Died On This Date (February 9, 1997) Brian Connolly / The Sweet
themusicsover Brian Connolly (born Brian McManus)
October 5, 1945 – February 9, 1997
Born in Scotland, Brian Connolly grew up to become the lead singer of the internationally acclaimed ’70s glam rock band, Sweet (sometimes referred to as The Sweet). When Connolly was a teen, he moved with his family to England where he eventually joined a band that included Ian Gillan and Mick Tucker. After the 1968 break-up of the band, Connelly and Tucker recruited Steve Priest and Frank Torpey to form a group that would eventually be known as Sweet. Over the next decade, the band released a series of albums that made them international superstars by successfully marrying the best of bubblegum with that of glam rock. Albums like Desolation Boulevard, Give Us A Wink and Level Headed produced iconic hits like “Ballroom Blitz,” “Fox on the Run,” “Action,” and “Love is Like Oxygen.” Connelly left the Sweet in 1978 and tried without much success to launch a solo career. He suffered multiple heart attacks in 1982 but soldiered on through the mid ’90s, either on his own or in reformatted versions of Sweet. On February 9, 1997, Brian Connelly, age 51, died liver failure that was likely brought on by many years of heavy alcohol consumption.
What You Should Own
Guitar Slim was a New Orleans blues singer and guitarist whose “The Things That I Used To Do” is considered one of the most important records to the birth of rock ‘n roll. Slim learned to play the guitar as a child while working the cotton fields of Mississippi. After serving in the military during WWII, Slim began to build a local following due to his dynamic live shows. He was one of the first to wear outlandishly colorful outfits while sometimes dying his hair to match. And he is likely the first to commonly roam through the audience attached to a long guitar chord. On occasion he’d even walk out the front door of the club and literary stop traffic while playing a solo. He was also one of the earliest users of distortion in his playing. In 1954, he released his biggest hit, “That Thing That I Used To Do,” which was later covered by the likes of 