Let's get THIS one out of the way right now!!!
Three distinct versions ... of a '60's Classic!
The Story Behind The Song:
WILD THING was written to order when songwriter CHIP TAYLOR was approached by record producer GERRY GRANAHAN, who was looking for a new song for the band he was working with, JORDAN CHRISTOPHER AND THE WILD ONES.
When asked if he had anything "in the can, ready to go," TAYLOR replied, "Well, I don't know if I do or I don't, but let me try to write something today for you."
In the span of the next three hours, TAYLOR knocked out what would go on to be one of the biggest hits of the '60's ... although NOT for JORDAN CHRISTOPHER AND THE WILD ONES. He admits that, subconsciously, their name (THE
WILD ONES) may have acted as some sort of inspiration for the lyrics ... and further admits that the stop / start rhythm was inspired by CARL PERKINS' early rocker BLUE SUEDE SHOES. (At the time, he wasn't even sure what lyrics he would insert into those pauses ... but everything just sort of jelled together ... and, three hours after the phone call, TAYLOR went into the recording studio to cut his demo. He says that the demo he made that day became the template
that THE TROGGS would follow when they cut the song several months later.)
However, FIRST he brought it to JORDAN CHRISTOPHER AND THE WILD ONES. "I don't know if it ever came out," he remembers. (If it did, it never made the charts!) "They had an arranger that was arranging horns and strings and
drum beats and stuff like that. So my cool groove all but disappeared with the horns and strings arrangement. It didn't have a great feel."
When the song finally made its way to THE TROGGS' producer LARRY PAGE (by way of publisher DICK JAMES, who also handled THE BEATLES' publishing at the time), they didn't know what to make of it. TROGGS' lead singer REG
PRESLEY reportedly said, "This is either gonna be the biggest bomb or the biggest hit ever." Incredibly, by the time THE TROGGS' version was released as a single in 1966, it is believed that at least FIVE other versions of the song had already been recorded and released, with NONE of them garnering any attention!
(Jordan Christopher and The Wild Ones DID release their version of "Wild Thing" ... and here it is today as a Bonus Track ... celebrating our Wild Return!!!)
