The Ballroom Blitz

"The Ballroom Blitz"

Cover of the 1973 German single issue
Single by The Sweet
from the album Desolation Boulevard (US Version)
B-side "Rock and Roll Disgrace" (RCA)
"Restless" (Capitol)
Released September 1973 (1973-09) (Europe)
July 1975 (1975-07) (US)
Format 7" single
Recorded 1973
Genre Glam rock
Length 4:06
Label RCA
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
  • Nicky Chinn
  • Mike Chapman
The Sweet singles chronology
"Hell Raiser"
(1973)		 "The Ballroom Blitz"
(1973)		 "Teenage Rampage"
(1974)

"Hell Raiser"
(1973)		 "The Ballroom Blitz"
(1973)		 "Teenage Rampage"
(1974)
Desolation Boulevard US release track listing
"The Ballroom Blitz"
(1)		 "The Six Teens"
(2)
Audio sample
  • file
  • help

"The Ballroom Blitz" (often called "Ballroom Blitz") is a song by the British rock band The Sweet, written and produced by Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman.

Background

"The Ballroom Blitz" was inspired by an incident on 27 January 1973 when the band was performing at the Grand Hall in Kilmarnock, Scotland and were driven offstage by a barrage of bottles.[1]

Recorded at Audio International Studio, 18 Rodmartin Street, London.[2][3] The song was produced by songwriters Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman.[4]

The song appeared on the US and Canadian versions of Desolation Boulevard but never appeared on a Sweet album in the UK, other than hits compilations.[5]

The initial guitar and drum riff of the song has similarity to a 1963 song by Bobby Comstock called "Let's Stomp".[6]

Cover versions

The first known cover of "The Ballroom Blitz" was by the Les Humphries Singers in 1975, which was the first German single to reach #1 in New Zealand.[7] In 1979, the song was covered by the Damned, which featured Lemmy from Motörhead on bass guitar. It was released as a B-side to "I Just Can't Be Happy Today" and featured as a bonus track on their CD reissue of Machine Gun Etiquette.[8][9] Another notable cover was by Swiss heavy metal band Krokus, which was released on their album The Blitz in 1984.[10][11] Other covers include renditions by Christian rock band Calibretto 13 on their album Enter the Danger Brigade in 2000, Tia Carrere on the soundtrack to Wayne's World in 1992, and thrash metal band Nuclear Assault on their 1991 album Out of Order.[12][13] In 2017, The Featherz covered the song on their debut album Five Year Itch. This was originally intended for the CD edition of their 2016 single Forget All You Know.

Personnel

Chart performance

References

  1. ↑ Robert Dimery (5 December 2011). 1001 Songs: You Must Hear Before You Die. Octopus. p. 886. ISBN 978-1-84403-717-9. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
  2. ↑ Beat Instrumental & Songwriting & Recording. Beat Publications. 1978. p. 88. Retrieved 14 October 2015.
  3. ↑ Burns, Phil. "Recorded at Audio International". Philsbook.com. Retrieved 14 October 2015.
  4. ↑ Nigel Clements. Prologue: Spud Carrot Begins The First Book in the Adventures of Spud Carrot Series. Lulu.com. p. 387. ISBN 978-1-291-91615-7. Retrieved 14 October 2015.
  5. ↑ Martin Popoff (15 August 2014). The Big Book of Hair Metal: The Illustrated Oral History of Heavy Metal's Debauched Decade. Voyageur Press. p. 20. ISBN 978-0-7603-4546-7. Retrieved 14 October 2015.
  6. ↑ Swanson, Dave. "Top 10 Sweet Songs". Ultimateclassicrock.com. Diffuser Network. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
  7. ↑ The Complete New Zealand Music Charts, 1966-2006: Singles, Albums, DVDs, Compilations. Maurienne House. 1 January 2007. p. 14. ISBN 978-1-877443-00-8. Retrieved 11 October 2015.
  8. ↑ Steve Waksman (4 February 2009). This Ain't the Summer of Love: Conflict and Crossover in Heavy Metal and Punk. University of California Press. p. 327. ISBN 978-0-520-94388-9. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
  9. ↑ Lemmy Kilmister (8 June 2012). White Line Fever: Lemmy: The Autobiography. Simon and Schuster. p. 120. ISBN 978-1-4711-1271-3. Retrieved 11 October 2015.
  10. ↑ Daniel Bukszpan; Ronnie James Dio (2003). The Encyclopedia of Heavy Metal. Barnes & Noble Publishing. p. 108. ISBN 978-0-7607-4218-1. Retrieved 11 October 2015.
  11. ↑ Taylor T. Carlson (14 June 2014). STEELcyclopedia - The Titans of Hard Rock. Lulu.com. p. 118. ISBN 978-1-304-80076-3. Retrieved 11 October 2015.
  12. ↑ Mark Allan Powell (2002). Encyclopedia of Contemporary Christian Music. Hendrickson Publishers. p. 130. ISBN 978-1-56563-679-8. Retrieved 11 October 2015.
  13. ↑ Martin Charles Strong; Brendon Griffin (2008). Lights, camera, sound tracks. Canongate. p. 396. ISBN 978-1-84767-003-8. Retrieved 11 October 2015.
  14. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M30ACuNgKfU
  15. ↑ http://www.metrolyrics.com/ballroom-blitz-lyrics-the-sweet.html
  16. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VJ34UG_BfU
  17. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5uB5pp3UI0
  18. ↑ http://www.soundtrackcollector.com/title/73809/Romanzo+Criminale
  19. ↑ http://collider.com/suicide-squad-new-trailer-will-smith/
  20. ↑ http://tvadsongs.uk/smart-energy-gb-advert-song-meter-gaz-leccy/
  21. 1 2 Steffen Hung. "Forum - 1970 (ARIA Charts: Special Occasion Charts)". Australian-charts.com. Retrieved 2016-06-26.
  22. ↑ "Austriancharts.at – The Sweet – The Ballroom Blitz" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
  23. ↑ "Ultratop.be – The Sweet – The Ballroom Blitz" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
  24. ↑ List of number-one singles of 1975 (Canada)
  25. ↑ "Offiziellecharts.de – The Sweet – The Ballroom Blitz". GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
  26. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – The Sweet – The Ballroom Blitz" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
  27. ↑ "Norwegiancharts.com – The Sweet – The Ballroom Blitz". VG-lista. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
  28. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – The Sweet – The Ballroom Blitz". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
  29. ↑ "Archive Chart: 1973-09-22" UK Singles Chart. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
  30. ↑ Billboard Singles at AllMusic. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
  31. ↑ "Top 100 1973 - UK Music Charts". Uk-charts.top-source.info. Retrieved 2016-06-26.
  32. ↑ "Top RPM Singles: Issue 3183". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
  33. ↑ "Billboard Top 100 - 1975". Retrieved 10 October 2015.
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