Little Willy (song)

"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 January 1973 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.^[9] Billboard ranked it as the number 18 song for 1973.

"Little Willy"
Single by The Sweet
from the album The Sweet
B-side	"Man from Mecca"
Released	19 May 1972 (UK) January 1973 (US)[1]
Recorded	1972
Genre	Glam rock[2][3] blues rock[4] power pop[5] bubblegum[6][7] pop rock[7]
Length	3:13
Label	RCA (UK) Bell (US & Canada)[8]
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

It was the last of the group's A-sides on which all the instruments were played by session musicians, as opposed to the members themselves. 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".^[10]

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

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Chart (1972–1973)	Peak position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[11]	65
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[12]	7
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia)[13]	19
Canada Top Singles (RPM)[14]	1
Denmark[citation needed]	1
Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)[15]	2
Ireland (IRMA)[16]	9
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[17]	6
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[18]	7
New Zealand [19]	7
Norway (VG-lista)[20]	7
South Africa (Springbok) [21]	9
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[22]	2
UK Singles Chart[23]	4
US Billboard Hot 100 [24]	3
West Germany (GfK)[25]	1

Year-end charts

Chart (1972)	Rank
UK[26]	41

Chart (1973)	Rank
Canada[27]	17
US Billboard Hot 100[28]	18

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA)[29]	Gold	1,000,000^
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Personnel

"Little Willy"

• Brian Connolly – lead vocals
• Andy Scott – backing vocals
• Steve Priest – backing vocals
• Mick Tucker – backing vocals
• Pip Williams – guitar
• John Roberts – bass guitar
• Phil Wainman – drums, timbales

"Man from Mecca"

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

Parody versions

Bob Rivers recorded a parody called "Little Billy's Willy", about President Bill Clinton and the Lewinsky scandal.