A trip down nostalgia road this week with the Sweet classic, “Ballroom Blitz.” For me it takes me back to CHUM sock hops in junior high (which always ended, I might add, with the conflicting slow dance nervousness/elation of “Stairway to Heaven.”)

The Sweet (they later insisted on being called just ‘Sweet,’ completing the evolution from their formative name, The Sweetshop), were burgeoning pop stars and well-represented at school dances of the time, with bubble-gum hits like “Little Willy,” “Wig-Wam Bam” and “Blockbuster.”

Bigger in Canada than south of the border, the British band really broke out with the album “Desolation Boulevard” in 1974/75 – their highest charting album based on the hit singles “Fox on the Run” and “Ballroom Blitz.”

The latter song was said to have been inspired by a real-life incident in which the band, wearing lipstick and eye makeup, as most “glam” bands of the time did, were “bottled off” a stage by a Scottish audience apparently not familiar with (or tolerant of) the effeminate style.

Nevertheless, the rest of the world embraced the song (including hitting No. 1 in Canada, joining “Little Willy” as a chart topper), with its memorable intro: “Are you ready Steve? Uh-huh. Andy? Yeah. Mick? Okay? All right, fellas, let’s go-hhhh,” and the iconic chorus: “And the man at the back said ‘everyone attack’ and it turned into a ballroom blitz!… And the girl in the corner is everyone’s mourner, she could kill you with a wink of her eye!”

Alas, as I recall, none of my school dances ever erupted into a ballroom blitz, but, oh yeah, it was electric, and frantically hectic – so come on, fellas (and ladies), let’s go!

Lyrics

Are you ready, Steve? Uh-huh!
Andy? Yeah!
Mick? Okay.
All right, fellas, let’s go!

Oh, it’s been getting so hard
Livin’ with the things you do to me, ah-ha
My dreams are getting so strange
I’d like to tell you everything I see, mm

Oh, I see a man at the back as a matter of fact
His eyes are red as the sun
And a girl in the corner, let no one ignore her
‘Cause she thinks she’s the passionate one

Oh yeah, it was like lightning
Everybody was frightening
And the music was soothing
And they all started grooving
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

And the man at the back said: “Everyone attack”
And it turned into a ballroom blitz
And the girl in the corner said: “Boy, I wanna warn ya,
It’ll turn into a ballroom blitz”
Ballroom blitz
Ballroom blitz
Ballroom blitz
Ballroom blitz

Oh, I’m reaching out for something
Touching nothing’s all I ever do
Oh, I softly call you over
When you appear, there’s nothing left of you, ah-ha

Now the man at the back is ready to crack
As he raises his hands to the sky
And the girl in the corner is everyone’s mourner
She could kill you with a wink of her eye

Oh yeah, it was electric
So frantically hectic
And the band started leaving
‘Cause they all stopped breathing
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

And the man at the back said: “Everyone attack”
And it turned into a ballroom blitz
And the girl in the corner said: “Boy, I wanna warn ya”
It’ll turn into a ballroom blitz
Ballroom blitz

Oh yeah, it was like lightning
Everybody was frightening
And the music was soothing
‘Cause they all started grooving
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

And the man at the back said: “Everyone attack”
And it turned into a ballroom blitz
And the girl in the corner said: “Boy, I wanna warn ya”
It’ll turn into a ballroom blitz
Ballroom blitz
Ballroom blitz
Ballroom blitz
Ballroom blitz

It’s, it’s a ballroom blitz
It’s, it’s a ballroom blitz
It’s, it’s a ballroom blitz
Yeah, it’s a ballroom blitz