| The Troggs |
The
Troggs in a promotional image.
|
| Background information |
| Origin |
 Andover,
Hampshire, England |
| Genre(s) |
Rock
Rhythm and Blues
Garage
rock
|
| Years active |
1964 — present |
| Members |
Reg
Presley
Chris Britton
Pete Lucas
Dave Maggs |
| Former members |
Ronnie
Bond
Pete Staples
Richard Moore
Colin Fletcher
Tony Murray |
The Troggs were a successful 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".
|
Contents
- 1 Band
members
- 2 Biography
- 3 Legacy
and influence
- 4 External
links
- 5 References
|
Band members
- Reg Presley -
born Reginald Maurice Ball on 12 June 1941 in Andover, Hampshire
- Chris Britton - born Charles Christopher
Britton on 21
January 1944
in Watford,
Hertfordshire
- 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
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 #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 #1 in July 1966, U.S. #29), "I
Can't Control Myself" (a UK #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
#10 in December 1966), "Night of the Long Grass" (UK #17 in May 1967),
and "Love Is All Around" (UK #5 in
October 1967 and US #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" live repetoire. 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
believed to be the inspiration for some of the dialog in the comedy
film "This Is Spinal Tap." (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
References
