Reet Petite

{{Infobox song

| name = Reet Petite

| cover = Jackie Wilson Reet Petite.jpg

| alt =

| caption = Picture cover of 1986 reissue

| type = single

| artist = Jackie Wilson

| album = He's So Fine

| released = August 1957

| recorded =

| studio =

| venue =

| genre =

| length = 2:40

| label = Brunswick US (1957) 9-55024
Vogue Coral UK (1957) Q 72290
SMP UK (1985) SKM 3
BR Music Belgium (1985) 1245095
Columbia US (1987) 07329
Carrere France (1987) 72012

| writer = Berry Gordy, Billy Davis, Gwen Gordy Fuqua

| producer = Dick Jacobs

| prev_title = One Moment with You

| prev_year = 1957

| next_title = To Be Loved

| next_year = 1958

| misc = {{External music video|header=Official audio|{{YouTube|5LvB7PeTP-Q|"Reet Petite"}}}}

}}

"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 in his 1957 recording for the Brunswick label. It was his first solo hit after leaving the Dominoes and, over the years, has become one of his biggest international chart successes. It was the UK Christmas number one in 1986, almost three years after Wilson's death.

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 1948 Louis Jordan song "Reet, Petite and Gone". (In jazz lingo, the term "reet" meant "fantastic".){{cite web |url=https://medium.com/the-riff/jackie-wilson-said-it-was-reet-petite-e7c13d155e93|title=Jackie Wilson Said It Was Reet Petite|date=January 22, 2021|work=Medium|access-date=October 15, 2023|quote=meaning “fantastic,” was part of the jargon of the jazz age. The writers borrowed the phrase from bandleader Louis Jordan,}} 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.{{Gilliland |url=https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc19780/m1/ |title=Show 25 – The Soul Reformation: Phase two, the Motown story. [Part 4] }}

The song was reissued in 1986 following the showing of a clay animation video of Wilson singing the song on the BBC Two documentary series Arena.{{cite web|url=http://eightiesnumberones.blogspot.com/2009/06/1986-jackie-wilson-reet-petite.html |title=NUMBER ONE'S OF THE EIGHTIES: 1986 Jackie Wilson: Reet Petite |publisher=Eightiesnumberones.blogspot.com |date=2009-07-26 |access-date=2014-05-02}} 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 UK Christmas number one, 29 years after its chart debut.{{cite book

| first= David

| last= Roberts

| year= 2006

| title= British Hit Singles & Albums

| edition= 19th

| publisher= Guinness World Records Limited

| location= London

| isbn= 1-904994-10-5

| page= 470}}

Track lists

style="background:#dbe5ff;"\| Side ! style="background:#dbe5ff;"\| Title ! style="background:#dbe5ff;"\| Length
class="wikitable"
style="text-align:center; background:#ebf5ff;" colspan="3"\| Original release
A	"Reet Petite (The Finest Girl You Ever Want to Meet)"	2:40
B	"By the Light of the Silvery Moon"	2:17
style="text-align:center; background:#ebf5ff;" colspan="3"\| 1986 re-release
A	"Reet Petite (The Sweetest Girl in Town)"	2:40
B1	"You Brought about a Change in Me"	2:46
B2	"I'm the One to Do It"	2:34

Charts

=Weekly charts=

class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center" !Chart (1957) !Peak position
{{single chart\|UKsinglesbyname\|6\|artist=Jackie Wilson\|artistid=5348\|rowheader=true\|access-date=September 5, 2023}}
scope="row"\|US Best Sellers in Stores (The Billboard){{citation needed\|date=September 2023}} \|62
scope="row"\|US Cash Box Top 60{{Cite web \|url=http://tropicalglen.com/Archives/50s_files/1957YESP.html \|title=Cash Box Year-End Charts: Top 100 Pop Singles, November 9, 1957 \|access-date=May 13, 2018 \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150302160418/http://tropicalglen.com/Archives/50s_files/1957YESP.html \|archive-date=March 2, 2015 \|url-status=dead}} \|45

class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

!Chart (1957)

!Peak
position

{{single chart|UKsinglesbyname|6|artist=Jackie Wilson|artistid=5348|rowheader=true|access-date=September 5, 2023}}

scope="row"|US Best Sellers in Stores (The Billboard){{citation needed|date=September 2023}}

|62

scope="row"|US Cash Box Top 60{{Cite web |url=http://tropicalglen.com/Archives/50s_files/1957YESP.html |title=Cash Box Year-End Charts: Top 100 Pop Singles, November 9, 1957 |access-date=May 13, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150302160418/http://tropicalglen.com/Archives/50s_files/1957YESP.html |archive-date=March 2, 2015 |url-status=dead}}

|45

scope="row"\|Australia (Kent Music Report){{cite book\|title=Australian Chart Book 1970–1992\|last=Kent\|first=David\|author-link=David Kent (historian)\|publisher=Australian Chart Book\|location=St Ives, NSW\|year=1993\|isbn=0-646-11917-6}} \|20
class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center" !Chart (1986−1987) !Peak position
{{single chart\|Austria\|15\|artist=Jackie Wilson\|song=Reet Petite\|rowheader=true\|access-date=September 5, 2023}}
{{single chart\|Flanders\|1\|artist=Jackie Wilson\|song=Reet Petite\|rowheader=true\|access-date=September 5, 2023}}
scope="row"\|Europe (European Hot 100 Singles){{cite magazine\|title=European Hot 100 Singles\|magazine=Music & Media\|volume=4\|issue=9\|page=14\|date=March 7, 1987}} \|2
scope="row"\|Finland (Suomen virallinen lista){{cite magazine\|title=Top 3 in Europe: Finland\|magazine=Music & Media\|volume=4\|issue=8\|page=20\|date=February 28, 1987}} \|1
{{single chart\|France\|24\|artist=Jackie Wilson\|song=Reet Petite\|rowheader=true\|access-date=September 5, 2023}}
{{single chart\|Ireland2\|1\|song=Reet Petite\|rowheader=true\|access-date=September 5, 2023}}
{{single chart\|Dutch40\|1\|year=1987\|week=7\|rowheader=true\|access-date=September 5, 2023}}
{{single chart\|Dutch100\|1\|artist=Jackie Wilson\|song=Reet Petite\|rowheader=true\|access-date=September 5, 2023}}
{{single chart\|New Zealand\|4\|artist=Jackie Wilson\|song=Reet Petite\|rowheader=true\|access-date=September 5, 2023}}
{{single chart\|Norway\|5\|artist=Jackie Wilson\|song=Reet Petite\|rowheader=true\|access-date=September 5, 2023}}
scope="row"\|Spain (AFYVE){{cite magazine\|title=Top 3 in Europe: Spain\|magazine=Music & Media\|volume=4\|issue=14\|page=20\|date=April 11, 1987}} \|3
{{single chart\|Sweden\|10\|artist=Jackie Wilson\|song=Reet Petite\|rowheader=true\|access-date=September 5, 2023}}
{{single chart\|Switzerland\|3\|artist=Jackie Wilson\|song=Reet Petite\|rowheader=true\|access-date=September 5, 2023}}
{{single chart\|UKsinglesbyname\|1\|artist=Jackie Wilson\|artistid=5348\|rowheader=true\|access-date=September 5, 2023}}
{{single chart\|West Germany\|4\|artist=Jackie Wilson\|song=Reet Petite\|songid=1569\|rowheader=true\|access-date=September 5, 2023}}

=Year-end charts=

class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center" !scope="col"\|Chart (1986) !scope="col"\|Position
scope="row"\|UK Singles (OCC){{cite magazine\|title=Top 100 Singles\|magazine=Music Week\|page=24\|date=January 24, 1987}} \|17

class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

!scope="col"|Chart (1986)

!scope="col"|Position

scope="row"|UK Singles (OCC){{cite magazine|title=Top 100 Singles|magazine=Music Week|page=24|date=January 24, 1987}}

|17

class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center" !scope="col"\|Chart (1987) !scope="col"\|Position
scope="row"\|Belgium (Ultratop){{cite web\|url=https://www.ultratop.be/nl/annual.asp?year=1987\|title=Jaaroverzichten 1987\|publisher=Ultratop\|language=nl\|access-date=September 5, 2023}} \|1
scope="row"\|Europe (European Hot 100 Singles){{cite magazine\|title=European Hot 100 Singles\|magazine=Music & Media\|volume=4\|issue=51/52\|page=34\|date=December 26, 1987}} \|15
scope="row"\|Netherlands (Dutch Top 40){{cite web\|url=https://www.top40.nl/bijzondere-lijsten/top-100-jaaroverzichten/1987\|title=Top 100–Jaaroverzicht van 1987\|publisher=Dutch Top 40\|language=nl\|access-date=September 5, 2023}} \|15
scope="row"\|Netherlands (Single Top 100){{cite web\|url=https://dutchcharts.nl/jaaroverzichten.asp?year=1987&cat=s\|title=Jaaroverzichten – Single 1987\|publisher=MegaCharts\|language=nl\|access-date=September 5, 2023}} \|12
scope="row"\|New Zealand (RIANZ){{cite web\|url=https://aotearoamusiccharts.co.nz/archive/annual-singles/1987-12-31\|title=End of Year Charts 1987\|publisher=Recorded Music NZ\|access-date=April 22, 2021}} \|12
scope="row"\|UK Singles (OCC){{cite magazine\|title=Gallup Year End Charts 1987: Singles\|magazine=Record Mirror\|page=36\|date=January 23, 1988}} \|58
scope="row"\|West Germany (Media Control){{cite web\|url=https://www.offiziellecharts.de/charts/single-jahr/for-date-1987\|title=Top 100 Singles–Jahrescharts 1987\|publisher=GfK Entertainment\|language=de\|access-date=September 5, 2023}} \|30

class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

!scope="col"|Chart (1987)

!scope="col"|Position

scope="row"|Belgium (Ultratop){{cite web|url=https://www.ultratop.be/nl/annual.asp?year=1987|title=Jaaroverzichten 1987|publisher=Ultratop|language=nl|access-date=September 5, 2023}}

scope="row"|Europe (European Hot 100 Singles){{cite magazine|title=European Hot 100 Singles|magazine=Music & Media|volume=4|issue=51/52|page=34|date=December 26, 1987}}

|15

scope="row"|Netherlands (Dutch Top 40){{cite web|url=https://www.top40.nl/bijzondere-lijsten/top-100-jaaroverzichten/1987|title=Top 100–Jaaroverzicht van 1987|publisher=Dutch Top 40|language=nl|access-date=September 5, 2023}}

|15

scope="row"|Netherlands (Single Top 100){{cite web|url=https://dutchcharts.nl/jaaroverzichten.asp?year=1987&cat=s|title=Jaaroverzichten – Single 1987|publisher=MegaCharts|language=nl|access-date=September 5, 2023}}

|12

scope="row"|New Zealand (RIANZ){{cite web|url=https://aotearoamusiccharts.co.nz/archive/annual-singles/1987-12-31|title=End of Year Charts 1987|publisher=Recorded Music NZ|access-date=April 22, 2021}}

|12

scope="row"|UK Singles (OCC){{cite magazine|title=Gallup Year End Charts 1987: Singles|magazine=Record Mirror|page=36|date=January 23, 1988}}

|58

scope="row"|West Germany (Media Control){{cite web|url=https://www.offiziellecharts.de/charts/single-jahr/for-date-1987|title=Top 100 Singles–Jahrescharts 1987|publisher=GfK Entertainment|language=de|access-date=September 5, 2023}}

|30

Certifications

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United Kingdom|type=single|artist=Jackie Wilson|title=Reet Petite|award=Gold|relyear=1983|certyear=1987|id=5418-2519-1|access-date=September 5, 2023}}

Other versions

The song was recorded in September 1964 by Dinah Lee and reached the number 1 position in New Zealand{{cite web |url=http://www.abc.net.au/longway/artist_index/dinahlee.htm |title=Long Way To The Top |publisher=Abc.net.au |access-date=2014-05-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090812205214/http://www.abc.net.au/longway/artist_index/dinahlee.htm |archive-date=2009-08-12 |url-status=dead }} and a number 6 position in Melbourne (Australia did not have a national chart at that time).{{cite web|url=http://www.poparchives.com.au/feature.php?id=332 |title=Reet Petite - DINAH LEE (1964) - Pop Archives - Sources of Australian Pop Records from the 50s, 60s and 70s |publisher=Pop Archives |access-date=2014-05-02}}