Wild Thing – The Troggs | Top 40 Chart Performance, Story and Song Meaning

Chart Performance: Pop (#1), 1966

Story Behind The Song By Ed Osborne

Three weeks after Wild Thing hit the U.S. pop charts it moved into the Top 10 where it stayed for two months. Not bad for a song begun by writer Chip Taylor a mere hour before a scheduled session to record his demo of it.

With adlibbed lyrics and spoken filler (“You move me!”), and an “ocarina” solo actually performed by the studio engineer using only his hands, Taylor felt it wasn’t exactly his finest work. A single of Wild Thing by Jordan Christopher and the Wild Ones stiffed, much to the relief of an embarrassed Taylor.

Then, to his dismay, an English band called The Troggs resurrected Wild Thing. Taylor’s quickie composition was a massive hit on both sides of the Atlantic and he was suddenly the proud – or at least rich – parent of a party classic.

This content and all Song Meaning articles were created and written by Top 40 Contributing Editor Ed Osborne. © 2024 Ed Osborne. All Rights Reserved. In addition to these song meaning articles, Ed has written our “Year in Music 1960s-1990s” articles.

Produced by:

• Larry Page

Lyrics Written by:

• Chip Taylor

Awards:

• Ranked at number 257 on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time
• The Troggs’ version of “Wild Thing” was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Comedy Recording in 2006
• The Troggs’ version of “Wild Thing” was included in the 1966 debut album “Rock Me” by Charity Brown