The Troggs

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The Troggs will be forever remembered for their primitive rock anthem "Wild Thing," which hit number 1 in the United States in 1966.

Larry Page was a budding record producer who had found success with the Kinks recording of "You Really Got Me". Following this success, he got a call from someone who said they had a tape by a group who sang "You Really Got Me" better than the Kinks. He listened to the tape and told them to come back in a year''''s time, which they did, to the day! And so the Troggs'''' first recording session began. "Lost Girl" was released on CBS and according to the band, it got one play on Radio Luxembourg...at 3 a.m.

However in 1965, The Wild Ones, a house band for a posh discotheque run by Richard Burton''''s ex-wife Sybil recorded a song called "Wild Thing", written by Chip Taylor, brother of actor John Voight and a performer in his own right. During a trip to New York, Larry Page heard the demo of Wild Thing, but according to The Troggs front man, Reg Presley, he wanted the Troggs to record it as a B-side, reserving the A-side for The Lovin'''' Spoonful''''s "Did You Ever Have To Make Up Your Mind" instead. The band however thought differently - all those harmonies on the Spoonful song just wasn''''t them.
Although "Wild Thing" was to be the biggest of its career, the band was by no means a one-hit wonder, especially in its home country of England. Songs that hit big in the UK, such as "With a Girl Like You" and "I Can''''t Control Myself," never fared as well across the Atlantic for a couple of reasons. First, "Wild Thing" was released on two different labels simultaneously in the United States, causing legal troubles for the band. The Troggs also failed to tour America until a couple of years after "Wild Thing" was released. The feel-good tune, "Love Is All Around", from 1968, brought the band back into the ears of Americans as it sailed up to the Top 10. Despite faltering popularity on both sides of the Atlantic, The Troggs continued to record singles and perform live during the ''''70s.

Never strangers to controversy, many of their records were considered by ''''the powers that be'''' too suggestive for the masses, and they consequently banned them. How anybody could judge Reg Presley''''s tongue-in-cheek delivery to be dangerous to the morals of the young is hard to believe.
The band enjoyed a bit of a renaissance when R.E.M. recorded a cover of "Love Is All Around" and in 1992 the Troggs took advantage by making a new pop album of its own, "Athens Andover". The title referred to the hometown of R.E.M. (Athens, Georgia), who sang backup on the record, and the band''''s own home of Andover, England. The album was well received by critics, but The Troggs have been fairly quiet since.

By the end of the century, The Troggs still boasted two founding members - with the perpetual Reg Presley fronting the band, and Chris Britton on lead guitar. Their popularity never waned and they were still in great demand both in the UK and the rest of Europe, where they regularly headlined festivals, attracting thousands of fans. Their appeal held no age barriers, with fans ranging from the stalwarts who supported them throughout the years to the many new fans from the younger generation.

The Troggs and "Wild Thing" have been used in many advertising campaigns in recent years, for instance coffee in Scandinavia. “Anyway That You Want Me" was re-recorded for a Yoplait Fruit Royale commercial, and in Germany there was a re-release of "With A Girl Like You" to c...