Sweet, featuring original guitarist Andy Scott, will release their new single "Set Me Free" on March 5th. The new single is taken from the band’s current album, Isolation Boulevard. Pre-save it here, check out the official trailer below.

Isolation Boulevard features all the Sweet’s classic hit singles and was recorded with the new line-up during lockdowns between September and October 2020. It’s a reworking of Sweet’s 1975 album multi-million selling, Desolation Boulevard. The latest single "Set Me Free" is taken from the album, and although it is one of the most covered songs in the band’s repertoire, this marks the first time Sweet has released it as an official single.

Over the years, the song has been covered by many rock artists including Vince Neil of Mötley Crüe (with Billy Idol guitarist Steve Stevens) Saxon.

"Recording an album separately in different locations throws up a myriad of technical problems," says Andy Scott. "It's impossible for everyone to play at the same time, so all parts are performed the “old” way and then data transferred back to base camp where the magical digital stuff takes over. Sweet would usually record all together in the studio with a performance rather than individually but the pandemic dictated the ways and means. The result is a mind-blowing set of tracks, all the hits and a barrage of heavy-duty glam rock."

Tracklisting:

"Fox on the Run"
"Still Got the Rock"
"Action"
"Love Is Like Oxygen"
"Hell Raiser"
"The Six Teens"
"Blockbuster"
"Set Me Free"
"Teenage Rampage"
"Turn It Down"
"New York Groove"
"Ballroom Blitz"

Sweet are a British rock and roll institution with a pedigree of 50 years of hit singles. They’ve sold 55 million albums and had 34 number #1 hit singles. Hailed by many as a national treasure with a loyal fanbase, their dazzling arsenal of rock music stands the test of time. The music is as relevant today as it was 50 years ago when Sweet first stormed the UK Charts in January 1971.

 

Author Martin Popoff has announced the release of his new book, Rebel Rouser: A Sweet User Manual.

Says Popoff: Rebel Rouser: A Sweet User Manual has just arrived at the office and is ready for signing and shipping. Not at my website yet but I indeed have boxes o’ books as of a half hour ago. Messenger me with any questions or requests for a PayPal invoice (please indicate what country you are in) or just do yer usual and direct funds to martinp@inforamp.net.

"The book is 286 pages rendered in my usual format, namely every song discussed, one chapter per album, with dual tipped-in sections of colour photography, but also with black-and-white imagery lovingly marbled throughout. You’ve all been very kind in making my recent books like this on Angel, Mercyful Fate, Maiden and Priest sell good, so this one is very much a style match to those, with lots of detail and trivia nugget-mining not found amongst the almost non-existent material out there on Sweet."

As the back cover sez... “Everybody wants a piece of the action!”

They were the heaviest of the gender-bending glam bands in Britain in the ‘70s, with smash hit after smash hit and a stronghold in Germany of all places. Soon Sweet - Brian Connolly, Andy Scott, Steve Priest and Mick Tucker - would extricate themselves from their producer puppeteers and make a clutch of classic heavy metal albums still revered today.

Desolation Boulevard, Sweet Fanny Adams, Give Us A Wink and Off The Record... these records formed the core before disaster struck, with lead singer Connolly falling prey to the demon drink and dying from it slowly over the following 20 years. Mick and Steve are now gone too, with Andy Scott being the last man standing from the UK institution that brought us “Ballroom Blitz,” “Action” and “Fox On The Run.”

Come hear the band’s singular and bizarre start as pop tarts, their middle with one of rock’s most revered drummers in Mick, and how it all went wrong in a blizzard of booze, cocaine and busted relationships. But also, in the spirit of the book’s User Manual subtitle, come explore the band’s plethora of singles, non-LP B-sides, hard rock album classics and otherwise weirdly released songs as Martin plays DJ for you, taking you to every corner of the band’s crunchy catalogue blessed by the most angelic harmonies ever committed to virgin vinyl.

Price including shipping:

- US orders: $39.00 US funds
- Int’l orders (all books go air): $48.00 US funds
- Canadian orders: $42.00 Cdn. funds

Popoff adds: "Again, ask me if you’d like a PayPal invoice (please indicate what country you are in) or just do yer usual and direct funds to martinp@inforamp.net. Sweet postage savings to be had for multiple orders (or two of pretty much anything - long story, ask me!), for both US and Canadian orders."