The Troggs
Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use British English Template:Infobox musical artist
The Troggs (originally called the Troglodytes)<ref name="Strong">Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> are an English beat music band formed in Andover, Hampshire in May 1964. Their most famous songs include the US chart-topper "Wild Thing", "With a Girl Like You" and "Love Is All Around", all of which sold over 1 million copies and were awarded gold discs.<ref name="The Book of Golden Discs">Template:Cite book</ref> "Wild Thing" is ranked No. 257 on the Rolling Stone magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time and was an influence on garage rock and punk rock.<ref name=BDC>Laing, Dave (1985). One chord wonders: power and meaning in punk rock. p.12, Open University Press</ref>
HistoryEdit
Reg Presley (lead vocals) and Ronnie Bond (drums) were childhood friends and in the early 1960s formed an R&B band in their home town of Andover.<ref name="BDT">Template:Cite news Template:Open access</ref> In 1964 they were joined by Pete Staples (bass) and Chris Britton (guitar) and became the Troggs.<ref name="BDT" /> They were signed by Larry Page, manager of the Kinks, in FebruaryTemplate:Nbsp1966.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> They recorded on Page's Page One Records, and Page also leased them to CBS for the debut single "Lost Girl".<ref name="Strong" /> Their most famous hit was the single "Wild Thing" which, with the help of television exposure on Thank Your Lucky Stars, reached number 2 in the UK (Reg Presley's song "From Home" was the B-side) and number 1 in the United States in July 1966. Its combination of a simple heavy guitar riff and flirtatious lyrics helped it quickly to become a garage rock standard (the recording also contains an ocarina solo).<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Despite having a number one single, the band's success in the U.S. was limited by the band not touring there until 1968.<ref name="Unterberger" />
They also had a number of other hits, including "With a Girl Like You" (a UK number 1 in July 1966, US number 29), "I Can't Control Myself" (a UK number 2 in September 1966; their first UK single release on the Page One label, POF 001; this was also their second and final dual-label release in the US, with Fontana retaining the rights to all subsequent releases),<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> "Any Way That You Want Me" (UK number 8 in December 1966), all at Olympic Studios, "Give It to Me" (UK No.12 1967), "Night of the Long Grass" (UK number 17 in May 1967), "Love Is All Around" (UK number 5 in November 1967 and US number 7 in May 1968) plus "Hi Hi Hazel" (UK No.42, 1967). The band's popularity completely waned the following year. Former Plastic Penny bassist Tony Murray replaced Pete Staples in 1969. Richard Moore filled in for Britton on their 1972–1973 tour. In 1974, after a spell on Pye Records, in an attempt to re-create their 1960s successes, the Troggs re-united with Larry Page, now running Penny Farthing Records. The resulting cover version of the Beach Boys hit "Good Vibrations" failed to chart.<ref name="Larkin">Template:Cite book</ref> A reggae version of "Wild Thing" also failed. Richard Moore and Colin Fletcher substituted for Britton, who temporarily quit music to manage a night club in Spain, for the recording of The Troggs Tapes album released in 1976.<ref name="Larkin"/> The band found a sympathetic ear at French label New Rose in the 1980s, releasing the Black Bottom LP (1982) and AU (1990).<ref name="Larkin"/>
In 1991, they recorded Athens Andover, an 11-song collaboration between themselves and three members of R.E.M.<ref name="Unterberger" /> It was recorded in the American band's hometown of Athens, Georgia, and was released in March 1992.<ref name="Strong" /> The band attempted to capitalise on this new exposure with two collaborations on new versions of "Wild Thing". A 1992 recording with actor Oliver Reed and snooker player Alex Higgins failed to chart,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> but another version the following year featuring Wolf from the TV show Gladiators reached number 69 in the UK Singles Chart.<ref name="Strong"/><ref name="UK Official Charts">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 1994, Wet Wet Wet's cover of "Love Is All Around" was No. 1 in the UK for 15 weeks, resulting in substantial royalties for Presley.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Ronnie Bond died on 13 November 1992. In January 2012, Reg Presley retired after being diagnosed with lung cancer. The band carried on with new lead singer Chris Allen. Presley died on 4 February 2013.<ref name="BBCNewsRegPresleyDies">Template:Cite news</ref>
Bass guitarist and backing vocalist Pete Lucas died on 16 December 2023, his 73rd birthday.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
The band is still active as of 2024, featuring only Chris Britton of the original lineup. As of 2017, Britton only plays selected gigs.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Legacy and influenceEdit
The Troggs are widely seen as a highly influential band whose sound was an inspiration for garage rock and punk rock.<ref name=BDC/> Influential American critic Lester Bangs "called the band the progenitors of punk", according to NPR.<ref>Ulaby, Neda, "Reg Presley, The Voice Of 'Wild Thing,' Dies", NPR, 5 February 2013. Retrieved 5 February 2013.</ref> For example, the Troggs influenced artists such as Iggy Pop,<ref>[1]Template:Dead link</ref> and the early version of British pop-punk pioneers Buzzcocks featured "I Can't Control Myself" in their live repertoire. The Ramones are also among the punk bands who cited the Troggs as an influence. "I Can't Control Myself" is perhaps the most enduring favourite of critics; it continues to be championed for its originality and lasting influence by radio hosts such as "Little" Steven Van Zandt.
A specially tailored version of "Give It to Me" featured in the "Sadie's Daydream" sequence of Michelangelo Antonioni's 1966 film Blowup. "I Can't Control Myself" appears at the climax of "The Little Chaos", the 1967 short film by German director Rainer Werner Fassbinder and in the "1967" episode of the 1996 British television serial Our Friends in the North.
"With a Girl Like You" is featured uncut in a school dance scene from the 1991 Nicole Kidman/Noah Taylor movie Flirting. It also is featured in Shine, The Good Night and The Boat That Rocked. "Wild Thing" is prominent in Jonathan Demme's 1986 film Something Wild. A modified version of "Love Is All Around" was featured in the film Love Actually (2003), performed by actor Bill Nighy. The Troggs was the name of the high school gang in the movie Bang Bang, You're Dead that persuade the main character to join them in attacking their high school. The point-and-click adventure game Hopkins FBI features "I Can't Control Myself" and "Lost Girl". Trogg is the name of one of Bane's three henchmen in Dennis O'Neil's Batman: Knightfall comic arc. The other henchmen are Bird and Zombie, named after two other popular 1960s rock bands: the Byrds and the Zombies.
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.<ref name="Unterberger">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> MC5 covered "I Want You" at their live shows and recorded the song for the album Kick Out the Jams, although they renamed it "I Want You Right Now". In 1990, the first hit for (and first single by) the band Spiritualized was a cover of "Anyway That You Want Me". This cover later was used in the movie Me and You and Everyone We Know. 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. They also performed an acoustic version of the song on MTV Unplugged. In 1994, Scottish band Wet Wet Wet's version of "Love Is All Around" spent 15 weeks at number one in the UK after its inclusion in Four Weddings and a Funeral. The authorship royalties enabled Reg Presley's 1990s research and publication on extraterrestrials and other paranormal phenomena. In 2012, Norwegian band Ulver covered the song "66-5-4-3-2-1" for their covers album Childhood's End. "Wild Thing" was covered by an ensemble featuring Queen guitarist Brian May to open the Wildlife Rocks' event at Guildford Cathedral in May 2014.
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 was included in the Archaeology box set, as well as the compilation album, The Rhino Brothers Present the World's Worst Records. The group infighting is believed to be the inspiration for a scene in the comedy film This Is Spinal Tap, where the band members are arguing. Some of this dialogue was sampled by the California punk band the Dwarves on their recording of a cover version of the Troggs song "Strange Movies".
Band membersEdit
Founding members are in bold.
Current membersEdit
- Chris Britton – guitar, backing vocals (1964–1972, 1979–present; selected gigs only since 2017)
- Chris Allen – lead vocals (2012–present), bass (2022–present)
- TBA – guitar, backing vocals
- Martin Shorrock - drums (2023–present)
- Eddie Mooney - (temporary) bass, backing vocal (2022-present)
Former membersEdit
- Reg Presley – lead vocals, ocarina (1964–2012; died 2013)
- Ronnie Bond – drums (1964–1988; died 1992)
- Pete Staples – bass, backing vocals (1964–1969)
- Tony Murray – bass, backing vocals (1969–1977, 1979–1984)
- Richard Moore – lead guitar (1972–1979), rhythm guitar (1976–1979)
- David Wright – rhythm guitar, backing vocals (1972–1974)
- Colin Fletcher – rhythm guitar, backing vocals (1974–1976)
- Pete Lucas - bass, backing vocals (1984–2022; died 2023)
- Jo Burt – bass (1977–1979)
- Dave Maggs – drums (1988–2018)
- Darren Bond – drums (2018–2023)
- John W Doyle -Guitar (2017-2024)
TimelineEdit
<timeline> ImageSize = width:780 height:auto barincrement:22 PlotArea = left:85 bottom:60 top:0 right:0 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = mm/dd/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1964 till:{{#time:m/d/Y}} TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy Legend = orientation:vertical position:bottom columns:1 ScaleMajor = increment:5 start:1964 ScaleMinor = increment:1 start:1964
Colors =
id:lvocals value:red legend:Lead_vocals id:bvocals value:pink legend:Backing_vocals id:guitar value:green legend:Guitar id:bass value:blue legend:Bass id:drums value:orange legend:Drums id:studio value:black legend:Studio_album
LineData =
color:studio layer:back at:07/25/1966 at:02/10/1967 at:10/01/1967 at:03/01/1968 at:01/01/1975 at:01/01/1981 at:01/01/1990 at:01/01/1992
BarData =
bar:Reg text:Reg Presley bar:ChrisA text:Chris Allen bar:ChrisB text:Chris Britton bar:Richard text:Richard Moore bar:David text:David Wright bar:Colin text:Colin Fletcher bar:John text:John W. Doyle bar:PeteS text:Pete Staples bar:Tony text:Tony Murray bar:Jo text:Jo Burt bar:PeteL text:Pete Lucas
bar:Ronnie text:Ronnie Bond bar:Dave text:Dave Maggs bar:Darren text:Darren Bond bar:Martin text:Martin Shorrock
PlotData =
width:11 bar:Reg from:01/01/1964 till:01/01/2012 color:lvocals bar:ChrisA from:01/01/2012 till:end color:lvocals bar:ChrisA from:01/06/2022 till:end color:bass width:3 bar:ChrisB from:01/01/1964 till:01/01/1972 color:guitar bar:ChrisB from:01/01/1964 till:01/01/1972 color:bvocals width:3 bar:ChrisB from:01/01/1979 till:end color:guitar bar:ChrisB from:01/01/1979 till:end color:bvocals width:3 bar:Richard from:01/01/1972 till:01/01/1979 color:guitar bar:David from:01/01/1972 till:01/01/1974 color:guitar bar:David from:01/01/1972 till:01/01/1974 color:bvocals width:3 bar:Colin from:01/01/1974 till:01/01/1976 color:guitar bar:Colin from:01/01/1974 till:01/01/1976 color:bvocals width:3 bar:PeteS from:01/01/1964 till:01/01/1969 color:bass bar:PeteS from:01/01/1964 till:01/01/1969 color:bvocals width:3 bar:Tony from:01/01/1969 till:01/01/1977 color:bass bar:Tony from:01/01/1969 till:01/01/1977 color:bvocals width:3 bar:Tony from:01/01/1979 till:01/01/1984 color:bass bar:Tony from:01/01/1979 till:01/01/1984 color:bvocals width:3 bar:Jo from:01/01/1977 till:01/01/1979 color:bass bar:PeteL from:01/01/1984 till:01/06/2022 color:bass bar:PeteL from:01/01/1984 till:01/06/2022 color:bvocals width:3 bar:Ronnie from:01/01/1964 till:01/01/1988 color:drums bar:Dave from:01/01/1988 till:01/01/2018 color:drums bar:Darren from:01/01/2018 till:01/01/2023 color:drums bar:Martin from:01/01/2023 till:end color:drums bar:John from:07/01/2017 till:end color:guitar bar:John from:07/01/2017 till:end color:bvocals width:3
</timeline>
DiscographyEdit
{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} Template:Columns-list
ReferencesEdit
External linksEdit
- The Troggs Tapes
- Pete Staples Homepage
- {{#if:The Troggs|Template:PAGENAMEBASE discography at Discogs|{{#if:Template:Wikidata|Template:Wikidata Template:PAGENAMEBASE discography at DiscogsTemplate:EditAtWikidata|Template:PAGENAMEBASE discography at Discogs}}}}
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- PUNKCAST#79 live @ World Trade Center Plaza, New York – 24 July 2001. (RealPlayer)