Today is the 34th birthday of Lincoln, Neb.-born Matthew Sweet, the pop

singer/songwriter who has issued a number of hook-laden albums. While Sweet has a

devoted fanbase, he has never had mainstream success.

Sweet began playing music in high school and chose the University of Georgia in

Athens because of its hot underground-music scene. He joined Lynda Stipe's band

Oh-OK and was featured on its 1983 EP, Furthermore What, produced by Mitch

Easter. The next year, he and Oh-OK drummer David Pierce formed Buzz of Delight and

issued Sound Castles. While Sweet was busy cutting a demo, Columbia Records

offered him a contract on the strength of Sound Castles.

Sweet moved to New York, where he recorded his 1986 solo debut, Inside, on

which he played almost every instrument. That same year, Sweet also contributed to the

Golden Palominos' Blast of Silence.

Columbia dropped Sweet after the critically hailed Inside failed to sell. Moving

over to A&M, Sweet released 1989's Earth, which also flopped and left him again

without a label. He spent some time touring as Lloyd Cole's guitarist while looking for a

new record contract.

Zoo issued Sweet's 1991 album, Girlfriend, on which he was backed by guitarist

Robert Quine (who worked with Lou Reed) and Richard Lloyd of Television. The critically

praised album became a word-of-mouth hit and put Sweet in the center of the

alternative-pop revival in the U.S. at the time.

Tracks such as "Divine Intervention" combined smooth melodies with noisy punk-guitar

and the title track was a top-5 modern-rock hit. Though 1993's Altered Beast

(produced by Richard Dashut, who co-helmed Fleetwood Mac's Rumours) was

more abstract and sold fewer copies, Sweet played numerous shows nationwide,

attended by fans who saw him as a new power-pop hero. "The Ugly Truth" and "Time

Capsule" also received considerable airplay on college-radio stations. Sweet then

issued the EP Son of Altered Beast in 1994.

Things improved commercially for Sweet with the well-reviewed and gold-selling

100% Fun (1995), which featured the modern-rock hit "Sick of Myself." The disc

was produced by Brendan O'Brien of Pearl Jam fame and included catchy tracks such as

"We're the Same" and "Come to Love." Sweet also toured U.S. amphitheaters with Soul

Asylum. In addition, Sweet contributed a version of "Scooby-Doo, Where Are You?" to

the 1995 compilation album Saturday Morning Cartoons' Greatest Hits.

Blue Sky on Mars (1997) received mixed reviews and was a commercial letdown,

though the single "Where You Get Love" got some attention from various alternative

stations.

Sweet said: "The idea that being out of place on Mars is what was interesting about the

title to me. The unreality of it, the implication that you wouldn't find happiness anywhere

on this planet."

Sweet toured the U.S. and Europe behind the album, which had a cover featuring '70s

pop-art lettering.

Sweet has not yet announced his next project.

Other birthdays: Thomas McClary (Commodores), 49; Kevin Cronin (REO Speedwagon),

47; and Tommy Stinson (Replacements, Perfect), 32.