The Ballroom Blitz
| The Ballroom Blitz | |
|---|---|
| Single from The Sweet | |
| publication | September 1973 (Europe) |
| length | 4:06 min. |
| Genre (s) | Glam rock , hard rock , power pop |
| text | Nicky Chinn , Mike Chapman |
| music | Nicky Chinn , Mike Chapman |
| Producer (s) | Phil Wainman |
| Label | RCA Records |
| album | Desolation Boulevard (US Version) |
The Ballroom Blitz, also known as Ballroom Blitz, is a song by the British glam rock band The Sweet , composed by Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman .
Emergence
The title, The Ballroom Blitz, was inspired by a performance by the band on January 27, 1973 at the Grand Hall in Kilmarnock , Scotland , where they were thrown bottles from the stage.
The Ballroom Blitz was recorded at the former Audio International Studio (founded by George Martin ) at 18 Rodmarton Street, London , and released as a single in September 1973.
The song appeared on the US and Canadian LP versions of Desolation Boulevard , but never appeared on an album in the UK, except on hit compilations from The Sweet.
The song's initial guitar and drum riff and melody resembles a 1963 Bobby Comstock song, "Let's Stomp" .
Musician
- Brian Connolly - lead vocals
- Steve Priest - bass guitar , (background vocals)
- Andy Scott - guitar , (background vocals)
- Mick Tucker - drums , (background vocals)
reception
Charts and chart placements
| Charts | Top ranking | Weeks |
|---|---|---|
| Chart placements | ||
 Germany (GfK)
|
1 (20 weeks) | 20th |
 Austria (Ö3)
|
5 (12 weeks) | 12 |
 Switzerland (IFPI)
|
3 (11 weeks) | 11 |
 United Kingdom (OCC)
|
2 (9 weeks) | 9 |
 United States (Billboard)
|
5 (25 weeks) | 25th |
Awards for music sales
On October 1, 1973, The Ballroom Blitz received a Silver Record for 250,000 units sold in the UK. The single sold over a million times worldwide.
| Country / Region | Award | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Awards for music sales (country / region, Award, Sales) |
||
|
United Kingdom (BPI)
|
 silver
|
250,000 |
| All in all |
1 × silver |
250,000 |
Aftermath
- The song has appeared in many films, including Wayne's World , Bordello of Blood , Romanzo Criminale , Daddy Day Care, and The Sandlot: Heading Home .
- The song was used as a film score on the BBC television series Life on Mars - Caught in the 70s .
- The verse, “ she thinks she's the passionate one ” from Ballroom Blitz, was used for the Beastie Boys song Hey Ladies .
- The song was used in 2004 for the Mitsubishi Galant Commercial.
- The title can also be heard on the official soundtrack of the Ubisoft game, Shaun - White Snowboarding .
- In 2016, The Ballroom Blitz was used for the third trailer of the film Suicide Squad from the DC Extended Universe .
Cover versions
The first cover version of The Ballroom Blitz was recorded in 1975 by the Les Humphries Singers . This version reached number 1 in the New Zealand charts. In 1979 the song was recorded by The Damned , with Lemmy Kilmister of Motörhead on bass, released as the B-side of I Just Can't Be Happy Today , and as a bonus track on the Machine Gun Etiquette CD remake . More cover versions of the 1984 song by Krokus , the Surf Punks on their 1988 album Oh No! Not Them Again, the Japanese glam rock band Scanch on their 1991 album Ultra Romantic Bombers for Unlimited Lovers . Under the title R&R Dynamite Kyoujidai , from the thrash metal band Nuclear Assault on their 1991 album Out of Order , Tia Carrere on the soundtrack of Wayne's World in 1992, and the Christian rock band Calibretto 13 on their album Enter the Danger Brigade, 2000. in 2016 took the Struts the song as a soundtrack for the film the Edge of Seventeen on. In 2017 the band The Featherz covered the song for their debut album Five Year Itch .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Robert Dimery: 1001 Songs: You Must Hear Before You Die . Octopus, 2011, ISBN 978-1-84403-717-9 , p. 886.
- ↑ Beat Instrumental & Songwriting & Recording . Beat Publications, 1978, pp. 88 .
- ^ Phil Burns: Recorded at Audio International . In: Philsbook.com . Retrieved October 14, 2015. ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )
- ^ Martin Popoff: The Big Book of Hair Metal: The Illustrated Oral History of Heavy Metal's Debauched Decade . Voyageur Press, 2014, ISBN 978-0-7603-4546-7 , p. 20.
- ↑ Dave Swanson: Top 10 Sweet Songs . In: Ultimateclassicrock.com . Diffuser Network. Retrieved October 13, 2015.
- ↑ a b c d e Chart sources: DE AT CH UK US
- ↑ a b BRIT Certified. bpi.co.uk, accessed June 6, 2020 .
- Jump up ↑ Joseph Murrells: The Book of Golden Discs: The Records That Sold a Million . 2nd Edition. Limp Edition, London 1978, ISBN 0-214-20512-6 , pp. 338 .
- ↑ Romanzo Criminale - Soundtrack details . In: soundtrackcollector.com . Retrieved April 20, 2018.
- ↑ The Sweet - Ballroom Blitz Lyrics . In: metrolyrics.com . Retrieved April 20, 2018.
- ^ Mitsubishi Galant - Accident Avoidanc e . YouTube . January 16, 2007. Retrieved April 20, 2018.
- ↑ Trailer 3 - Suicide Squad
- ^ The Complete New Zealand Music Charts, 1966–2006: Singles, Albums, DVDs, Compilations . Maurienne House, 2007, ISBN 978-1-877443-00-8 , pp. 14 .
- ↑ Steve Waksman: This ain't the summer of love: conflict and crossover in heavy metal and punk . Ed .: Berkeley: University of California Press. 2009, ISBN 978-0-520-25717-7 , pp. 391 (English).
- ↑ Lemmy Kilmister: White Line Fever: Lemmy: The Autobiography . Simon and Schuster, 2012, ISBN 978-1-4711-1271-3 , p. 120.
- ^ Mark Allan Powell: Encyclopedia of Contemporary Christian Music . Hendrickson Publishers, 2002, ISBN 978-1-56563-679-8 , p. 130.
- ^ Martin Charles Strong, Brendon Griffin: Lights, camera, sound tracks . Canongate, 2008, ISBN 978-1-84767-003-8 , p. 396.
- ↑ The Struts cover Sweet's “Ballroom Blitz” for The Edge of Seventeen soundtrack - listen . In: Consequenceofsound.net . November 3, 2016. Retrieved November 27, 2018.