Why Was Rachel Sweet Such A Failure
William Jenkins 
Late 70s / Early 80s singer Rachel Sweet. Today she is described as the70s answer to Britney Spears, but she was much more talented. She started singing at age 3 and by age 6 was touring with Mickey Rooney and was the opening act for Bill Cosby in Las Vegas.
Her albums got rave reviews and she was pushed heavily but outside of a duet with Rex Smith, (Everlasting Love #32 Billboard / #34 Cashbox) she failed to hit the top 40 again.
After her acclaimed song "Voo Doo" that was supposed to be a chart smash and bring her into her proper station in music, failed to make much of a dent on the charts, she left music, and went back to college and got a degree in English and French Literature (1988).
She then wrote the title songs to "Clarissa Explains It all" and "Hairspray." She had a show on the Comedy Channel (forerunner of Comedy Central) called The Sweet Life, which appears is simiilar to a YouTube channel, where she does a lot of music and comedy.
In 1992 Sweet appeared in a minor role as George Costanza's cousin on an episode of Seinfeld titled "The Contest."
She has since focused on establishing an acting, writing, and producing career. In 1994, she appeared in All Tied Up.]She worked as a writer and executive producer on the television series Dharma & Greg, Commando Nanny, George Lopez, Hot in Cleveland, 2 Broke Girls, The Single Guy and The Goldbergs.
I've been listening to her 70s music and she really has a LOT of talent, and seems to be a prime example of how you can have the talent, the songs, the backing but without a bit of luck you will go no where.
Below is a link to her song Voo Doo
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 60 | March 13, 2023 2:01 PM |
Here she is with a remake of Peter and Gordon's song "I Go To Pieces"
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 1 | February 2, 2022 1:41 PM |
And for the gays, here she is with Rex Smith in tight pants singing "Everlasting Love" with some changed lyrics
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 2 | February 2, 2022 1:42 PM |
Here she is with a promo of her Comedy Channel promo "The Sweet Life," which you can see strongly resembles what a YouTuber would do today
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 3 | February 2, 2022 1:43 PM |
I first heard of her when she was doing The Sweet Life and found her appealing.
| by Anonymous | reply 4 | February 2, 2022 5:31 PM |
Rachel's song "Wildwood Saloon" is one of my all-time favorites.
I remember seeing her name as a producer on "Hot in Cleveland" and thinking, "Surely there are not two Rachel Sweets." Of course, it's the same.
I applaud her for taking whichever path her talents would lead.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 5 | February 2, 2022 6:04 PM |
Rachel and Helen Schneider both recorded versions of "Shadows of the Night" before Pat Benatar.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 6 | February 2, 2022 6:17 PM |
^^^ "Wildwood Saloon" also has one of my favorite lyrics: "Flies in my whisky, he says his name's Mike."
Oh, and by the way, I don't think Rachel Sweet was a failure at all.
| by Anonymous | reply 7 | February 2, 2022 6:17 PM |
Overall Rachel was not a failure but she was a failure as a singer and she should NOT have been.
I can easily see Voo Doo being a hit for Sheena Easton or Olivia Newton-John or even the new wave Go-Go's.
She has a lot of talent more in line with Tanya Tucker than Britney Spears.
Listening to her talk you can be sure Cyndi Lauper stole all her mannerisms from her.
At least she has critical acclaim for her singing and she achieved quite a bit outside of music.
I think trying to "sex her up," as they did with Brooke Shields, which is nothing now but was scandalous then, ultimately hurt her. She was just a teen at the time.
| by Anonymous | reply 8 | February 2, 2022 8:11 PM |
[quote]Here she is with a remake of Peter and Gordon's song "I Go To Pieces"
She did a lot of covers and this is a great one. Her cover of B-A-B-Y is also great.
| by Anonymous | reply 9 | February 2, 2022 8:12 PM |
Love her trashy jailbait pout and sound combined with a great voice.
It's said that the minister in the "Everlasting Love" video is Pete Buttigieg's father, though I don't know it's true.
| by Anonymous | reply 10 | February 2, 2022 8:23 PM |
r10
They do bear a strong resemblance don't they?
| by Anonymous | reply 11 | February 10, 2022 4:58 PM |
Never heard of her and I can see why. Her singing in nothing special. Her voice has no richness or bottom end based on what was posted on here. There's no emotion. Good for her she that she was to find other work.
| by Anonymous | reply 12 | February 10, 2022 5:41 PM |
I love her an I’m surprised the DL even recognizes her. This place thinks musicians are failures if they do not have constant #1’s. We all know that is false.
My fave tracks by her are
Voo Doo
Paralyzed
Shadows of the Night
Hairspray
| by Anonymous | reply 13 | February 10, 2022 6:19 PM |
I saw her live in the early 80s...she was incredible. She really should have gone farther in her musical career. She was young then too...just 18...and she had already been around for years. Signing with Columbia is what did her in...they tried to commercialize her. Protect the Innocent was one of my favorite albums in the early 80s. Everyone I knew who heard it, went out and bought it.
| by Anonymous | reply 14 | February 11, 2022 12:23 AM |
[quote]and was the opening act for Bill Cosby in Las Vegas.
Lord, I hope there was no such thing as Children’s Methaqualone at the time.
| by Anonymous | reply 15 | February 11, 2022 12:32 AM |
Her version of "I Go To Pieces" is wonderful.
| by Anonymous | reply 16 | February 11, 2022 12:39 AM |
I never got the Britney Spears comparison. Unless you're simply looking for two young singers.
They still fail. Sweet had a lot of talent, but no music success and Britney had marginal singing talent but a lot of music success.
| by Anonymous | reply 17 | February 11, 2022 12:42 AM |
Um, Briney's songs were better.
| by Anonymous | reply 18 | February 11, 2022 12:44 AM |
Ugh. I remember the musical elites who complained that there was no richness or bottom end to Rachel Sweet’s vocals. Moon Unit Zappa bemoaned her contemporaries who weren’t schooled enough to keep a bubble in your throat and to project from one’s diaphragm. Britney is not worth the skid marks in Stacy Q’s underpants.
| by Anonymous | reply 19 | February 11, 2022 1:03 AM |
"Hairspray" is one of the best movie soundtrack songs of the '80s and it's better than any song in the musical adaptation. I was sure they were going to try to sneak in Sweet's version because it's just so damn catchy.
I'm happy for her second-wind success but she'll always be the girl who sang the title song for Hairspray.
| by Anonymous | reply 21 | February 11, 2022 1:58 AM |
Hey some people make it big, and some people don't. She was kind of plump and plain; no sex symbol. Maybe that hurt her chances. I for one never thought she was anything special musically.
| by Anonymous | reply 22 | February 11, 2022 2:04 AM |
Her 70's albums for Stiff are excellent - an eclectic mix of new wave, country and retro pop, with some great versions of songs like the Velvet Underground's New Age. I also like her Stiff bandmate Lene Lovich though musically they were very different.
| by Anonymous | reply 23 | February 11, 2022 2:13 AM |
Part of the problem was her height...shes really short...under 5 ft.
| by Anonymous | reply 24 | February 11, 2022 2:27 AM |
This was a year before Benatar's cover:
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 25 | February 11, 2022 2:27 AM |
She dubbed Amy Locanes singing in Cry Baby
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 26 | February 11, 2022 2:37 AM |
I wouldn't call her a failure. She was more successful than 90 percent of aspiring singers who we never hear of. She had her moment in the sun. As for why she never became huge it's an impossible question. There are a million factors when it comes to enduring fame. I suspect much of it is luck. I am absolutely baffled as to Britney Spears and Taylor Swift's ongoing status. But for whatever reason some people just manage to stay in the public eye.
| by Anonymous | reply 27 | February 11, 2022 2:43 AM |
[quote] Part of the problem was her height...shes really short...under 5 ft.
I'm not sure why that would have been that much of a problem. Pat Benatar is really short too, just five feet tall I think. She also had no tits and no ass. And pop eyes and tombstone teeth. Yet somehow she was considered a sex symbol. Go figure.
| by Anonymous | reply 28 | February 11, 2022 2:44 AM |
No, shes really short...like 4'6 or 4'9...I cant remember which, but shes tiny...you can see it in her videos.
| by Anonymous | reply 29 | February 11, 2022 2:46 AM |
She seemed stuck in the 70s. 1982 was the year everything changed: British invasion; electronic music. She couldn't ride the New Wave.
| by Anonymous | reply 30 | February 11, 2022 3:00 AM |
Wikipedia says she bought one of Madonna’s houses, eventually selling it for $4.9 million. Why can’t I be a failure like that?
| by Anonymous | reply 31 | February 11, 2022 3:00 AM |
She should have starred in a Brenda Lee biopic.
| by Anonymous | reply 32 | February 11, 2022 3:20 AM |
Does anyone know if she sang "Shadows of the Night?" Let's just clarify that in this thread. And link to the video!
| by Anonymous | reply 33 | February 11, 2022 3:31 AM |
R33, you do understand that incredibly irritating posters (like you) are blocked by many people here?
No one ever sees their content so it gets re-posted.
| by Anonymous | reply 35 | February 11, 2022 3:44 AM |
I like and stan her but not sure what era or genre she would fit in during her prime. The affiliation with Stiff gave her novelty status and lumped her in with Lene Lovich and others. She did graduate Columbia and has a successful TV producer career so second acts definitely happen.
| by Anonymous | reply 36 | February 11, 2022 3:44 AM |
She was in Gypsy with Bette Midler also.
| by Anonymous | reply 37 | February 11, 2022 3:47 AM |
She was one of a whole slew of young female singers in the late 70's/early 80's that the critics creamed their jeans over and touted as the Next Big Thing: Louise Goffin (Carole King's daughter), Cindy Bullens, Genya Ravan, Ellen Foley, and Karla DeVito (the future Mrs. Robbie Benson) were some of the others. All fell way short of the great things that were predicted for them
Critics and labels seemed to sense that the world needed a new type of female pop star, and these women all seemed to fit the bill in one way or another, but at the end of the day there just wasn't any "there" there.
In that era, critical raves usually didn't translate to radio airplay, which was starting to become more and more tightly controlled. And without radio airplay back then, you were dead in the water.
| by Anonymous | reply 38 | February 11, 2022 3:50 AM |
Because she didn't have "it."
| by Anonymous | reply 39 | February 11, 2022 3:54 AM |
[quote] Wikipedia says she bought one of Madonna’s houses, eventually selling it for $4.9 million. Why can’t I be a failure like that?
That was a long time ago. I assume she didn't pay that much for the house initially and sold it at a profit, no doubt the fact that Madonna once lived in it added to its value. I suppose she made a decent living in the entertainment industry for a time. But she never really hit it big. I doubt that she's ever starved but she never achieved a great deal of success. I remember a review Rolling Stone did of one of her performances, when it was thought she was going to be this big deal. During the performance she went into the audience and started "casually signing autographs." Yech! My guess is that the autograph seekers were probably paid by her publicist.
| by Anonymous | reply 40 | February 11, 2022 4:19 AM |
Is she the one who sang Shadows of the Night? I’m starting to think so.
| by Anonymous | reply 41 | February 11, 2022 4:19 AM |
In 1989, she appeared in a largely forgotten, low budget picture entitled "Sing". Patti LaBelle, Lorraine Bracco, Peter Dobson, and Mary Hartman herself also starred. Sweet performed a campy talent show number called "Life Ain't Worth Living When You're Dead".
| by Anonymous | reply 42 | February 11, 2022 4:38 AM |
She had a "look" but Im unimpressed with her vocals. I detest that goat wobble in anyones voice. I still dont know how Shakira is so huge.
| by Anonymous | reply 43 | February 11, 2022 4:49 AM |
Akron's answer to Kirsty MacColl.
| by Anonymous | reply 44 | February 11, 2022 5:04 AM |
[quote]In 1989, she appeared in a largely forgotten, low budget picture entitled "Sing". Patti LaBelle, Lorraine Bracco, Peter Dobson, and Mary Hartman herself also starred. Sweet performed a campy talent show number called "Life Ain't Worth Living When You're Dead".
"Sing" wasn't a low budget movie, it was a major release from Tri-Star. It is however considered a lost film and never been on DVD. Rachel didn't even make the soundtrack album.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 45 | February 11, 2022 5:22 AM |
Rachel wrote a lot of her last two (post Stiff) albums. I like her Spectoresque "Party Girl."
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 46 | February 11, 2022 6:18 AM |
r45 is right. I remember there was TONS of promotion for Sing, for both the movie and soundtrack. But it was a huge flop. It really has become a lost film but they really tried to make it a hit like Flashdance and Footloose.
| by Anonymous | reply 47 | February 11, 2022 8:23 AM |
“🎼 You wanted me to write you a letter, here it is, it's left down river on the boat. As if these things I feel around me could reach you, but they never will. You’re much too remote…🎼
She wasn’t a big star because her songs were only so-so as someone upthread said. At least one person I knew had a couple of her albums in the 70’s. That’s how I heard of her.
| by Anonymous | reply 48 | February 11, 2022 10:46 AM |
Who sang it better? Rachel?
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 49 | February 11, 2022 10:57 AM |
Whoever styled her for the Hairspray video did her dirty. The mumsy hair and ghostly make up did nothing for her. She was only about 28 at the time.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 52 | February 11, 2022 11:03 AM |
She sang the theme song to Clarissa Explains It All. One of the most annoyingly catchy themes that stayed in my head rent free years after it went off the air.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 53 | February 11, 2022 1:58 PM |
Put blonde hair on her and she does seem like Britney. Pete Buttigieg’s father I can see Pete in him.
| by Anonymous | reply 54 | February 8, 2023 2:27 PM |
[Quote] Signing with Columbia is what did her in...they tried to commercialize her.
I don't know about that. She co-wrote and co-produced much of her last album.
| by Anonymous | reply 55 | February 8, 2023 2:59 PM |
Streetheart, streetheart.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 56 | February 8, 2023 3:00 PM |
Live on The Old Grey Whistle Test.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 57 | February 8, 2023 3:03 PM |
Baby Let's Play House, with added leather queen.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 58 | February 8, 2023 3:10 PM |
Looking very '90s in 2011.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 60 | March 13, 2023 2:01 PM |
