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Reet Petite
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Wikipedia article
"'Reet Petite (The Sweetest Girl in Town)'" (originally subtitled "The Finest Girl You Ever Want to Meet") is a song written by Berry Gordy, Billy Davis, and Gwen Gordy Fuqua, and made popular by Jackie Wilson. It was his first solo hit after leaving the Dominoes and, over the years, has become one of his biggest international chart successes.
History
The song was written by Berry Gordy, Gwen Gordy Fuqua, and Wilson's cousin Roquel "Billy" DavisStichting Nederlandse Top 40, 500 nr.1 hits uit de Top 40, page 235, 9023009444 (Book in Dutch) (though credited under his pseudonym Tyran Carlo on the record) and produced by Dick Jacobs, and its title was taken from the Louis Jordan song "Reet, Petite and Gone". It was Jackie Wilson's first recording as a solo artist. The song peaked at number 62 on the 'Billboard' Hot 100 in September 1957 and reached number 6 on the UK Singles Chart. With the success of the song, Gordy was able to fund the launch of Motown Records.
The song was reissued in 1986 following the showing of a clay animation video on the BBC Two documentary series 'Arena'. The video was directed by Giblets, a London-based animation studio. The reissued version proved so popular that in December 1986, almost three years after Wilson's death, the song became a number 1 in the UK for four weeks (selling over 700,000 copies) becoming that year's Christmas number 1, 29 years after its chart debut.
Track lists
Charts
Year-end charts
Cover versions
* The song was covered in September 1964 by Dinah Lee and reached the number 1 position in New Zealand and a number 6 position in Melbourne (Australia did not have a national chart at that time).
See also
*List of posthumous number-one singles (UK)
References
Category:1957 singles
Category:1986 singles
Category:Jackie Wilson songs
Category:Dutch Top 40 number-one singles
Category:Irish Singles Chart number-one singles
Category:UK Singles Chart number-one singles
Category:Songs written by Berry Gordy
Category:Songs written by Billy Davis (songwriter)
Category:1957 songs
Category:Brunswick Records singles
Category:Christmas number-one singles in the United Kingdom
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