Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jun 23, 2026

Block Buster!

"Block Buster!" 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 No. 1 in the Netherlands, Germany, Austria and Ireland, and No. 3 in Finland, Switzerland, Denmark and Norway. Outside Europe it peaked at No. 1 in New Zealand, No. 29 in Australia and at No. 73 on the American Billboard Hot 100.

Last revised
Jun 23, 2026
Read time
≈ 2 min
Length
532 w
Citations
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Source
Wikipedia ↗
"Block Buster!"
Single by Sweet
from the album The Sweet
B-side"Need a Lot of Lovin'"
Released5 January 19731
Recorded1972
Genre
Length3:13
LabelRCA
SongwritersNicky Chinn, Mike Chapman
ProducerPhil 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,8 and also made No. 1 in the Netherlands, Germany, Austria and Ireland, and No. 3 in Finland, Switzerland, Denmark and Norway. Outside Europe it peaked at No. 1 in New Zealand, No. 29 in Australia and at No. 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.9

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, a painted Hitler moustache and a Pickelhaube.10

Charts

Chart (1973) Peak
position
Australia 29
Austria 1
Belgium 2
Denmark 1
Finland 3
Germany 1
Ireland 1
Italy 30
Netherlands 1
New Zealand 11 1
Norway 3
South Africa 7
Spain 12
Switzerland 3
United Kingdom12 1
United States13 73

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,.14 In the French speaking part (Wallonia) the song climbed to number one, for two consecutive weeks.15

References

References

  1. "Promo disc with release date". Discogs. 1973.
  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. "Flavour of New Zealand - search listener". Flavourofnz.co.nz. Retrieved 18 December 2025.
  12. "UK Official Charts". Officialcharts.com. 2019. Retrieved 25 January 2019.
  13. "Hot 100: The Sweet". Billboard. 2019. Archived from the original on 26 January 2019. Retrieved 25 January 2019.
  14. "The Sweet - Block Buster - Vlaanderen". Ultratop.be.
  15. "The Sweet - Block Buster - Wallonie". Ultratop.be.