Sweet Addiction were formed back in 1986 from the ashes of several Manchester bands.Matt, Dave & Gav had been in various bands together and separately for years but had got nowhere fast.
Matt, finally dispirited, had taken up the offer of a friend from down south in Brighton to join his band.
Dave decided that without Matt's great voice there would be no getting signed so, after a couple of months he set off South
determined to subtly convince Matt to return.
As it happened he didn't need to be very convincing as Matt was already fed up and longing for good old Manchester and a band that might at least have a chance of getting somewhere.
Matt & Dave, back in Manchester again, decided that the only guy they could get for the job was Gav and he took very little convincing indeed.There then followed a nightmare search for a Bass player. Various players were tried and rejected as not fitting in musically or personally with the band.
Gavin mentioned an old school friend who he thought may be worth at least a try, enter stage-right Joe Johnson. The first thing Joe said after an initial rehearsal was that he liked what Sweet Addiction were doing, but, if not signed in a year then he would call it quits and move to London.
Frantic gigging then ensued in an attempt to get noticed by record companies or magazines. Finally they heard that the Quireboys, another of Survivals Records signings were playing in one of their home town venues and they blagged
their way on as support even though there was already a support band arranged to appear.
Sweet Addiction went on before them for no money convinced that Spike, the Vocalist with the Quireboys, would like what he saw and
put in a good word with Survival.
He did!
11 months after Joe had issued his ultimatum Sweet Addiction were on their way to being signed.
The Band set about trying to attract the attention of the Rock Press in their own way.
Survival arranged for them to meet a few journalists at "place-to-be-seen" events at various night-clubs and gigs. Instead
of the usual "can we buy you a drink" approach of most bands, Sweet Addiction tried their own "You're on expenses why don't you get us leathered" approach.
For some reason this appeared
to work and Sweet Addiction found there name and their music being mentioned favourably in Magazines like Kerrang!!® and Metal Hammer® amongst others.
The Guys went back on the road, playing every gig they could get their hands on. This took them up and down the country where they became firm favourites of Rock audiences from Scotland to the South Coast, Wales to Norfolk.
Finally they were let loose in a Studio for Survival.
The first single "All I Wanted To Do" was recorded at Picnic Studios, Kent in one week with Dogs D'Amour and AC/DC Producer, Mark Dearnley and engineered by
Tony Banks and the B-Sides were recorded live in Manchester and at Big Noise Studios, London with PK at the desk.
Incidentally Big Noise was also where the Guys did the Video for this Single.
The Band then embarked on yet another tour this time supporting Balaam & the Angels interspersed with some headline dates at the Marquee, Astoria and a few other venues. This was to be the tour that introduced them to a wider Rock audience with several
journalists reviewing gigs and tagging along with them to buy them drinks at gigs.
The Band would like to thank their Tour Manager, 'Nobby', and Driver, 'Scotty', for taking such
"GOOD" care of them.
More one-off headline and support gigs followed over the next few months then the guys took a well deserved break to do some writing of some more tunes. After a couple of weeks of rehearsing and polishing the new songs Survival asked the band to go back into the studio to record their second single "Caught on a Line".
Tony Platt (Bob Marley, AC/DC, Buddy Guy) was drafted in to do pre-production at "Out of the Blue" studios in Manchester for a couple of weeks where the band tried out several new songs and some live favourites as potential tracks for the single. The CD and 12" extra track, "I'm Doin' Fine (for SRV)", was recorded at these sessions and mixed later for the single. For the A-side and main B-side tracks it was decided that the band should move into Rockfield Studios in Monmouth for the main sessions with Tony Platt producing and Phil Ault engineering on the tracks "Caught on a Line" and "Hurt This Way". Mixing on "Caught on a Line" was by Tom Colley.
Much fun was had during these sessions as Rockfield was a well known studio, being associated with bands like Led Zeppelin, Queen and others. It was a fully residential studio which meant that the band were away from any distractions for a week being looked after by some very lovely people and trying to get used to this new "Rockstar" lifestyle. With the band learning to enjoy their new found recognition and appreciation of their music many shenanigans ensued in the downtime from actual recording.
It was decided to concentrate on the main track for most of the week with "Hurt This Way" being laid down in an afternoon. Mixing took one day at the end of the sessions and the band returned to their shared house in Manchester to party and celebrate and also to undertake further one-off gigs and "mini-tours" until Survival gave them a release date and news of their next support tour to promote this new single.
More when I have the time.
Single and Album Tracks
A list of Releases and which formats they were released on.
A few photos of the band and various bits of magazines and setlists.
Mugshots of the Guys.
Matt is the cool rasping voice and smooth harmonic on all the songs. He still performs his original material to this day.
Joe provided the low-end for the band. His playing was once likened to Billy Sheehan on speed.
Gav provided the rock solid beat and flare to all the songs. He still plays in various cover and original bands to this day.
Lee joined the band for the recording of the album and tour dates. He still plays to this day with various bands.
Dave provided the "Buzz-saw" guitars and acoustic twiddlings for the band. He still plays to this day in various cover bands.
