Sweet/Ballroom Blitz

The most famous of all the Sweet songs - at least as far as other bands covering it.

From Krokus all the way to various dance and disco groups, 'Ballroom Blitz' was an instant classic. With it's chit-chat opening all the way to Andy Scott's nice little crunchy lick, the song grabbed people immediately and is still influencing bands today.

The song reached No. 4 in England and No. 5 here in the States.

Sweet/Little Willy

'Little Willy' was the song that broke Sweet big time in America.

The songs was an instant worldwide smash and climbed as high as No. 4 in the U.K. and No. 3 in the U.S.

I remember when my brother got the 45 - yes I'm that old - and we played that damn song for hours. I loved it. Little Willy, Willy won't, go home!

Sweet/Blockbuster

Originally, the Sweet were called the Sweetshop and consisted of Brian Connolly (vocals), Mick Tucker (vocals, drums), Frank Torpey (guitar), and Steve Priest (bass). In 1970, the group shortened their name to Sweet and signed a record contract with Fontana/EMI, releasing four unsuccessful singles.

Following the failure of the four singles, Torpey left the group and was replaced by Andy Scott. The new lineup of Sweet signed to RCA Records in 1971, where they were placed under the direction of songwriters Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman.

"Blockbuster," the first result of Chinn and Chapman's neo-glam rock approach, was the biggest hit Sweet ever had in the U.K., reaching number one on the charts in early 1973 and eventually going platinum.

Sweet continued to chart in the U.S. and U.K. throughout the 70s until Connolly left the group following the 'Level Headed' album in 1978. The band slogged on as a trio until they disbanded in 1982. Connolly died in 1997 and Tucker passed away in 2002.

Welcome to Denim and Leather

Hello and welcome to Denim and Leather.

This video and text blog is about one thing dear to my heart - music. In particular hard rock, heavy metal, power rock or whatever label you want to give it.

I first became enamored with this style of music back in 1973 when my brother wore out his turntable playing 'Smoke on the Water' by Deep Purple. From there, I branched out to Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and of course, every young kids band in the 70s - Kiss.

From there came progressive rock and more extreme forms of metal, but one thing always kept me coming back - the sheer power and energy of the music.

Now that I'm older and have watched through the years how hard rock/heavy metal has evolved, it amazes me all the different categories and off-shoots there actually are. I like them all, but I still prefer the good-old fashioned hard-rock of the sixties, seventies and some of the eighties.

What this blog will attempt to do is entertain - pure and simple. We will have music video posts from many different bands, album reviews of new albums, news from all over the hard rock/metal world and much, much more.

It's my sincere hope that you offer comments, suggestions and anything else that you may contribute to make this blog not only fun and entertaining, but educational as well.