Dec 14

The Troggs

THE TROGGS
 
 
The Troggs  (originally called The Troglodytes) are an English rock band formed in Andover, Hampshire in 1964.  They had a number of hits in the United Kingdom and the United States.  Their most famous songs include the U.S. chart-topper “Wild Thing”, “With a Girl Like You” and “Love Is All Around”, all of which sold over 1 million copies and were awarded gold discs.  “Wild Thing” is ranked #257 on the Rolling Stone magazine’s list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time and was an influence on garage rock and punk rock.  (More from Wikipedia)
 
 
Name shortening has been common among rock bands:  The Young Rascals became the Rascals, the Troglodytes lost a little something in the translation when they changed their name to the Troggs, Small Faces morphed into Faces, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark was abbreviated to OMD, and (believe it or not) the 1990’s Irish band the Cranberries started out with the name The Cranberry Saw Us.  Sometimes the official name never changes, but fans and DJ’s naturally begin to shorten the name, so the Rolling Stones are just as often the Stones, the Doobie Brothers are sometimes rendered the Doobies (as on two of their Greatest Hits albums, Best of the Doobies and Best of the Doobies Volume II), and bands like, say, Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show are called just Dr. Hook.  Occasionally it can even go the other way:  A DJ on one of our local radio stations where I was growing up in Winston-Salem, Dick Bennick at WTOB-AM Radio was forever calling the Fab Four “the beetley, bootley Beatles”. 
 
(June 2012)
 
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After a few gigs with the Sands Combo and the Interns in 1963 (not the same as the Welsh band called the Interns that was active from 1964 to 1967), the Giles Brothers played the longest (“758 gigs played”) with a band called Trendsetters, Ltd., from 1964 to 1967.  They released four singles on Parlophone Records (the Beatles’ label in the UK).  After guitarist/vocalist Bruce Turner left the band in 1967 to join the Troggs, the band continued to record under the names the Trend and the Brain. 

 

(March 2013)

 
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The Loot also had several connections with the Troggs; bandmember Dave Wright was one of the original members of that band, and “Baby Come Closer”, from their first single, was later recorded by the Troggs.  Also, their label, Page One Records was owned by Troggs manager Larry Page; and Ronnie Bond, the drummer for the Troggs produced many of the songs by the Loot.  Besides Dave Glover and Roger Pope of the Soul Agents, other bandmembers in the Loot were Chris Bates (vocals) and Bruce Turner (lead guitar).  The band released six singles between 1966 and 1969. 

 

(May 2014)

 
Last edited: April 8, 2021