with songwriters Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman they took off. In 1971 they had their first chart hit, Funny Funny, followed by Coco, which went to No 2.
More hits came in 1972 – Poppa Joe, Wig Wam Bam and Little Willy – then the year after, retaining the bubblegum sensibility of Chinn and Chapman, but fusing it with crunchy power chords, they embarked on a string of stomping anthems that defined glam rock: Block Buster (a No 1 hit), Hell Raiser, The Ballroom Blitz and Teenage Rampage (all No 2s).
Though piling on the makeup and glitter, they craved musical respectability. Their selfwritten B-sides were essentially heavy metal, and in 1974 The Who invited them to play a support slot, though throat problems sustained by Connolly in a fight prevented them. But with their trashy, high camp aesthetic they could not satisfy critics looking for something weightier.
Though they were never to gain favourable comparison with more serious rockers, they embraced the lifestyle. They drank 300 bottles of wine in a month recording one album. Priest recalled: ‘‘After downing up to a dozen bottles at dinner, we would rush to the pub and imbibe some of the local brew. The rest of the evening was spent fornicating.’’
In 1974 they ditched Chinn and Chapman, but struggled without a supply of hits. They had their last Top Ten entry in 1978 with Love is Like Oxygen. Connolly quit in search of solo success, Priest taking over vocal duties. But they split in 1981, Scott, Connolly and Priest going on to play in various ‘‘Sweet’’ permutations (Connolly died in 1997).
In the 1980s Priest moved to Los Angeles, where he played sessions and did production work; in 2008 he formed his own version of Sweet and went on tour.
In 1994 he published a scabrous memoir, Are You Ready, Steve?, taking its title from the beginning of The Ballroom Blitz. ‘‘The Seventies were magical,’’ he recalled. ‘‘They were like the Sixties, only crazier. God knows how we got away with it.’’
Priest was married, first, to Pat. They divorced, and he is survived by his second wife, Maureen, whom he married in 1981, and by three daughters. – Telegraph Group
Steve Priest musician b February 23, 1948 d June 4, 2020
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