Little Willy (1973) 6/5/20

(NOTE: In an eerie coincidence, I had already chosen this song to highlight for today when I learned that Steve Priest, bassist and lead singer of The Sweet passed away yesterday at the age of 72.)

At first, critics absolutely HATED today's “Great Song of the '70s.,” and said so in no uncertain terms. Reviews in all the rock magazines of the day were brutal.

BUT, it was a HUGE worldwide hit, and after a while, the same critics who hated it so much changed their tune (pun intended), and praised it for being the song that launched the essential “Glam Rock” sound.

In 1972, The Sweet released “Little Willy” in the UK and it promptly went to #4 on the their Top 40. Over the next several months, it was slowly released worldwide...and by 1973, it was a Top 10 hit in 12 other countries, including #1 in Canada, Germany and Denmark. In the US, it peaked at #3 on the Hot 100.

Obviously, it pre-dated the disco era by a few years, but it always packed the dance floor... especially in the '80s and 90s, when clubs started to have “Oldies Nights.”

Despite what the critics initially said, “Little Willy” wouldn't “go home” and became a “Great Song of the '70s” instead!

You might call that “Sweet” revenge.