Block Buster!

"Block Buster!"
Single by Sweet
from the album The Sweet
B-side"Need a Lot of Lovin'"
Released5 January 1973
RecordedNovember 1972
StudioAudio International, London
Genre
Length3:13
LabelRCA
Songwriters
ProducerPhil Wainman
Sweet singles chronology
"Wig-Wam Bam"
(1972)		 "Block Buster!"
(1973)		 "Hell Raiser"
(1973)
Video
"Blockbuster" - Top Of The Pops on YouTube

"Block Buster!" (also sometimes listed as "Blockbuster!") is a 1973 single by The Sweet. Written by Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman, and produced by Phil Wainman, "Block Buster!" was the band's sole UK No. 1 hit. Released in January 1973, it spent five weeks at the top of the UK Singles Chart, and also made No. 1 in the Netherlands, Germany, Austria and Ireland, and No. 3 in Finland, Switzerland, Denmark and Norway. Outside Europe it peaked at No. 1 in New Zealand, No. 29 in Australia and at No. 73 on the American Billboard Hot 100.

Music and lyric

Its Muddy Waters-inspired blues riff is markedly similar to that featured on fellow RCA act David Bowie's "The Jean Genie", released shortly before, but all parties maintained this was a coincidence.

TV performances

Some controversy arose after the band's performance of the song on the British television program Top of the Pops on 25 December 1973, for which bassist Steve Priest wore a swastika arm band, a painted Hitler moustache and a Pickelhaube.

Personnel

Charts

Chart (1973) Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report) 29
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)1
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)2
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia)1
Canada Top Singles (RPM)30
Denmark (IFPI) 1
Finland (Suomen virallinen lista) 3
Ireland (IRMA)1
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)1
Netherlands (Single Top 100)1
New Zealand (Listener) 1
Norway (VG-lista)3
Rhodesia (Lyons Maid) 6
South Africa (Springbok Radio) 7
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)3
UK Singles (Official Charts)1
US Billboard Hot 100 73
US Cash Box Top 100 43
West Germany (GfK)1

References

  1. ↑ "Promo disc with release date". Discogs. 1973.
  2. ↑ Popoff, Martin (2014). The Big Book of Hair Metal: The Illustrated Oral History of Heavy Metal?s Debauched Decade. Voyageur Press. p. 16. ISBN 978-1-62788-375-7.
  3. ↑ Swanson, Dave (10 May 2014). "10 Underrated Glam Rock Stompers Worth Getting All Dolled Up For". Diffuser.fm. Retrieved 8 August 2019.
  4. ↑ Chapman, Ian (2015). Experiencing David Bowie: A Listener's Companion. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 72. ISBN 978-1-44223-752-0.
  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. ↑ Sandford, Christopher (1996). Bowie: Loving The Alien. Da Capo Press. pp. 400–103. ISBN 978-0306808548.
  7. ↑ Stanley, Bob (13 September 2013). "Deluxe and Delightful: Glam". Yeah Yeah Yeah: The Story of Modern Pop. Faber & Faber. p. 338. ISBN 978-0-571-28198-5.
  8. ↑ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. pp. 282–3. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  9. ↑ Nicholas Pegg (2000). The Complete David Bowie: p.110
  10. ↑ "Steve Priest | The Sweet". Thesweetband.com. Archived from the original on 7 August 2020. Retrieved 8 October 2016.
  11. ↑ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  12. ↑ "The Sweet – Block Buster" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved 8 November 2026.
  13. ↑ "The Sweet – Block Buster" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 8 November 2026.
  14. ↑ "The Sweet – Block Buster" (in French). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 8 November 2026.
  15. ↑ "Top Singles. Volume 19, Issue 26 (1973-08-11)". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 8 November 2026.
  16. ↑ "Hit Paraden". Ekstra Bladet. 1 February 1973. p. 29.
  17. ↑ "Sisältää hitin: Levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1960: Artistit SUG - SÄR". Sisältää hitin. 13 August 2015. Retrieved 8 November 2026.
  18. ↑ "Block Buster | IRMA". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 8 November 2026.
  19. ↑ "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 5, 1973" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 8 November 2026.
  20. ↑ "The Sweet – Block Buster" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 8 November 2026.
  21. ↑ "NZ Listener chart summary: Sweet". flavourofnz.co.nz. Archived from the original on 1 October 2021. Retrieved 17 January 2020.
  22. ↑ "The Sweet – Block Buster". VG-lista. Retrieved 8 November 2026.
  23. ↑ Kimberley, C. Zimbabwe: Singles Chart Book. Harare: C. Kimberley, 2000
  24. ↑ "SA Charts 1969 – 1989 Acts S". South African Rock Lists. Retrieved 8 November 2026.
  25. ↑ "The Sweet – Block Buster – hitparade.ch". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved 8 November 2026.
  26. ↑ "Sweet Songs and Albums | Full Official Chart History". Official Charts Company.
  27. ↑ Whitburn, Joel (1994). Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955–1993. Record Research. p. 586. ISBN 9780898201048.
  28. ↑ "Cashbox Top 100 Singles". Cash Box. 4 August 1973. p. 4.
  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 8 November 2026.