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Sweet – Give Us A Wink
The Lies in Your Eyes
Cockroach
Keep It In
4th of July
Action
Yesterday’s Rain
White Mice
Healer
Abandoning the songwriting assistance of the crack hitmaking team of Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman (Little Willy, Wig-Wam Bam, Block Buster!, Hellraiser, The Ballroom Blitz, Teenage Rampage, etc) Sweet went metal on 1976’s self-written Give Us A Wink, crunching and soloing successfully.
They endowed the likes of Cockroach with their customary – if unusually spiteful – humour, but the highlights are 4th Of July and the hit single Action, both rumbustious enough to validate the cranking of the decibels.
Trivia: The band always felt slightly embittered that rivals went on to profit from what they considered to be their trademark vocal harmonies, and the graffiti-covered back cover of Give Us A Wink bore the words: “Queen are a bunch of winkers”.
Trivia II: The Scorpions recorded a German version of Action under the name The Hunters in 1975. Calling it Wenn Es Richtig Losgeht (‘When It Goes Right’), it was backed by another Sweet song, the classic Fox On The Run, now entitled Fuchs Geh’ Voran.
Every week, Album of the Week Club listens to and discusses the album in question, votes on how good it is, and publishes our findings, with the aim of giving people reliable reviews and the wider rock community the chance to contribute.
Other albums released in February 1976
- Gimme Back My Bullets – Lynyrd Skynyrd
- A Trick of the Tail – Genesis
- Jesse Come Home – James Gang
- Dreamboat Annie – Heart
- Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975) – Eagles
- Reflections – Jerry Garcia
- Starcastle – Starcastle
- Sunburst Finish – Be-Bop Deluxe
What they said…
“Building on the momentum caused by the runaway success of Desolation Boulevard, Sweet forged ahead and shoved Give Us a Wink out to satisfy their growing legions of rabid fans. Doing it all without the aid of Chinn and Chapman, they truly held their destiny in their own hands for the very first time. Action gave them another Top Ten hit, and along with such other notable cuts as Cockroach and Yesterday’s Rain, they proved they had the goods.” (AllMusic)
“An experiment that proves it is more aesthetically fruitful to veer toward Slade without a Noddy Holder than to veer toward Deep Purple without a Ritchie Blackmore. Science marches on. So does commerce. About art you can never be sure.” (Robert Christgau)
“Finally shaking themselves free of the putrid, rusty chains of corporate songwriting, dumping the formulaic and shamelessly commercial Chinn and Chapman and throwing the yoke of ‘second-hand writing’ off their tired shoulders, the highly talented and energized Sweet members take the reins in their own hands and deliver an album consisting entirely of their own compositions, mixing edgy hard-rock with lengthy, almost progressive, numbers, immaculate playing and impeccable production values.” (Only Solitaire)
What you said…
Chris Elliott: I have a love for Chinn and Chapman – they were the soundtrack to my childhood – and The Sweet were the coolest thing to my childhood ears. Block Buster! and The Ballroom Blitz remained staples on the “metal” pubs’ jukebox through my late teens.
This is really indifferent – one subpar Chinn and Chapman-type single and a bunch of forgettable rock. Really damning. I bought this from a jumble sale expecting The Ballroom Blitz., played it once and hated it. Nothing’s changed in 48 years. A precursor to bargain bin disappointments.
Martin Cross: A couple of standout tracks and a hard-rocking album. 6/10
Mike Canoe: Give Us a Wink is another case of an album that may have sounded like a departure at the time, but listening to it in full for the first time, fifty years on, it fits comfortably in Sweet’s discography for me. For the most part, the album is made up of propulsive rock songs led by Brian Connolly’s distinctive voice and lifted by the band’s trademark harmonies. And it’s not as if the songs were suddenly about queens and dragons or album side jazz odysseys. The only real departure I hear is Healer, which is fine, but automatically had me comparing it to the Sensational Alex Harvey Band’s sensational The Faith Healer. As far as musical changes go, nothing here is as radical as their disco crossover from two years later, Love is Like Oxygen.
Brian Carr: It’s a bit frustrating to me when we choose records that aren’t available to stream in the US. It’s cool that I can usually go to YouTube, but then I have to deal with ads and other limitations, so I typically end up skipping those weeks. But, as luck would have it, my school closed today due to severely cold temperatures, so I actually listened to Give Us A Wink by Sweet.
Due to limited access and a struggle to really dig their trademark “vocal walls,” I don’t believe I’ve ever listened to an entire Sweet album. I don’t necessarily dislike them, but they aren’t a band that makes me seek them out to listen to. I’m really glad the stars aligned because I really liked this album quite a bit. I started with a degree of indifference with album opener The Lies In Your Eyes, which is very similar to their hits that I’m familiar with. Again, it’s a fine song, but not one that completely grabs me.
That perspective completely changed with the next track, Cockroach, with its unfortunate title, but undeniable, stomping jam. Now we’re talking! Absolutely killer tune and a prime example of why I love this Club. Action is a song I know from American rockers Black ‘N Blue. I knew their version was a cover, but I’m not completely sure if I ever heard the Sweet performance before. Probably at least once, but certainly a long time ago. Another great song. The other song that really jumped out at me was the final song, Healer, as Sweet gets a trifle funky! The laid-back groove was yet another pleasant surprise on an album that might have me looking through Discogs to get a copy for my LP collection.
Chris Downie: In what is probably an album more favourably viewed in retrospect than it was at the time, Give Us A Wink fits in very well, in what is a fine discography of an influential rock band. The classic hit Action aside, perhaps what stands out the most here is that it isn’t such a huge musical departure, despite many lamenting its focus on more straight-ahead rock vibes over the glitzy glam rock of the earlier material.
Aside from the tip of the hat received from Def Leppard and Motley Crue over the years, it wouldn’t be a stretch to suggest some of the fledgling NWOBHM stars of the future were furiously taking notes at this stage, especially when one considers Raven’s later endorsement.
The legacy of the late Brian Connolly and co. is undeniable at this stage, but with the classic rock nostalgia circuit having done great business over the last 25 years or so, one has to wonder where they would be today, had Connolly lived to reform their line-up for a tour and/or new material. As it stands, this is an album that should stand loud and proud as one of their definitive statements. 8/10.
Mark Herrington: It’s the early 70s, and as I approach my 10th birthday, I’m starting to pick up on music more, fed by BBC’s Top of the Pops, the advent of glam rock and the Top 40 on Radio 1. Bands like Sweet, Slade, T. Rex, Mud and Wizzard dominated my preferred chunk of the music scene for those few years.
Come the mid 70s, and I’m moving on to Lizzy, Sabbath, Deep Purple and the like. Meanwhile, glam just seemed to run out of steam and slowly fade away for many of us. So I missed this album, but saw the single Action on Top Of The Pops, when it got to Number 15 in the singles chart.
At the time, it seemed a last hurrah, but listening now, this whole album is a gem that passed me by. It’s a great, crunchy rocker, with mostly killer tracks. It’s difficult to pick favourites, but Healer, Lies, 4th of July and Yesterdays Rain, perhaps, are favourites, along with the storming Action. Great stuff.
Joe Mitch: Great album. Lots of catchy songs. I randomly discovered this album about 10 years ago.
Bill Griffin: My first album by Sweet and still my favourite, although Off The Record is really good as well. There is no filler here; every track rocks as hard as it possibly can.
John Davidson: By 1976, Sweet were a spent force. Having crawled out from under the influence of Chin and Chapman (glam rock’s version of Stock, Aitken and Waterman) they were keen to establish themselves as more serious rockers, but both pop and rock had moved on, leaving Sweet well behind.
The 13-year-olds who’d bought The Ballroom Blitz were 16 by the time this came out and were looking for something cooler. And (David Bowie notwithstanding), this wasn’t an era where bands grew up alongside you, changing their styles in time to your maturing life and circumstances (Rush are a fine example of doing just that, though and not too far in the future either).
A year was along time in the musical rapids of the 1970s when trends changed more often than the paint on the Forth Bridge. David Bowie had retired Ziggy Stardust and adopted the persona of the Thin White Duke, retreating to West Berlin to find inspiration, making austere and atmospheric art rock.
Queen had already elevated glam’s satin stylings and Sweet’s vocal harmonies to their operatic conclusion on A Night at the Opera, while Judas Priest and Rainbow were set to show the world what really heavy rock sounded like. And if a rock band was going to be on Top Of The Pops it was going to be the harder, leather-clad rock of Irish charmers Thin Lizzy.
All that said, Sweet deliver a solid album that still sounds, mostly, like the familiar Sweet, while stretching the band into more serious rock album territory, particularly on album closer Healer. Even the single Action has an edge to it that shows they were no longer content to sing songs like Wig-Wam Bam for the rest of their careers.
It’s a very good album, bereft of filler, and it’s tempting to score it higher, but it’s more workman-like than a masterpiece. When I look at the real classics of 1976 (Agents of Fortune, Rising, Station to Station, Jailbreak, 2112, and Rocks, to name but a few) it really puts Sweet into context.
Good, but not great, this scores a 7/10 from me, though it might stretch to an 8 with repeated listens.
Graham Tarry: This is a tremendous hard rock album. Every track, bar one, is full-on heavy, fulfilling the aspirations shown in their B-sides over the previous years. Still got my vinyl copy with the ‘winking’ inner sleeve!
Philip Qvist: As I only started to take an interest in music during the latter half of the 70s, Sweet was one of those bands that never even came close to my music radar, and it was one band that never really interested me. Yes, I had heard some of their songs, but nothing to truly excite me.
I always saw them as part of the Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman conveyor belt system, so reviewing Give Us A Wink has come as a pleasant surprise to me. Not only do they rock on this album, but every song on it was written by the band; hell, they even produced it.
There are just eight songs on Give Us A Wink, but all of them are pretty good, such as The Lies In Your Eyes, Action and closing track Healer. At just over 38 minutes long, this record does not overstay its welcome.
I was going to give this one a miss this week, but I’m glad I didn’t. For sure, it doesn’t set new boundaries, but it is still an enjoyable listen, with no obvious duds on it. I will be giving Give Us A Wink a 7.
Graham Evans: As good as any of the lauded classics from the same year. Tremendous album.
Richard Slee: It’s a true underrated hard rock classic. Released under a more credible banner, it would have sold millions and been regarded as brilliant. Thanks for choosing this one.
Greg Schwepe: Sweet’s catalogue is a little scattershot on the US version of Spotify, but I managed to get the track list for this week’s review from consulting Mr Google and cobbling together the tracks from various compilations, re-recorded, or live versions.
And whether I had listened to the actual release of Give Us A Wink or my duct-taped version of the album, I would’ve come to the same quick conclusion. So, this review will be short and swe… um, concise (bad pun involving band name avoided).
For me, Sweet is everything I like about these 70s bands: short catchy songs, guitar riffs that stick around for days like Velcro, and best of all, the harmonies! The harmonies! And let’s not forget the cool 70s haircuts with the bangs. That goes into the successful formula somewhere.
I’m probably most familiar with Action, only because Def Leppard had a version of it on Retro Active. And probably the hardest rocking tracks for me are Cockroach and Keep It In. The Lies In Your Eyes contains all the previously mentioned Sweet trademarks along with a nice thumping baseline.
And while I totally love the harmonies, I could see how, for some, this might be a turn-off. The same way that the band might be a guilty pleasure for some, listening volume up only when no one else is around. But for me, I’ll tell those listening with me to play that air guitar or bass, and sing along LOUD for our own probably off-key harmonies. 8 out of 10 for me on a fun album from a band that influenced a few others along the way.
Dale Munday: In the UK from 1971 Sweet were a very successful bubblegum band, which later morphed into an even more successful glam band. US rockers knew that if you flipped the single over, there was a great rock band hiding on the b- side.
That era was all about the single for the kids. Albums were for grown-ups, unless you were into rock music. As a consequence, Sweet’s albums were virtually ignored (check the UK chart placings), only in subsequent years gaining any kind of credibility, which is unfortunate as they could rock.
Check out live footage on YouTube. Brian Connelly could hold his own alongside the big boys. Indeed, there were no slouches in the band; all were great musicians. Great all-around vocal histrionics, pre-Queen? Post-Uriah Heep. It’s so funny what time can do.
Nigel Mawdsley: Released from the shackles of Chinn and Chapman, Give Us A Wink (GUAW) by Sweet should have seen the band morph from glam rock heroes into hard rock gods. Inexplicably, it didn’t happen.
Rather than delve too much into the whys and wherefors of Sweet’s disinterested record companies, poor management and the ever-so-slight problem of their talismanic singer, Brian Connolly, not looking after himself healthwise or his voice as the 1970s progressed, GUAW should have gained more respect and record sales in the UK.
50 years on, the band’s first self-produced album hasn’t dated sound-wise or song-wise. Keep It In wouldn’t be out of place on Judas Priest’s Screaming For Vengeance, and you can imagine Rob Halford’s soaring vocals on the original vinyl album’s closing track, the mesmeric Healer.
“White Mice, 4th Of July and Yesterday’s Rain are all phenomenal hard rock songs. Guitarist Andy Scott’s melodic riffing and lead breaks are as exceptional as the song’s melodies themselves, but let us not forget that this was a ‘team effort’ with Steve Priest and Mick Tucker also showing their superior musicianship to the world, with Connolly’s voice holding up well!
The two UK singles from GUAW were Action (remixed on this album but not as heavy as the original single version, which can be found as a bonus track on later CD/ music media editions of the album) and Lies In Your Eyes (LIYE). The latter only reached number 35 on the UK chart and, despite it being a huge hit in Europe, maybe the formulaic Brian Connolly vocal/ Steve Priest vocal interjection was wearing thin. LIYE is still a great song, though. The only weaker track is Cockroach. I guess that’s why it was the B-side to LIYE. It’s still a decent song and was played live by Andy Scott’s Sweet into the 1990s.
From 1974’s Sweet Fanny Adams up to, and including, 1982’s Identity Crisis, Sweet produced some superb, and quite diverse, rock albums. Give Us A Wink was the heaviest, though, and still deserves to be played at maximum volume!
Final score: 8.00 (64 votes cast, total score 512)
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