70s glam rockers The Sweet aren’t finished yet despite going on UK farewell tour

IT seems rumours of the on-the-road demise of The Sweet may have been exaggerated.

The current tour of the 1970s pop rockers looks set to become one of the music world’s longest last hurrahs.

The Glitz Blitz And Hitz Autumn Tour, on which they perform with Mud 2 and The Rubettes, is being billed as the band’s last ever UK tour.

They had smash hits such as Blockbuster, Fox On The Run, Little Willy and Hell Raiser, selling more than 55 million records and having 34 worldwide number ones.

But original member Andy Scott says they’re not going anywhere anytime soon.

“I don’t think it’s what you would call the end,” Andy told The Sunday Post.

“We’re not going to put the guitars away and never do it again.

“But we’re looking to stop doing the 80-100 gigs a year.

“The time has come to be a bit less busy, but this finale tour is going to run on until at least next autumn.

“We’ve got people coming to us for dates we couldn’t fit in. And by next year there will be a new studio album so it might well continue into 2017.”

What Andy, who’s now 66, is looking to get away from is the relentless back-to-back European dates that can see the group travel endlessly from one venue to another.

And he reckons scaling back on commitments will help keep his musical fire burning bright.

“I understand where the promoters are coming from,” he concedes.

“The more venues you put in, the lighter the expenses.

“Days off cost you money. But I won’t do what the Uriah Heep’s of the world still do and sleep on a tour bus clocking up huge mileages from one city to another.

“It’s madness because you never fully catch up.

“If we didn’t make decisions about doing less I could see myself not enjoying it because I wouldn’t be in any kind of health to sing and play.”

Health is something that is very much to the forefront of Andy’s mind.

Back in 2009 he was diagnosed with prostate cancer after suffering stomach cramps.

He was successfully treated and remains fit and healthy today.

To try to ensure he stays that way he admits he’s become “a bit of a curmudgeon” after gigs, being tucked up back at the hotel while other band members are still towelling down.

But it wasn’t always that way when the original band was in its heady, hedonistic heyday.

“We did have some all-nighters,” laughs Andy.

“We would try to find a friendly hotel night manager who’d open up the swimming pool.

“You couldn’t do it with today’s health and safety but we’d generally just be left in there with whoever had followed you back from the gig.

“Let’s just say we all enjoyed ourselves.”

The partying lifestyle of the era was legendary and some coped better than others.

Glasgow-born lead singer Brian Connolly had a well-publicised battle with the bottle.

He left the band in the late ’70s , suffered numerous heart attacks and his eventual death in 1997 was attributed to problems brought on by his alcoholism.

“I think things would have been very different if it wasn’t for Brian’s drinking,” says Andy.

“If we’d all been of a similar mindset when things disintegrating towards the end of the ’70s the future may not have been as it turned out.

“I suppose you think you’re invincible, and when you’re an alcoholic the only person who can help you is yourself.

“All we could do was point him in the direction of doctors and clinics and say, ‘Now is the time, mate.’

“None of us were angels, though, so pointing the finger was difficult.”

Andy says seeing what the excesses could do had a sobering effect.

He used to swear off the booze for periods, despite the fact that it alienated him.

“I used to not drink on American tours,” he adds. “I’d look at what was going and think, ‘This is where it stops or I’m going to go crazy’.

“I’d be the one in the morning seeing who wanted to go up the Statue of Liberty.”

The Glitz Blitz And Hitz Autumn Tour: Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow, Nov 30, Playhouse Edinburgh Dec 1, Caird Hall, Dundee Dec 2, Music Hall, Aberdeen, Dec 3.