Tag Archives: obituary

Farewell Frank Torpey – the last surviving original member of The Sweet

Glam rock, Music culture & history, Music news, Rock music, , , , , ,

Frank Torpey, the last surviving original member of The Sweet, has sadly passed away. His family have posted the following message on Facebook.

“Frank passed away in his home surrounded by family at 1AM on Saturday 23rd March 2024. He will be missed and remembered by all his friends and family, rest well xx”

Frank, along with Brian Connolly, Steve Priest and Mick Tucker, was one of the founder members of The Sweet.

Torpey, Connolly and Tucker had previously been part of the Middlesex-based band, Wainright’s Gentlemen. Torpey and Tucker were unceremoniously sacked and an infuriated Connolly decided to quit of his own accord. The three musicians then opted to find themselves a bass-player and form a band of their own. Steve Priest was recruited, the four of them meeting up in the Swan pub in Ruislip in January 1968 to discuss plans for a new band.

Frank Torpey (seated) with myself and other Sweet fans in the very pub where the band was first formed

Rehearsals began and as well as working up their own cover versions of well-known and not so well-known songs, the four also devoted considerable time to coming up with a suitable name, eventually alighting on The Sweetshop. Priest wrote in his autobiography: “There were many bands around at this time that had silly names like Marmalade, Strawberry Jam or Strawberry Alarm Clock, and so we managed to come up with a silly name too. We thought that Sweet Shop would do it.”

Although the band were still only semi-pro at this stage, Frank and the rest of the newly-christened Sweetshop would play their debut gig on 9th March 1968 at the Hemel Hempstead Pavilion. Things appeared to be moving fast as soon after, the band were recording their debut single, ‘Slow Motion’, after impressing producer Phil Wainman.

The release of the single necessitated a shortening of the band’s name to The Sweet after someone else nabbed the name for another release before they got their own single out. It was to be Frank’s only release with the band. Although the four continued gigging throughout 1968 and the first half of 1969, tiring of the quality of the venues and the lack of money coming in, Frank decided to call it a day with the band to be replaced, initially, by Mick Stewart and then, more permanently, by Andy Scott who joined in 1970. Indeed, very permanently, Andy is still at it now!

Frank Torpey’s role in the history of The Sweet was a small one but, nevertheless, an important one. Moreover, as well as continuing to play and record, he was always happy to engage with fans about The Sweet’s very early days.

It was in February 2022 after Steve Priest’s memorial service that Frank met up with Sweet fans in The Swan in Ruislip, the very pub where the band was formed back in 1968. When I presented him with a signed copy, he was delighted when I told him he got more than just a passing mention in my book The Sweet In The 1970s, even though it primarily focused on the band’s hit-making decade. “Just tell me which chapters I’m in,” he joked. “It’ll save me reading the whole thing!”

Related posts:

‘The Sweet in the 1970s’ published by Sonicbond Publishing is available from all major book retailers – visit here

Death of a glam icon – Steve Priest: 1948-2020

Review: Sweet 50th anniversary concert – Berlin

Review: Sweet live 2017, London and Bilston

The Sweet versus Bowie: the riff in Blockbuster and Jean Genie – origins and influences

Before glam: the debut 60s singles of Bowie, Bolan, Slade, Mud and Sweet

Mick Bolton: 1948-2021

Hastings music scene, Music culture & history, Music news, Rock music, , , ,

Some sad news to start off 2021 was waking up on New Year’s Day and finding out, via social media, that Mick Bolton, the talented pianist who played with Mott The Hoople in the 70s and Dexy’s Midnight Runners in the 80s, has passed away.

Following the departure of Verden Allen and his eventual replacement by Morgan Fisher, Mick ended up touring with Mott The Hoople throughout the second half of 1973 and can be heard on the much-celebrated ‘Mott The Hoople Live’ album.

Reflecting on his introduction to the world of Mott, Mick wrote on his website:

“In May 1973 I auditioned for Mott The Hoople as piano player. They had a huge hit in 1972 with David Bowie’s song All The Young Dudes and, following the release of their 1973 album Mott and the departure of organist Verden Allen, they were about to take on a piano-player and a Hammond organist to promote their new album. I didn’t get the piano job – it quite rightly went to Morgan Fisher. But a couple of days later Stan Tippins the band’s manager phoned to ask if I could play Hammond organ. When I answered yes I was told I had got the job.”

“The US and UK tours were virtual sell outs and we played some memorable concerts with some great support acts.”

Former Mott The Hoople colleague, Morgan Fisher, paid tribute on social media, writing:

“RIP Mick Bolton. My organ buddy in Mott the Hoople, 1973. One of the sweetest of men, and a fine musician.”

I met Mick at several Mott The Hoople related events over the years, where he was always happy to discuss his time with Mott and his fond memories of touring with the band.

However, when I moved to Hastings in 2016, where Mick and his wife also lived, I would see quite a bit more of him. He was a much in-demand performer on the local music scene around Hastings and Rye. Indeed, the first ever gig I attended as a Hastings resident, as opposed to occasional seaside visitor, was seeing Mick perform at a local bar. You can read my write-up here.

I’d often see Mick and his wife Carol out and about, walking along the seafront in St Leonards or enjoying gigs from a plethora of visiting bands at the De La Warr and other local venues, spanning everything from classic rock to folk.

A talented pianist and a warm-hearted man his passing is a real loss to music and to the local community here in Hastings.

https://www.mickboltonmusic.co.uk/

Further reading:

Mick Bolton and Simon Shaw at Gecko, St. Leonards 2016

Mott The Hoople Fan Convention, Hereford 2016

Mott The Hoople at Shepherd’s Bush Empire 2019

A tribute to Judy Dyble 1949-2020

Folk music, Music culture & history, Rock music, , , ,

The singer and songwriter Judy Dyble, who sang lead vocals on Fairport Convention’s very first album, sadly died at the weekend. Although never as celebrated in British folk rock history as her replacement, Sandy Denny, Judy’s beautifully clear, distinctive vocals nevertheless remain an essential part of the early Fairport sound.

After her time with Fairport, Judy was involved in a handful of other projects in the late 60s and early 70s before quitting the music business altogether, spending time bringing up her family and working as a librarian. Her musical story doesn’t quite end there, however, as the early 2000s saw Judy begin writing, recording and performing once more. Albums like the gently captivating ‘Talking With Strangers’ from 2009 and the gorgeous ‘Flow and Change’ from 2013 were extremely well received but her career renaissance continued to grow and grow with her more recent albums picking up a slew of top-notch reviews and frequent appearances in the music press.

Judy’s 2016 autobiography ‘An Accidental Musician’ is a beautiful read. Obviously, I’ve read my fair share of sex and drugs and rock and roll confessionals over the years and, perhaps unsurprisingly, this takes a very different tack. Obviously, it’s a fascinating read in terms of music history but there is so much in there that really any of us can relate to: bereavement, the lack of confidence that can come from not doing something for a long time, the fear and then the buzz of taking on new challenges – it all served to give the book a very, very human angle. When I posted comments along these lines on social media at the time, in typically engaging fashion Judy came back straight away:

“I am so glad you appreciated it, I kind of worry that it isn’t what people expect it to be – a typical race through the 60’s with lots of name droppings… Thank you.”

Other than being part of the communal sing-along for ‘Meet On The Ledge’ Judy was not called upon to play a major part in her former band’s forty-fifth anniversary celebrations which I know was a source of some frustration to her. I emailed Fairport’s Simon Nicol at the time expressing my disappointment that she had not been asked to play a bigger contribution. He did get back saying the band hoped to do more with Judy in the future. They certainly made up for it at the band’s fiftieth anniversary celebration at Cropredy in 2017 where, as well as a solo slot for Judy that weekend, all of the original line-up (sans deceased drummer Martin Lamble) reconvened. Magically we were transported back to 1967 with all of the surviving members from the first Fairport album reconvening on stage for a stunning recreation of the first track on the first album ‘Time Will Show The Wiser’, followed by ‘I Don’t Know Where I Stand’ and ‘Reno, Nevada’. It completely captured the magic of that first album and was really special seeing Judy, Ashley Hutchings, Simon Nicol, Richard Thompson and Iain Matthews sharing a stage together.

An essential part of the early Fairport sound, an unexpected and most wonderful artistic renaissance in later life and one of the loveliest, most sincere, most humble and least showbizzy people you could ever wish to meet, Judy Dyble will be greatly, greatly missed.

Me with Judy at the signing tent at Cropredy in 2017

Bernie Tormé 1952-2019: a true guitar legend

Music culture & history, Rock music, , , ,

I first became aware of Bernie Tormé as the colourful high-octane guitarist with Gillan back in 1981 when I was 15, when the band’s cover of ‘New Orleans’ was zooming up the charts. Bernie’s utterly distinctive, fuzzed-up, glam-punk, hard-riffing, rock guitar was as much an intrinsic part of that band’s sound as Ian Gillan’s vocals.

A year or two later I caught Bernie live couple of times with his post-Gillan outfit Electric Gypsies for two incendiary gigs at Clouds in Preston. The second of these gigs led to my first meeting with the man himself. A small group of us hung back after the gig and I was to discover what a warm-hearted and engaging man this was. This was someone who took the trouble to chat to a bunch of half-pissed teenagers, who joked around with us but who took our questions seriously and seemed genuinely moved by our enthusiasm. And that night Bernie signed my copy of Electric Gypsies for me – which I still have.

Fast forward thirty-odd years and, following a couple of equally incendiary gigs at London’s Borderline, the indefatigable Peter Cook put me in touch with Bernie and I ended up being approached by him to do the PR for his Dublin Cowboy album. A few months ahead of the release date I’d been gearing up the publicity for the launch of the crowdfund appeal. However, such was the unwavering support and love coming from Bernie’s fans, that the funding target was reached in less than nine hours on day one. It was a joy to work on the campaign for the album and I saw at first-hand Bernie’s sincerity and generosity in the way he engaged with fans. Dublin Cowboy deservedly attracted some great reviews and Bernie gave some great interviews but when I sent my invoice for the amount we agreed at the end of the campaign he emailed me back to tell me to alter the invoice because he wanted to pay me more.

A generous, warm-hearted man as well as a wonderful, unique musician and a superb showman, Bernie Tormé will be greatly missed by many. A true guitar legend.

Darren Johnson

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