"The Ballroom Blitz" was recorded at Audio International Studio, 18 Rodmartin Street, London. The song was produced by songwriters Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman.

The song appeared on the U.S./Canadian version of Desolation Boulevard but never appeared on a Sweet album in the UK, other than hits compilations.

This song was inspired by an incident on 27 January 1973 when the band was performing at the Grand Hall in Kilmarnock, Scotland and were driven offstage by a barrage of bottles.

The initial guitar and drum riff of the song has some similarity to a 1963 song by called "Let's Stomp".

The first known cover of "The Ballroom Blitz" was by the Les Humphries Singers in 1975, which was the first German single to reach #1 in New Zealand. In 1979, the song was covered by the Damned, which featured Lemmy from Motörhead on bass guitar. It was released as a B-side to "I Just Can't Be Happy Today" and featured as a bonus track on their CD reissue of Machine Gun Etiquette. Another notable cover was by Swiss heavy metal band Krokus, which was released on their album The Blitz in 1984. Other covers include renditions by Christian rock band Calibretto 13 on their album Enter the Danger Brigade in 2000, Tia Carrere on the soundtrack to Wayne's World in 1992, and thrash metal band Nuclear Assault on their 1991 album Out of Order.

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