Fox on the Run (Sweet song)


"Fox on the Run" is a song by the British band Sweet, first recorded in 1974. It was the first Sweet single written by the band, rather than producers Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman, and was their 14th single overall. "Fox" being slang for an, the lyrics are apparently about one of the band's groupies; Bomp! called the song "a definitive hard-rock bubblegum record" and "one of the last glitter classics".
Two versions were recorded by Sweet. The original version was produced by Mike Chapman in association with Nicky Chinn on the European version of the 1974 album Desolation Boulevard. Sweet also recorded and produced a more pop-oriented version as a 7" single in 1975, which is the more familiar version of the song. The 1975 single version was included on the Capitol Records version of Desolation Boulevard.
The song fared extremely well on the Australian charts, clocking up six weeks at number one, between August and September 1975. It went on to become the best charting single for that year in Australia.
The song appears in numerous films, including Dazed And Confused, Detroit Rock City, When in Rome, Catch.44, Lords of Dogtown and . Its inclusion in the trailer for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 led to the song reaching number one on the iTunes Rock Chart in late 2016.

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Chart Rank
Canada37
UK37
US Billboard Hot 10076
US Cash Box63

Scorpions version

"Fuchs geh' voran" is a German cover version of the song with lyrics about a literal fox being chased by hunters to sell its fur. It was released as a single in 1975 by the German rock band Scorpions as The Hunters. The B-side also features a German cover version of another Sweet song, "Action", as "Wenn es richtig losgeht".

Other covers

Many artists and groups have covered this song, including The Regrettes Eric Singer, Girlschool, Red Hot Chili Peppers, You Am I, Mad Max, Deadsy, Frankenstein Drag Queens From Planet 13, Ace Frehley, Make-Up, The Academy Is..., Sweet Savage, and Nip Drivers for the Desperate Teenage Lovedolls soundtrack. A 1986 recording by The Replacements is featured on the 2017 live album .