Wig-Wam Bam

"Wig-Wam Bam" is a song by British glam rock band the Sweet, written by songwriters Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman, released as a single in September 1972. It was the first song where the band was allowed to actually play on their records, as the record company didn't let them play on their own records and session musicians played on their previous five RCA singles.^[2] This is the first single on which Steve Priest, Andy Scott, and Mick Tucker played their instruments, as previous singles featured producer Phil Wainman on drums, and session musicians John Roberts and Pip Williams on bass and guitars respectively.

Lyrics

The song's lyrics are inspired by Henry Longfellow's Hiawatha poem from 1855.^[3] The story is about a Native American named Hiawatha. He doesn't bother much about Minnehaha, but Minnehaha appears to be in love with Hiawatha and wants to make him her man.

Music

The song featured a significant change in the band's sound, and is often considered the band's first glam rock single. Also, this was the first Sweet single with bass player Steve Priest singing some parts of the lead vocal: the "try a little touch, try a little too much" line at the chorus. This became an important part of Sweet's style later, and at most of their later singles, they also used this technique, with Priest singing some lines of the song. After the song became a hit, Sweet adopted a glam image, starting to wear glitter, Native American clothes and makeup.

Personnel

Brian Connolly - lead vocals
Steve Priest - bass guitar, backing vocals, lead vocals
Andy Scott - guitar, backing vocals
Mick Tucker - drums, backing vocals

Cover versions

In 1989, a cover by English pop musician Damian was released as a single and reached #49 on the UK music charts.
In 2000, all-female rock band the Donnas recorded a cover for the compilation Runnin' on Fumes!/The Gearhead Magazine Singles Compilation. It was later released as a single in 2002.

References

The Sweet

Mick Tucker Steve Priest Brian Connolly Andy Scott Frank Torpey Mick Stewart Mal McNulty Paul Mario Day Phil Lanzon Malcolm Pearson Jeff Brown Ian Gibbons Steve Mann

Studio albums	Funny How Sweet Co-Co Can Be Sweet Fanny Adams Desolation Boulevard Give Us a Wink Off the Record Level Headed Cut Above the Rest Waters Edge Identity Crisis

Live albums	Strung Up Live in Denmark 1976 Live at the Rainbow 1973

Compilation albums	Gimme Dat Ding The Sweet's Biggest Hits The Sweet The Sweet Singles Album Strung Up The Golden Greats The Ballroom Blitz & More Sweet Hits Platinum Rare Action: The Sweet Anthology

Singles	"Little Willy" "Wig-Wam Bam" "Block Buster!" "The Ballroom Blitz" "The Six Teens" "Fox on the Run" "Action" "Love Is Like Oxygen"

Related articles	Discography

Book Category

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