Monthly Archives: June 2009

Sweet Dreams

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On Friday I was at a birthday party for Andy Scott, who is the guitarist for English glam rock band, Sweet. Andy has reached that milestone of his 60th birthday. There was a time when it would have seemed impossible that you’d still be treading the boards and recording as a rock musician at that age but Andy made it and 60 of us were invited to help him celebrate. The actual birth day isn’t for a couple of weeks but this was a good date for everyone to get together and a great time was had by all.

It got me thinking…….. Sweet are another one of those bands that I’ve been listening to all my life. It takes me back to when I was a kid growing up in a coal mining town in the north of England. Hard times…. didn’t fit in ….. and music became my escape. Now when did I first hear the music of Sweet?

It would have been about 1972, or even 1971. I would have been at infant school then! My dad took me to visit with my Uncle Colin and Auntie Brenda who lived in a place called Kingstone, near Barnsley. I had a cousin (guess I still have) who seemed to find Barnsley an even harder place than I did. He’d heard a song on the radio called "Co Co" which he went round the house singing. It was by a band called The Sweet. I was 6, he was 5. Long time ago.

Then there was "Top of the Pops". Sweet in Indian get-up for "Wig Wam Bam". Sweet in make-up for "Blockbuster". Sweet sounding vaguely rude on "Little Willy" but I wasn’t sure why. I was 7. I was 8.

My Dad had an old reel-to-reel tape recorder that he used to record the songs from the Top 20. 6 o’clock Sunday night. Number 1 at 7. The Sweet’s songs were always my favourites. Ballroom Blitz. For some reason, he didn’t record "Hell Raiser". I didn’t really understand why. Maybe he didn’t like that one. I was 8.

Holidays in Blackpool. Got my parents to buy me a album on cassette each time we went. 1974. The Sweet’s Biggest Hits. Had all the hits up to and including "Wig Wam Bam". I preferred their newer stuff. I was 9.

By the time I started to follow the charts myself, Sweet had moved on. First there was Teenage Rampage. Then there was The Sixteens which didn’t go as high on the "hit parade", as my Mum insisted on calling it, but I thought it was the best single I’d heard them do. I remember seeing an album in the shops and not buying it because there wasn’t any of the singles on it. It was called "Sweet Fanny Adams". Then I remember them being on a Jimmy Saville-hosted edition of TOTP. He stood in front of the staging and said "Sweet are back with a difference…. And what a difference!". The guys, all dressed in denim, no make-up, glitter all gone, launched into "Fox on the Run". Now that was cool. I was 10.

Sometime around then there was a technician’s strike which stopped Top of the Pops being broadcast. The very visual bands like Sweet began to fade. My new favourite band was the Eagles. It was getting difficult at school to be a fan of Alvin Stardust and Sweet. And nobody else of my age had ever heard of the Eagles. I was beyond criticism. Sweet carried on and there were two more hits…… Action and The Lies in Your Eyes. Great, great stuff. The Lies in Your Eyes only got to number 30 but I saw it on Supersonic on TV and it sounded wonderful to me. Supersonic was to be the glam bands’ last stand. Cue Marc Bolan…… riding on a white swan. I was 11.

Kind of lost sight of the Sweet for a little while after that. I’d checked into the "Hotel California" and everything was so grown up. I was the kid at school who was disparaging of the whole punk thing which seemed to lack seriousness …… and song lyrics needed to be serious. Hey, I was 12.

1978. The local record shop had an album called "Sweet’s Golden Greats" which picked up where "Biggest Hits" had left off. Everything from Blockbuster through to…. through to….. some songs I’d never heard before. It included songs like "Lost Angels", "Fever of Love" and "Stairway to the Stars" which sounded like they’d been great singles but no-one had bought them. I couldn’t understand why no-one had bought them. They should have been hits. Maybe if they’d been hits then the Sweet would still be going I thought……. One morning, it was a Saturday, I was laid in bed, late and my Mum had the radio on. There was a song that caught my attention. Great melody and sad lyrics. Something about Oxygen. The DJ said that’s the new one form Sweet. It was a great song……. but no band should be allowed to hijack another band’s name just because they hadn’t had a hit for a couple of years. I was quite put out. Next time I heard it, close up, and I realised that the voice was the same. Brian Connolly. I went down the record store. A place on the corner of Peel Street in Barnsley. Can’t remember it’s name. They had the album. It was called "Level Headed". Andy Scott had a beard. They looked very mature. Just grown up enough for me. Kind of like the Eagles but from England. "Love is Like Oxygen", indeed. I was 13.

Nothing else from the Sweet the rest of the year and when you’re young six months is an awful long time. I’d moved on. Tubeway Army, David Bowie. If punk was a little too raw for me, then this was articulate, alienated and thoughtful. Just like me. The Eagles also brought out an album called "The Long Run". My English teacher seeing the badges on my jacket told me that you couldn’t like both Gary Numan and the Eagles. I thought he was wrong. I was 14.

I was shopping in Casa Disco in Barnsley. Local record shop. Sometimes I still have dreams about Casa Disco where I fret that it is closing down. When I wake up, it has been closed for years. When I go back to Barnsley, which I seldom do, its not there anymore. This day, they had an album by the Sweet that I hadn’t seen before. Just called "The Sweet", it had a live photo on the cover on which they looked like they did on that Level Headed record. Took it home, the songs were recorded prior to "Wig Wam Bam" and were really not me. Strike one on the Sweet. Another day, shopping in Neales Music in the Arcade. They had a section where you could buy singles that had failed to chart for 60p. The new ones were £1-10. I looked through. Found something called "Call Me" by Sweet. Took it home. Sounded okay. It was like being 11 again. Guilty secret. Found out the "Level Headed" album and tried to persuade myself that the last track sounded like Kraftwerk. In reality it probably sounds more like Pink Floyd. I was 15.

Now life was an endless trawl around the record stores. There was one place on Barnsley Market which had loads of singles and a few albums. It was called "Mary’s". Run by a little woman who always looked dirty which matched the condition of the singles she tried to sell. The albums were always in pretty good condition. Found one called "Cut Above The Rest" by Sweet. The inner sleeve had only three guys on the photo. I’d heard the singles off the album – "Call Me", Big Apple Waltz" – and hadn’t noticed the difference but the album confirmed that Brian, the lead vocalist, was no longer in the band. At least, the other guys had always sung on the other records. Found the next album when I went on holiday (Blackpool, again!). Water’s Edge. A little poppy for my tastes. I was 16.

Sometime around then the three-piece Sweet recorded another album, "Identity Crisis". Good record. I got it on a German import from a shop in Manchester. Sweet went out on tour. I was used to being embarrassed about my musical tastes when my mates who liked the latest hits chided me about them. Even for me, defending something as outmoded as Sweet was a bit of a stretch. Music was moving on, the new Genesis and David Bowie albums sounded poor, Steely Dan and the Eagles had called it a day and I needed to find something that was a little less mainstream. I was 17.

By this time, I’d begun to freelance for NME, Sounds and Melody Maker and was combining that with anything I could write about to keep a decent level of income. I don’t know how you can write a whole magazine about double-glazing but I did it – and on a regular basis. Maybe writing about music wasn’t going to be the only thing I would do. Time to think again and a long time since I’d thought about Sweet. I was 20.

Married man (at least for a while). An article in Sounds. "Sweet getting ready to Blockbuster again". Three guys on the photo. Andy Scott, Mick Tucker and a guy called Paul Mario Day. The article said that Stevie Priest would join them in time for the shows. Got a bootleg from a record fair. Turned out that Steve Priest never made that journey. Sweet were a five-piece and the lead vocalist shouted when he couldn’t make the top notes. Seemed like nostalgia. I was 21.

Something must have kept me checking the "S" rack in the cd stores. 1992. Found an album and a video. Didn’t really recognise anybody on the cover but the sleeve said it was by "Andy Scott’s Sweet". Turned out Mick Tucker had gone the way of Connolly and Priest. But the cd made a good sound and I decided to go to some shows. Sweet still made for a good night out. I was somewhere in my late 20s.

Discovered a messageboard on this new thing called the world wide web. A place called "Home Sweet Home". My name is Darren and I am a Sweet fan. Twelve steps group for those who wished rock music was still a little more glam.

Gig in Shepherd’s Bush. Two venues. Not sure which one the Sweet is playing at. Not the coolest question to ask just anyone. Spotted a guy with long hair and a blue denim jacket. Decided to ask him. He turned around and he happened to be Andy Scott.

Some guy from Peterborough organises a Sweet concert and I get to write a couple of articles for the programme. Hey after all it is one of the things I do.

Invited to attend the filming of the band’s new DVD at a studio in London. Interviews and things. Somewhere along the line it all goes pear-shaped and the band and the studio end up fighting each other in court. I end up on the cutting room floor. I’m not surprised.

After all you learn a lot before you get into your late 30s.

Invited to go to Andy’s birthday party and the band will play live too. All in one weekend.

Not a bad time for a Sweet fan who’ll never see 40 again.

                 Darren Hirst and Andy Scott

May in the Bronx – Part 2, the Pitchers

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Well, the Yankees game last night was rained out. As Boston lost, the Yankees were elevated to first place again – making today a good day to reflect on the pitching that got them there and that which didn’t live up to expectations…..

New York Yankees – Pitching – Month – May
 
Name GP GS GF IP H RA ER BB SO W L Sv ERA OBA
Bruney, Brian 1 0 0 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0.00 .000
Robertson, David 7 0 5 5.0 2 2 1 4 6 0 0 0 1.80 .118
Wang, Chien-Ming 3 0 2 8.0 9 2 2 2 7 0 0 0 2.25 .300
Rivera, Mariano 10 0 5 11.0 9 3 3 1 13 0 1 5 2.45 .214
Sabathia, CC 6 6 0 45.2 34 14 13 10 37 4 1 0 2.56 .204
Aceves, Alfredo 9 0 3 19.2 16 6 6 3 18 3 1 0 2.75 .219
Albaladejo, Jonathan 9 0 2 10.0 11 6 4 6 7 1 0 0 3.60 .282
Ramirez, Edwar 8 0 0 9.0 7 4 4 7 8 0 0 0 4.00 .212
Tomko, Brett 5 0 3 4.1 5 2 2 2 0 0 1 0 4.15 .313
Burnett, AJ 5 5 0 32.1 30 15 15 18 32 1 2 0 4.18 .248
Chamberlain, Joba 5 5 0 22.1 24 12 12 12 29 1 1 0 4.84 .286
Pettitte, Andy 6 6 0 36.1 46 21 20 17 18 3 0 0 4.95 .309
Coke, Phil 11 0 3 11.0 9 7 7 5 4 0 2 1 5.73 .237
Hughes, Phil 6 6 0 28.2 35 22 21 13 25 2 2 0 6.59 .307
Veras, Jose 13 0 4 9.2 13 9 9 8 6 2 0 0 8.38 .325
Melancon, Mark 2 0 0 0.1 1 2 2 4 0 0 0 0 54.00 .500
  106 28 27 254.1 251 127 121 112 211 17 11 6 4.28 .259
 

Positives

C.C. Sabathia. As CC Sabathia heads into today’s start against Tampa Bay, it is that .204 OBA that shows that it is not only his top-rank wages which makes him stand out amongst the other starters. Sabathia typically makes a slow start to the season and bearing this in mind it seems that he’s ahead of schedule for another examplary season.

Alfredo Aceves. When a Yankees starter goes down early in the game – and it does happen, Hughes and Wang take a bow, then Aceves is the guy that they can depend upon. He has given us two or three solid innings in every relief performance. This is a team that went without a long reliever on their opening day roster. This was obviously a major mistake and not having someone like Aceves to turn to in those early weeks lost us several games.

David Robertson. Robertson is another who didn’t make the opening day roster but who is making a sizeable difference now he is part of the bullpen. He still needs to gain a little in the consistency stakes but when he is good, he will do very nicely.

Joba Chamberlain. Chamberlain still isn’t the complete package as a starter but he is ahead of where I expected him to be at this stage and the voices (including mine) asking for him to be returned to the bullpen are dying down. He is ahead of Pettitte and Wang in his recent starts and May was a good month for him.

Negatives

Edwar Ramirez remains part of the 40-man roster so the Yankees aren’t finished with him but his form has been a big disappointment so far this year and he is learning to make his home at Scranton / Wilkes-Barre (AAA). During May, he averaged nearly a walk and a hit in every innings pitched and whilst the Yankees might have been a little premature in demoting him, it looked as though it was always heading that way.

Phil Hughes. The Yankees seem quite pleased with him and said he was unlucky to lose his starting job but the reality is that he is averaging less than five innings per start and that is ERA for the month was 6.59. We have to put this in context. This is one of the two guys who were going to be a mainstay of the rotation in 2008 and really messed up. Now Hughes is the best of the two (even when Kennedy is fit) but he looks like he will make-do as a number five starter. This is no longer a surprise to me but I’m not expecting a noticeable improvement and this isn’t good enough.

Jose Veras. Last year, Veras was a very important part of the bullpen. This year it is probably only his level of experience which is keeping him in New York. His ERA for May exceeded 8 and this is even considering that he occasionally does give us a good performance.

Jonathan Albaladejo. Another early-in-the-season reassignment. Last year, he started the season well and then got injured. This season he started well and then the hitters figured him out. Like Ramirez, I think he perhaps deserved another week at the top level to see if he could gather himself but really he can have no complaints.

Suprises

Chien-Ming Wang. The guys on the team who still have to communicate through an interpreter are in a difficult place when their form falls apart. Given all the psychological pressure the fact that Wang has taken some major steps towards comeback at all is quite an achievement. He has some distance to go and I thought it was too early to restore him to the rotation but this is so far-so good.

Brett Tomko. I was not alone in shaking my head when I heard that Tomko had been promoted to the Bronx, I’m sure. Another journeyman pitcher, who is likeable but struggles to maintain a high enough level of performance in the top flight. So I’m not expecting this to last but he has put in some creditable innings so far and deserves a nod for that alone.

Phil Coke. Coke is the guy we must go to when we need a left-hander out of the bullpen but whilst his performances have been adequate, he has looked a shadow of the pitcher he was in his appearances at the end of last year. He is simply giving up too many runs – too often in tight situations that can cost us a game.

Mark Melancon started his major league assignment well but then he stopped throwing strikes. He was a surprising call-up who took advantage of his chance but ultimately couldn’t maintain it. His ERA at AAA is less than half of what he produced at the major level and he needs some months at that level under his belt before he is giving another chance in the Bronx.

May in the Bronx – Part 1, the Batters

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The New York Yankees had a poor start to May but by the halfway point of the month they had really hit their stride. During the second half of the month they began the move towards setting a new record for games without  a fielding error and began the long haul towards first place in the American League East after occupying third for most of the season to that point. Since May turned to June, an error by Jorge Posada on a throw to second base and a loss to the American League West-leading Texas Rangers has seen the errorless run come to an end and the Boston Red Sox tie the Yankees for first place in the East but May sure was a month in which the Yankees got hot. Who was repsonsible?

New York Yankees – Batting – Month – May
 
Name G AB R H RBI 2B 3B HR BB SO SH SF SB BA SLG OBP
Posada, Jorge 6 18 4 8 7 1 0 3 3 3 0 0 0 .444 1.000 .524
Teixeira, Mark 28 115 25 38 35 9 0 13 10 24 0 1 0 .330 .748 .391
Gardner, Brett 22 52 13 17 4 1 2 2 7 6 2 0 4 .327 .538 .417
Jeter, Derek 26 112 17 36 13 8 0 3 12 15 1 0 6 .321 .473 .397
Cabrera, Melky 24 84 9 27 10 6 0 1 4 11 2 1 2 .321 .429 .348
Damon, Johnny 27 115 25 35 21 10 1 6 9 22 1 0 2 .304 .565 .355
Cervelli, Francisco 15 42 4 12 4 1 0 0 1 6 3 0 0 .286 .310 .302
Cano, Robinson 28 114 17 31 15 8 1 4 4 6 0 0 1 .272 .465 .297
Molina, Jose 5 15 3 4 1 2 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 .267 .400 .313
Rodriguez, Alex 22 77 11 20 17 4 0 7 18 12 0 0 0 .260 .584 .412
Matsui, Hideki 25 87 8 21 10 6 0 5 5 18 0 1 0 .241 .483 .295
Pena, Ramiro 19 39 7 9 2 1 1 0 1 8 0 0 2 .231 .308 .250
Cash, Kevin 10 26 1 6 3 2 0 0 0 5 0 1 0 .231 .308 .250
Swisher, Nick 27 80 9 12 10 1 0 3 19 29 2 3 0 .150 .275 .311
Berroa, Angel 9 4 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
    980 155 276 152 60 5 47 94 170 11 7 17 .282 .497 .349
 

Positives

Mark Teixeira. In April, Teixeira batted .200 with 3 homers. His average was so outstripped by the hot-hitting Nick Swisher, it began to look like we could have saved an awful lot of money in filling the first-base hole left by the not overly missed Jason Giambi. In May, whilst Swisher cooled right down, Teixeira found his swing and looked like the best first baseman since Tino Martinez. In May, he hit .330 with (count ’em) 13 home runs and a mammoth .748 slugging percentage. This raised him to .279 on the season which shows not only how much he has improved but just how bad that first month in pinstripes was.

Derek Jeter put together a good long hitting streak in May. He didn’t match Ichiro but there was no-one else to match him for second place in hitting safely in consecutive games. His .321 in May is solid form and he deserves his first place ranking in the American League All-Star voting for shortstop. 

Melky Cabrera missed the last few months of the month after slamming into the outfield wall as he attempted a catch but those absent days aside he matched his April performance, hit-for-hit. He has proved an amazingly successful clutch hitter and he has put his 2008 form well behind him.

Johnny Damon. Damon is not great in the field and his throw from the outfield leaves a lot to be desired. However, his hitting in April returned to a level of form that he hasn’t been able to consistently produce since he joined the Yankees.

Negatives

Angel Berroa. Berroa is really just making up the numbers on the roster. Since A-Rod’s return, he has no hope of being an everyday player. In the field, he is adequate. With the bat he is simply horrible. He didn’t manage to get to base safely once in May and it becomes more and more apparent that Pena is a much better option as infield backup.

Kevin Cash. It’s never easy being an ex-Red Sox in pinstripes but Cash really didn’t take best advantage of his opportunity. With Posada and Molina injured and Cervelli having so little Major League experience, Cash should have been the obvious choice to be the team’s first choice catcher during May. Instead, he showed himself to be no more than adequate behind the plate whilst Cervelli excelled beyond expectation. By the time that Cash began to hit, towards the end of the month, the battle was already lost and with Posada fit again, he was the obvious demotee.

Hideki Matsui. Matsui is the everyday DH but he is doing his best to lose that position. He is really not achieving the kind of batting average we expect from him. He strikes out too much and doesn’t gain enough walks. He needs to improve.

Nick Swisher. Last year when I saw Swisher playing for the White Sox, he looked extremely poor. When the Yankees signed him in the close season I couldn’t understand it. I wondered why they hadn’t waited for Teixeira and made an effort to re-sign Abreu. Then when they also signed Teixeira, it made even less sense. However, in April, I became a believer. Swisher was magic and his hitting in the clutch was examplary. And then in May, the guy I saw for the White Sox last year showed up. At this moment, he may be a great clubhouse presence but he is streakiest hitter anywhere and when his head goes down, he really, really struggles.

Surprises

Brett Gardner. The speedy Gardner is another conundrum. Last season whilst the Yankees brass sounded optimistic, the fanbase wondered when he was going to hitting safely often enough to make that speed a real threat on the bases. In April, chosen over Melky Cabrera, he quickly lost the ascendancy with a very ordinary month. But like Teixeira he bounced back to the kind of form he showed in Spring Training during May. The difference is that for Teixeira that is a return to usual form. For Gardner, this month may prove to be a fluke.

Francisco Cervelli. There was a day or two in May when Cervelli led the team in batting average. He was always going to do reasonably well with the "tools of ignorance" but he also showed he can bat at this level which was far from a given. He ended the month on .286. He needs to work on his patience at the plate and he’s not going to be a power hitter but this guy has a future.

Alex Rodriguez. I’m not sure whether this is a positive or negative surprise. For most of May, A-Rod either swung for the fences or got out. His ability as a singles hitter seemed to have deserted him. But he kept going and the home runs kept coming and then on the 25th against Texas, he went 5 for 5 with 3 singles and 2 doubles. Go figure!

Jorge Posada. Posada’s injury seemed to come from nowhere but his damaged hamstring put him out for most of the month. However, either side of his time on the DL, he has still managed to produce with the bat and for that he earns my commendation.

Digitally Remastered by……….

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Some months ago I had a long conversation with a guy called Des Tong. Now Des is an accomplished bass player and he was in the band Sad Cafe who had a number of UK hit albums and singles in the early 1980s. We were remarking, that evening, how it was a shame that some of the finest Sad Cafe albums came out prior to the cd era and had never been re-released. I decided that evening to use my influence with the music industry to see if I could rectify that situation.

I contacted a label in the States called Renaissance who had already licensed some of the Cafe’s back catalogue and suggested that they should also release the remaining titles. They said that the albums would need some sound-work doing and that they didn’t have the original artwork. They could get the appropriate licences but they’d need a producer to re-master and……….

I’ll do it, I said. Okay, they said.

The first of three Sad Cafe album that I have remastered made its way into U.S. stores a couple of weeks ago. The old saying about "if want something doing right…….." comes to mind. I’m pleased with this one. I’ve nurtured it through from the point it was just a germ of an idea to the finished product. I tried to capture what I thought Eric Stewart (10cc) wanted on his original production. I provided all the artwork except the original front cover and the tray liner (for the record, I don’t particularly like that back section), the rest is mine.

Another interesting string to my bow…….