Love Is All Around – PowerPop… An Eclectic Collection of Pop Culture

The Troggs

Today I want to give a salute to The Troggs.

In the late seventies, I borrowed a single from a friend…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 B side to the single I had at the time was With A Girl Like You and I liked it better than Wild Thing.

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 well-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 which 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. I have some of it below in the videos.

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…but you have to tip your hat to the Troggs. A garage band that is still being talked about in 2022.

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 memorable songs, a large one, some influence, and a hilarious bitch session on tape for posterity…

The Troggs – Love Is All Around

We will start off the new year with a little love from 1968. The Troggs are my favorite 60’s garage rock/punk band. Their big claim to fame was “Wild Thing” in 1966. The song peaked at #7 in the Billboard 100, #6 in Canada, and #5 in the UK.

Troggs lead singer Reg Presley wrote this in about 10 minutes. He was inspired by the Joy Strings Salvation Army band he’d seen on TV

The Troggs are not the only band to have success with this song. Wet, Wet, Wet recorded this song and it peaked at #41 and #1 in the UK in 1994.

REM and the Troggs made an album together called Athens Andover… REM later released a live version of this song.

From Songfacts.

Reg Presley’s real name is Reginald Ball, he adopted the name of Presley in 1966 as a publicity stunt.

In 1994 this became a huge hit when Wet Wet Wet covered it for the movie Four Weddings And A Funeral. The band chose it over Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive” and Barry Manilow’s “Can’t Smile Without You” even though some of their members hadn’t heard it before. Their version was UK #1 for 15 weeks and became the best selling single in the UK in 1994.

The UK record for longest stay at #1 is held by Bryan Adams’ “(Everything I Do) I Do It For You).” Wet Wet Wet’s record company tried to tie this record by announcing they were pulling the single after 16 weeks, hoping people would rush out to buy it. The plan failed and Whigfield knocked them out of #1 with “Saturday Night.” Wet Wet Wet claimed they asked their record company to pull the song because they were sick of it. Their version does hold the record for most weeks at #1 for a UK based act. In the US it reached #41.

When this was revived by Wet Wet Wet, Reg Presley got massive royalties as the songwriter. He denoted the proceeds to crop circle research.

R.E.M. did a cover of this as well, which they played on an episode of MTV Unplugged. The video for this can be found on their VHS/DVD This Film Is On, featuring all the videos for the songs off their 1991 album Out Of Time.

Presley recalled the inspiration for the song in the July 2011 edition of Mojo magazine: “I got back from America, I smelt the Sunday lunch cooking (inhales deeply), phaaaaw – after about 25 years on burgers – I kissed my wife, my little daughter, four years old. We went into the lounge and those Salvation Girls, The Joystrings, were on television, banging their tambourines and singing something, ‘Love, love,’ love.’ I went over to turn it off, knelt down and hearing that ‘Love, love’ I got a bass line, (sings) ‘doom, doom doom, doom doom, doom doom, doom,’ and I got: ‘I feel it in my fingers, I feel it in my toes. My wife, my kid… And so the feeling grows.'”

Love Is All Around

I feel it in my fingers, I feel it in my toes
Love is all around me and so the feeling grows
It’s written on the wind, it’s everywhere I go
So if you really love me, come on and let it show

You know I love you, I always will
My mind’s made up by the way that I feel
There’s no beginning, there’ll be no end
‘Cause on my love you can depend

I see your face before me, as I lay on my bed
I kinda get to thinking of all the things you said
You gave a promise to me, and I gave mine to you
I need someone beside me in everything I do

You know I love you, I always will
My mind’s made up by the way that I feel
There’s no beginning, there’ll be no end
‘Cause on my love you can depend

It’s written on the wind, it’s everywhere I go
So if you really love me, come on and let it show
Come on and let it show
Come on and let it show
Come on and let it show
Come on and let it show
Come on and let it show

The Troggs

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…