The Troggs - "Wild Thing"

Single released 60 years ago today: “Wild Thing” by The Troggs. Fronted by singer Reg Presley (24), this second single by the English garage-rock band launched them into stardom, a Billboard #1 hit that also reached the Top Ten in almost all reporting countries around the world. New Yorker Chip Taylor (1940-2026) said that he wrote Wild Thing very quickly the previous year for NY band the Wild Ones; that version did not chart. After The Troggs’ version hit big, the song was covered by many artists, performed often by Jimi Hendrix, recorded by The Runaways, X, Jeff Beck & more. In 2019, The Troggs single was ranked 257th Greatest Song of All Time by Rolling Stone; it was also inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. Dutch single sleeve pictured. More in Comments.

April 22 Birthdays: Hymie Shertzer b.1909; Joe Ferguson (Texas Playboys) b.1914; Bull Moose Jackson b.1919; Gabby Pahinui b.1921; Charles Mingus b.1922; Laurel Aitken b.1927; Tommy Turrentine b.1928; Joe Cuba b.1931; Isao Tomita b.1932; W.S. ‘Fluke’ Holland (Carl Perkins / Johnny Cash) and Paul Chambers b.1935; Glen Campbell b.1936; Jack Nitzsche (Crazy Horse) b.1937; Frankie Garcia (Cannibal & The Headhunters) b.1946; Walter Lure (The Heartbreakers) b.1949; Pete Carr (Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section) b.1950; Simon Napier-Bell is 87; Don Grusin is 85; Barry Guy is 79; Peter Frampton is 76; Paul Carrack (Ace / Squeeze) is 75; Carol van Dijk (Bettie Serveert) is 64; Fletcher Dragge (Pennywise) is 60; Michael Leonhart is 53; Opio (Hieroglyphics) and Shavo Odadjian (System of a Down) are 52; Aaron Fink (Breaking Benjamin) is 49; Jason Stollsteimer (The Von Bondies) is 48; Daniel Johns (Silverchair) is 47.

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Review by Cub Koda

One of the most popular of all the sports rock anthems started life as a demo by Chip Taylor, also author of "Angel in the Morning." The tune was originally recorded by a New York Chicano group called the Wild Things, sporting six-foot-high pompadours, but the record went nowhere. Picked up as a song demo, the tune was brought to international acclaim by a group called the Troggs. As a song, "Wild Thing" is little more than the same three-chord progression as "Twist and Shout" or "La Bamba" or "Louie Louie" with a deadpan vocal that belies its sexual message. The Troggs' hit version features the unlikely use of an ocarina in the middle for the instrumental solo. That the tune can be interpreted a variety of ways is obvious in its most famous cover by Jimi Hendrix at the Monterey Pop Festival where he uses the song as a guitar-smashing set closer. The song also sprouted legs as a continuing theme in the movie Major League. A true garage-punk classic, the simplicity of "Wild Thing" has given it life into the 21st century of popular song.

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