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)
Released14 September 1973
Recorded1973
Genre
Length4:06
LabelRCA (UK)
Capitol (US)
Songwriters
Producer
The Sweet singles chronology
"Hell Raiser"
(1973)		 "The Ballroom Blitz"
(1973)		 "Teenage Rampage"
(1974)
Promo video
"The Ballroom Blitz" on YouTube

"The 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.

History and description

The song was recorded on 11–12 June 1973 at Audio International Studio, 18 Rodmarton Street, London, 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.

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

Cover versions

An early cover of "The Ballroom Blitz" was by the Les Humphries Singers in 1974, the first German single to reach number one in New Zealand. 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.

Other covers include Krokus in 1984, the Surf Punks on their 1988 album Oh No! Not Them Again; and Tia Carrere on the soundtrack to Wayne's World in 1992. In 2003, the song was covered by the female Estonian rock band Vanilla Ninja. In 2016, The Struts recorded it for the soundtrack of film The Edge of Seventeen. 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.

Personnel

Chart performance

Certifications

Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada) Gold 75,000^
New Zealand (RMNZ) Gold 15,000‡
United Kingdom (BPI) Silver 250,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Michael Jackson , Thriller, Single". BPI.
  2. ↑ Savage, Jon (1 February 2013). "The 20 best glam-rock songs of all time". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
  3. ↑ Harris, Keith; Gehr, Richard (29 August 2016). "20 Songs That Defined the Early Seventies". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
  4. ↑ Dolan, Joe; Martoccio, Angie; Sheffield, Rob (November 20, 2024). "The 74 Best Albums of 1974". Rolling Stone. Retrieved November 29, 2024. Along with the depraved glam stomp of "Ballroom Blitz," "The Six Teens," and "Fox on the Run," you get deep cuts that are better than they need to be...
  5. ↑ Wroe, Nicholas (12 September 2014). "That's neat: Chinnichap's blitz of 70s hits become a musical". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
  6. ↑ Breithaupt, Don; Breithaupt, Jeff (October 15, 1996). "Planet of the Apes: Hard Rock". Precious and Few - Pop Music in the Early '70s. St. Martin's Griffin. p. 106. ISBN 031214704X.
  7. ↑ Cantwell, David (4 November 1998). "Power Pop It Ain't". MTV News. Archived from the original on May 14, 2016. Retrieved 21 March 2020.
  8. ↑ Dimery, Robert (5 December 2011). 1001 Songs: You Must Hear Before You Die. Octopus. p. 886. ISBN 978-1-84403-717-9. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
  9. ↑ Beat Instrumental & Songwriting & Recording. Beat Publications. 1978. p. 88. Retrieved 14 October 2015.
  10. ↑ Burns, Phil. "Recorded at Audio International". Philsbook.com. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 14 October 2015.
  11. ↑ Popoff, Martin (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.
  12. ↑ Swanson, Dave (27 February 2013). "Top 10 Sweet Songs". Ultimateclassicrock.com. Diffuser Network. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
  13. ↑ 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.
  14. ↑ Waksman, Steve (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.
  15. ↑ Kilmister, Lemmy (8 June 2012). White Line Fever: Lemmy: The Autobiography. Simon and Schuster. p. 120. ISBN 978-1-4711-1271-3. Retrieved 11 October 2015.
  16. ↑ Mark Allan Powell (2002). Encyclopedia of Contemporary Christian Music. Hendrickson Publishers. p. 130. ISBN 978-1-56563-679-8. Retrieved 11 October 2015.
  17. ↑ Strong, Martin Charles; Griffin, Brendon (2008). Lights, camera, sound tracks. Canongate. p. 396. ISBN 978-1-84767-003-8. Retrieved 11 October 2015.
  18. ↑ "The Struts cover Sweet's "Ballroom Blitz" for The Edge of Seventeen soundtrack — listen". Consequence.net. 3 November 2016. Retrieved 27 November 2018.
  19. ↑ "3TEETH Releases Guns Akimbo Album Featuring Covers Of "Ballroom Blitz" And "You Spin Me Round (Like A Record)"". BraveWords. August 24, 2020. Retrieved 2024-02-19.
  20. ↑ "Cash Box - International Best Sellers" (PDF). worldradiohistory.com. Cash Box. 16 February 1974. p. 50.
  21. ↑ "Top 40 Australian Singles". Go-Set. 19 January 1974. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
  22. 1 2 "National Top 100 Singles for 1974". Kent Music Report. 30 December 1974. Retrieved 15 January 2022 – via Imgur.
  23. ↑ Hung, Steffen. "Forum - 1970 (ARIA Charts: Special Occasion Charts)". Australian-charts.com. Retrieved 26 June 2016.
  24. ↑ "The Sweet – The Ballroom Blitz" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
  25. ↑ "The Sweet – The Ballroom Blitz" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
  26. ↑ "The Sweet – The Ballroom Blitz" (in French). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 14 February 2024.
  27. ↑ List of number-one singles of 1975 (Canada)
  28. ↑ "Le Détail par Artiste". InfoDisc (in French). Select "The Sweet" from the artist drop-down menu. Retrieved 14 February 2024.
  29. ↑ "Offizielle Deutsche Charts (West Germany)" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. To see the peak chart position, click 'TITEL VON', followed by the artist's name. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
  30. ↑ "Tíu á Toppnum". Vísir. 11 February 1974. p. 16.
  31. ↑ "irishcharts.ie search results". Retrieved 2024-02-14.
  32. ↑ "The Sweet – The Ballroom Blitz" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
  33. ↑ "Nederlandse Top 40 – The Sweet" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 14 February 2024.
  34. ↑ "The Sweet – The Ballroom Blitz". VG-lista. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
  35. ↑ Currin, Brian. "South African Rock Lists Website - SA Charts 1965 - 1989 Songs (A-B)". www.rock.co.za. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
  36. ↑ Salaverri, Fernando (2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002. Iberautor Promociones Culturales. ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
  37. ↑ Hallberg, Eric (1993). Eric Hallberg presenterar Kvällstoppen i P 3: Sveriges radios topplista över veckans 20 mest sålda skivor 10. 7. 1962 - 19. 8. 1975. Drift Musik. p. 130. ISBN 9163021404.
  38. ↑ "The Sweet – The Ballroom Blitz". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
  39. ↑ "Official Singles Chart on 22/9/1973 – Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
  40. ↑ "Sweet Ballroom Blitz Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
  41. ↑ "Top Selling Singles for 1973". Sounds. London, England: Spotlight Publications: 4. 5 January 1974.
  42. ↑ "Top RPM Singles: Issue 3183". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. 17 July 2013. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
  43. ↑ Top Records of 1975, Billboard, Section II, December 27, 1975. p. 38. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
  44. ↑ "Canadian single certifications – Sweet – Ballroom Blitz". Music Canada. Retrieved 16 June 2023.
  45. ↑ "New Zealand single certifications – Sweet – Ballroom Blitz". Radioscope. Retrieved September 10, 2026. Type Ballroom Blitz in the "Search:" field and press Enter.
  46. ↑ "British single certifications – Sweet – Ballroom Blitz". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 16 June 2023. Select singles in the Formats field. Type Ballroom Blitz Sweet in the "Search:" field.