"The Six Teens" (often spelled as "The Sixteens") is a 1974 song by British

glam rock Glam rock is a style of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom in the early 1970s and was performed by musicians who wore outrageous costumes, makeup, and hairstyles, particularly platform shoes and glitter. Glam artists drew on diver ...

band

Sweet Sweetness is a basic taste most commonly perceived when eating foods rich in sugars. Sweet tastes are generally regarded as pleasurable. In addition to sugars like sucrose, many other chemical compounds are sweet, including aldehydes, ketones ...

, written by

Nicky Chinn Nicholas Barry Chinn (born 16 May 1945) is an English-American songwriter and record producer. Together with Mike Chapman he had a long string of hit singles in the UK and US in the 1970s and early 1980s, including several international number- ...

and

Mike Chapman Michael Donald Chapman (born 13 April 1947) is an Australian-American record producer and songwriter who was a major force in the British pop music industry in the 1970s. He created a string of hit singles for artists including The Sweet, Suz ...

, appearing on Sweet's album ''

Desolation Boulevard ''Desolation Boulevard'' is the third studio album by the British glam rock band Sweet, originally released in the United Kingdom in November 1974. Two noticeably different versions of the album were released: one by RCA Records in Europe, and ...

''. The song was Sweet's first single simply as "Sweet" (previously, the band was known as ''The'' Sweet). The B-side is the band composition "Burn on the Flame".

Background

The song references six teenagers growing up in the revolutionary rhetoric of the 1960s. The song was the penultimate single written by Chinn and Chapman for the band and the last on which long-time producer Phil Wainman assisted. The song features softer acoustic verses contrasted with heavier electric guitar-based choruses and was regarded something of a significant departure from the band's glam rock sound heard on previous singles. Guitarist Andy Scott, when introducing the song in his current band's live show, often states he regards it as Chinn and Chapman's best work.

Chart positions

The single reached the top 10 in several European countries, and was the band's 10th #1 in Denmark.

Personnel

Brian Connolly Brian Francis Connolly (5 October 1945 – 9 February 1997) was a Scottish singer-songwriter, musician and actor, best known as the lead singer of glam rock band The Sweet between 1968 and 1979 and renowned for his charismatic stage presence ...

- lead vocals * Steve Priest - bass guitar, backing vocals, additional lead vocals, * Andy Scott - guitars, backing vocals *

Mick Tucker Michael Thomas Tucker (17 July 1947 – 14 February 2002) was an English musician, best known as the drummer and backing vocalist of the glam rock and hard rock band Sweet. Biography Mick Tucker was born on July 17, 1947, in Kingsbury, North ...

- drums, backing vocals

Legacy

''The Vinyl District'' referred to the song as "a bona fide lost glam classic".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Six Teens Songs about nostalgia Songs about teenagers The Sweet songs 1974 singles 1974 songs Songs written by Nicky Chinn Songs written by Mike Chapman Number-one singles in Denmark RCA Records singles Song recordings produced by Phil Wainman