Little Willy (song)

"Little Willy"
Single by The Sweet
from the album The Sweet
B-side	"Man from Mecca"
Released	19 May 1972 (UK) May 1973 (US)
Format	7" vinyl
Recorded	1972
Genre	Bubblegum pop, Glam rock, Power pop
Length	3:13
Label	RCA
Writer(s)	Nicky Chinn, Mike Chapman
Producer(s)	Phil Wainman
The Sweet singles chronology
"Poppa Joe" (1972) "Little Willy" (1972) "Wig-Wam Bam" (1972)

"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 from the album The Sweet. It was released in the United States in May 1973,^[1] and became Sweet's biggest hit in the United States, reaching No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.^[2]

Little Willy is often considered a pop song like Sweet's earlier singles,^[3] but the song features a somewhat distorted guitar riff (based on power chords of E-A-B-E throughout the song), making it an important step between Sweet's earlier pop style to their later glam/hard rock style. Despite the fact that "Little Willy" was somewhat less bubblegum than their previous singles, Sweet disliked the song, and according to Nicky Chinn, Sweet had called "Little Willy" "a bunch of shit" and insisted that it shouldn't be released.^[4]

This is the last single on which Steve Priest, Andy Scott, and Mick Tucker didn't perform, as on this "Little Willy" and all singles released prior featured producer Phil Wainman on drums, and session musicians John Roberts and Pip Williams on bass and guitars respectively.

Chart performance

Cover versions

• U.S. glam metal band Poison recorded a cover version of "Little Willy" on their album Poison'd!
• Bob Rivers recorded a parody called "Little Billy's Willy", about President Bill Clinton and the Lewinsky scandal.

References