The Ballroom Blitz Explained

The Ballroom Blitz
Cover:Ballroom blitz.jpg
Border:yes
Caption:Cover of the 1973 German single issue
Type:single
Artist:The Sweet
Album:Desolation Boulevard (US version)
Released:14 September 1973 (UK)[1] (US)
Recorded:1973
Label:RCA (UK)
Capitol (US)
Prev Title:Hell Raiser
Prev Year:1973
Next Title:Teenage Rampage
Next Year:1974

"The Ballroom Blitz" (often called "Ballroom Blitz") is a song by British glam rock band The Sweet, written by Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman. The song reached number one in Canada, number two in the UK Singles Chart and the Australian Chart, and number five on the US Billboard Hot 100.

Background

"The Ballroom Blitz" was inspired by an incident on 27 January 1973 when the band were performing at the Grand Hall in Kilmarnock, Scotland, and were driven offstage by a bottling.[2]

History and description

The song was recorded on 11–12 June 1973 at Audio International Studio, 18 Rodmarton Street, London,[3] [4] and released as a single in September 1973.

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

An early cover of "The Ballroom Blitz" was by the Les Humphries Singers in 1974, 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]

Other covers include Krokus in 1984, the Surf Punks on their 1988 album Oh No! Not Them Again, acoustic punk band Calibretto 13 in 2000, and Tia Carrere on the soundtrack to Wayne's World in 1992.[10] [11] In 2003, the song was covered by the female Estonian rock band of Vanilla Ninja. In 2016, The Struts recorded it for the soundtrack of film The Edge of Seventeen.[12] In 2020, industrial metal band 3Teeth released Guns Akimbo, a two-track set that included a cover version of "The Ballroom Blitz". The song was previously featured in the 2019 action comedy film Guns Akimbo.[13]

In popular culture

Personnel

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Chart (1973-1976)Peak
position
Argentina (Cash Box)[16] 2
Australia (Go-Set National Top 40)[17] 1
Australia (Kent Music Report)[18] [19] 2
Canada RPM Top Singles[20] 1
Finland (Finnish Singles Charts)10
France (IFOP)[21] 16
Iceland (Vísir)[22] 1
Ireland (IRMA)[23] 1
South Africa (Springbok Radio SA Top 20)[24] 3
Spain (AFYVE)[25] 5
Sweden (Kvällstoppen)[26] 3
US Billboard Hot 100[27] 5

Year-end charts

Chart (1975)Rank
Canada[29] 22
US Billboard Hot 100[30] 16

Notes and References

  1. Web site: BPI.
  2. Book: Dimery, Robert . 1001 Songs: You Must Hear Before You Die. 13 October 2015. 5 December 2011. Octopus. 978-1-84403-717-9. 886.
  3. Book: Beat Instrumental & Songwriting & Recording . 14 October 2015. 1978. Beat Publications. 88.
  4. Web site: Recorded at Audio International. Burns. Phil. Philsbook.com. 14 October 2015.
  5. Book: Popoff, Martin . The Big Book of Hair Metal: The Illustrated Oral History of Heavy Metal's Debauched Decade. 14 October 2015. 15 August 2014. Voyageur Press . 978-0-7603-4546-7. 20.
  6. Web site: Top 10 Sweet Songs. Swanson. Dave. Ultimateclassicrock.com. 27 February 2013 . Diffuser Network. 13 October 2015.
  7. Book: The Complete New Zealand Music Charts, 1966-2006: Singles, Albums, DVDs, Compilations. 11 October 2015. 1 January 2007. Maurienne House. 978-1-877443-00-8. 14.
  8. Book: Waksman, Steve. This Ain't the Summer of Love: Conflict and Crossover in Heavy Metal and Punk. registration. 10 October 2015. 4 February 2009. University of California Press. 978-0-520-94388-9. 327.
  9. Book: Kilmister, Lemmy. White Line Fever: Lemmy: The Autobiography. 11 October 2015. 8 June 2012. Simon and Schuster. 978-1-4711-1271-3. 120.
  10. Book: Mark Allan Powell. Encyclopedia of Contemporary Christian Music. 11 October 2015. 2002. Hendrickson Publishers. 978-1-56563-679-8. 130.
  11. Book: Martin Charles . Strong. Brendon. Griffin. Lights, camera, sound tracks. 11 October 2015. 2008. Canongate. 978-1-84767-003-8. 396.
  12. Web site: The Struts cover Sweet's "Ballroom Blitz" for The Edge of Seventeen soundtrack — listen. 3 November 2016. Consequence.net. 27 November 2018.
  13. Web site: BraveWords . August 24, 2020 . 3TEETH Releases Guns Akimbo Album Featuring Covers Of "Ballroom Blitz" And "You Spin Me Round (Like A Record)" . 2024-02-19 . . en.
  14. Web site: Hey Ladies - Paul's Boutique Samples and References List at paulsboutique.info. 2022-09-27.
  15. Web site: Ohi Ho Bang Bang - Discogs. www.discogs.com. 4 June 2020.
  16. Web site: Cash Box - International Best Sellers. worldradiohistory.com. Cash Box. 16 February 1974. p. 50..
  17. Top 40 Australian Singles. Go-Set. 19 January 1974. 7 March 2023.
  18. Web site: National Top 100 Singles for 1974. . 29 . . 30 December 1974 . 15 January 2022 .
  19. Web site: Steffen . Hung . Forum - 1970 (ARIA Charts: Special Occasion Charts) . Australian-charts.com . 26 June 2016.
  20. [List of number-one singles of 1975 (Canada)]
  21. Web site: Le Détail par Artiste . InfoDisc . 14 February 2024 . Select "The Sweet" from the artist drop-down menu . fr.
  22. 11 February 1974. Tíu á Toppnum. Vísir. 16.
  23. Web site: irishcharts.ie search results . 2024-02-14.
  24. Web site: South African Rock Lists Website - SA Charts 1965 - 1989 Songs (A-B). Brian. Currin. www.rock.co.za. 20 April 2018.
  25. Book: Salaverri, Fernando . Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 . 84-8048-639-2.
  26. Book: Hallberg, Eric. Eric Hallberg presenterar Kvällstoppen i P 3: Sveriges radios topplista över veckans 20 mest sålda skivor 10. 7. 1962 - 19. 8. 1975. Drift Musik. 1993. 130. 9163021404.
  27. Sweet Ballroom Blitz Chart History . Billboard . 11 February 2019.
  28. Top Selling Singles for 1973 . . Spotlight Publications . London, England . 4 . 5 January 1974.
  29. Web site: Top RPM Singles: Issue 3183. RPM. 17 July 2013. Library and Archives Canada. 10 October 2015.
  30. http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-Billboard/70s/1975/Billboard-1975-12-27.pdf Top Records of 1975

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