Sweet Sensation was an eight piece

British soul British soul, Brit soul, or (in a US context) the British soul invasion, is soul music performed by British artists. Soul has been a major influence on British popular music since the 1960s, and American soul was extremely popular among some yo ...

group who had some success in the mid-1970s. They are best known for their 1974 No. 1 UK hit, " Sad Sweet Dreamer".

Career

Formed in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

in 1971, the band came to prominence after appearing on the

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

talent show ''

New Faces ''New Faces'' is a British television talent show that aired in the 1970s and 1980s. It has been hosted by Leslie Crowther, Derek Hobson and Marti Caine. It was produced for the ITV network by ATV, and later by Central. Original series: 197 ...

''. Under the guidance of panellist

Tony Hatch Anthony Peter Hatch (born 30 June 1939) is an English composer for musical theatre and television. He is also a songwriter, pianist, arranger and producer. Early life and early career Hatch was born in Pinner, Middlesex. Encouraged by his mus ...

, the band signed to

Pye Records Pye Records was a British record label. Its best known artists were Lonnie Donegan (1956–1969), Petula Clark (1957–1971), the Searchers (1963–1967), the Kinks (1964–1971), Sandie Shaw (1964–1971), Status Quo (1968–1971) and Brotherhoo ...

. The debut single "Snowfire" failed to reach the charts, but the follow-up " Sad Sweet Dreamer" was a UK number one single in October 1974 that also reached No. 14 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 the following spring. The follow-up "Purely by Coincidence" reached No. 11 in the UK in January 1975. Both songs were written by

David Parton David Parton (born David Eric Stanley Parton, 1948) is an English singer-songwriter and record producer from Newcastle Under Lyme, Staffordshire, England. He is also known as Des Parton, based on the initials of his first three names. Career ...

. Follow-up singles "Hide Away from the Sun", "Mr Cool", "Sweet Regrets" and "Mail Train" all failed to make the charts over the next couple of years. In 1977, the band participated in ''A Song for Europe'' in an attempt to represent the United Kingdom at the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...

. Their song "You're My Sweet Sensation" ended in eighth place. Subsequently, they were then dropped by Pye and disbanded shortly after. However, they were the forerunners of many similar acts from

the Real Thing The Real Thing or Real Thing may refer to: Film and television * The Real Thing (film), ''The Real Thing'' (film) or ''Livers Ain't Cheap'', a 1996 American film * ''The Real Thing'', a 1980 television documentary by James Burke (science historian) ...

Imagination Imagination is the production or simulation of novel objects, sensations, and ideas in the mind without any immediate input of the senses. Stefan Szczelkun characterises it as the forming of experiences in one's mind, which can be re-creations ...

. The youngest member and lead vocalist, Marcel King, tried to resurrect a solo career in 1985, and with Donald Johnson (

A Certain Ratio A Certain Ratio (abbreviated as ACR) are an English post-punk band formed in 1977 in Flixton, Greater Manchester by Peter Terrell (guitar, electronics) and Simon Topping (vocals, trumpet), with additional members Jez Kerr (bass, vocals), Martin ...

) and

Bernard Sumner Bernard Sumner (born 4 January 1956) is an English singer, musician, songwriter, and record producer. He is a founding member of the bands Joy Division, New Order, and Electronic. Sumner was an early force in several areas, including the post ...

( New Order) recorded "Reach for Love" (written by King) for

Factory Records Factory Records was a Manchester-based British independent record label founded in 1978 by Tony Wilson and Alan Erasmus. The label featured several important acts on its roster, including Joy Division, New Order, A Certain Ratio, the Duru ...

without commercial success, followed by "Hollywood Nights" for

ZYX ZYX or Zyx may refer to: * Zyx, a region in the North Caucasus inhabited by the Zygii * Zyx (cartoonist) (1950–2015), French-Canadian cartoonist * ZyX (company), a Japanese company that makes erotic video games * ZYX (gene), a gene that encod ...

. King died of a

brain hemorrhage Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), also known as cerebral bleed, intraparenchymal bleed, and hemorrhagic stroke, or haemorrhagic stroke, is a sudden bleeding into the tissues of the brain, into its ventricles, or into both. It is one kind of bleed ...

on 5 October 1995 at age 38. Bass guitarist Barry Johnson later joined

Quando Quango Quando Quango were a British electronic music group, formed by The Haçienda DJ and Factory Records A&R man Mike Pickering, Hillegonda Rietveld and Reinier Rietveld. Their unique sound influenced the underground dance music scenes in New Yor ...

and then Aswad. Founder member Leroy Smith was found dead in his Manchester flat on 15 January 2009. He died from

bronchopneumonia Bronchopneumonia is a subtype of pneumonia. It is the acute inflammation of the bronchi, accompanied by inflamed patches in the nearby lobules of the lungs. citing: Webster's New World College Dictionary, Fifth Edition, Copyright 2014 It is often ...

at age 56.

Band members

*Junior Daye (born 26 June 1950, Kingston, Jamaica) – vocalist *Roy Flowers (born 4 August 1951, Kingston, Jamaica) – drummer *Vincent James (born 12 February 1951, St. Mary's, Jamaica - died 9 May 2019) – vocalist *Barry Johnson (born 20 August 1954, Kingston, Jamaica) – bassist *Marcel King (born Marcel Neville King, 4 January 1957, Manchester – died 5 October 1995) – vocalist *St. Clair L. Palmer (born 4 March 1954, St. Kitts) – vocalist *Gary Shaugnessy (born 25 July 1953, Manchester) – guitarist *Leroy Smith (born 3 September 1952, Kingston, Jamaica – died 15 January 2009) – keyboardist *Delroy Alexander Drummond (born 26 December 1950, Kingston, Jamaica) – vocalist Recardo "Rikki" Patrick replaced Marcel King in 1975.

Discography

Album

*1975: ''Sad Sweet Dreamer'' (Pye) ( US No. 163)

Singles

Marcel King solo discography

* "Reach for Love" / "Keep on Dancin'" (12", Factory FAC-92, March 1984) * "Reach for Love (New York remix)" / "Reach for Love (dub)" / "Keep on Dancin'" (12", Factory FAC-92-R, February 1985) * "Reach for Love (New York remix)" / Reach for Love (dub)" (12",

Factory Benelux A factory, manufacturing plant or a production plant is an industrial facility, often a complex consisting of several buildings filled with machinery, where workers manufacture items or operate machines which process each item into another. T ...

FBN-43, March 1985) * "Hollywood Nights" (6:02) / "Hollywood Nights (instrumental)" (3:53) (12", Debut 12-DEBT-1, 1985)

References

External links

* Sweet Sensation biographyat

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sweet Sensation (Band) British rhythm and blues musical groups British soul musical groups Musical groups established in 1971 Musical groups disestablished in 1978 Musical groups from Manchester Pye Records artists