The Troggs

The Troggs

The Troggs are an English rock group formed in Andover, Hampshire, in 1964, originally under the name The Troglodytes. The classic line-up includes Reg Presley, Chris Britton, Pete Staples, Ronnie Bond and Tony Murray, and the group is active until 2012. Their music sits across garage rock, freakbeat, pop rock, proto-punk and rock.

Career and recordings

The band signs to Larry Page, the manager of the Kinks, in 1965 and records for Page One Records, with Page also leasing them to CBS for the debut single “Lost Girl”. Their best-known recording is “Wild Thing”, written by Chip Taylor, which reaches number 2 in the UK and number 1 in the United States in 1966. It is recorded in one complete take at Olympic Studios in London, with Keith Grant engineering, and appears on labels including Fontana and Atco because of a US distribution dispute. The song becomes a garage rock standard and is later ranked at number 257 on Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

Other UK and US hits include “With a Girl Like You”, “I Can’t Control Myself”, “Anyway That You Want Me”, “Night of the Long Grass” and “Love Is All Around”. The band’s first album, also titled Wild Thing, is issued alongside the single. Their US success is limited by not touring there until 1968.

Line-up changes and later work

The Troggs split in March 1969 after chart success begins to fade. Ronnie Bond issues a solo single, “Anything For You”, in March 1969, Reg Presley follows with “Lucinda Lee” in April, and Chris Britton releases the solo album As I Am the same year. The band reforms later in 1969, with Tony Murray replacing Pete Staples on bass.

In 1974 they reunite with Larry Page, then running Penny Farthing Records, and record a cover of the Beach Boys’ “Good Vibrations”, followed by a reggae version of “Wild Thing”, neither of which charts. They later record for Pye Records and then find support from the French label New Rose, which releases the albums Black Bottom in 1982 and AU in 1990. In 1991 they record Athens Andover, an eleven-song collaboration with three members of R.E.M., in Athens, Georgia; it is released in 1992.

They also record further versions of “Wild Thing” in the early 1990s, including one with Oliver Reed and Alex Higgins and another featuring Wolf from Gladiators, which reaches number 69 in the UK Singles Chart. Reg Presley fronts the group until 2012, when he retires because of lung cancer. He dies in 2013. The band continues to tour with Chris Britton, Pete Lucas, Dave Maggs and Chris Allen on lead vocals.

Influence

The Troggs are widely regarded as an influential garage rock and punk rock band. Their songs are covered or cited by artists including the Jimi Hendrix Experience, the MC5, the Ramones, Iggy Pop, Buzzcocks, Spiritualized and R.E.M. “Wild Thing” is performed by the Jimi Hendrix Experience at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival, and “Love Is All Around” later becomes a major hit for Wet Wet Wet after its use in Four Weddings and a Funeral. A recording known as “The Troggs Tapes”, featuring Reg Presley’s in-studio commentary, circulates widely in underground music culture and is included in the Archaeology box set.