Rocker Andy Scott from The Sweet didn't think he would be playing gigs past 30 years old.
Yet at 64, the British guitarist is back in Australia, touring the country and playing hits such as Ballroom Blitz, Fox on the Run and Love Is Like Oxygen.
He says Australia has a loyal fan base, many of whom have been with The Sweet since the `70s.
"Well, they have to be to still be with us 40 years on," says Scott, still sporting his long blonde `70s hairstyle, in Sydney.
Back in the day, Scott says the only musicians older than 30 were folk, jazz, or country musos.
"Pop musicians, by the time you hit 30 you were over the hill, you were gone.
"(Then) people like The Rolling Stones just carried on and here we are in 2014 and The Rolling Stones are still touring so I think we've got a bit of catching up to do," he says.
Scott is the only member of the classic `70s lineup still playing, but he says the band has almost come full circle.
"It's like a metamorphosis, we're almost back where we started. We've got a four piece band, that actually sounds like the original band," he says.
He and the other members - Bruce Bisland (drums, vocals), Pete Lincoln (lead vocals and bass) and Paul Manzi (keyboards and guitar) - are hitting major cities and regional centres across Australia during February and March.
In the `70s, The Sweet, who inspired bands like KISS, Def Leppard and Motley Crue, earned a reputation for their live shows. The gigs were reported to sometimes be so obscenely sexual they were arrested in Belgium and were even banned from playing.
Scott says these days fans can expect something a little less provocative.
"Just look, you don't want to see someone like me in a silver leather jumpsuit anymore," he jokes of the glam rock band's past.
"When we get to Darwin, I've already said that the new stage gear will be budgie smugglers because it's going be so hot."
Scott says the Sweet "straddle a lot of areas of music", playing a mix of glam and hard rock songs and a few `Sweetified' covers in their show.
However, even though they're playing at theatres, they want people to get up and enjoy themselves.
"If you had wanted a cabaret band, we weren't it," he says.
Even though it's been decades since The Sweet first started in 1968, they're still performing hard. By May, Scott thinks they will have performed 50 shows.
So after all these years, what is it about performing that gets The Sweet up on stage night after night?
Scott doesn't miss a beat.
"It's in the hope of becoming a thinner man at the end of it," he says.
THE SWEET AUSTRALIAN TOUR DATES
February 27 - Goldfields Arts Centre, Kalgoorlie, WA
February 28 - Mandurah Performing Arts Centre, WA
March 1 - Bunbury Regional Entertainment Centre, WA
March 2 - Queens Park Theatre, Geraldton, WA
March 4 - Regal Theatre, Perth
March 6 - Darwin Entertainment Centre
March 7 - Cairns Civic Theatre
March 8 - Mackay Entertainment & Convention Centre, Qld
March 9 - Pilbeam Theatre, Rockhampton, Qld
March 11 - Brolga Theatre, Maryborough, Qld
March 12 - Concert Hall QPAC, Brisbane
March 13 - Empire Theatre, Toowoomba
March 14 - Regional Entertainment Centre, Tamworth, NSW
March 15 - The Factory Theatre, Sydney
March 16 - Geelong Performing Arts Centre
March 18 - Frankston Arts Centre, Vic
March 19 - Eastbank Centre, Shepparton, Vic
March 21 - Bendigo Stadium, Vic
March 22 - Civic Theatre, Newcastle
March 23 - Shoalhaven Entertainment Centre, Nowra, NSW
