Every UK #1 Single Of 1973 Discussion Thread

It’s a great song. It seemed to be on the charts for ages.

 

Dianne Lee always gets a raw deal in my opinion. A Sheffield lass, whenever people discuss all the great acts, the major talent, that has emerged from our VERY musical city - Def Leppard, ABC, Richard Hawley, Joe Cocker, Chris Spedding, Tommy Eyre, the Artic Monkeys, Pulp, Cabaret Voltaire, Reverend & the Makers etc etc - poor ol' Dianne never gets a mention. Not really on, is it? Loads of people liked Peters & Lee. That single is still loved by many to this day.

She went on to marry Wizzard's Rick Price, which I didn't learn until quite recently.

 

Lennie Peters, meanwhile, seemed to look like a cross between Jose Feliciano and Ronnie Milsap.

They tried to break "Welcome Home" in the States, Lord knows they tried. First in August 1973, then had a short run in the lower rungs of the country charts in early '74.

 

Welcome Home took 9 weeks to reach #1. By US standards, that isn’t very long, but with many singles debuting in the top 5 and even #1 here, this seemed very slow in 1973.

 

Huge Sweet fan here - bubblegum, glam, prog, whatever phase they were in.

"Blockbuster" is a blast, and I wish we'd been as mad about it as the UK was.

 

Has anyone listened to the B-side? Pretty good. You can see where Queen got some of their ideas.

 

Brilliant, Stephen Hawking would have been but in awe!

 

Possibly at the time, though it was his strongest single.

I think many people would be thankful for whatever song it was that knocked Jimmy off his perch.

 

I meant wasn't his strongest single.

 

Blockbuster was a fun song, coincidental that is shared the same riff with Bowie, but as they were both on RCA......

As we are in January 1973, it is apt to show this classic clip of Jean Genie as this was on the TOTP from the first week of the year and was lost for many many years until it was found 7 years ago, a cracking performance.

 

Blockbuster was great, although I didn’t realise it was their only no. 1. They seemed to be near the top of the charts throughout ‘73. A terrific singles band, and a few of their B sides weren’t too shabby either. Brian Connolly was a superb frontman. I always enjoyed their TOTP appearances.

 

Unfortunately The Sweet usually ended up with the bridesmaids position in the charts, no 2. I think they had half a dozen singles stall at the runner up slot.
This was a great shame as 1973 was really their big year...

 

Yes, Hell Raiser, Ballroom Blitz, and Teenage Rampage all reached no.2. However, they had 10 number ones in Denmark!

Sweet discography - Wikipedia

 

Brian Connolly was put in foster care after his mother died and ended up with the McManus family, their son, Mark went onto become a boxer and then Actor, best known for the role of Taggart. There was also rumours that Mark McManus's father was actually Brian's real father, although this was never confirmed.
Obituary: Brian Connolly

 

Blockbuster
That's exactly the one I got....still have it.
It was my first single and it cost 45p.
Sweet became my first love as regards getting into music...they became a great Rock band who could still knock out Kick Ass catchy singles....right up till Brian left/got fired in 1979.
I still play their singles and albums to this day.....a brilliant Pop Rock band who in many ways were before their time, but would influence a lot of later bands.
5/5 for both A & B side.... the stupendous Need A Lot Of Lovin'

 

By the time "Ballroom Blitz" (the way they sang the title always sounded to me like "Barroom Blitz") was issued as a single in America, Sweet ("The" had been ditched from their moniker by that time) were on Capitol:

Despite the (P) date, this issue came out in April 1975. "Fox On The Run" and "Love Is Like Oxygen," their other big U.S. hits, were also on Capitol there and in Canada.

 

From what I read of Mr. Connolly, his voice was never the same after a brutal beating outside a nightclub in 1974 where (with shades of what happened to Frank Zappa in 1971) he received major injuries to his throat. His chain-smoking and heavy drinking (the latter of which would have no doubt accelerated after that incident) also didn't help.

 

Yes, I distinctly remember the first single I bought (Puppy Love) cost 45p. This would be in early 1973.

I’d begged my mum for the Portrait Of Donny LP, but had to make do with the single.

 

Wow inflation in the 70s! Mine was in '77 and was 70p!

 

I think the problem with Ms Lee is that you really couldn’t hear her very well on the records... Peters’ voice dominated.

Still, 2 great singles in Welcome Home and Don’t Stay Away Too Long.. Plus the smaller hit, Hey Mr Music Man, which would have made a good Eurovision song for whatever year it came out.

 

From Little Willy onward (well, until 1976; plus '78's Oxygen) The Sweet were an epic singles band. Blockbuster is ace.

 

And spring of '73 is when I started listening to the radio at age 4 in lower Michigan, the sticks. "Little Willy" is one of, if not the first song I just wanted to hear over and over. I had no context and just thought cartoon character animals were doing all of this singing! My mother was still buying LPs at that point and playing them constantly, the likes of Bob Dylan and Stevie Wonder etc, which I just couldn't be bothered with at that point- all I wanted to hear was the chorus to "Little Willy" over and over. I'm sure it's what prompted her to buy me my first ever LP in early '74: Wings' Band On The Run

 

I never realised they had a few big hits in America. What’s also surprising is their albums did far better over there than in the UK. Only one album charted here, and it got to 27.

 

In Australia RCA released Peppermint Twist as a single and it was huge. I'm pretty sure it was their first (of many) chart hits here. I also seem to remember they toured here when they were almost completely unknown (probably inspired by Gary Glitter who went from one hit wonder to superstar after an Australian tour)

 

Block Buster is probably my favorite Sweet song before they went full-on rock. The division line for us Yanks is the switch over from Bell records to Capitol.