The Sweet - Blockbuster Reaction

In this video we're listening to another one from The Sweet. This band is always making us happy with their great songs. We're really happy to be trying out another one from them. Enjoy!
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[@stephenhitchen8753]

Sweet were so much better than the singles, the albums were superb, some really heavy tracks.

[@kadiummusic]

Sweet always dressed like that, it was the Glam Rock period and this band definitely pushed the envelope! 😁

[@bigfrankfraser1391]

now this brings me back to my youth, snogged some random bird round the back of a pub these guys played at, few years later i see the same chick on stage at another venue, turned out id had nina hagens tongue in my throat, bloody brilliant

[@neilshots]

Sweet were so good and Steve Preist just did camp so well.

[@alanstrom2221]

Sweet started having Hit songs in 1971 and had more Hit songs in the 70's than ABBA. Of course they had a 3 year head start. "Blockbuster" is one of the first Singles I bought with my Pocket Money. They played everything from Bubble Gum Pop to Hard Rock.

[@thunderspike1892]

They did much harder stuff like Sweet FA, No You Don't, Solid Gold Brass, Set Me Free and Man From Mecca

[@TheJungleBriton]

The Sweet were amazing and it has long been suggested that both Kiss and Queen ripped them off. This was at the height of their glam rock days, but at heart they were really a metal band. Their last hit was love is like oxygen. Glam rock was huge in early to mid 70s Britain. Then as they died out punk and reggae came in.

[@hanierfamily]

Love Is Like Oxygen was big here in Canada too.

[@ollythorp5428]

Queen definitely copied Sweet...

[@andrewdavidscott8731]

@@ollythorp5428 Queen used the same studio engineer if remember correctly, after Sweet already had their sound down. Shame really they deserve a lot more recognition.

[@armandourso1526]

I just love Sweet ! Hugs from Brazil 🎉

[@cabdriveruk]

Andy Scott ( lead guitarist) is the only remaining original member of Sweet. RIP Brian Connolly lead singer, Steve Priest bass guitarist and Mick Tucker drummer.

[@johnlangston7314]

I thought Mick Tucker was the the only surviving member

[@cabdriveruk]

@@johnlangston7314 No John Mick died from leukaemia, aged 54, in 2002.

[@philiptodd6255]

The gene genie and blockbuster were both released on the RCA label at the same time

[@tervatori]

The sweet was recording this song in the studio while David bowie was there too, Bowie released his Jean Genie 3 weeks later than Sweet so.......

[@CaseyTappy]

​@@tervatori The Yardbirds released I'm A Man almost a decade before that .

[@rodpope7838]

Same bass line as Jean Genie.... came as a bit of a surprise to both bands lol. Great 3 and a half minute mini anthem - bouncy and fun. That was the seventies!

[@geoffwebber7085]

BUSTER FROM THE GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY... THIS SONG WAS NUMBER 1 IN THE CHARTS..WITH JEAN GENIE AT NUMBER 2 AT THE SAME TIME...

[@colrhodes377]

This was glam rock, they all dressed like that.

[@garycarver5005]

Bowie & Sweet insist that it was a coincidence that both were recording using the same riff borrowed from an old blues / r & b standard at the same time.

[@SPKdesign1]

Chapman & Chinn wrote a few songs for these guys. They also wrote for Suzi Quatro and a few other folk from back then. This was a real Party Anthem.

[@colrhodes377]

Poppa Joe is a great one

[@ollythorp5428]

They also wrote Picture This and Hanging on the Telephone for Blondie.

[@stingray4real]

They wrote the song Living Next Door To Alice for Smokie.

[@sexpistol7712]

This is glamtastic, but try ,hellraiser and action . Fantastic.

[@russellwarr3791]

Roller Skating to this in my teens, thanks guys for the blast from the past, now me thinks I'll just pop to the shed and locate those skates. If I'm not back soon, send out a search party.

[@ghichens3418]

Yep ! Ace ! Played this single to destruction , along with the "Jean Genie " some one said same Bass line as this tune , We all knew it at the time ! Matters not a jot ! This was Glam , Bolan was on TOTP with a subtle glittery tear , it was a great time , I think at this period in 1973 Bowie or Ziggy Haircuts were every where ! The Album "Alladdin Sane " by Bowie was released in this year which the "Jean Genie" was taken from , The Sweet had a great single "love Is Like Oxygen" Great times ! Cheers

[@paulcasey5486]

loved the sweet this is one of the first singles i bought . loved all the memories keep up the good work.

[@jaymacgee_A_Bawbag_Blethering]

I’m going back through your recent posts and THIS is my time ! Loved this song along with ballroom blitz 👍🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

[@johnchrysostomon6284]

Writing credit goes to Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman collectively called Chinny-Chap But in reality Aussie Mike Chapman did the songs and Chinn did the promotions and business end.

[@christophersmith7460]

This song is 50 years old. Where did the time go?

[@sherbert500]

Who would have thought this song would have inspired someone to open a chain of shops renting movie vhs tapes to the public! 😆

[@stormhawk3319]

The quintessential Glam Rock pop song

[@clivemason-ms8ju]

I remember this being played at my junior school leavers disco held in the dining hall, with at least some of the younger teachers dancing to it and the older ones looking bemused.

[@stugtrauts3692]

This was huge when it came out , so obviously i,m old i saw Brians, Sweet at a caravan park at Silloth in north cumbria , just a small modest venue with maybe with 200 people , just a few months before he died, he was a really nice guy , but he wasnt in a good way , due to his drink problems, he was 50 or 51, but looked so much older

[@JamesDickson-vs5of]

I was caught up in a fight between, bootboys from Edinburgh v bootboys from Kilmarnock, and it apparently inspired the song ballroom blitz, ," gorgie jungle ya bass" 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿✌️

[@waynethera2712]

Sweets Desolation Boulevard is one of the all time great albums. A little more hard rocking. If you haven’t done Set Me Free is pretty epic.

[@colrhodes377]

Yep, that would be brilliant

[@btj-oo8xc]

Set Me Free is from Sweet FA

[@waynethera2712]

@@btj-oo8xc, I believe they had some strange album releases from country to country. It was on my Desolation Boulevard assets and album here in Canadaland.

[@micknordstrom2591]

That is on the transatlantic version.

[@Sandy-dd4le]

I remember my mother disliking this because of the siren. She remembers air raid sirens from the war......thankfully I don't think she ever heard War Pigs by Black Sabbath! The Jean Genie is also '73, so pretty close together!

[@SPKdesign1]

I've only ever heard the sirens go off twice. Once was in the early 70s as a test and the other was mid 80s when a chemical cloud came towards Edinburgh.

[@Sandy-dd4le]

@@SPKdesign1 are you sure that wasn't just the wind bringing the smell of Glasgow over?

[@SPKdesign1]

@@Sandy-dd4le That was a possibility but it turned out to be something a little less Toxic.

[@Sandy-dd4le]

​@@SPKdesign1 gotcha, it obviously came from Fife then!

[@SPKdesign1]

@@Sandy-dd4le Aye. I think Thatcher might've been in toon at the time.

[@Masonicbrother]

This was the censored version of the video, you notice the big blur over the bassist. He was wearing a Nazi uniform with a swastika armband and a Hitler mustache which was cgi erased or edited out lol. It was done in tongue and cheek for laughs back then. kzbin.info/www/bejne/e2nQeZZ6iMZmaqs&ab_channel=MarkVL

[@CAdams6398]

The similarity of the riff to Bowie was purely accidental

[@hahatoldyouso]

Brilliant!

[@davidellis5141]

Cool Glam Rock .. Little Willy was a big hit in the states. I remember buying the 45. Queen were tuned in.

[@CAdams6398]

Yes Queen were glammed up in the early days, but to suggest they were remotely influenced by these pop rockers is nothing but folly!

[@robertbagley9199]

I'd love to see you react to the more rocky Sweet, on tracks like 'Sweet F.A' 'No You Don't' 'The Six Teens' or 'Solid Gold Brass' way more to them than the 'Glam rock' of the singles

[@marcdewey1242]

You need to hear Sweets Give Us A Wink album,it's great!

[@uhldi]

please do Wig Wam Bam….. unbelievable 51…years ago…short before christmas….thanx

[@alanstrom2221]

No, the 'costumes' were their Glam Rock clothes. Sweet were pioneers of Glam Rock. "Jean Genie" by Bowie was released in November 1972. "Blockbuster" by Sweet was released in January 1973 "The Muddy Waters-inspired blues riff is markedly similar to that featured on fellow RCA act David Bowie's "The Jean Genie", released shortly before 'Blockbuster' , but all parties maintained this was a coincidence." I love both songs equally.

[@sexpistol7712]

If you ever do a album reaction , give us a wink is a must .

[@craigalden9416]

Plenty of great Sweet songs, Fox on the Run, Action, Love is like Oxygen, Stairway to the stars, Hellraiser, Ballroom Blitz, Peppermint Twist, Lost Angels, Lies in your eyes, Teenage Rampage.

[@hanierfamily]

We know a few of those ones. We added the others to our list.

[@FFM0594]

This was released 3 months before Aladdin Sane (The Bowie LP). The similarity is because 'The Moonstomp' was the dance flavour at that time.

[@Kevvinm]

That was great! I’m guilty of not exploring them beyond the hits.

[@hanierfamily]

Us too.

[@GosWardHen98]

Glam Rock, it was popular from 1972 to 1976 before Punk Rock killed it off in one foul swoop. Sweet were a good group along with T-Rex, Mott the Hoople, Bowie & Wizzard. It was a crazy time musically & your Alice Cooper was also a glam rock star too! 😅

[@alanwhitney3263]

Slade as well

[@gypsyroadhog]

Their only uk No.1 but should have had so many more.

[@uhldi]

they had 8 number one hits in germany

[@SPKdesign1]

We do Halloween more now than we used to back then. Here we have "Guy Fawkes" night when we set off Fireworks and burn effigies on bonfires. It happens on Nov 5th.

[@ghichens3418]

You did say Effigies didnt you ! Just checking ,

[@SPKdesign1]

@@ghichens3418I hope so, that's what I meant. We build a fire, often large, and add a "Guy" to it which is then burnt. Sometimes it is a fairly nondescript figure, sometimes a Political figure.

[@ghichens3418]

@@SPKdesign1 Now you are talking my language ! what I meant was too rude to print ! May be a bit late for Bo Jo ! Although a wing nut could be arranged to ! Rishi Rishi

[@SPKdesign1]

@@ghichens3418 I'm sure there will be a few of Rishi this year. I don't generally go to the big fires here as they have become very commercial but I might go oot to the Park and watch the fireworks this year.

[@ghichens3418]

@@SPKdesign1 Yes ! I bet there will be ! cant wait ! Have a good one , cheers

[@michaelavery6390]

The b side of this song 🎵 is called Need a lot of Loving ... its a lot heavier .

[@alanwhitney3263]

Saw Sweet in 74 live, they were heavy rock band

[@stevenorthwick2480]

Great pop classic!

[@eivindkaisen6838]

Let's hope no-one thinks this is an actual live performance. BBC's Top Of The Pops were ALL playback. (Some artists made a point of that in their performance, being "out of sync".) And they designed their own costumes, and using them only a very few times.

[@andrewsim9180]

...........or does Jean Jeanie sound like Blockbuster? They were both recorded in 1972 and both peaked in early 1973 in the uK charts ....apparently composed by coincidence. The bluesy guitar riff probably pre-dated both of these songs (Compare Bo diddley). America beat us to it (again!).

[@jaymacgee_A_Bawbag_Blethering]

Eh…. 👀… it’s Jean Genie tbh .. 😳 👍🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

[@micknordstrom2591]

Bowie and Sweet discovered that they both had the same riff so the record company decided to put out one song first and then the other afterwards.

[@VEETEEARR]

It has been said that both the Jean Genie riff and the Blockbuster riff were probably influenced by the Yardbirds song 'I'm the Man'.

[@OnceWasRStrathfield]

Great glam

[@rian202003]

I'm sure you guys covered love is like oxygen, right? Love this as well

[@hanierfamily]

We have known that one for years actually.

[@daviddeath6029]

Try love is like oxygen to get a better idea of there album tracks etc. Did I tell you that gary numan influenced them! Ha ha 😊

[@hanierfamily]

We've loved that song since we were young.

[@daviddeath6029]

@@hanierfamily we are all still young! 👽❤️

[@JamesDickson-vs5of]

Hey guy's regards from Scotland, which do you prefer idea , art Garfunkel Vs Paul Simon Vs. Simon & Garfunkel, 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 happy healthy peace ✌️

[@hanierfamily]

Which song? It should be the same song.

[@andrewgibson395]

Try listening to The Jean Genie by David Bowie and compare the two songs!

[@CAdams6398]

Purely coincidental according to both parties!

[@ghichens3418]

That is a good plan !

[@CAdams6398]

@@ghichens3418 Why is it a good plan? Everyone knows that it's the same riff!

[@ghichens3418]

@@CAdams6398 Yes ! mate Im fine thank you ! How are you ?

[@CAdams6398]

@@ghichens3418 I'm doing alright, but why no answer? It was a perfectly reasonable question! 😊

[@tilleulenspiegel-kanal6626]

Stolen from David Bowie's "The Jean Genie"? Hahaha! Hear "Cops And Robbers" from the Rolling Stones! Then you know where David Bowie stole from. 🤣