Wild Thing at 60: The Troggs’ Raw Rock Revolution

Sixty years ago, a scrappy little garage band called The Troggs kicked open the door with Wild Thing and basically dared a generation to pick up a guitar and make some noise. And people listened. On this day, back in 1966, they hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, and rock music was never quite the same after that.

There is something gloriously raw about “Wild Thing.” It is messy, loud, and a little unhinged, and that is exactly the point. You can call it proto-punk if you want, but honestly, there is a strong case that it is just straight-up punk before punk had a name. The influence is undeniable. Artists from The Jimi Hendrix Experience to The Runaways, Cheap Trick, X, and Jeff Beck all took a swing at it.

Here is the twist most people miss. The Troggs did not even write it.

That honor goes to Chip Taylor, who knocked the song out in a matter of minutes. It was originally recorded in 1965 by The Wild Ones, the house band at a New York club called Arthur, owned by socialite Sybil Christopher. She just happened to be married to the band’s singer, Jordan Christopher, and asked Taylor to come up with something for them. He did. Quickly. Their version dropped on November 1, 1965… and went absolutely nowhere. Chip Taylor is the brother of actor Jon Voight and the uncle of Angelina Jolie. He was a successful professional gambler and card counter who was once banned from every casino in Atlantic City.

Then, the Troggs got hold of it and recorded their version in about 10 to 20 minutes, squeezing it into leftover studio time booked for an orchestra. You cannot make that up.

That odd little “whistle” in the middle? Not a whistle at all. It is an ocarina, thrown in to mimic the demo’s engineer goofing around. Somehow, it works perfectly.

Even the band leaned into the chaos. Their stripped-down, almost primal sound earned the nickname “caveman rock,” which feels about right when you realize “Troggs” is short for troglodytes. Subtle was never the plan.

And then there is frontman Reg Presley, who took the royalties from this scrappy, accidental classic and funneled them into researching crop circles and UFOs for the rest of his life.

You really cannot script this stuff.
A song written in minutes, recorded in minutes, nearly forgotten, then turned into a cultural lightning bolt.

Now that is a wild thing.