Starfish and Coffee: Episode 18 • Paul Manzi • Vocalist with The Sweet

Sometimes you can dream a dream that’s so dumb, it just might come true.

Paul Manzi is one such person. One day you’re belting out rousing renditions of Hellraiser and Fox On The Run on the top deck of the school bus… next thing you know, you find yourself standing next to Andy Scott and belting out those very same Sweet songs in front of thousands.

I’m a huge fan of Sweet (or The Sweet if you prefer). As we discuss, they’re a strange band. Most often, they’re labelled as a glam rock band (which they were) with throwaway singles (which they very much weren’t) but dig into their albums and you’ll find a powerhouse rock band who drift in and out of prog rock, hard rock - damn, you name it and they pulled it in. The fact of the matter is, Sweet were a complex band both musically and internally - but then, what band isn’t. Even their glam rock hits have layers of magic pounded into them.

So, I figured what better way to dig about in the modern day incarnation of the band than to quiz their singer… the rest you can find out by listening.

For tour dates (and they’re quite extensive for 2023), head over the band website - https://www.thesweet.com - where you can also pick up all of the social media feeds.