Description
1991 cd release
Having made their album debut with half an album worth of repackaged oldies, the Sweet then followed through with an entire disc of the things, drawing from both their own recent back catalogue and that of songwriters Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman, to create a record of almost unholy pop pleasure. For the Sweet were not the only arrows in the Chinn and Chapman quiver. They were scoring hits, too, with New World, with their Tom Tom Turnaround ranking among the most mawkishly compulsive songs in the duo’s entire catalogue. Passing it on to the Sweet to cover for their own album didn’t simply make sense from a commercial point of view. It was also the first step toward establishing Chinnichap as a songwriting brand name that would ultimately become as self-sufficient as any Motown, Brill, or Kasenetz-Katz coupling. Two recent Sweet singles, Funny Funny and Co Co and three B-sides, Jeanie, Spotlight and Done Me Wrong Alright, do weight this supremely punningly titled set down a little — add Tom Tom Turnaround and the average fan would probably have owned a full half of the record before even picking it up. It should also be acknowledged that the remainder of the record was in no way comparable with the quality of those other songs. A lackluster rendering of Daydream and the unappetizing American soft rock stylisms of Santa Monica Sunshine, Reflections, Honeysuckle Love and Sunny Sleeps Late are all little more than bland filler. However, Chop Chop absolutely remedies the rest of the album’s failings. Another Chinn and Chapman classic, it was originally recorded by singing DJ Tony Blackburn, with members of the Sweet themselves on backing vocals. It failed to take off, and the Sweet ad little more to it than Blackburn had already tried. But, in the company of those other hits, its original failure seems incredible — as incredible, in fact, as the Sweet’s own success.
Track list:
1. Co-Co
2. Chop Chop
3. Reflections
4. Honeysuckle Love
5. Santa Monica Sunshine
6. Daydream
7. Funny Funny
8. Tom Tom Turnaround
9. Jeanie
10. Sunny Sleeps Late
11. Spotlight
12. Done Me Wrong All Right