The Sweet's Biggest Hits
Originally released in the U.K. in time for Christmas 1972, The Sweet's Biggest Hits was a straightforward roundup of a dozen tracks culled from both the band's own chart-busting catalog and, also, songwriters Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman's occasional efforts for others ? both "Tom Tom Turnaround," originally a hit for New World, and "Chop Chop," recorded by DJ Tony Blackburn, were originally reprised on the Sweet's Funny How Sweet Coco Can Be LP. Further swaths of this collection, too, are duplicated from that set ? the Sweet's own singles "Funny Funny" and "Co Co," the B-sides "Jeanie," "Spotlight," and "Done Me Wrong All Right." But lest one suspect that The Sweet's Biggest Hits is utterly disposable, the remaining five tracks not only state the compilation's true purpose, they also restate the sheer brilliance with which the Sweet had developed, abandoning their original bubblegum flavoring for an almost instinctive understanding of what made the glam heart beat ? and beyond. "Little Willy" was even an American Top Three hit, at a time when other British glitter gods were still trying to find their passports. The dreamy West Coast harmonies of "You're Not Wrong for Loving Me," the flip of "Funny Funny," point to the serious ambition that would underpin all of the band's finest future work, while "Alexander Graham Bell," a minor hit in late 1971, is followed by the sheer flamboyance of "Poppa Joe," "Little Willy," and "Wig-Wam Bam," three monster hits that saw the Sweet wrap up 1972 as one of the biggest bands in Britain. And they would soon be getting bigger.