The Sweet occupied an interesting space in the world of pop and rock in the early 70s. The band often found themselves dismissed by critics at the time. Years later, others would come to their defense and name them as an extremely influential group. Their success on the charts in their native Great Britain spoke for itself. When The Sweet released “Little Willy”, they charmed American audiences as well to the tune of a strutting 1973 Top 5 hit.
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A band known by the somewhat distinguished name of Wainwright’s Gentlemen formed the building blocks from which The Sweet (sometimes shortened to Sweet) were created. The Gentlemen formed during the first flush of the British Invasion.
During the band’s run (roughly 1962 to 1968), singer Brian Connolly and drummer Mick Tucker joined the ever-changing lineup of Wainwright’s Gentlemen. Once they were free agents, that pair would join up with bassist Steve Priest and guitarist Mick Stewart to form a band first known as The Sweetshop, later shortened to Sweet.
A few more lineup changes took place after Sweet released a few singles at the start of the new decade that failed to make any noise. The turning point for the group was when they connected with a pair of songwriters named Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman, who were pitching their material.
What About “Willy”?
In years to come, Chinn and Chapman would come to be known by the moniker Chinnichap. That name came to be once they achieved massive success as writers and producers. When they found Sweet, however, both the band and the writers were in search of a hit.
Chinn and Chapman hit upon a sound that touched a little bit on the bubblegum pop that Sweet had been playing on their first few singles. But the pair also amped it up a bit with dirty guitars and stomping drums. They delivered lyrics that were playful enough that they could be called innocent, but just opaque enough that they could be considered risque.
When this formula conquered Great Britain with a trio of Top 20 hits in 1971 and 1972, The Sweet made their move in America. “Little Willy” by The Sweet came out in Great Britain in 1972. It also served as the lead single off their American debut album, The Sweet, in 1973. The song immediately caught fire and went to the American Top 5.
Behind the Lyrics of “Little Willy”
“Little Willy” epitomizes the ridiculously catchy sound that Chinn and Chapman perfected. And they made sure that it sounded great by employing session musicians. The Sweet generally only sang the vocals on their Chinnicap songs.
The lyrics do a lot of fast-talking but don’t say a whole lot. For example: “Willy drives them silly with his star shoe shimmy shuffle down”.
All we know for sure is that the title character wants to pull an all-nighter. Connolly belts out, “‘Cause Little Willy, Willy won’t go home / But you can’t push Willy ‘round / Willy won’t go.”
It’s mostly nonsense, but it’s glorious nonsense. “Little Willy” by The Sweet would go on to help start the genre of glam rock, a genre that would attract some heavily praised artists. The Sweet’s praise took a little longer to get there, but they deserved every bit of it.
Photo by Watal Asanuma/Shinko Music/Getty Images
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