In the late seventies, I borrowed a single from a friend and that was Wild Thing by the Troggs. I loved the raw sound. If there was ever a garage band that hit the big time…it was the Troggs. Wild Thing (1966) was a massive hit that sold over 1 million copies. Their other big hits were With A Girl Like You (1966) and Love Is All Around (1967).
The Troggs influenced a lot of Punk and Garage bands. Their songs could be played with a little practice. Almost every band starting out will play the 3 chord Wild Thing at least a few times.
Their songs have been covered by a countless number of unknown bands. Three more known artists have been Jimi Hendrix playing Wild Thing at Monterey and REM and Wet, Wet, Wet covered Love Is All Around.
The original members were Reg Presley, Ronnie Bond, Chris Britton and Pete Staples. Reg Presley was the lead singer and wrote Love Is All Around which went to #7 and With A Girl Like You that went to #29.
The band is probably more known for a failed recording session which was leaked out more than they were for their hits. They are swearing and fighting with each other. It is funny…if you are put off by swearing don’t listen but when you hear “Oh, we’ll put some fairy dust over it. I’ll piss over the tape”….it’s hard to resist. It was recorded in 1970 and leaked out in the early seventies on bootlegs called The Troggs Tapes…this became the inspiration for a few Spinal Tap scenes.
After Love Is All Around in 1967 the band’s fame waned. They released some more singles but nothing approached their three big hits. REM made an album with the Troggs in 1992 called Athens Andover.
Reg Presley passed away in 2013. Chris Britton still plays some gigs with the Troggs today as the only original member left.
Wild Thing like Louie, Louie was an important song in the history of Rock and Roll. It was much more important than the band that brought it to us…
This group was not one of the super British bands of the sixties, not even close. They will never be on anyone’s top ten, twenty, or higher best band list…but they left a few small memorable songs, a large one and some influence …and a hilarious bitch session on tape for posterity…
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Unsung heroes of rock and roll! That one song preserved their place in rock and roll history! Louie Louie is a great comparison.. I was thinking of Them- and Van Morrison had only done one song – Gloria- it would have put them in the same category but of course Them was heard from again and Van The Man- well is Van The Man. I don’t think I am familiar with their other two hits- or the infamous tape you spoke of will have to check them out! I certainly know that Prog Rock has a lot of great musicians-as far as playing ability etc– but I will take Wild Thing — over the self-indulgent Prog Rock anyday.
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The reason I’m familiar with their other two hits is because my buddy had them in his collection (his father’s singles) and they are catchy in a raw way…Love is All Around sounds like a San Francisco hippie song. Progressive Rock bores me at times. I’ll take a person who plays with feeling or soul
over someone who plays scales as fast as they can…I respect the musicianship but with no soul it’s nothing… if you liked Spinal Tap you will see where they got some inspiration from… SNL even did a skit on The Trogg Tapes. I think youtube has most of the Trogg Tapes. Yes they deserve their place in history.
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If I have heard the other Trogg songs- I am not aware of them – going to look them up now.. Love Spinal Tap!
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I have never heard the REM album with the Troggs. I’m going to hunt that down one day… I had an old VHS copy of Spinal Tap way back and my friends and I wore it out.
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While I had never heard- “With A Girl Like You”— within seconds I realized I have heard “Love Is All Around” dozens and dozens of times!!
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I thought you may have heard that one. It has a simple but very catchy melody. Bands like this were more important than people give them credit for… They left stepping stones for other bands…
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That song is one of those soundtracks to The Summer of Love! Not that I remember those that summer well being only six.
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I was not even one yet so I get what you are saying. I can’t believe I was actually alive at this time… Some songs though make me feel like I was…like Itcycoo Park. I was born a little too late.
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Same here. A little earlier but not TOO early since there was a war going on.. say 1955 would have been a good time to have been born- miss the war and — I’d have caught The Beatles from the get go.
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Yes, I can’t imagine what 16 and 17-year-olds thought with the draft hanging over their heads. I’ve talked to older gentlemen about the world after the Ed Sullivan show in 64. I have received mostly the same answer… “world wasn’t the same the next day.” … that is a strong answer. I asked one guy to compare the fame and impact with something and he said Michael Jackson in the 80s times 1000… he then said you cannot really compare it with anything since.
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I have thought of this a number of times and there is no answer really.. but I wonder if my fascination with The Beatles is due to the fact that I just missed out on it? I am sure if I had lived it I would just be as fanatical though… that is probably exactly how it was MJ X 1000. We will never see anything like that. … ‘world wasn’t the same the next day’–wow..
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That took me off guard when he said that… He said their influence was more than musical. People knew things were about to change musically and socially. He did say that the JFK assassination had set it up and The Beatles filled a void and it never stopped from there…and he wasn’t a big Beatles fan…he said that was just a fact…Like you I’ve always wondered also. Would I have liked them then?
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that is telling- he wasn’t a big beatles fan- that gives the statement he made even more weight doesn’t it.. i don’t know what it is. …. I always envy someone who is just getting into The Beatles- I can still remember discovering them myself and how the songs sound the first time around. .. A real revealing moment for me was – i had the blue and red albums and thought for like a week I have all I need these are their best songs… then i read about Rain- and i thought I have to hear this song- and at a record store they had the Paperback Writer/ Rain single- I got it and realized- man I have to get everything!
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Yes, he was more into country music at that time also but he said they changed that also. I listened to Meet The Beatles from a cousin then and he kept telling me about Paperback Writer and how great it was… I got the Hey Jude Again album and there it was. It was everything he said it would be. I also got the red and blue albums and the Rock ‘N Roll album. Our school librarian liked me and ordered every book on them possible because she was happy to see me reading and I think she was a big fan. I even got that Beatles interview album called “The Beatle’s Story” put out by Capital. After reading about Rubber Soul, Revolver etc…I had to get them.
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It sounds like we had the same experiences. my first beatles was the rock n’ roll album then the red and blue albums… and I got The Beatles Story too- and started reading all I could get my hands on… I haven’t listened to that Beatles Story album in decades…. I had a friend Andy who was the one who turned me on to The Beatles- I like to thank him every few years for that.
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Have you read Tune In yet? You know I was skeptical about reading it thinking what can anyone say that hasn’t already been said… I was wrong. I cannot wait for the other two volumes…
I thanked my cousin also through the years.
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Yes the best beatles book ever- I had to buy the two volume long version after reading the american release.. I can’t wait to get my hands on the next two volumes… that and waiting on Robert Caro’s next volume of his LBJ bio- gives me the will to keep living lol
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Lol I feel the same on the Beatles book. I have a 72 mile round-trip to work every day so I started audible and it makes the time go by. If I like the audible book I will get the book. Tune In is 44 hours long and I got the book a third of the way through.
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that is a good ride everyday.. a great way to spend the time going and coming back…44 hours! that should take up a few days!!! I think Mark Lewisohn knows more about The Beatles than Paul and Ringo know.
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I really bet he does as far as looking at it objectively. I haven’t seen them comment on it yet.
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I remember years ago i think it was Paul- he said something like all the things that had been said over the years sometimes confuses him on what happened and didn’t happen. … I bet at this point unless someone came out with some totally crazy claim about something neither Paul or Ringo pay stuff any mind…. Lewisohn I think is highly trusted by them. He’s no Albert Goldman.
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Albert Goldman loved to prey on the deceased… I believe in what Mark wrote. The people he found had no reason to lie and they said nothing outrageous. From what I read it’s going to be 2020 when the new book comes out. This one should be easier for him to write because there is more documented information on the time period.
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Yes I would imagine the first book was the most difficult one to write- he sure seems to have discovered a lot- that hadn’t been previously covered in the hundreds of Beatles books that are out… remarkable…now I want to read volume 1 again.
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It’s one of those books where you can open it up at any chapter and start reading until you’re finished again. I finished it a couple of years ago and now between books I will just start playing it from anywhere… in audible
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