Sweet Sensation (band)

Sweet Sensation was an eight piece British soul group who had some success between 1974 and 1977. Cast very much in the then-popular mould of the Philly sound, they broke through in 1974 following an appearance on a UK television talent show. [ [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:0ifuxqr5ldae~T1 Allmusic biography - accessed August 2008] ] They are best known for their 1974 #1 UK hit, "Sad Sweet Dreamer".

Career

Formed in Manchester in 1973 the band came to prominence after appearing on the ITV talent show "New Faces". Under the guidance of panellist Tony Hatch the band signed to Pye Records. The debut single "Snow Train" failed to reach the charts, but the follow up "Sad Sweet Dreamer" was a UK number one single in September 1974, also reaching #14 on the Billboard Hot 100 the following spring. The follow up "Purely by Coincidence" reached #11 in the UK Singles Chart in January 1975. Both songs were written by David Parton.

Follow-up singles "Hide Away from The Sun", "Mr Cool", "Sweet Regrets" and "Mail Train" all failed to make the charts over the next couple of years. In 1977 the band participated in in an attempt to represent the United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest. Their song "You're My Sweet Sensation" ended in eighth place. Subsequently, they were then dropped by Pye and disbanded shortly after. However, they were the forerunners of many similar acts from The Real Thing to Imagination.cite book
first= Jo
last= Rice
year= 1982
title= Guinness Book of 500 Number One Hits
edition= 1st
publisher= Guinness Superlatives Ltd.
location= Enfield, Middlesex
pages= p. 162
id= ISBN 0-85112-250-7]

The youngest member and lead vocalist, Marcel King, tried to resurrect a solo career in 1985, and with Donald Johnson (A Certain Ratio) and Bernard Sumner (New Order) recorded "Reach For Love" in 1991 on Factory Records without commercial success. He died of a brain haemorrhage on 5 October 1995 at the age of 38. [ [http://www.londonlee.com/2004/07/godlike-genius-of-tony-hatch.html Londonlee.com] ] [ [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=10708093 Findagrave.com] ] The tragedy deepened two years later when his son Zeus, 19, was shot dead in an outbreak of gang warfare in South Manchester. [ [http://arts.guardian.co.uk/features/story/0,,1648663,00.html Arts.guardian.co.uk] ]

Bass guitarist, Barry Johnson later joined Quando Quango and then Aswad.

Band members

*Junior Daye (born 26 June 1950, Kingston, Jamaica) - vocalist
*Roy Flowers (born 4 August 1951, Kingston, Jamaica) - drummer
*Vincent James (born 12 February 1951, St. Mary's, Jamaica) - vocalist
*Barry Johnson (born 20 August 1954, Kingston, Jamaica) - bassist
*Marcel King (born Marcel Neville King, 4 January 1958, Manchester — died 5 October 1995) - vocalist
*St. Clair L. Palmer (born 4 March 1954, St. Kitts) - vocalist
*Gary Shaugnessy (born 25 July 1953, Manchester) - guitarist
*Leroy Smith (born 3 September 1952, Kingston, Jamaica) - keyboardist [ [http://www.bodo-schoenhuette.de/int-s.htm Bodo-schoenhuette.de] ]

Discography

ingles

*"Sad Sweet Dreamer" / "Sure Thing, Yes I Do" (Pye Records 7N 45385)
*"Purely by Coincidence" (Pye Records 7N 45421)cite book
first= David
last= Roberts
year= 2006
title= British Hit Singles & Albums
edition= 19th
publisher= Guinness World Records Limited
location= London
pages= p. 543
id= ISBN 1-904994-10-5]

Album

*"Sad Sweet Dreamer" (1975) - U.S. Billboard Hot 200 #163 [ [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:0ifuxqr5ldae~T5 Allmusic Charts & Awards section - accessed August 2008] ]

ee also

*List of 1970s one-hit wonders in the United States
*List of bands from Manchester
*List of bands from England
*Factory Records catalogue
*

References

External links

* [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:0ifuxqr5ldae~T1 Sweet Sensation biography] at Allmusic website