Search - The Troggs :: Best of

A Garage Band Classic

Steve Vrana | Aurora, NE | 06/01/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"When I played in a garage band back in high school, it was expected that your set list include "Louie Louie," "Gloria" and of course "Wild Thing" by the Troggs. This single is one of a handful of garage band classics. Like much of the Troggs best work, the song had a raw edge to it. And then there was that ocarina solo! The band had only two other substantial hits in the U.S. Their follow-up was Reg Preseley's "With a Girl Like You." That song, however, only went to No. 29. [The problem was that "Wild Thing" was released by both Fontana and Atco in the U.S. where the Atco pressing included "With a Girl Like You" as the b-side, crippling sales when Fontana released it as their second single.] It would be a year and a half before they returned to the charts with "Love Is All Around," a ballad that went to No. 7. Within a year after this final hit, the band breaks up. [They reform in 1972.]While the Troggs, did not leave behind an expansive legacy of recordings, they had an impact on everyone from Jimi Hendrix ("Wild Thing") to R.E.M. ("Love Is All Around") and can take some credit for the punk movement that would follow in their wake a decade later. At 32 minutes, this is a sparse introduction to the Troggs, but it gives you the essentials. RECOMMENDED"

Doin' the Wild Thing

Phil Rogers | Ann Arbor, Michigan | 02/21/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The Troggs are almost considered a one-hit wonder for their famous "Wild Thing" [not to be confused with Tone-Loc's song of the same title]. Who else had a sound with a tasty metallic edge, and also managed to get all the way to #1 on the charts with a truly funny seduction song? (The Kinks "A Well Respected Man" and Dedicated Follower of Fashion" were more at social satire, and thus 'half-serious'; plus they didn't make it all the way to #1. But doesn't "A Well Respected Man" have an utterly astonishing sound to it!?!?) In our new era of nearly indestructible media, it's conceivable that "Wild Thing" will live forever . . . any healthy 10-year old [or hormone-raging teenager] hearing it from now until eternity will instantly identify with, and cherish it.What's not usually known about the Troggs is possibly the most titillating rock song of all time ["I Can't Control Myself"], and possibly the best slow love ballad of the psychedelic era ["Love is All Around"]. The lyrics and the playing/singing of "I Can't Control Myself" still get my chakras spinning pretty fast. Some well-crafted rhymed lines (there are plenty more good ones): "your slacks are low and your hips are showing"; "this kind of feeling can move a nation" - but it's also how they are sung, and how they jam out from their musical context. The song is a strong tonic. To hell with Viagra . . . just play this song a few times!And "Love is All Around" still makes me melt. What are its nearest rivals for best radio rock ballad of the late 60's? Right off the bat I think of "Time of the Season" by the Zombies, which, however, is a little quick-paced to be considered a true ballad, as is Johnny Rivers' "Summer Rain". There's "Get Together" by the Youngbloods, truly a heavyweight contender. Tommy James and the Shondells had a brace of terrific slow tunes. The Rascals' offerings, however, are also a bit too quick-paced to qualify. What about "Something" by the Beatles? "Something" (by the Beatles) is like a 60's upgrade (gorgeous as it is) of Bing Crosby (gorgeous as he sounded some twenty years before); it is good enough that it easily transcends the era from which it has sprung. For our purposes, the Troggs' ballad goes one better, serving as a steady conduit by which the sense of eternity which expressed itself in late-sixties music and culture can still be heard and felt (especially by many of those who lived it). It channels the energy of the late sixties like a true icon of the era, as much as "Something" overflows those half-dreamed boundaries. The greatness of the Beatles' multi-temporal eclecticism notwithstanding, my vote goes to "Love is All Around".And let's not forget that the Troggs were one of the inventors of British punk . . . which as it were, was not really invented, but sort of 'sprang from the earth'. The Who, the Kinks and Them came before the Troggs; and we can't forget the Rolling Stones, the Animals and the Yardbirds [though these three had a more bluesy than a metallic edge]. Then there were literally dozens, possibly even scores of American bands (starting in '66 or even earlier) playing off the energy and sounds of these influential British oracles.By the way, (if you have never listened to it) the song "Night of the Long Grass" is NOT to be missed!"

Just What I Was Looking For.........

L. Lawhead | SW Illinois | 07/17/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The troggs did several "must have" songs from the 60's. The essential "Wild Thing", plus gems like "Love Is All Around", "With A Girl Like You" and "I Can't Control Myself"..... A while ago I bought a budget Troggs hits record, and was mighty ticked to discover it wasn't the "real" versions of the songs. Clearly the right singer (at least) but equally clearly remakes.... and bland ones at that.Well, THIS IS THE REAL (ORIGINAL) RECORDINGS. This is a great way to get these ultra-classic songs into your collection, along with a big chunk of other examples of mid 60's English rock."