The Ballroom Blitz

"The Ballroom Blitz"
Single by Sweet
from the album Desolation Boulevard (U.S. version)
B-side	"Rock and Roll Disgrace"
Released	September 1973 (U.S., Canada: May 1975)
Format	7" vinyl
Genre	Hard rock, glam rock
Length	4:06
Label	RCA
Writer(s)	Nicky Chinn, Mike Chapman
Sweet singles chronology
"Hell Raiser" (1973) "The Ballroom Blitz" (1973) "Teenage Rampage" (1974)
Music sample "The Ballroom Blitz"

"The Ballroom Blitz" (on some releases "Ballroom Blitz") is a song written by Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman and originally recorded by the English rock band Sweet. It was released as a single in 1973, where it reached number 1 in Australia and entered at number 2 in the UK singles chart. The song reached number 5 in the United States and was one of the biggest hits there in 1975. It also reached number 1 in Canada the same year.^[1] "The Ballroom Blitz" appeared on the U.S. version of The Sweet's 1974 album Desolation Boulevard. This song was inspired by an incident in 1973 when the band were performing at the Grand Hall in Kilmarnock, Scotland and were driven offstage by a barrage of bottles. ^[2]

Cover versions

This song remains popular and has been covered by many bands. The first known cover of "The Ballroom Blitz" was by The Les Humphries Singers in 1975. In 1979 the song was covered by two bands The Rezillos and The Damned. In 1984 the heavy metal band Krokus from Switzerland covered the song. The Long Tall Texans also covered the song in 2001. In 1989 the song was sampled by The Beastie Boys for the song Hey Ladies appearing on the album Paul's Boutique. In 2000 the song was performed in conjunction with the song Dancing Queen (originally by ABBA) by the group The Black Sweden. A cover of this song is featured on the main set list for the game Rock Band.

Other artists who have covered the song include:

• The Ark (live)
• Agent Orange (live)
• Batmobile (live)
• Buzzcocks (live)
• Calibretto 13 on Enter the Danger Brigade (2000)
• The Damned on Machine Gun Etiquette (1979)
• Les Wampas {in French} on Tutti Frutti (1986)
• Moderatto (in Spanish as "Reventón") on Detector de Metal (2004)
• Manic Subsidal (live)
• Material Issue (live)
• Nuclear Assault on Out of Order (1991)
• The Rezillos on Mission Accomplished...But the Beat Goes On (1979)
• Surf Punks on Oh No, Not Them Again (1988)
• Testify as "Ballroom Blitz 2001"
• Vanilla Ninja on Sügishitt 2003 (Estonian Hits Album) (2003)
• Tia Carrere on the soundtrack to Wayne's World (1992)
• Bella bestia Album ´´Listo para matar´´
• The Authorities on Puppy Love
• KickStart (Live)
• Recycled Percussion (live on America's Got Talent)
• The Peacocks Punkabilly version
• The Protomen (live)

Personnel

• Brian Connolly – vocals
• Steve Priest – bass guitar
• Andy Scott – guitar
• Mick Tucker – drums

External links

• The Sweet - Ballroom Blitz at YouTube (requires Adobe Flash)

References