Single:
Wig-Wam Bam entered the Australian singles chart* on 1 January 1973 and peaked at #15. It was #93 on the Top 100 of 1973.
Album:
The song is on The Sweet’s Biggest Hits which entered the Australian albums chart* on 19 March 1973 and peaked at #58.
Songwriters:
Nicky Chinn, Mike Chapman
Producer:
Phil Wainman
Record label of Australian release:
RCA Victor
*Kent Music Report / Australian Chart Book. See About.
Members of the band were made to wear ridiculous Indian costumes when performing this song on various UK TV shows and promotional appearances:
Songfacts:
Sweet’s Wig-Wam Bam is a rocked-up version of Henry Longfellow’s 1855 Hiawatha story. Written by glam rock architects Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman, the song was described in Bomp magazine as “a monument to ultra-commercial rock & roll triviality.”
This was the Sweet’s sixth consecutive hit in the UK, their fourth in Australia, and the first on which the entire band was permitted to perform. Session musicians were used for their previous hits.
Read more: www.songfacts.com/facts/sweet/wig-wam-bam
Lyrics:
Hiawatha didn’t bother too much
‘Bout Minnie Ha-Ha and her tender touch
Till she took him to the silver stream
Then she whispered words like he had never heard
That made him all shudder inside when she said
Click for full lyrics
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