Sweet – Little Willy

“Little Willy” – Single by The Sweet with B-side “Man from Mecca”. Released 19 May 1972 (UK) and September 1972 (US)

Sweet performing “Little Willy” on BBC’s Top Of The Pops in 1972. The song was written by Mike Chapman and Nicky Chinn and produced by Phil Wainman.

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Sweet - Little Willy

Sweet - Little Willy - Top Of The Pops/Disco 1972 (OFFICIAL)02:54

Brian Connolly – lead vocals
Andy Scott – backing vocals, guitar on “Man from Mecca”
Steve Priest – backing vocals, bass guitar on “Man from Mecca”
Mick Tucker – backing vocals, drums on “Man from Mecca”
Pip Williams – guitar on “Little Willy”
John Roberts – bass guitar on “Little Willy”
Phil Wainman – drums on “Little Willy”

“Little Willy” was Sweet’s biggest US hit, peaking the charts at #3 when it was re-released in 1973. It was a non-album single, but went gold in the US and UK all by itself anyway. Critics in the UK dismissed the song as “bubblegum” and referred to the lyrics as “nursery porn.” Sweet wanted to shed their bubblegum/ glam-rock image and become more hardcore, so they later turned to writing their own songs.

Putting this song together, Chinn and Chapman used a pounding drum beat popularized by Slade and producer Mike Leander. They mixed in the riff from the Who song “I Can’t Explain,” and added the exceptionally catchy chorus, which dug into your ear and wouldn’t let go. The song didn’t tell any kind of story – just that Willy won’t go home – but listeners didn’t care and with Glam Rock, the lyrics weren’t supposed to make sense anyway.

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