Misplaced Pages

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Block Buster!" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (March 2014) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

"Block Buster!"
Single by Sweet
from the album The Sweet
B-side	"Need a Lot of Lovin'"
Released	5 January 1973
Recorded	1972
Genre	Glam rock hard rock blues rock bubblegum pop
Length	3:13
Label	RCA
Songwriter(s)	Nicky Chinn, Mike Chapman
Producer(s)	Phil 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 #1 in the Netherlands, Germany, Austria and Ireland, and #3 in Finland, Switzerland, Denmark and Norway. Outside Europe it peaked at #1 in New Zealand, #29 in Australia and at #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.

Charts

This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Block Buster!" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (January 2018) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

In the case of Belgium, there are two types of lists. The one for the Flemish speaking part of Belgium (Flanders) saw the song reach number two, for five consecutive weeks,. In the French speaking part (Wallonia) the song climbed to number one, for two consecutive weeks.

References

1. "Promo disc with release date". Discogs.
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. "UK Official Charts". Official Charts Company. 2019. Retrieved 25 January 2019.
12. "Hot 100: The Sweet". Billboard. 2019. Archived from the original on 26 January 2019. Retrieved 25 January 2019.
13. "The Sweet - Block Buster - Vlaanderen". ultratop.be.
14. "The Sweet - Block Buster - Wallonie". ultratop.be.

• 1973 singles
• 1973 songs
• The Sweet songs
• Dutch Top 40 number-one singles
• Irish Singles Chart number-one singles
• Number-one singles in New Zealand
• Number-one singles in Austria
• Number-one singles in Germany
• UK singles chart number-one singles
• Songs written by Mike Chapman
• Songs written by Nicky Chinn
• Song recordings produced by Phil Wainman
• RCA Records singles
• Glam rock songs