Sweet guitarist and diehard Wrexham fan Andy Scott is playing at the university venue in December. We caught up with him recently and talked about all things Wrexham.
Memories of Wrexham
We kicked off by asking Andy about his childhood memories: “My earliest recollections of Wrexham were going to
the football aged five and my dad or uncle hoisting me onto their shoulders in the area called ‘The Boys’ Pen’”.
He also talked in glowing terms about how Arfon Griffiths took Wrexham up to the second division in 1978.
His recent cancer treatments mean he doesn’t get back to Wrexham much these days. “Not enough,” was his answer when
we asked him how often he’s in Wrexham now.
He also mentioned how difficult it was to get tickets for the football! He told us how, as a kid, he often hung around the Racecourse during the week and security even allowed him into the ground on the odd occasion.
We finished by talking about his incredible mane of blond hair. “Of course, it’s my real hair!” he stated proudly
A Brief History
Andy played bass guitar, to begin with, and his first band, The Rasjaks, played just three gigs! The first was at St Peter’s Hall (now Caia Park Community Rooms) in Hightown in November 1963. He followed that up with gigs at the British Celanese Club,
Maesydre, and St Margaret’s Church Hall, Garden Village.
Andy kept burnishing his reputation as a talented bassist as he moved through several bands, each one a little more popular and far-reaching than the last.
With the Silverstones, he won Opportunity Knocks five weeks in a row in 1966, although the band lost out in the All-Winners
show to a certain Freddie Starr. His first real taste of the big time came with The Silverstones in 1967 when they found themselves supporting none other than Jimi Hendrix at the New Century Hall in Manchester.
His next band, The Elastic Band, was notable for Andy starting to feature on lead guitars and also that his brother, Mike, who played bass and saxophone, joined the band. It was also about this time that he met Mike McCartney, brother of Paul.
Andy then moved on to become part of the backing band for The Scaffold, which featured poet Roger McGough and Tiswas star John Gorman. They had a huge hit with Lily The Pink, although Jack Bruce (of Cream fame) played the bass part.
Success was only around the corner now, though, and when he moved to London, he managed to get an audition for a band called Sweet, who had just lost guitarist Mick Stewart.
And the rest is history. Sweet went on to have an incredible run of success and were one of the UK’s biggest-selling
bands in the 70s. Unfortunately, Brian Connolly, Steve Priest and Mick Tucker have all passed now and it is left to Andy to carry the torch.
His reformed Sweet play will be at the William Aston Hall on December 1st, which Andy played as a child when in The Gang Show. To keep up to date with the community, click here.
