"Little Willy"
Single by The Sweet
from the album The Sweet
B-side"Man from Mecca"
Released19 May 1972 (UK)
September 1972 (US)
Recorded1972
Genre
Length3:13
LabelRCA (UK)
Bell (US & Canada)[6]
Songwriter(s)Nicky Chinn, Mike Chapman
Producer(s)Phil Wainman
The Sweet singles chronology
"Poppa Joe"
(1972)		 "Little Willy"
(1972)		 "Wig-Wam Bam"
(1972)
Official audio
"Little Willy" on YouTube

"Little Willy" is a song written by songwriters Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman and performed by the British glam rock band The Sweet, released in 1972 as a non-album single in the UK, peaking at number 4 in the UK Singles Chart. It was released in the US in September 1972[7] and also appeared on their US debut album The Sweet and became their biggest hit in the US, reaching number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100.[8] Billboard ranked it as the number 18 song for 1973.

In a retrospective review of glitter rock, Bomp! noted that although rock music journalists almost uniformly "loathed it", the song was a huge commercial success and "helped launch the essential glitter rock formula sound".[9]

"Little Willy" was used extensively in the pilot of the television series Life on Mars.

Chart performance

Personnel

"Little Willy"

"Man from Mecca"

Parody versions

References

  1. ↑ Popoff, Martin (2014). The Big Book of Hair Metal: The Illustrated Oral History of Heavy Metal?s Debauched Decade. Voyageur Press. p. 16. ISBN 978-1-62788-375-7.
  2. ↑ Sendra, Tim. "Golden Groups & Glitter Sounds – Various Artists | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 29 June 2019.
  3. ↑ Stanley, Bob (13 September 2013). "Deluxe and Delightful: Glam". Yeah Yeah Yeah: The Story of Modern Pop. Faber & Faber. p. 338. ISBN 978-0-571-28198-5.
  4. ↑ Cantwell, David (4 November 1998). "Power Pop It Ain't". MTV News. Retrieved 10 May 2016.
  5. ↑ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Sweet | Biography & History". AllMusic. Retrieved 20 October 2015.
  6. ↑ "The Sweet – Little Willy". Discogs.com. 1972. Retrieved 26 November 2018.
  7. ↑ Little Willy / Man from Mecca (US), 45cat.com
  8. ↑ "Little Willy by Sweet". Songfacts.com. Retrieved 15 March 2013.
  9. ↑ Barnes, Ken (March 1978). "The Glitter Era: Teenage Rampage". Bomp!. Retrieved 25 January 2019 – via Rock's Backpages.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 "Dutch Charts". Dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 30 October 2023.
  11. ↑ "Image : RPM Weekly – Library and Archives Canada". Bac-lac.gc.ca. 17 July 2013. Retrieved 7 October 2016.
  12. ↑ "flavour of new zealand – search listener". Flavourofnz.co.nz. Retrieved 7 October 2016.
  13. ↑ "SA Charts 1965 – March 1989". Rock.co.za. Retrieved 5 September 2018.
  14. ↑ "UK Official Charts". Official Charts Company. 2019. Retrieved 25 January 2019.
  15. ↑ "Hot 100: The Sweet". Billboard. 2019. Retrieved 25 January 2019.
  16. ↑ Canada, Library and Archives (December 26, 2017). "Image : RPM Weekly". Library and Archives Canada.
  17. ↑ "Top Selling Singles for 1973". Sounds. London, England: Spotlight Publications: 4. 5 January 1974.
  18. ↑ "Top 100 Hits of 1973/Top 100 Songs of 1973". Musicoutfitters.com. Retrieved 20 October 2015.
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