THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

449-Jackie Wilson-Reet Petite (The Finest Girl You Ever Want To Meet.)

1957-Number 6 single. When it was re-issued in 1986 it reached Number 1.

Best Bit-At 0.45. Without the hits of Jackie Wilson there may never have been any Tamla Motown records.

‘Reet Petite’ was co-written by Berry Gordy (see also best songs 411 and 137) his sister Gwen Gordy Fuqua (1927-1999) and Jackie Wilson’s cousin Roquel ‘Billy’ Davis (1932-2004.) With the royalties from this song, and other tracks that Berry Gordy co-wrote for Wilson, he was able to borrow the money needed to start up Tamla Motown records.

‘Reet Petite (The Finest Girl You Ever Want To Meet’) was the debut solo single release by Jackie Wilson, and later became one of the tracks on his debut studio Album ‘He’s So Fine’ from 1958. Although the song reached Number 6 in the UK, in Wilson’s native America it only reached Number 62, the songs title was influenced by the 1947 film ‘Reet Petite, and Gone,’ starring Louis Jordan, who also sang a song with that same title in the film.

In 1986 the song was reissued as ‘Reet Petite (The Sweetest Girl in Town’) following the showing of a clay animation video on the BBC Two television documentary series ‘Arena.’ The clay animation video proved so popular that it helped propel the song to be the Christmas Number 1 single of 1986 in the UK, almost three years after the death of Jackie Wilson. The song holds the record for taking the longest amount of time to reach Number 1 since release at 29 years, and eight months.

Jackie Leroy Wilson Jr. was born on June 9th, 1934, in Detroit, Michigan, United States, he died on January 21st, 1984, at the age of 49 from complications of pneumonia. Wilson was a tenor with a four octave range, with Berry Gordy saying he was the greatest singer he ever heard. Wilson was also very energetic when performing on stage, earning the nickname ‘Mr Excitement,’ artists who have admitted being influenced by Wilson’s live performances include Elvis Presley, James Brown, and Michael Jackson. Wilson was sometimes called ‘The Black Elvis,’ when asked about this Elvis said,’ I guess that makes me the white Jackie Wilson.’

‘Well have you ever seen a girl for whom your soul you’d give. For whom you’d fight for, die for, pray to God you’d lie for.’