Mike Chapman was inspired to write The Ballroom Blitz after seeing Connolly and Scott dragged offstage at the Glasgow Apollo by scissor-wielding female fans in 1973 during the height of the group’s transition from pop star cuties to bugglegum rockers. The guitarist, who continues to lead Sweet onwards, recently told Classic Rock that he’d “love” to undertake a full-blown hard rock tour. Later covered by Saxon, Vince Neil and thrash metallers Heathen, Andy Scott’s masterpiece got Sweet Fanny Adams, an album that the band had seriously wanted to call Sweet Fuck All, off to a blitzkrieg, take-no-prisoners start. Once again it’s possible to imagine innocent fans flipping the A-side over and spitting their Sugar Puffs across the table, though for all the immense power of its guitar riff, the song is quite magnificently put together. The undisputed greatest self-penned B-side in the entire Sweet catalogue, Burn On The Flame was every bit as good as its reverse, The Six Teens. From its sneering lyrics – a venomous put-down to the critics that still refused to take them seriously – to the riff, chorus, harmonies and the all-important injected sound of a cash register, this is just about flawless. It’s a self-contained nugget of pop-rock superiority that you seek? Then look no further than Action, a song that Def Leppard realised they couldn’t improve, and simply covered. Here it’s more accessible and polished, its use of multi-part vocals – ‘ You looked alright before, Or, OR, ORRRRRR!’ particularly impressive. The roots of Sweet’s independence can be traced back to this chest-beating yet deeply melodic ode to groupies, their first self-penned and self-produced hit (the song’s original version was recorded in more base form by ChinniChap for the domestic edition of the album Desolation Boulevard).
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