Andrew David Scott (born 30 June 1949) is a Welsh musician and songwriter. He is best known for being the lead guitarist and a backing

vocalist Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

in the 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, ketone ...

. Following bassist Steve Priest's death in June 2020, Scott is the last surviving member of the band's classic lineup.

Career

Early career

Scott started out playing

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

. His first gig was at St Peters Hall in Wrexham with The Rasjaks in November 1963 and then with other bands in Wales such as Guitars Incorporated and 3Ds. He then progressed to guitar and played with other bands including The Saints, The ForeWinds, and The Missing Links. In 1966 he joined The Silverstone Set (later shortened to The Silverstones), who won the TV show '' Opportunity Knocks'' five weeks running, and appeared in the all-winners show for Christmas 1966, losing to

Freddie Starr Freddie Starr (born Frederick Leslie Fowell; 9 January 1943 – 9 May 2019) was an English stand up comedian, impressionist, singer and actor. Starr was the lead singer of Merseybeat rock and roll group the Midniters during the early 1960s, an ...

. One of their further highlights was to support Jimi Hendrix in Manchester in January 1967. When The Silverstones split, Scott went on to form The Elastic Band, who recorded an album called ''Expansions of Life''. Lead singer Ted Yeadon left to join Love Affair, however, before the album's release and the band folded. During this time they also recorded the album ''Pop Sounds'', under the name The Cool. Scott then played in the backing band for

The Scaffold The Scaffold were a comedy, poetry and music trio from Liverpool, England, consisting of musical performer Mike McGear (real name Peter Michael McCartney, the brother of Paul McCartney), poet Roger McGough and comic entertainer John Gorman. ...

, which also included Mike McGear on bass and saxophone. He went on to join Mayfield's Mule, who recorded three singles, "Drinking My Moonshine", "I See a River" and "We Go Rollin'". An album was also released in

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

called ''Mayfields Mule'' with the song titles translated on the sleeve into Spanish.

Auditioning for Sweet

In the late summer of 1970, Scott replaced Mick Stewart in The Sweet after an audition in front of

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 ...

, Steve Priest and

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 ...

, as well as group managers

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 ...

. He was one of the last guitarists to audition. According to Steve Priest's autobiography "Are You Ready Steve?", Scott turned up looking pretty untidy, with very long hair and scruffy clothes. He plugged his guitar in and immediately the amplifier to feedback. He eventually performed his piece and the members of the band thought he should join The Sweet.

Solo career

Scott's first single release in 1975 was a reworked version of the ''

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 ...

'' track "Lady Starlight" backed by "Where D'Ya Go?". Both songs, recorded during the ''

Give Us A Wink ''Give Us a Wink'' is the fourth studio album by British rock band Sweet. It was the first album to be fully written and produced by the band members. Previously they had relied on material from the songwriting team of Nicky Chinn and Mike Cha ...

'' sessions, were written and produced by Scott and Mick Tucker and featured Scott playing all instruments except the drums (Tucker). Scott made a promotional video for the track and also appeared on Mike Mansfield's British TV Show "Supersonic". Scott released his second solo single, "Gotta See Jane", in 1983 under the name Ladders. It was a cover of the R. Dean Taylor Motown hit and was produced by himself and Louis Austin, who had worked with Sweet as their engineer on past ventures. The B-side "Krugerrands", co-written with Chris Bradford, was subsequently released as the follow-up single (as Andy Scott this time), but like its predecessor failed to chart, except in Australia, where it peaked at number 89 and

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

where it was a top 10 hit. In 1984, Scott released two more solo singles, "Let Her Dance" and "Invisible". A compilation of all his solo projects, including demos, was released by

Repertoire Records Repertoire Records is a German record label from Hamburg, Germany, specialising in reissues of classic pop and rock albums originally issued in the 1960s and 1970s. The chairman is Thomas Neelsen. See also * List of record labels File:Alvin ...

in 1993, under the title ''30 Years''.

Paddy Goes to Holyhead and record production

He produced a couple of demos for Weapon, which was then fronted by Danny Hynes who went on to form Paddy Goes to Holyhead and Scott played with them now and again. Scott then produced, played on and appeared in the video for their single "Green Green Grass of Home" and then joined the band on a regular basis until reforming

Scott produced the

Suzi Quatro Susan Kay Quatro (born June 3, 1950) is an American singer, bass guitarist, songwriter, and actress. In the 1970s, she scored a string of hit singles that found greater success in Europe and Australia than in her homeland, reaching No. 1 in th ...

album, ''

Back to the Drive ''Back to the Drive'' is the eleventh studio album by Suzi Quatro. Released in March 2006, it was her comeback album, and her first since 1990's '' Oh Suzi Q.'' (apart from 1995's ''What Goes Around'', which contained mostly re-recordings of her ...

'', released in February 2006.

Andy Scott's Sweet

In 1985 Scott and Tucker re-formed Sweet with new members Paul Day (ex-

Iron Maiden Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. While fluid in the early years of the band, the lineup for most of the band's history has consisted of Harri ...

) on lead vocals, Phil Lanzon (ex-Grand Prix now with Uriah Heep) on keyboards, and Mal McNulty (ex-

Weapon A weapon, arm or armament is any implement or device that can be used to deter, threaten, inflict physical damage, harm, or kill. Weapons are used to increase the efficacy and efficiency of activities such as hunting, crime, law enforcement, ...

) on bass. This band became "Andy Scott's Sweet" following Tucker's departure in 1991.

Other work

In July 2010, Scott appeared in UK television adverts for the insurance company VanCompare.com. Three adverts were in circulation featuring "Fox on the Run", "Love Is Like Oxygen", and "Action". Scott was a main organiser of the first charity Rock Against Cancer concert in All Cannings, Wiltshire, in May 2012, which was headlined by

Brian May Brian Harold May (born 19 July 1947) is an English guitarist, singer, songwriter, and astrophysicist, who achieved worldwide fame as the lead guitarist of the rock band Queen. May was a co-founder of Queen with lead singer Freddie Mercury and ...

The Boomtown Rats The Boomtown Rats are an Irish rock music, rock band originally formed in Dublin in 1975. Between 1977 and 1985, they had a series of Irish and UK hit record, hits including "Like Clockwork", "Rat Trap", "I Don't Like Mondays" and "Banana Repub ...

, and Midge Ure. Concerts are still ongoing, in which Scott still plays an active role. Since the death of Steve Priest in June 2020, Andy is the last surviving member of the Sweet.

Personal life

Scott lives in a converted barn at

All Cannings All Cannings (pronounced "Allcannings") is a village and civil parish in the Vale of Pewsey in the English county of Wiltshire, about east of Devizes. The parish includes the nearby smaller settlement of Allington. The southern part of the pa ...

, in the

Vale of Pewsey The Vale of Pewsey or Pewsey Vale is an area of Wiltshire, England to the east of Devizes and south of Marlborough, centred on the village of Pewsey. Geography The vale is an extent of lower lying ground separating the chalk downs of Salisbu ...

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

. His wife Maddy left him in 2004 after his absence on a long tour of Australia. In September 2009 Scott was diagnosed with prostate cancer; following treatment, he was in remission.

Discography

With Sweet

As Andy Scott

Albums

* ''30 Years'' (1993;

) (compilation of solo singles and demos)

Singles

* "Lady Starlight" / "Where D'Ya Go" (1975;

RCA The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...

) * "Where D'Ya Go" / "Lady Starlight" (1975; RCA) * "Krugerrands" / "Face" (1984; Statik) * "Let Her Dance" / "Suck It And See" (1984; Statik) * "Invisible" / "Never Too Young" (1984; Statik)

12" singles

*"Gotta See Jane" / "Gotta See Jane" (Radio Mix) (3:10) / "Krugerrands" (4:00) *"Krugerrands" (Club Mix) (4:04) / "Face" (4:48) / "Krugerrands" (Single Edit) (3:40) / "Krugermental" (4:08) *"Let Her Dance" (8:06) / "Let Her Dance" (Instrumental) (4:24) / "Suck It and See" (4:19) *"Invisible" (7" Version) (3:54) / "Invisible" (Instrumental) (5:53) / "Invisible" (5:20) / "Never Too Young" (3:08)

With Ladders

Singles

* "Gotta See Jane" / "Krugerrands" (1983; Statik/Virgin)

With Andy Scott's Sweet

Starting at the year of 2000 only as "Sweet" again

Singles

* "X-Ray Specs" (1991; SPV) * "Stand Up" (1992; SPV) * "Am I Ever Gonna See Your Face Again" (1992; SPV) (1970's Australian chart hit, written by Brewster-Neeson-Brewster and recorded by band The Angels) * "Do It All Over Again" (2002; Delicious Records) * "Join Together" (2011; digital release) (a cover of The Who's 1972 chart single, written by Pete Townshend) * "

Let It Snow "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!", also known as simply "Let It Snow", is a song written by lyricist Sammy Cahn and composer Jule Styne in July 1945 in Hollywood, California, during a heat wave as Cahn and Styne imagined cooler conditions ...

" (2011; digital release) (US # 1 for Vaughan Monroe in 1946; recorded by Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin et al., written by Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne)

Albums

;Studio * ''"A"'' (1992; SPV) * ''The Answer'' (1995; SPV) (re-released different version of 'A' with extra tracks) * ''Hannover Sessions'' (1996; Pseudonym) (4-CD set containing "A" recording sessions, "Alive And Giggin'", rarities with bonus video clips and "The Answer") * ''Dangerous Game'' (1997; Chinebridge) (re-released version of 'The Answer') * ''Chronology'' (2002; Delicious) (studio album with re-recordings of Sweet material) * ''Sweetlife'' (2002; Delicious) (studio album of new material) * ''New York Connection'' (2012) (studio album with cover songs) * ''The Hits'' (2012) (studio album with re-recordings of Sweet material and "Let It Snow" as hidden bonus track (included in the track "Peppermint Twist"); digital download and cd version from the official web site) ;Live * ''Live at the Marquee'' (1989; SPV/Maze) (double album which includes four new studio recordings; released as a recording by "Sweet"- as it also featured original member Mick Tucker) * ''Alive and Giggin'!'' (1995; Pseudonym) * ''Glitz, Blitz & Hitz'' (1996; CNR) (limited edition version with bonus tracks also released) * ''Sweet Fanny Adams Revisited'' (2012) (digital download, cd version from the official web site and full release in March 2013) * ''Desolation Boulevard Revisited'' (2012) (digital download and full release in March 2013; this is the same album as Sweet Fanny Adams Revisited, only with a different cover)

References

External links

Andy Scott's personal website

The Sweet web – Andy Scott's Sweet

Andy Scott's Sweet website

Sweet CD’s and eBooks
{{DEFAULTSORT:Scott, Andy 1949 births Living people Welsh rock guitarists Lead guitarists People from Wrexham The Sweet members Glam rock musicians