Every Christmas the world is subjected to a rewording of one of The Troggs most popular songs in the movie 'Love Actually'. Bill Nighy in the guise of aging pop star Billy Mack repeatedly screws up the words to his song 'Christmas is All Around' by using the original Troggs lyrics of 'Love is All Around'. He finally bursts in frustration with a poetic string of profanity that is worthy of The Troggs Tapes themselves (more about that later).
There is a version of The Troggs still going today, albeit without any of the four founding members. Sadly 2 of them have passed away - Reg Presley in 2013 and Ronnie Bond in 1992. Pete Staples left in '69 and Chris Britton only plays when the mood takes him.
They haven't released anything since the '90s and to be fair, their heyday and impact on music history was really centred on the mid '60s with their chart successes coming in '66 and '67. I suppose if you count reaching #7 in Sweden, then the 1965 track 'Lost Girl' was their first noted release. The credit for that song goes to Reginald Ball which was in fact Reg Presley's real name. When they recorded 'Wild Thing' in '66 the b-side was 'From Home' credited to R. Presley. You'd be forgiven for thinking that 'Lost Girl' and 'From Home' sound VERY similar !!
'Wild Thing' and their follow up single 'With a Girl Like You' were both recorded in about 20 minutes using studio time left over after an orchestra finished early. The producer, Larry Page, got the Troggs in and pumped out the two songs in record time.
Interestingly, 'Wild Thing' was written by a guy called Chip Taylor, real name James Wesley Voight - yep, same Voight family, he's the brother of Midnight Cowboy Jon Voight and uncle to Angelina Jolie. A couple of his other songs made waves too. 'Try (just a little bit harder)' got a belting version by Janis Joplin and the dreamy 'Angel of the Morning' made it for Merilee Rush.
I bought all the Troggs singles when they came out and because of that, some of their b-sides became equal favourites but were never as well known. Some of them appear on this 2xLP compilation, notably '66-5-4-3-2-1' and 'Girl in Black'.
Known for their early raucous sounds like 'Wild Thing' and the screaming "OH NO" at the beginning of 'I Can't Control Myself' they showed another side with Presley's 'With A Girl Like You', 'Give It To Me', obviously 'Love is All Around' and another Chip Taylor composition 'Any Way That You Want Me'.
Now for the unofficial 'The Troggs Tapes' recorded by my friend Clive Franks - (not to be confused with the official album 'The Trogg Tapes' from 1976). I've mentioned these bootleg tapes previously when I did an Elton John review (Vinyl Vault June 15 2020). The reason they were part of that review is that Clive was Elton's sound engineer when I knew him. These tapes have become the stuff of legend and after being passed around and around for years they were ultimately released as part of an official compilation, 'Archeology' in 1992.
The tapes have been acknowledged as being an influence on the movie 'This is Spinal Tap' and were referenced in an episode of 'Father Ted'. I'll add a link to Clive's interview talking about the tapes and the recording itself is on YouTube.
Fast forward to 1975 and the release of a very eclectic mix of songs. Simply called 'The Troggs' it contained mainly covers, some almost unrecognisable. There's a totally 'out-there' rendition of the Beach Boys 'Good Vibrations', Reg Presley failing to channel Buddy Holly on 'Peggy Sue' they valiantly try to come up with something resembling Chuck Berry's 'No Particular Place To Go' - made worse because it's one of my favourite Chuck songs! After massacring the Stones 'Satisfaction' and the unbearable rendition of 'Memphis Tennessee' (why did they hurt Chuck Berry twice) they resort to butchering one of their early hits .. are you ready for this .. a reggae inspired 'Wild Thing' !! Aargh !!. Definitely one for the curio cupboard.
Early Troggs tracks are excellent. Fly-on-the-wall Trogg Tapes are hilarious. A band that, IMHO, were really of a time and a place.
Clive Franks on 'The Troggs Tapes'
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