10 Greatest Rock Song Intros From The 1970s
1. Ballroom Blitz - Sweet
The drum pattern, the band intros - 'Are you ready Steve?' - the guitar figure - all the excitement of glam rock presented in an opening salvo that stands as the greatest single in Sweet's catalogue and the finest song that glam songsmiths Chinn and Chapman ever wrote.
Admittedly the drum phrase was lifted from an old Sandy Nelson instrumental from 1961, but all similarities end there. Sweet turned Chinn and Chapman's rough demo ideas into an astounding run of hit singles where each one really was better than the last.
Sweet were the consummate band, fantastically talented musicians, with the ability to sing the kind of four part harmonies that struck a spark in a young Freddie Mercury's brain and saw Queen embrace a lot of Sweet's vocal approach in their own backing vocals.