The Sweet – PowerPop… An Eclectic Collection of Pop Culture

The Sweet had the ability to sound like a different band on many of their hit singles. Little Willy, Ballroom Blitz, Love Is Like Oxygen, Blockbuster!, and Fox On The Run. My first introduction to this band was a bubblegum single that my sister bought called Little Willy.

There were two different versions of this song. The first one appeared on the European version of the 1974 RCA album Desolation Boulevard album.

The band was stuck with a perception of them being puppets of their songwriters Mike Chapman and Nicky Chin and producer Phil Wainman. They had to battle to play on their own singles at times. Mike Chapman and Nicky Chin also were their managers. The Sweet were sometimes allowed to write their B sides but that was about it. After Desolation Boulevard was released, the band parted ways with Chapman and Chinn and produced their own material.

Their first effort was a reworking of “Fox On The Run,” which was originally produced by Chapman and Chinn but written by the band. The Sweet proved quite capable on their own, and the new version of Fox on the Run with a bright chorus became a global hit.

The re-worked Fox on the Run appeared on the American version of Desolation Boulevard. Capital Records released this version in America, Canada, and Japan. The album also contained Ballroom Blitz and peaked at #25 in the Billboard Album Charts and #5 in Canada.

The song peaked at #5 in the Billboard 100, #2 in the UK, and #2 in Canada in 1975. It was released in the US as the follow-up to their single Ballroom Blitz.

The song has been covered by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Girlschool, and the Scorpions to name a few. Fox on the Run was also featured in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2.

The original version with Mike Chapman and Nicky Chin

The hit version

“Fox On The Run”

I don’t wanna know your name
‘Cause you don’t look the same
The way you did before
O.K. you think you got a pretty face
But the rest of you is out of place
You looked alright beforeFox on the run
You scream and everybody comes a running
Take a run and hide yourself away
Foxy is on the run
F-foxy
Fox on the run and hide away

You, you talk about just every band
But the names you drop are second hand (second hand)
I’ve heard it all before
I don’t wanna know your name
‘Cause you don’t look the same
The way you did before

Fox on the run
You scream and everybody comes a running
Take a run and hide yourself away
Foxy on the run
F-foxy
Fox on the run and hide away

F-foxy
Fox on the run
You scream and everybody comes a running
Take a run and hide yourself away
Foxy on the run
F-foxy
Fox on the run and hide away
Fox on the run
Fox on the run
Fox on the run
Fox on the run
Fox on the run

Another song that I first heard on the show Life On Mars.

This song peaked at #1 in the UK and #73 in the Billboard 100 in 1973.

When I first heard it…I thought it had the same riff as David Bowie’s Jean Genie. The songs were recorded at roughly the same time and both Bowie and the Sweet agreed it was a coincidence. Both songs are takeoffs on a Muddy Waters riff.

Guitarist Andy Scott after being played Jean Genie : “We sat there with horrified looks on our faces. The guy asked what was wrong, and we said ‘That’s the same f—ing guitar riff as Blockbuster” He said, ‘Well, it’s quite similar isn’t it?’ ‘It’s the f—ing same!’

“I got on the blower to Nicky Chinn and said, ‘We can’t release this.’ He said, ‘Don’t worry, they’re completely different kinds of records and I predict this will be a number one.’ I thought, ‘Good luck with that.’ But he was proved right. A few weeks later, we were at number one and Bowie was at number two.”

From Songfacts

In December 1973, David Bowie’s “The Jean Genie” peaked at #2 in the UK charts. The following month, this song went one better going all the way to #1. Both songs used the same Yardbirds riff from Bo Diddley’s “I’m A Man.”

This proved to be The Sweet’s only British #1, and it stayed at the top for five weeks. Their next three releases stalled at #2: “Hell Raiser,” “Ballroom Blitz” and “Teenage Rampage.”

This song featured an air-raid siren over a decade before one was used on Frankie Goes To Hollywood’s “Two Tribes.”

This was used in the 2000 film Gangster #1.

The team of Mike Chapman and Nicky Chinn wrote this song. Chinn said in 1000 UK #1 Hits by Jon Kutner and Spencer Leigh, “Every part of a song is important and how you get into it is especially important. You have to catch the public’s attention the second that the record comes on. Look at Blockbuster with its siren. You catch the attention immediately.”

Blockbuster!

Ahh ahhh, ahh ahhh
You better beware, you better take care
You better watch out if you’ve got long black hair
He’ll come from behind, you’ll go out of your mind
You better not go, you never know what you’ll find
Ahh ahh, ahh ahhh

Can’t look into his eyes, you’ll be surprised
If don’t know what going on behind his disguse
Nobody knows where buster goes
He’ll steal your woman out from under your nose

Does anyone know the way, did we hear someone say
(We just haven’t got a clue what to do)
Does anyone know the way, there’s got to be a way
To blockbuster

The cops are out, they’re running about
Don’t know if they’ll ever be able to blockbuster out
He’s gotta be caught, he’s gotta be taught
‘Cause he is more evil then anyone here ever thought

Does anybody know the way, did we hear someone say
(We just haven’t got a aho)
Does anybody know the way, there’s got to be a way
To blockbuster

Does anybody know the way, did we hear someone say
(We just haven’t got a clue what to do)
Does anybody know the way, there’s got to be a way
To blockbuster

Ahh ahh, ahh ahh
Ahh ahh, ahh ahh

Buster buster blockbuster
Buster buster blockbuster
Buster buster blockbuster
Buster buster blockbuster

Buster buster blockbuster
Buster buster blockbuster

Tag: The Sweet

Sweet – Fox On The Run

The Sweet – Blockbuster!