BETHLEHEM, Pa. — In the 1970s, when the band Sweet was running through its list of hits, a large part of its longevity was the way its music evolved.
In the course of the decade, Sweet ran from the glam rock of "Little Willy" through straight rock of "The Ballroom Blitz" and "Fox on the Run" to the edge of "Love is Like Oxygen," which skirted the emerging new wave sound.
“It’s not having any limitations of what our sound is," drummer Richie Onori said in a call from Los Angeles, where the band is based.
Sweet, opening for Mark Furner of Grand Funk Railroad, 8 p.m. today, Friday, Dec. 12, Penn's Peak, 325 Maury Road, Jim Thorpe. Tickets, at $43.70-$51.40, www.pennspeak.com, and at the box office.Pennspeak.com
"Because that’s exactly the founders of Sweet — they didn’t have any limitations. … They evolved and they went into so many different genres. They were multi-genre.
“And that’s exactly what we do. We’re rockers that go into a lot of different areas.”
Sweet still is approaching music that way as it records what it expects to be its first album of new music in, arguably, more than 40 years.
And it's on a tour that stops at 8 p.m. today, Friday, Dec. 12, at Penn's Peak near Jim Thorpe, Carbon County.
Tickets, at $43.70-$51.40, remain available at the Penn's Peak website and at the box office at 325 Maury Road, Jim Thorpe.
A break-up, and several Sweets
The original lineup of Sweet that had all of those 1970s hits broke up in 1981, but in 1984, lead singer Brian Conolly formed his own version of the band with no other original members.
That version continued until Conolly died in 1997.
In 1985, lead guitarist Andy Scott formed a competing version of Sweet, also with no other original members, and continues to tour.
The version of Sweet playing at Penn's Peak was formed by original bassist Steve Priest in 2008.
"He wanted something that was very exciting that captured what the original Sweet had done with Brian Connolly and [drummer] Mick Tucker."Sweet drummer Richie Onori, talking about late bassist Steve Priest
Onori said he “was already a well-known musician, playing with everybody you can imagine" — he was in a band with Keith Emerson at the time and had toured with former Toto singer Bobby Kimball and been in a band with guitarist Richie Sambora of Bon Jovi.
Onori said it was at a benefit for Hurricane Katrina in 2005 that he met and played with Sweet's Priest.
“When he heard that he had a ready-made band that he could put together — I mean, we still had some pieces to put together — but that’s when he got excited," Onori recalled.
"He wanted to put it together. And he called it ‘a dangerous band.’ He wanted something that was very exciting that captured what the original Sweet had done with Brian Connolly and [drummer] Mick Tucker."
Tucker passed away in 2002.
“That was important for him," Onori said. "He wanted to represent Sweet. So that was his idea of really putting Sweet back together.
“He informed me what he wanted to do with Sweet and I became his partner.”
So Steve Priest's Sweet was born.
New music ahead
Priest's band released new music over the years — a live album, "Live in America," in 2009, participation in an all-star tribute album to The Who in 2014.
But the group was working on new music when Priest died in 2020, Onori said. He said it was Priest's intention that his version of the band continue.
"He was excited about it — creating a lot of new material going forward."Sweet drummer Richie Onori, talking about late bassist Steve Priest
The group released the singles "System of the Slaves" in 2021 and "Wasted in Hollywood" in 2022, and now is working on the last songs on which Priest played bass, Onori said.
“We were right in the middle of it," Onori said. "He was excited about it — creating a lot of new material going forward."
Priest's family is "very excited about that," he said. "It relates to the family and carrying on the legacy of his widow and his kids and the band that he entrusted to carry on his legacy.”
When Priest's version of Sweet plays, Onori said, it's obviously "going to be a little different" than the original band.
"A lot of people don’t realize, but every performance is different — it doesn’t matter what you do," he said.
“But we pretty much nail it down. ‘Fox [On the Run]’ is like the record and ‘Balroom Blitz,’ we extend it and make it a party and people just flip on that.
"And of course ‘Little Willie.’ We do a great medley of ‘Wig-Wam Bam’ and ‘Block Buster!’
“So we do that, and ‘Action’ is pretty much like the record. And ‘No You Don’t,’ we perform that, it’s pretty much like how Sweet performed it."
'As long as it lasts'
Audiences these days are "rockers and walkers," he said with a laugh. "We get young kids out in the crowd. It’s almost like a revival of classic rock, and they want to hear that stuff.
“The fans that we’ve gained that just love what we do. They feel the energy in a lot of the new material we have, they come out to see us.”
"You stop when you stop. We love playing the show and everybody’s excited about it. We’ll go as long as it lasts.”Sweet drummer Richie Onori
Onori said he has no contact with Andy Scott's version of Sweet, which continues to tour.
"I don’t think he’s really fond that, after Steve passed away, that we kept going, but that was Steve’s wishes," Onori said. "Steve passed the baton to us along with the family to keep going with what he put together.
“So what he does, he does. And we do what we do. So good for him, and I always wish him well.”
Onori said he intends to keep Priest's version of Sweet going for as long as he can.
"We’ll go as long as the audiences and buyers buy it," he said. "They love us. … You stop when you stop. We love playing the show and everybody’s excited about it. We’ll go as long as it lasts.”
