WILD THING – Sexiest Three Chord Song Ever?

Wild Thing is arguably the greatest three chord rock song ever written. But the story behind the song is interesting and entertaining …. and where does Jon Voight fit in? Let's find out!

The year is 1965. A young failed pro golfer/turned song-writer with the stage name Chip Taylor is contemplating a new country song and playing around with three chords. He is on the way to the studio for a recording session and in about 20 minutes hammers out an idea for lyrics and a basic chorus. Wild Thing is born! Chip Taylor is born James Voight … he is the younger brother of soon-to-be film star Jon Voight … future uncle to Angelina Jolie. The song is recorded in 1965 by a New York band; Jordan Christopher and The Wild Ones a house band for a posh discotheque run by Richard Burton's ex-wife Sybil. It flops! Not enough raw energy, sensuality and perhaps not enough emphasis on those simple but wonderful three chords.  Meanwhile across the pond, a young aspiring musician named Reginald Ball … later Reg Presley had forned a band called the Trogladytes. Larry Page was a budding record producer who had struck lucky with a band called the Ravens. He renamed them the Kinks, and played them "Louie Louie", after which Ray Davies came up with You Really Got Me. Following this success he got a call from someone who said they had a tape by a group now called "The Troggs" who sang You Really Got Me better than the Kinks. He listened to the tape and told them to come back in a year's time, which they did – to the day! And so the Troggs' first recording session began. Lost Girl b/w The Yella In Me was released on CBS. According to Reg Presley it got one play on Radio Luxembourg at 3 a.m.! Later, during a trip to New York, Larry Page heard the demo of Wild Thing by The Wild Ones, but according to Reg Presley, he wanted the Troggs to record it as a B side, reserving the A side for The Lovin' Spoonful's "Did You Ever Have To Make Up Your Mind" instead. The band however thought differently – all those harmonies on the Spoonful song just wasn't them. The Larry Page Orchestra had a session booked, and The Troggs were told to wait outside in the van in case there was any studio time left. They waited in their van until they got the signal. There was three quarters of an hour for them to get their equipment in, get a sound, get the songs recorded and get out again. Wild Thing and With A Girl Like You were both recorded in two takes, in ten minutes! And the rest … as they say … is Rock and Roll History!