Understanding The Ballroom Blitz
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- Опубліковано 5 вер 2024
- Always listen to the man in the back.
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Rock music is about many things, but in its purest form, I think it's often about performing rock music. The showmanship of rock is baked into its musical DNA, and that's especially true of the early hard rock era of the '70s, where the bombastic arrangements and aggressive, virtuosic technique were intrinsically married to wild costumes and elaborate stage shows that transformed bands from mere performers into ringleaders of their own audience circus. And perhaps no song captures that marriage quite like The Ballroom Blitz, an explosive rock song about how explosive rock shows can be, inspired by real events and transforming the studio recording into a proxy for the wild experience of an actual live gig.
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Also, thanks to Jareth Arnold!
Some additional thoughts/corrections:
1) A lot of sources (including Wikipedia) say the song was inspired by an incident during a show in Kilmarnock where the audience threw bottles at the stage, and as far as I can tell that did happen, but other sources say it didn't actually inspire the song. None of the sources either way seem all that reliable: They mostly trace back to the book 1001 Songs You Must Hear Before You Die, which repeats the story uncited, or an interview with Chapman in Goldmine Magazine where he claims it was intentionally nonsense, but I can't find that interview in Goldmine's archives so I don't know if it actually exists. If so it hasn't been digitized, but none of the places that cite it seem rigorous enough to just take their word on what it says. However, I did find a recent video by Andy Scott: ua-cam.com/video/nA-6ACUH7Lg/v-deo.html where he says it was inspired by a show in Glasgow and doesn't mention the bottling, which I think he would've included if that was true, so I went with a vague "rowdy shows in Scotland" version of the story because all my sources seemed to agree on at least that much, and the transition from bubblegum pop to glam rock proto-punk pioneers is more interesting to me than the specifics of one live show anyway.
2) The band was, at the time, known as The Sweet. They later changed their name to just Sweet, but I decided to go with the older version 'cause it's historically accurate and also fun to say.
3) I don't know if describing the riff as a three-8th rhythmic cell that phases against a 4/4 beat before getting cut off and restarted at hypermetric boundaries is the most useful approach, but I've been watching a lot of Metal Music Theory recently, which is a great UA-cam channel you should check out, and it's funny to me that, viewed in that way, it's basically the same thing as what Meshuggah does.
4) There's something to be said about the lyrical motif of starting both halves of the prechorus with the word "oh", but I couldn't figure out how to say it in time. (Also Priest doesn't do that in the second one, so I dunno if that's a real, noteworthy thing or just a coincidence.)
5) Yes, I know Top of the Pops is lip-synced, so Priest isn't actually singing (or, for that matter, playing) anything live there. That doesn't affect my point.
I have a couple of friends from Kilmarnock. From what they tell me about the locals, that story is probably true.
Thanks so much for this one Corey! Those chord changes always felt rather random, but I see how neatly they fit into a rather simple blues framework. My ear gets tricked sometimes.
The high harmonies very much sound pitch shifted and the only pitch shifting that was possible in 1973 was speeding up the tape, so I bet they slowed down the tape maybe even to half speed recorded a harmony and when played back at normal speed the harmony is an octave higher.
@@ctown000 You may be right, but I bet Roger Taylor from Queen could have pulled that off. The highest falsetto doesn't need to sound good, only accurate. I mean I think it's possible. When I was a teenager I could hit all the notes on a guitar, including that B and many above it. I've since lost those highest notes, but I'm no tenor. I'm not a true bass, but a deep baritone. I know tenors who can hit incredibly high notes without going into falsetto at all. I just mean it's possible. It might not be likely - it could have been manipulating the tape speed (gawd knows they did that in the 70s), but it's possible he hit those notes legit. Sweet had very tight, almost artificial sounding harmony. In that way they were like a precursor to Queen.
I’ve loved this song since the day it came out. Thanks for the insight.
Play this in our cover band, making sure the drummer actually keeps a lid on the tempo is the tricky bit.
I used to be able to hit the high Yeahhhhh yeah yeah yeah yeah bits.
Sadly no more. Too old. Gained a whole bunch of notes down low I couldn’t do much with before.
Using Nixon's head from Futurama as the doodle for "something you're not supposed to hear" cracked me up so hard. Arrrrooooo!
Would love an Everlong video
I second this suggestion.
Thirded
Dito! ❤️
Dave himself has talked about how he created the song.
@@Xailow very different from a musical analysis, if anything he could make his analysis, then look at the interview (if he hasn't already seen it) and compare how someone like Grohl thinks about it vs what theory related things are going on that he didn't consciously think about (but probably still affected his decision making).
I think the thing I like most about this song is the story happening in the lyrics
He is clearly singing a love song in the verse, and is like you make my dreams crazy and I feel like I need to tell you everything i see like OH MY GOD THAT GUYS ABOUT TO HURT SOMEONE AND THAT GIRL DOESNT EVEN NOTICE AND HOLY SHIT THEY'RE ALL FIGHTING SHOULD WE KEEP PLAYING? I GUess okay baby I feel like you don't love me at all like you're basically a brick wall when we OH SHIT THE BIG GUY'S GOT HIS HANDS UP AND THE GIRL THINKS THEYRE FIGHTING OVER HER AND SHIT I THINK THE BASSIST IS DEAD WHY ARE WE STILL PLAYING
lyrical storytelling at its finest
This is a tiny thing, but I love the moments when in your current job as a music theorist you call on your previous role as a vocalist.
So do I. Also please never stop the chemistry.
This makes me want a Radar Love breakdown 😬
Ooh! Same train drum thing! Great song too, by an amazing Dutch band. That album (Moontan) is really solid.
Not just the drum part but also the small part where the bass gets isolated it reminds me of parts of Radar Love as well, they almost feel like companion pieces unintentionally, would love to hear a mashup of the two if it exists.
@@beveryofa2546would make a SWEET crossover/mashup.
That would be a fantastic subject for one of these. As would Twilight Zone. I'd have sworn he did that one already, but I can't find it anywhere.
@@beveryofa2546 Depending on how you look at it, they're both in the same key too. It's arguable, but they both like to sit on F#m.
I really like the use of the Rocky Horror lips for antici......
....
...pation!
Or The Rolling Stones and Satisfaction
@@danwest3825 There are a number of things I like about this channel, and the Easter Eggs in the illustrations are definitely among them!
I agree! I love the fade out in this song too! I can tell you why, and it's to do with something I never consciously groked, that you said at the beginning: We're the audience. We're the audience, and it's clearly time to leave. We're walking out of the Ballroom Blitz, in sorta the same sleepy way that mimics the singer at the beginning of the song.
I picture us entering the bar, looking around, taking it all in for a bit, and then the Ballroom Blitz starts. We attempt to make sense of it all for a few minutes, maybe dodging a couple thrown beer bottles, before turning around and walking out again.
What I love with all of Brian's energy in addressing his bandmates at the start, who little energy their response have, not what you'd normally expect from this sort of opener.
They're trying to be cool, you know. Unbothered. 😆
To me it sounds just the right amount of smug. They know they're about to rock our faces off, and we have no idea what we're getting ourselves into. 🤘
@@SuprousOxide That’s a really good observation. Even the outrageous Steve Priest is chilled.
Your videos are a great push back against the fans of bands that claim since one person writes and sings their songs, the band is him. The solo stuff of said musician usually doesn't equal the band's output because of the details that you point out. True collaborative chemistry is the fairy dust that makes memorable music.
Someday I hope we can push back against the assumption that the bass player always composed the bass line.
@@kylec2761 It's rare for the bassist not to compose their own part, but it happens. (Not sure why this is important to you, but ok.) Session bassists usually just get a chord chart or a lead sheet with no bass line specified. They're expected to make up their own. I've done very little session work as a bassist, but it was always chord charts. In original bands, it was always my job to come up with a bass line that complimented the song, whether it was my own or someone else's. Sometimes a guitarist will come up with a riff, and the bass will need to double that part (like Black Dog by Led Zep), or occasionally harmonize with it (yeah, I've done that), and when I joined an original band that already had an album out I learned all the previous guy's parts, but otherwise it was on me to come up with the bass lines. I think that's how it usually goes with most pro or semi-pro bassists, though as you say, not always. (Have you been playing with an un-original bassist? They give us a bad name.)
@@beenaplumber8379 Valid points, slightly spoiled by the fact it was John Paul Jones who is credited with writing the riff for Black Dog so one could argue that it is the guitar that is doing the doubling!
@@stanmanjam Oops, I didn't know that about Black Dog. I just searched my dusty old memory banks for a songs where the bass and guitar double the same part. One could argue your point is more than arguably correct. 😉 But then that only strengthens the rest of my point about bassists coming up with their own parts if my example of an exception to that isn't even correct.
Congratulations you have captured the essence of British Glam Rock from the 1970s where The Sweet were the best in my opinion. Their hits were to sell but their B Sides rocked the Hell out of this 65 year old when he was a kid.. Great work, 12tone, excellent...
Sweet never escaped the teenybopper tag, but the longevity of this song proves everything.
It's such an overlooked genre, despite there having been iconic songs and bands whose images still stimulate people today, even when they don't actually know who they are. There's a scene at the beginning of the film trilogy 20th Century Boys where a school is playing soothing music over the P.A. system. A student sneaks in, locks the door, and puts on T. Rex's "20th Century Boy" causing the whole school to suddenly erupt in wild abandon, and truly as the song starts up you can feel your adrenalin going.
I remember hearing this song one night on, I believe, Radio Luxembourg. I was eleven or thereabouts, living on a farm in Italy, and I had never heard glam rock before. It was one of those oh-wow moments I've never forgotten. Like there's this whole other universe out there that I never knew about. I got my first taste of all sorts of things from Radio Luxembourg.
I really enjoy how you break down some of my favorite songs and teach me the "how and why" those song have such an impact. Ballroom Blitz never fails to get me charged up, and now I know some of the secrets of why I react to it so strongly.
I always thought this song sounded like it could be on the Rocky Horror soundtrack.
Your pinning of the chorus twice to build tension in parallel with the song is such a nice touch
I remember The Sweet, in a glam documentary being described as "truck drivers in drag".
15:21 🎶"Welcome to a new kind of tension / All across the alien nation / Where everything isn't meant to be okay"🎶
Yeaaaah
I don't know why I find these videos so entertaining. Half of it is over my head.
Priest played off Connolly’s vocals on a lot of the early hits. Listen to Blockbuster, Turn It Down, or The Six-teens.
Edited to add - that’s Andy on the high notes.
I came here to mention Andy on the high notes but I clearly don't need to 😊
I love it when bands let their other singers sing on songs, even for just little bits.
The long album version of "Love Is Like Oxygen" is a masterpiece
I always appreciate your technical analysis of music, and the graphic art flowing from your hand gives great metaphoric imagery and keeps my ADD brain actually engaged. Is brilliant storytelling.
My non-expert analysis:
It's a fun song.
Nailed it.
I really love how your drawing has improved over the years. And the wide range of references made... Chef's kiss.
I heard this song for the first time watching Wayne’s World. What a great soundtrack.
Tia did a very respectable cover of this tune. I think she pumped life back into it with her performance in that movie.
@@beenaplumber8379 nothing gives your song longer legs than getting it in the soundtrack of a hit movie. Even if it's already ancient, even if it's a cover.
@@baylinkdashyt I understand the royalties are also quite lucrative! 🙂
@baylinkdashyt That movie resuscitated a few songs from "the dead". Ballroom Blitz and Bohemian Rhapsody to name two that exploded!
You know, some day, I might get tired of that movie.
Shyeah, and monkeys might fly outta my butt.
MCR did the same check in on “Vampire Money”, so maybe it was a reference to Ballroom Blitz
Yes! I've always thought that was a reference. It's very fun.
given all the glam rock references in that song, definitely a nod to ballroom blitz
@@Crimson_Cheetah There is the reference- riff in Desolation Raw from Wig Wam Bam on 1:01.
The first video i discovered from your channel and you've got yourself a new subscriber.
A very engaging style of video. As someone who is fascinated by music theory, and writes my own songs, I loved it. I love your doodles as well; the American idiot artwork drawing when you said "new kind of tension" was awesome!
Ballroom Blitz remains a banger!
Thank you for covering this! It formed part of my late childhood listening to this (to parental dissatisfaction!). It was the first band I really noticed since The Beatles.
I wish I knew enough about music to properly understand what you're explaining, you make it sound so fascinating and fun
Arguably the quintessential glam rock hit of all time. So much energy packed into 4 minutes. RIP to Steve, Brian, and Mick.
Have you ever considered doing Flobots No Handlebars?
Noknownbeatthatcankeepmelonely
I've loved this song since I was a kid. I watched it on TOTP, I was seven when it came out. 50 years later and you've just made me love it even more - thanks very much!!!!
I appreciate the 'new kind of tension' visual pun.
Wholly Crap...how cool was this?!?!?
One of my all time favorite songs, ever since I was a kid when it came out (yep, getting old)...
It's been a few months or so since I've last heard this....time to start a Spotify Radio play with this song....thanks for analyzing it....I now will have new fun things to think of while playing loud and singing when no one can hear me....
...like you said...some VERY high notes to try to hit in this song....haha.
CC
One of my favorite MCR songs, Vampire Money, riffs off the intro. More or less the main reason it's a favorite of theirs, I'm only really into their more frenetic songs.
. This song wails! So happy supporters commissioned such a true rock masterpiece
The thing about fade outs in great songs is that you feel like maybe you've been cheated out of some additional wailing.
Andy scott had the fifth octave. His top line made those 4 part harmony's legendary.
Any thoughts on why the Tia Carrere cover from "Wayne's World" wasn't worth a mention? For many Xennials, this was their first introduction to the song.
Because once you hear the original, that version seems quite lame?
I think the song itself doesn't really matter in that movie. It really could have been any hard rock song, and it would have worked. However, it is a great nod to the times that the movie was trying to hark back to.
Same, and insane that WW came out only 18 years after the Sweet single dropped.
And a better version of
WW was certainly my first exposure to the song, and I have to say I prefer it.. Tia does well to match the vocal but in her own way, and it comes out more sexy and pronounced in the verse, and more heavy in the pre-chorus/chorus, like it's angry and chaotic (the original lyric line always makes me think of the monster mash!). It's a little bit faster, too. The only thing that's a bit weak is one of the guitar sounds, where they're using a good pentatonic noodle instead of the 70's rock V-vi-vii lick, but then it sounds really weak the rest of the time. Of the era, I guess.. these days it'd be in drop C, have a Davie504 bizzy bass line, and a broken larynx vocal! 😆
the opening drum groove almost sounds like Katrina and the waves - walking on sunshine
I adore this song it’s so exciting to get a breakdown of why it’s so good!
I still find it hilarious that Sweet's biggest-selling song in the US isn't this, but is instead their bubblegum-era song "Little Willy".
"Little Willy" is straight-ahead, balls to the wall rock, but the lyrics reduced it to silliness. Their vocals were great, too, but they were just singing such crap words.
@@SteveDeHaven The actual music portion is solid, but I would not call it "balls-to-the-wall rock". It's still much closer to Bay City Rollers than Slade.
Andy Scott lives in a Wiltshire village not far from me, and is a regular at the local pub. Lovely bloke.
I remember this pop song only too well from my youth. I have subsequently come to realise that the Sweet were all musicians of high calibre and on this song their talent really does come shining through. Thank you for a really entertaining and informative analysis.
Well, it's quite simple... I saw a man in the back as a matter of fact. His eyes was as red as the sun. And the girl in the corner that no one ignores. 'Cause she thinks she's the passionate one. Your channel destroys my a.d.d. but I can't look away as an artist. Godspeed
That add bit was so real
0:40 Mike Chapman went on to create Homestar Runner. :D
I truly hope a thousand years from now all these old note sheets are uncovered and you're looked upon by Future music theorists as some sort of strange madman I always love looking at these
Good stuff here!
As many times as I have listened to this song I have never realized all those details.
Thanx
Excellent analysis and super clever presentation. Thumbs up? Sure!
Many songs that - at least on the surface - seem very simple and even borderline stupid are often really cleverly crafted. The glam era had some stunning examples on this, like our little nugget of pop excellence. Then add showmanship, androgyne theatricals and outrageous costumes and you get a classic. A silly classic, but a bona fide classic. Thank you for explaining how they did it!
Your choice of doodles in this one was great. Nixon's head, Fluttershy... The Godfather from Goodfeathers was a deep cut, loved it! And the Kool aid man, just a little better perspective work and you'll have nailed it. Great video as always.
That B-C#-D riff that plays over the E chord is essentially the same as Chuck Berry's "Memphis," Steppenwolf's "Born to be Wild," and probably a zillion other rock classics.
One of my favorite underrated bands of all time. Connolly was one of the best vocalists ever, though it all ended tragically for him. Sweet was so much better than they get credit for. They should have been the ones who got all the credit people give to Queen instead. Love is Like Oxygen might be the best rock & roll song of all time.
As a drummer, I love this song!
The Sweet was my first gig as a 14 year old at the Trocadero in Hamilton. I was on the side of the stage in 73. Somebody at the front of the audience made the mistake of repeatedly calling Priest a Poof. Que the seriously heavy riot. Priest flailing his bass into the front row. Bottles flying towards the stage. Epic 😁.
I think the riff you called mixolydian is just a dominant riff. It just imples a dominant 7th chord, which fits on the Blues. It's an extremely common pattern and doesn't mean the whole thing is in Mixolydian.
It typically follows a blues pattern, so E7*4 - A7*2 - E7*2 - A7*2 - B7 A7 - E7*2
The 1970s constituted one style war after another in music. Watching Top Of The Pops as a teenager in 1973, I recall Sweet as a band that had good songs but seemed to be trying too hard to grab our visual attention. The roll of the dice of rock’ n’ roll fate meant they fell in the Glam Rock era and would be competing for our young ears with Bowie, Mott The Hoople, T Rex, Suzi Quatro and others.
One development I never would have predicted is that, over 50 years later, I would be watching a knowledgeable analysis of their song “Ballroom Blitz”.
Funny old world.
Not sure about the use of the word "war". Plenty of styles co-existing, and while people had their favourites, it was mostly in harmony. Such an energitic and exciting time with new musicical genres seemingly being produced every two weeks. Danny Baker said punk came along simply because nothing new had happened for six months!
Note about Scott's groove: You didn't mention it but that 5, 6, b7 over the 1 is the classic blues boogie shuffle. Scott is just playing at slightly different places in the shuffle and makes it feel faster than it is.
This is my favorite song to do as a metal cover!!!
G'day 12Tone,
Thanks for a great video. I enjoy watching your videos, and although I don't understand everything you show us, I still enjoy them. I'm even starting to remember the notation I had forgotten 30 odd years ago. But in this video, I learned the guitar riff to this song - it's now so easy. Last month, I gave my old Squier Telecaster to a mate's 12yo son, & I'm hoping to give him some tuition soon. When I do, I'm going to teach him this riff. But only after I teach him the riff from Smoke On The Water - every guitarist must learn that one first.
Thanks once again for a great video.
Keep up the good work
Andrew
One of my favorite glam rock songs. Thanks for the video!
Thank you! This is one of my favorite songs
I first heard this song in an episode of Regular Show. I forget exactly what happened, but given the show’s tendency to go from 0 to an absurd 11 in a few heartbeats, it’s pretty safe to assume it was absolute chaos, presumably in a ballroom of some sort. Needless to say, the song fit perfectly and made it 10x as memorable!
One of my favourite songs.
They nailed their spot when they started writing their own songs
How am I only finding out about this channel now, this is incredible.
When music theorists are talking about "oh this isn't how it's supposed to go" I always think, yeahhh! this is gold Oh no dissonance..... I think wooo tritone sweet! Also detune/chorus/unison with a pitch distribution/etc.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH baby, when I saw this in my subs box, I was like, "We are in for a RIDE!" And am I the only one who yells the "OH YEAH" like Kool Ade Man?
When I saw this on my For You page it was electric. Everybody was hectic...
@@ThePhantomSafetyPin , his synopsis was soothing, so we all started grooving!
@@ActiveAdvocate1 And 12Tone in the back said "everyone attack" and it turned into a sheet music blitz!
I love that 20 seconds in the breakdown with the cleaner guitar, so when I wrote a punk song, I used a different variation of that riff as the main theme
I heard this song for the first time in, of all things, a TV commercial (don't remember for what) and then, couple weeks later, heard it on Philadephia's classic rock station (as it was at that time, probably 1996). I didn't know then what I know now about music theory but I had a feeling this one was more complicated than it looked at the first glance. Glad to have been proven right.
I love The Sweet! Thanks for the video. Check out Bobby Comstock’s Let’s Stomp - it was a heavy influence on this song.
I had never heard the Bobby Comstock song, was interesting to find out about it, definitely a candidate for influence
While not that much of a glam rock fan, this song is such utter brilliance it’s hard not to love.
Great explanation.
I really wish that Nebula had a comment section
In the TOTP video it's also pretty funny that the lead singer only looks into the camera when he addresses Steve and then when he delivers the first “sleepy” lyrics, which makes the way Steve looks into the camera, when he introduces the two characters stand out all the more.
During the entire recording Brian only looks into the camera during the intro. Then Steve and Mick are the only ones to look us into the eyes at very specific moments.
YAY, I love when a new 12tone video is available when I have a huge (HUGE) pile of dishes to do!
Very tight analysis.
Steve Priest would often take on occasional lines when they needed a little extra drama, like on Blockbuster.
Tucker is such an underrated drummer ❤
For some reason I was thinking of "Blitzkrieg Bop" instead when I clicked on this. Alliteration mixed with sleep deprivation I guess.
I love this song too, it was just a funny little jolt for the first few seconds.
Someone once made a video called "When Group C ruled the world" having this as the soundtrack of the first half (second half was "Sun is going down" by Helloween). The racing and movement of the group C monsters syncs perfectly with the rythm of the song. The stops in the song align wonderfully with a Sauber C11 accelerating out of a hairpin, or the fights for position align nicely with the feel of the song.
The video is no longer available, sadly.
A Sharpie Fine print is used. My favorite pen.
Could you please do an analysis of Kashmir by Led Zeppelin?
I do love these breakdowns!
Thanks so much for this. My teenage band in 1976-7 played "Action" one on their B sides
I'd be super interested to hear what you have to say about the cover by krokus and how the changes they made to it affect the way we interpret it, assuming there's actually anything interesting to say. Obviously I'm not asking for a full video about this, but maybe like a shorter video just discussing the differences would be cool, if you're game for it.
Love this song!
Love your graphics for “anticipation “ and “satisfaction”.
“…the more satisfaction you get from your release.”
🖊️-👄👅
…oh come on
I'm surprised you didn't mention the similarities between the beat and the guitar riff with a 1963 hit by Bobby Comstock called "Let's Stomp". I don't know if it's ever been acknowledged as an inspiration. But it's right there, hard not to notice.
oh heck yeah!! love this
This is such great song.
this is one of my favorite songs of all time and i'll never hear it the same way again lol
holy fuck this video is amazing
If you like the crowd interaction bit, you’ll like Heavy Metal is the Law by Helloween
I always loved the fade-out on Ballroom Blitz too. To me, it always brought to mind that moment at a killer party where no one is ready for the party to end, but the host obviously needs to wrap things up, so the party keeps going but just migrates. Back in high school and college, many a party ended up at IHOP or Waffle House for that exact reason, and it feels the same way. Like the band didn't stop playing, they just started...moving to a new location.
10:41 pony spotted?!
I love this song, it's so silly and loose, but it goes places
One of the most interesting things about this song for me, musically, is the squeaking in the drum track.
While I do love all the self-penned more metal stuff The Sweet did, I'll always come back to this and the other stuff Chinn and Chapman wrote. Really, everyone involved with this band was an incredible songwriter.
Used to do a really cool, imaginative cover of this in my old band.
Oh, Yeah! This song defined my childhood. It didn't make me violent, but it was a gateway towards The Ramones.