Understanding The Ballroom Blitz

Поделиться
HTML-код
  • Опубликовано: 14 окт 2024
  • Always listen to the man in the back.
    Support 12tone on Patreon to help us keep making cool videos! / 12tonevideos
    Watch this video on Nebula: nebula.tv/vide...
    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.
    Merch: store.nebula.t...
    Discord: / discord
    Bluesky: bsky.app/profi...
    Email: 12tonevideos@gmail.com
    Script: tinyurl.com/yz...
    And thanks as well to Henry Reich, Jon Hancock, Gene Lushtak, Eugene Bulkin, Oliver, Adam Neely, Dave Mayer, OrionWolfie, David Bartz, CodenaCrow, Arnas, Caroline Simpson, Michael Alan Dorman, Blake Boyd, Charles Gaskell, Tom Evans, David Conrad, Ducky, Nikolay Semyonov, Chris Connett, Kenneth Kousen, h2g2guy, Andrew Engel, Peter Brinkmann, naomio, Alex Mole, Betsy, Tonya Custis, Walther, Graeme Lewis, Jake Sand, Jim Hayes, Scott Albertine, Evan Satinsky, Conor Stuart Roe, ZagOnEm, רועי סיני, Brian Miller, Thomas Morgan, Serena Crocker, Adam Ziegenhals, Mark, Amelia Lewis, Justin St John-Brooks, DialMForManning, Andrew Wyld, JD White, Graham Orndorff, gunnito, Douglas Anderson, Foreign Man in a Foreign Land, Tom, Kyle Kinkaid, William Christie, Joyce Orndorff, Isaac Hampton, Mark Mitchell Gloster, Andy Maurer, William Spratley, Don Jennings, Cormag81, Derek Hiemforth, Bryan, Mikeyxote, Milan Durnell, Dan Whitmer, Thel 'Vadam, FAD3 Chaos, Michael Morris, Bill Owens, Martin Romano, George Burgyan, Marc Testart, Carlfish, Matthew Soddy, Flavor Dave, Alin Nica, DraconicDon, John W Campbell, Megan Oberfield, morolin, An Oni Moose, Ken Birdwell, Blue 5alamander, Cliff Hudson, Olivia Herald, JayneOfCanton, Ethan Savaglio, Robert Bailey, Deirdre Saoirse Moen, juneau, Sina Bahram, Ira Kroll, Patrick Minton, Justin Katz, Roahn Wynar, Chuck Dukhoff of The Stagger Lee Archives, Bob D'Errico, Robert Shaw, David Shlapak, Donald Murray, JD, Rennie Allen, Travis Briggs, Claire Postlethwaite, Greyson Erickson, Matt Deeds, Jordan Nordstrom-Young, Strife, Brian Covey, Miles_Naismith, Jay Harris, Sean Murphy, JasperJackal, Tommy Transplant, Wolfgang Giersche, ParzivaLore, Amanda Jones, Olaf, Colleen Chapman, Autographedcat, Gil, d0d63, Jon Purdy, Ken Brown, Colin Kennedy, The Mauses, christopher porto, Billy Abbott, William Wallace, Tom Belknap, Karel P Kerezman, Ted Trainor, mightstill, Nick Loh, Randy Thomson, rpenguinboy, Antarct, Erika Lee, Mikaela, Vinayak Nagaraj, sandra zarbatany, Aenne Brielmann, Simone Andolfo Andolfo, and Emma Finch! Your support helps make 12tone even better!
    Also, thanks to Jareth Arnold!

Комментарии • 272

  • @12tone
    @12tone  2 месяца назад +113

    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: ruclips.net/video/nA-6ACUH7Lg/видео.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 RUclips 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.

    • @alanwilson1724
      @alanwilson1724 2 месяца назад +3

      I have a couple of friends from Kilmarnock. From what they tell me about the locals, that story is probably true.

    • @beenaplumber8379
      @beenaplumber8379 2 месяца назад +2

      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.

    • @ctown000
      @ctown000 2 месяца назад

      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.

    • @beenaplumber8379
      @beenaplumber8379 2 месяца назад +3

      @@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.

    • @stephenmcg4299
      @stephenmcg4299 2 месяца назад +5

      I’ve loved this song since the day it came out. Thanks for the insight.

  • @gsuberland
    @gsuberland 2 месяца назад +52

    Using Nixon's head from Futurama as the doodle for "something you're not supposed to hear" cracked me up so hard. Arrrrooooo!

  • @nstrug
    @nstrug 2 месяца назад +119

    Play this in our cover band, making sure the drummer actually keeps a lid on the tempo is the tricky bit.

    • @MidlifeRenaissanceMan
      @MidlifeRenaissanceMan 2 месяца назад +11

      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.

  • @DougSalad
    @DougSalad 2 месяца назад +37

    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

    • @pymandres
      @pymandres 2 месяца назад +12

      lyrical storytelling at its finest

  • @rmdodsonbills
    @rmdodsonbills 2 месяца назад +40

    I really like the use of the Rocky Horror lips for antici......

    • @rmdodsonbills
      @rmdodsonbills 2 месяца назад +9

      ....

    • @rmdodsonbills
      @rmdodsonbills 2 месяца назад +18

      ...pation!

    • @danwest3825
      @danwest3825 2 месяца назад +2

      Or The Rolling Stones and Satisfaction

    • @rmdodsonbills
      @rmdodsonbills 2 месяца назад +1

      @@danwest3825 There are a number of things I like about this channel, and the Easter Eggs in the illustrations are definitely among them!

    • @Aetherismə
      @Aetherismə 3 дня назад

      ​@@rmdodsonbills youre amazing

  • @MrChaotic89
    @MrChaotic89 2 месяца назад +94

    This makes me want a Radar Love breakdown 😬

    • @beenaplumber8379
      @beenaplumber8379 2 месяца назад +7

      Ooh! Same train drum thing! Great song too, by an amazing Dutch band. That album (Moontan) is really solid.

    • @beveryofa2546
      @beveryofa2546 2 месяца назад +5

      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.

    • @Exspazament
      @Exspazament 2 месяца назад

      ​@@beveryofa2546would make a SWEET crossover/mashup.

    • @musewolfman
      @musewolfman 2 месяца назад +1

      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.

    • @beenaplumber8379
      @beenaplumber8379 2 месяца назад

      @@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.

  • @Packbat
    @Packbat 2 месяца назад +67

    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.

    • @tulliusexmisc2191
      @tulliusexmisc2191 2 месяца назад

      So do I. Also please never stop the chemistry.

  • @SuprousOxide
    @SuprousOxide 2 месяца назад +29

    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.

    • @sharimeline3077
      @sharimeline3077 2 месяца назад +7

      They're trying to be cool, you know. Unbothered. 😆

    • @MereMeerkat
      @MereMeerkat 2 месяца назад +10

      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. 🤘

    • @stephenmcg4299
      @stephenmcg4299 2 месяца назад +1

      @@SuprousOxide That’s a really good observation. Even the outrageous Steve Priest is chilled.

  • @grakkal
    @grakkal 2 месяца назад +46

    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.

  • @teemusid
    @teemusid 2 месяца назад +43

    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.

    • @kylec2761
      @kylec2761 2 месяца назад

      Someday I hope we can push back against the assumption that the bass player always composed the bass line.

    • @beenaplumber8379
      @beenaplumber8379 2 месяца назад +4

      @@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.)

    • @stanmanjam
      @stanmanjam 2 месяца назад +1

      @@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!

    • @beenaplumber8379
      @beenaplumber8379 2 месяца назад +1

      @@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.

  • @ethanhatcher5533
    @ethanhatcher5533 2 месяца назад +206

    Would love an Everlong video

    • @AdamEdn
      @AdamEdn 2 месяца назад +1

      I second this suggestion.

    • @Kiaulen
      @Kiaulen 2 месяца назад +1

      Thirded

    • @MM-sn6ix
      @MM-sn6ix 2 месяца назад +1

      Dito! ❤️

    • @Xailow
      @Xailow 2 месяца назад +2

      Dave himself has talked about how he created the song.

    • @sclom5676
      @sclom5676 2 месяца назад +9

      @@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).

  • @KevanRCraft
    @KevanRCraft 2 месяца назад +41

    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...

    • @marrrtin
      @marrrtin 2 месяца назад +1

      Sweet never escaped the teenybopper tag, but the longevity of this song proves everything.

    • @WaterShowsProd
      @WaterShowsProd 2 месяца назад +3

      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.

  • @davidjordan2336
    @davidjordan2336 2 месяца назад +13

    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.

  • @tenzhitihsien888
    @tenzhitihsien888 2 месяца назад +10

    I don't know why I find these videos so entertaining. Half of it is over my head.

  • @bryanedwards5064
    @bryanedwards5064 2 месяца назад +36

    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.

  • @jonathanblackwell42
    @jonathanblackwell42 2 месяца назад +36

    Your pinning of the chorus twice to build tension in parallel with the song is such a nice touch

  • @OlYables
    @OlYables 2 месяца назад +20

    15:21 🎶"Welcome to a new kind of tension / All across the alien nation / Where everything isn't meant to be okay"🎶

  • @jeandeau
    @jeandeau 2 месяца назад +1

    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!!!!

  • @StephenSharish
    @StephenSharish 2 месяца назад +6

    The long album version of "Love Is Like Oxygen" is a masterpiece

  • @TheGerkuman
    @TheGerkuman 2 месяца назад +4

    I love it when bands let their other singers sing on songs, even for just little bits.

  • @matthewcox7985
    @matthewcox7985 2 месяца назад +8

    I really love how your drawing has improved over the years. And the wide range of references made... Chef's kiss.

  • @bodowen
    @bodowen 2 месяца назад +16

    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.

    • @markmanhetherington1
      @markmanhetherington1 2 месяца назад +1

      I came here to mention Andy on the high notes but I clearly don't need to 😊

  • @myautobiographyafanfic1413
    @myautobiographyafanfic1413 2 месяца назад +3

    I remember The Sweet, in a glam documentary being described as "truck drivers in drag".

  • @thecatofnineswords
    @thecatofnineswords 2 месяца назад +13

    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.

  • @YurtFerguson
    @YurtFerguson 2 месяца назад +2

    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

  • @Ryan98391
    @Ryan98391 2 месяца назад +2

    As a drummer, I love this song!

  • @howardmaryon
    @howardmaryon Месяц назад +1

    Andy Scott lives in a Wiltshire village not far from me, and is a regular at the local pub. Lovely bloke.

  • @brucecall1595
    @brucecall1595 2 месяца назад +2

    Andy scott had the fifth octave. His top line made those 4 part harmony's legendary.

  • @ericbnielsen
    @ericbnielsen 2 месяца назад +15

    I heard this song for the first time watching Wayne’s World. What a great soundtrack.

    • @beenaplumber8379
      @beenaplumber8379 2 месяца назад +4

      Tia did a very respectable cover of this tune. I think she pumped life back into it with her performance in that movie.

    • @baylinkdashyt
      @baylinkdashyt 2 месяца назад +3

      ​@@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.

    • @beenaplumber8379
      @beenaplumber8379 2 месяца назад +3

      @@baylinkdashyt I understand the royalties are also quite lucrative! 🙂

    • @darylmorning
      @darylmorning 2 месяца назад +2

      ​@baylinkdashyt That movie resuscitated a few songs from "the dead". Ballroom Blitz and Bohemian Rhapsody to name two that exploded!

    • @musewolfman
      @musewolfman 2 месяца назад

      You know, some day, I might get tired of that movie.
      Shyeah, and monkeys might fly outta my butt.

  • @GreenLantern814
    @GreenLantern814 2 месяца назад +1

    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.

  • @Neil.Swinnerton
    @Neil.Swinnerton 2 месяца назад +1

    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.

  • @SteveDeHaven
    @SteveDeHaven 2 месяца назад +1

    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.

  • @bmac4
    @bmac4 2 месяца назад +2

    Arguably the quintessential glam rock hit of all time. So much energy packed into 4 minutes. RIP to Steve, Brian, and Mick.

  • @johngamer6255
    @johngamer6255 2 месяца назад +2

    I wish I knew enough about music to properly understand what you're explaining, you make it sound so fascinating and fun

  • @dazwold
    @dazwold 2 месяца назад +2

    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!

  • @NONFamers
    @NONFamers 2 месяца назад +2

    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.

  • @SirSkud
    @SirSkud 2 месяца назад +1

    This is my favorite song to do as a metal cover!!!

  • @Wolfie15
    @Wolfie15 2 месяца назад +8

    MCR did the same check in on “Vampire Money”, so maybe it was a reference to Ballroom Blitz

    • @Crimson_Cheetah
      @Crimson_Cheetah 2 месяца назад +4

      Yes! I've always thought that was a reference. It's very fun.

    • @pymandres
      @pymandres 2 месяца назад +4

      given all the glam rock references in that song, definitely a nod to ballroom blitz

    • @ольгачамурлиева-я4з
      @ольгачамурлиева-я4з Месяц назад

      ​@@Crimson_Cheetah There is the reference- riff in Desolation Raw from Wig Wam Bam on 1:01.

  • @TheHopperUK
    @TheHopperUK 2 месяца назад +5

    I appreciate the 'new kind of tension' visual pun.

  • @briankeegan8089
    @briankeegan8089 2 месяца назад +4

    . 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.

  • @ptonpc
    @ptonpc 2 месяца назад +1

    One of my favourite songs.

  • @janhanchenmichelsen2627
    @janhanchenmichelsen2627 2 месяца назад +1

    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!

  • @anotheralaina
    @anotheralaina 2 месяца назад +1

    I adore this song it’s so exciting to get a breakdown of why it’s so good!

  • @isetmfriendsofire
    @isetmfriendsofire 2 месяца назад +4

    I always thought this song sounded like it could be on the Rocky Horror soundtrack.

  • @gearandalthefirst7027
    @gearandalthefirst7027 2 месяца назад +2

    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.

  • @hisproperty1438
    @hisproperty1438 2 месяца назад +2

    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

  • @zorgus2002
    @zorgus2002 2 месяца назад +1

    One of my favorite glam rock songs. Thanks for the video!

  • @chilecayenne
    @chilecayenne 2 месяца назад +3

    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

  • @NoAvailableSpace
    @NoAvailableSpace 2 месяца назад +12

    Have you ever considered doing Flobots No Handlebars?

  • @JohnnyCameo
    @JohnnyCameo 2 месяца назад +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.

    • @stanmanjam
      @stanmanjam 2 месяца назад

      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!

  • @JAce94007
    @JAce94007 2 месяца назад

    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

  • @lp-xl9ld
    @lp-xl9ld 2 месяца назад +1

    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.

  • @michaelfox1432
    @michaelfox1432 2 месяца назад +1

    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.

  • @tjg555
    @tjg555 2 месяца назад +2

    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.

  • @krisfrederick5001
    @krisfrederick5001 2 месяца назад +12

    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

  • @deltavistastudio124
    @deltavistastudio124 Месяц назад

    Thanks, love your vids, very entertaining and informative. BTW, the opening snare drum is essentially a Cajun beat.

  • @TheZotmeister
    @TheZotmeister 2 месяца назад

    How am I only finding out about this channel now, this is incredible.

  • @adrianokury
    @adrianokury 2 месяца назад +2

    Excellent analysis and super clever presentation. Thumbs up? Sure!

  • @herickvar8608
    @herickvar8608 2 месяца назад

    Thank you! This is one of my favorite songs

  • @Fireheart318
    @Fireheart318 2 месяца назад

    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!

  • @andreiapostol5906
    @andreiapostol5906 2 месяца назад

    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.

  • @cyclesgoff9768
    @cyclesgoff9768 Месяц назад

    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 😁.

  • @ZipplyZane
    @ZipplyZane 2 месяца назад +1

    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

  • @movingforwardLDTH
    @movingforwardLDTH 2 месяца назад

    YAY, I love when a new 12tone video is available when I have a huge (HUGE) pile of dishes to do!

  • @garethevans2650
    @garethevans2650 2 месяца назад

    Thanks so much for this. My teenage band in 1976-7 played "Action" one on their B sides

  • @MarceldeJong
    @MarceldeJong 2 месяца назад

    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.

  • @robmortimer4150
    @robmortimer4150 2 месяца назад

    While not that much of a glam rock fan, this song is such utter brilliance it’s hard not to love.
    Great explanation.

  • @JonAnderhub
    @JonAnderhub 2 месяца назад +4

    Good stuff here!
    As many times as I have listened to this song I have never realized all those details.
    Thanx

  • @Quadr44t
    @Quadr44t 2 месяца назад

    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.

  • @petecopeland9906
    @petecopeland9906 2 месяца назад

    Love your graphics for “anticipation “ and “satisfaction”.

  • @robertlinke2666
    @robertlinke2666 2 месяца назад +2

    the opening drum groove almost sounds like Katrina and the waves - walking on sunshine

  • @CliffSedge-nu5fv
    @CliffSedge-nu5fv 2 месяца назад +4

    My non-expert analysis:
    It's a fun song.

  • @popfortyfive
    @popfortyfive 2 месяца назад +2

    I love The Sweet! Thanks for the video. Check out Bobby Comstock’s Let’s Stomp - it was a heavy influence on this song.

    • @family-accountemail9111
      @family-accountemail9111 2 месяца назад

      I had never heard the Bobby Comstock song, was interesting to find out about it, definitely a candidate for influence

  • @Eddie42023
    @Eddie42023 2 месяца назад

    Okay, first, one of my all time favorite songs. The Great Algorithm suggested this channel to me today. I'm not a music theorist, but I

  • @NightmareInMoloch
    @NightmareInMoloch 2 месяца назад

    this is one of my favorite songs of all time and i'll never hear it the same way again lol

  • @Qermaq
    @Qermaq 2 месяца назад +3

    0:40 Mike Chapman went on to create Homestar Runner. :D

  • @posteluxducxions7531
    @posteluxducxions7531 2 месяца назад +1

    Very tight analysis.

  • @ActiveAdvocate1
    @ActiveAdvocate1 2 месяца назад +4

    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?

    • @ThePhantomSafetyPin
      @ThePhantomSafetyPin 2 месяца назад +1

      When I saw this on my For You page it was electric. Everybody was hectic...

    • @ActiveAdvocate1
      @ActiveAdvocate1 2 месяца назад +1

      @@ThePhantomSafetyPin , his synopsis was soothing, so we all started grooving!

    • @ThePhantomSafetyPin
      @ThePhantomSafetyPin 2 месяца назад

      @@ActiveAdvocate1 And 12Tone in the back said "everyone attack" and it turned into a sheet music blitz!

  • @kianpfannenstiel
    @kianpfannenstiel 2 месяца назад

    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.

  • @jeffreywebb2692
    @jeffreywebb2692 2 месяца назад

    I do love these breakdowns!

  • @KennethWestervelt
    @KennethWestervelt 2 месяца назад +9

    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.

    • @briankeegan8089
      @briankeegan8089 2 месяца назад +3

      Because once you hear the original, that version seems quite lame?

    • @richardkralick3062
      @richardkralick3062 2 месяца назад +2

      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.

    • @bzotto
      @bzotto 2 месяца назад +1

      Same, and insane that WW came out only 18 years after the Sweet single dropped.

    • @zachakers4385
      @zachakers4385 2 месяца назад

      And a better version of

    • @fokeyjo
      @fokeyjo 2 месяца назад

      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! 😆

  • @camerondodge2070
    @camerondodge2070 2 месяца назад

    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.

  • @jonnuanez7183
    @jonnuanez7183 2 месяца назад

    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.

  • @MooImABunny
    @MooImABunny 2 месяца назад

    I love this song, it's so silly and loose, but it goes places

  • @jonothanthrace1530
    @jonothanthrace1530 2 месяца назад

    One of the most interesting things about this song for me, musically, is the squeaking in the drum track.

  • @panpolypuff
    @panpolypuff 2 месяца назад

    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.

  • @richardnixon5068
    @richardnixon5068 2 месяца назад +1

    They nailed their spot when they started writing their own songs

  • @knoxabandito2823
    @knoxabandito2823 2 месяца назад +2

    Love this song!

  • @danyg4063
    @danyg4063 2 месяца назад

    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.

  • @beenaplumber8379
    @beenaplumber8379 2 месяца назад

    This is blues all the way. In the first prechorus we get that C5 chord. When playing blues in E, the C chord is part of it. It's often played as a C9 (sometimes just C major) during the turnaround (C9 -> B7 is a nice turnaround figure), and it's sometimes used to lead down to the V in non-12-bar blues compositions. I've never heard it used like this though, as a step between IV and I, but it's part of the blues toolbox.

    • @pymandres
      @pymandres 2 месяца назад

      to me it almost sounds like a partial iv minor chord

  • @UrbanGarden-rf5op
    @UrbanGarden-rf5op 2 месяца назад

    Steve Priest's performance reminds me a lot of British rocker Arthur Brown.
    He was a master of theatrics, both in the stage show and the vocals.
    Check out The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown.
    An aptly named album.
    The main vocals sound a bit like glam rocker Marc Bolan (T Rex).
    He used some of that laid back technique on songs like Get It On.
    Loved the Rocky Horror references😎💋
    Watched it on Nebula, of course.
    ✌✌

  • @jonothanthrace1530
    @jonothanthrace1530 2 месяца назад +2

    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".

    • @SteveDeHaven
      @SteveDeHaven 2 месяца назад +1

      "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.

    • @jonothanthrace1530
      @jonothanthrace1530 2 месяца назад

      @@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.

  • @joecaner
    @joecaner 2 месяца назад

    This is such great song.

  • @peppepop
    @peppepop 2 месяца назад +1

    Tucker is such an underrated drummer ❤

  • @MJDennys
    @MJDennys 2 месяца назад

    It would be dope if you covered a Son Lux track. There’s so much to unpack with their music!

  • @jordansunlight4765
    @jordansunlight4765 2 месяца назад +2

    oh heck yeah!! love this

  • @woofspider330
    @woofspider330 2 месяца назад

    Anyone else first hear Ballroom Blitz (and now that I think about it, Radar Love, too) from the Krokus (and White Lion) cover(s) on guitar hero: Rocks the 80s? That really birthed a lot of my 80s rock knowledge 😅

  • @johngamer6255
    @johngamer6255 2 месяца назад

    Hey bro I love your videos, do you have any plans on doing one on everlong?

  • @zachpower2192
    @zachpower2192 2 месяца назад

    Great video! Question for you: what’s up with the intro video using footage of a right hand drawing your logo when you clearly draw everything else with your left hand? It’s always puzzled me

  • @CynthiaMcG
    @CynthiaMcG 2 месяца назад

    Oh, Yeah! This song defined my childhood. It didn't make me violent, but it was a gateway towards The Ramones.