Drawn from previous posts, this is not part of my book The Geeatest Recotrd Ever Made! (Volume 1).
An infinite number of tracks can each be THE greatest record ever made, as long as they take turns. Today, this is THE GREATEST RECORD EVER MADE!
Yes, that song. Wild thing, you make my heart sing. But the Troggs' 1966 smash recording of "Wild Thing" wasn't my introduction to the song, at least not my conscious introduction to it. I mean, I must have heard those Troggs warblin' on the radio about where the wild things are (and what the wild things do) at some point in the '60s, but I didn't really notice. I may have also heard the Troggs' hit "Love Is All Around," but it likewise would have been background music rather than something that made me feel it in my fingers and feel it in my toes.
So when an act called Fancy had an AM radio hit with their version of "Wild Thing" in 1974, it was a new song as far I was aware. I didn't remember the Troggs, and I'd certainly never heard the Wild Ones' forgotten original 1965 "Wild Thing." I didn't particularly like Fancy's hit, except that I picked up some hint of pouty sexiness in the chick vocals, which did intrigue my teen hormones even if I didn't care about the record. I would have been more intrigued if I'd known that breathy frontchick Helen Caunt had posed for Penthouse magazine. Wild thing, I think you move me.
When did I discover the Troggs themselves? Memory is imprecise, but I'm sure it was part of my overall embrace of '60s music--especially British Invasion--as a teen in the mid '70s. My first Troggs acquisition was "With A Girl Like You" on the 2-LP The History Of British Rock Vol. 2, received for Christmas in 1976. That collection looms largest in my legend for giving me my first Kinks record ("All Day And All Of The Night"), but it also led to more Troggs. I grabbed used 45s of "Wild Thing," "Love Is All Around," and the incredible "I Can't Control Myself."
My first Troggs LP was a cutout-bin purchase of their 1975 album The Troggs, which didn't carry quite the same frenzy as their '60s work. I eventually secured the Troggs' double-album best-of set The Vintage Years, and much, much later the Archeology 2-CD set. Oh, and the 1992 Athens Andover album, which found the Troggs working with members of R.E.M. Love is all around. Wild thing, I can't control myself.
"Greatest" and "Favorite" can be different and distinct. My favorite Troggs track is probably still "I Can't Control Myself." I had the 1966 Atco Records 45, albeit a little over a decade after the fact, intrigued by its then-scandalous description of a girl whose slacks were low and her hips were showin', ba-ba-bop-a-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba. Oh, no? Oh,YES!
Still, the impact of "Wild Thing" is just undeniable. I wound up loving the Troggs, and "Wild Thing" was my ticket into that, a vibrant thump 'n' thud sweetened by a friggin' ocarina solo that is both jarringly out of place and unerringly, paradoxically perfect. Before KISS. Before the Ramones. Wilder things were yet to come for me. My heart sings. Troggeriffic.
I compiled a various-artists tribute album called Make Something Happen! A Tribute To The Flashcubes, and it's pretty damned good; you can read about it here and order it here. My new book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) is now available, and you can order an autographed copy here. You can still get my previous book Gabba Gabba Hey! A Conversation With The Ramones from publisher Rare Bird Books, OR an autographed copy here. If you like the books, please consider leaving a rating and/or review at the usual online resources.
This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl airs Sunday nights from 9 to Midnight Eastern, on the air in Syracuse at SPARK! WSPJ 103.3 and 93.7 FM, streaming at SPARK stream and on the Radio Garden app as WESTCOTT RADIO. You can read about our history here.
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