Wild Thing - The Troggs

"Wild Thing" was written by New York City born songwriter Chip Taylor. Originally recorded by The Wild Ones in 1965, "Wild Thing" is best known for its 1966 cover by the English band The Troggs, which reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in July 1966. As performed by The Troggs, "Wild Thing" is ranked #257 on the Rolling Stone magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. The Troggs' version was recorded in mono in one piece on the second take at Olympic Studios, which was then at Carton Street, off Baker Street in London. Because of a distribution dispute, The Troggs' single was available on two competing labels: Atco and Fontana. Because both pressings were taken from the identical master recording, Billboard combined the sales for both releases, making it the only single to simultaneously reach No. 1 for two companies. On the ATCO label, "Wild Thing" is credited to Reg Presley (Troggs' lead vocalist) and "With a Girl Like You" (its flip side) to Chip Taylor. The author credits are reversed. On the Fontana label, "Wild Thing" is credited to Chip Taylor and the flip contains a different song, "From Home", credited to Reg Presley. The Fontana label credits production to Page One Productions, England, while the ATCO label credits production as "A Larry Page Production, Recorded in England".