POP MUSIC REVIEW : ‘70s Rock Group Proves Not Ready for ‘90s Comeback

“Are you ready, Steve?” No, Sweet’s original bassist Steve Priest wasn’t there Wednesday at the Strand when the group played its first Southern California show since 1982. He and original singer Brian Connolly had the good sense to leave the group years ago after its heyday.

But don’t put it past the remaining original members, guitarist Andy Scott and drummer Mick Tucker, to have hired a keyboardist named Steve just so they could re-create that classic “Are you ready?” intro to Sweet’s best-known song, 1975’s “Ballroom Blitz.” The pair (who come to the Coach House in San Juan Capistrano on Sunday) certainly showed no other evidence of class Wednesday.

Scott and Tucker sported poofy hair and leather duds that would look silly on Sunset Strip kids 20 years their junior. And with singer Paul Day, bassist Mal McNulty and keyboardist Steve Mann on Wednesday, they played songs that sounded silly 15 years ago.

Of course, 15 years ago, that was part of the group’s charm. Looking back, Sweet’s hard-rock-bubble-gum style (one critic termed it “Bazooka-rock”) was the missing link between the 1910 Fruitgum Company and Twisted Sister, a prototype for the ‘80s pop-metal of Motley Crue, Quiet Riot and Poison.

And truth be told, the group’s best songs--”Ballroom Blitz,” “Action” and the teasingly bisexual (though sexist) “A.C.D.C.”--have weathered better than the band. Any one of them would make a nice hard-rock diversion on Rhino Records’ “Have a Nice Day” ’70s pop anthologies. But that’s hardly enough to justify Wednesday’s hapless display.

Sweet plays Sunday night at 8 at the Coach House, 33157 Camino Capistrano, San Juan Capistrano. Opening act is Stikkity. Tickets are $16.50. Call (714) 496-8930.

Sweet also plays tonight at Spice in Hollywood, Saturday at the Bacchanal in San Diego and Monday at the Hop in Riverside.