The Troggs
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The Troggs |
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The Troggs were an English rock band of the 1960s, who had a number of hits in Britain and America, including their most famous song, Wild Thing. The Troggs were from the town of Andover in southern England. The band's name comes from shortening the word troglodyte - meaning "cave dweller".
Band members
- Reg Presley - born Reginald Maurice Ball on 12 June 1941 at 17 Belle Vue Road, Andover, Hampshire - lead vocals
- Chris Britton - born Charles Christopher Britton on 21 January, 1944 in Watford, Hertfordshire - lead Guitar
- Pete Staples - born Peter Lawrence Staples on 3 May, 1944 at Andover War Memorial Hospital, Andover, Hampshire - Bass Guitar
- Ronnie Bond - born Ronald James Bullis on 4 May, 1940 in Dene Road, Andover, Hampshire. Died on 13 November, 1992 at Royal Hampshire County Hospital, Romsey Road, Winchester, Hampshire - Drums
- Tony Murray - born Anthony Murray on 26 April 1943, in Dublin, County Dublin, Eire - Bass guitar
Biography
The Troggs were signed by the manager of The Kinks in 1966, two years after their formation and recorded on Larry Page's Page One Records. Their most famous hit was the single "Wild Thing" (written by Chip Taylor), which reached number 1 in the United States in June 1966. Its combination of a simple heavy guitar riff and flirtatious lyrics helped it to quickly become a garage rock standard. Because of a dispute over U.S. distribution rights, Wild Thing was released (along with the first album of the same name) on two labels: Fontana and Atco.
They also had a number of other hits, including With a Girl Like You (a UK number 1 in July 1966, U.S. number 29), I Can't Control Myself (a UK number 2 in September 1966 -- this was also their second and final dual-label release in the US, with Fontana retaining the rights to all subsequent releases), Anyway That You Want Me (UK number 10 in December 1966), Night of the Long Grass (UK number 17 in May 1967), and Love Is All Around (UK number 5 in October 1967 and US number 7 in February 1968). In the early 1970s, in an attempt to re-create their 1960s successes, the Troggs re-united with Larry Page, now running Penny Farthing Records, but the resulting cover version of the Beach Boys hit Good Vibrations did not capture the public's imagination.
In 1991, the Troggs recorded Athens Andover, an eleven-song collaboration between themselves and R.E.M. It was recorded in the American band's hometown of Athens, Georgia, and was released in March 1992.
The Troggs still exist and still play gigs. Their original drummer Ronnie Bond died in 1992.
Legacy and influence
The Troggs are widely seen as a highly influential band whose sound was one inspiration for garage rock and punk rock. For example Iggy Pop of the Stooges has cited the Troggs as influential to their sound, and the early version of British pop-punk pioneers Buzzcocks featured I Can't Control Myself in their live repertoire. The Ramones are also amongst punk bands who cited the Troggs as an influence.
The Jimi Hendrix Experience famously covered Wild Thing during their appearance at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival, introducing it as the British/American joint "national anthem", and climaxing with Hendrix burning his guitar.
In 1990, the first hit for the band Spiritualized was a cover of Anyway That You Want Me. This cover was later used in the movie Me and You and Everyone We Know.
With a Girl Like You is featured uncut in a school dance scene from the 1991 Nicole Kidman/Noah Taylor movie Flirting.
In 1991, Love Is All Around was covered by R.E.M. during live performances and was released later that year as a B-side on their Radio Song single. Three years later, Scottish band Wet Wet Wet's version of the song spent fifteen weeks at number one in the UK.
A modified version of Love is All Around was featured in the film Love Actually and released late in 2003 performed by actor Bill Nighy.
An in-studio tape of Reg Presley's running commentary on a recording session, filled with in-fighting and swearing (known as "The Troggs Tapes") was widely circulated in the music underground, and is available at various websites. The in-group infighting is believed to be the inspiration for a scene in the comedy film This Is Spinal Tap where the bandmembers are arguing (another possible Troggs/Spinal Tap connection: one of Tap's drummer is called Peter "James Bond", while the Troggs' drummer was Ronnie Bond). Some of this dialogue was sampled by the California punk band The Dwarves on their recording of a cover version of a Troggs song, Strange Movies.
External links
Video
- PUNKCAST#79 live @ World Trade Center Plaza NYC - July 24th 2001. (RealPlayer)