Jackie Wilson - Reet Petite

On this day 8th September 1957, Reet Petite' by Jackie Wilson was released for the first time, it became a UK No. 1, 29 years later.

"Reet Petite (The Sweetest Girl in Town)" (originally subtitled The Finest Girl You Ever Want to Meet) is a song made popular by Jackie Wilson, taken from his album He's So Fine.  It was his first solo hit after leaving the legendary R&B group The Dominoes and, over the years, has become one of his biggest international chart successes.

The song was written by Berry Gordy and Wilson's cousin Roquel "Billy" Davis (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 #62 on the Billboard Hot 100 in September 1957 and reached #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 #1 in the UK for four weeks, some 29 years after its chart debut. This was the record for the longest time between a song's debut on the chart and it reaching number one, until it was overtaken by Tony Christie's "(Is This the Way to) Amarillo" in 2005.

Due to his fervor when performing, with his dynamic dance moves, singing and impeccable dress, jackie Wilson was soon christened "Mr. Excitement", a title he would keep for the remainder of his career. His stagecraft in his live shows inspired James Brown, Michael Jackson and Elvis Presley, among a host of other artists. Presley was so impressed by Wilson that he made it a point to meet him, and the two instantly became good friends. Presley once dubbed Jackie "The Black Elvis". Wilson's powerful, electrifying live performances rarely failed to bring audiences to a state of frenzy. His live performances consisted of knee-drops, splits, spins, one-footed across-the-floor slides and a lot of basic boxing steps (advance and retreat shuffling). (Info Wiki & thisdayinmusic)