Sweet - "The Sweet" and "Ballroom Blitz"

After releasing their debut album Funny How Sweet Co-Co Can Be in 1971, The Sweet issued a big batch of singles before releasing their second LP Sweet Fanny Adams three years later in 1974. In between those two albums, a couple of compilation albums were issued, and their discography in North America and the UK rarely matched. The result is kind of a chaotic mess, so I devised to rectify that with two imagined albums.

THE SWEET

SIDE A

1. Little Willy

2. New York Connection

3. Wig-Wam Bam

4. Poppa Joe

5. Be with You Soon

SIDE B

1. Block Buster!

2. Need a Lot of Lovin’

3. Man from Mecca

4. Alexander Graham Bell

5. You’re Not Wrong for Loving Me

In the U.K., a compilation album titled The Sweet's Biggest Hits was released in December 1972, and it's very strange in that it includes five tracks that had appeared on Funny How Sweet Co-Co Can Be, which had just come out the year before. Imagine how ripped off a fan must have felt if they wanted all the band's songs up to that time, but had to buy two albums that shared tracks!

In the U.S. and Canada, a compilation album titled simply The Sweet was released in July 1973. It was self-titled because it was actually the band's debut LP in North America. Surprisingly, it only shares three tracks with the British compilation. 

In putting this "new" album together, I took tracks the band released prior to early '73 that would have been better than either compilation. It's made up of the A and B sides of five singles released mostly in 1972, plus one outtake ("Be with You Soon"). And the tracks are all more bubblegum than glam. For a cover and a title, I chose to take the one used for the U.S./Canada compilation, removed song titles and enlarged the group photo a little.

THE BALLROOM BLITZ

SIDE A

1. Ballroom Blitz

2. Restless

3. Someone Else Will

4. Burning

5. Teenage Rampage

SIDE B

1. Miss Demeanor

2. Rock and Roll Disgrace

3. Own Up, Take a Look at Yourself

4. Burn on the Flame

5. Hell Raiser

This The Ballroom Blitz album I would expect could have been released in late 1973. Now we can see (and hear) the band moving to a harder rock glam style. "Hell Raiser" is the only track that appeared on one of the compilation albums (North America). I chose "Ballroom Blitz" as both the lead-off track and the album title since it was such a big hit. And I used a cover of the single for the album cover.

These two albums pick up all the miscellaneous tracks between Funny How Sweet Co-Co Can Be and Sweet Fanny Adams. And if you go with the British version of Desolation Boulevard, you'll be all caught up through 1974. 

There are loads of Sweet compilations from which to get these tracks. One comprehensive source is Sensational Sweet Chapter One: The Wild Bunch box set.