Block Buster!

"Block Buster!"
Single by Sweet
B-side	"Need a Lot of Lovin'"
Released	January 1973
Recorded	1972
Genre	Glam rock
Length	3:13
Label	RCA
Writer(s)	Nicky Chinn, Mike Chapman
Producer(s)	Phil Wainman
Sweet singles chronology
"Wig-Wam Bam" (1972) "Block Buster!" (1973) "Hell Raiser" (1973)

"Block Buster!" (also sometimes listed as "Blockbuster!") is a 1973 single by 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,^[1] and also made #1 in the Netherlands, Germany, New Zealand, Austria and Ireland, and #3 in Finland, Switzerland, Denmark and Norway. Outside Europe it fared less well as it peaked at #29 in Australia and at #73 on the American Billboard Hot 100.

Charts

Chart (1973)	Peak position
Austria	1
Germany	1
Ireland	1
Netherlands	1
New Zealand	1
United Kingdom	1
Belgium	2
Denmark	3
Finland	3
Norway	3
Switzerland	3
South Africa	7
Spain	12
Australia	29
Italy	30
USA	73

Music and lyrics

Its riff was considered markedly similar to fellow RCA act David Bowie's "The Jean Genie", released shortly before, but all parties maintain that this was pure coincidence.^[2]

TV performances

Some controversy rose after the band's performance of the song on the British television program Top of the Pops at December 25, 1973. In this performance, Sweet's bassist Steve Priest wore a Swastika.^[3]

References

1. Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. pp. 282–3. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
2. Nicholas Pegg (2000). The Complete David Bowie: p.110