Peter Sweval (Born Piet Sweval)
April 13, 1948 – January 23, 1990
Peter Swevel was the founding bassist for New Jersey pop band, Looking Glass. In 1972, they released their only hit, “Brandy (You’re A Fine Girl)” which shot to #1 on the singles chart while selling over a million copies. No honorable ’70s pop collection is complete without it. After Looking Glass broke up in 1974, Swevel and Jeff Grob formed Starz, a hard rock band that also had one big hit, “Cherry Baby.” The band signed with Capitol Records and built a sizable cult following that still exists to this day. Musically, Starz has been compared to Aerosmith, Kiss and Cheap Trick, and have been cited as a direct influence on the likes of Motley Crue and Poison. Peter Swevel, age 42, passed away on January 23, 1990 of unknown causes.
What You Should Own
Thank you for the very nice picture and tribute to my brother. I just can’t believe he’s been gone 19 years because I still hear his voice.
Again thank you.
Pete was my best friend. I was the one who found him when he passed. I have the original tapes of the music that he & I were working on and tapes of the “Rico & the Ravens” Skatt Bros. album that was only released in Australia. I miss him very much. His talent was very under-rated.
man that must have been awful, Lanny, but it must be very gratifying to have those old tapes. It would be great if you could get them released some day!
Thanks for visiting my blog
Vince
Lanny, just read your comments. I would love to have a copy of the Rico stuff since I can’t locate a copy of the Australian album. I still miss him.
Straz was an amazing band that caught my attention when I was in my teens! What a tragedy that Pieter passed(wasn’t aware of this). His thundering bass performances were awesome( cherry baby). Rest in peace.
Thank you, Larry, for the kind comments. It makes it easier to bear his loss when I know others miss him too. It’s weird to hear his voice on the radio when I hear Brandy being played but then I always hear his music in my mind.
I would like to know if Pieter Sweval wrote and recorded his own bass line on “Brandy” or did the record company use a studio band, which was very common in that era?
Thank you for remembering my brother today. I miss him so much but know others do too. He’s watching over us all and singing his heart out.
Ritchie,
Pete was a fantastic bass player and wrote all his stuff. Also wrote a lot of LG songs as did Eliot. Many of Pete’s songs had personal inspiration. One by One was a letter he wrote to our mother but never sent.
I hail Piet, seen Starz open for Bob Segar @ the Rivera theater in Chicago, brilliant