Search - Troggs :: The Troggs - Greatest Hits

A taste of what else the Troggs did besides "Wild Thing"

Lawrance M. Bernabo | The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota | 02/18/2005

(3 out of 5 stars)

"The Troggs are rock 'n' roll immortals on the strength of one song, namely their only #1 hit single, "Wild Thing." This is, of course, the three-chord song that Jimi Hendrix was playing at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival when he set his guitar on fire and what the Cleveland Indians play every thing "Wild Thing" Vaughn comes in to the game to pitch in "Major Leagues." With the Troggs we are talking proto-punk, and the only problem with "The Troggs: Greatest Hits" is that we only have 10 tracks here, which is barely enough to give you a taste of what the group really sounded like once you got beyond their signature song.



The problem with the Troggs is that once you get past "Wild Thing" most people will be hard pressed to name another song the group recorded and the best offerings here are certainly not similar to "Wild Thing" in sound. "Love Is All Around" is their second best song, the only other Troggs tune to crack the Top 5 in the U.S.A., and it is a flower power ballad, which is as far from caveman rock as you can get. "With a Girl Like You" and "I Can't Control Myself," are the best songs on the next tier, and the common denominator is that all three of these songs were written by lead singer and guitarist Reg Presley (Chip Taylor wrote "Wild Thing," originally recorded by a New York group called The Wild Ones). So the big irony with the Troggs is that their signature song is the musical exception to the group's sound. However, there is a commonality in terms of their lyrics, where Presley often manages to introduce an element of lust in the equation.



The Troggs were formed in Andover, England, and were always much more successful on that side of the Pond (the group rarely toured in the U.S.). However, by the 1970s they were on their way out, mainly because they were keeping things relatively simple at a time that progressive rock was sweeping the English music scene. This hits collection does give you a taste of what else they did, but it is missing "Night of the Long Grass" and their covers of "Good Vibrations" and R.E.M.'s "Nowhere Road" from the later years. Having the "Troggs on 45's Medley" does not really make up for those omissions."