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Rating: During the golden years of 1966-1968 for British music, the Troggs (a band hailing from the town of Andover in rural Hampshire) created a series of songs that extraordinarily anticipated, by a good decade, many of the musical trends that had yet to emerge.
Primarily remembered for the singles that reached number one on sales charts on both sides of the Atlantic, such as the lascivious proto-punk anthem “Wild Things”, the demented hit-single “I Can’t Control Myself” or the more distinctly pop tunes like the splendid acoustic ballad “Love Is All Around” or the floral “With A Girl Like You”; but it is in the lesser-known tracks of this collection (admittedly completely devoid of any biographical information) that one finds truly astonishing surprises like the seminal hard-rock of “Little Pretty Thing”, which also winks at the burgeoning glam scene, and the sophisticated pop of “Anyway That You Want Me”, where Reg Presley’s nasal voice draws strange melodies over a musical backdrop with a strong Kinks influence (not by chance, their producer Larry Page came from Ray Davies' group's entourage); or the surf-like progression of the guitars in “Strange Movies”, in a track that pays homage to both the guru Duane Eddy and the entire iconography of the B-movies for horny teenagers that circulated in the less chic movie theaters.
But up to this point, we are in the “normality” of a very inspired and talented band… but with “Feels Like A Woman” and “I Don’t” the Troggs clearly map the path from the original garage to the more “noise” evolved form that would explode in the States with groups like The Stooges or MC5… and at the same time, they also anticipate the explosion of the punk phenomenon of the late ‘70s where “Black Bottom” sketches the model from which the Clash would start to build their work, and their version of the famous “Save The Last Dance For Me” is the primer upon which the Ramones learned how to transfigure the early rock ‘n’ roll.
"Widge You” is the amalgamation between southern and country rock of bands like The Allman Brothers Band and Eagles, up to ZZ Top, and not even a certain indie from the eighties is overlooked, so “Last Night” starts as an unusual psychedelic exercise and reaches the dilation of R.E.M. (who would honor the Troggs with a heartfelt cover of “Love Is All Around”) or the harmonic constructions of The Rain Parade and Teenage Fanclub, traceable even in the more carefree “Hot Days”.
Tracklist and Lyrics
01 Wild Thing (02:37)
Wild thing
You make my heart sing
You make everything, groovy
I said wild thing
Wild thing, I think I love you
But I wanna know for sure
So come on, and hold me tight
I love you
Wild thing
You make my heart sing
You make everything, groovy
I said wild thing
Wild thing, I think you move me
But I wanna know for sure
So come on, and hold me tight
You move me
Wild thing
You make my heart sing
You make everything, groovy
I said wild thing
Wild thing
Come on, come on, wild thing
Shake it, shake it, wild thing
07 Love Is All Around (02:39)
I feel it in my fingers, I feel it in my toes.
Well love is all around me, and so the feeling grows.
It's written on the wind, it's everywhere I go.
So if you really love me, come on and let it show.
You know I love you, I always will.
My mind's made up by the way that I feel.
There's no beginning, there'll be no end.
'Cause on my love you can depend.
I see your face before me as I lay on my bed.
I kinda get to thinking, of all the things you said.
You gave your promise to me, and I gave mine to you.
I need someone beside me in everything I do.
You know I love you, I always will.
My mind's made up by the way that I feel.
There's no beginning, there'll be no end.
'Cause on my love you can depend.
It's written on the wind, it's everywhere I go.
So if you really love me, come on and let it show.
Come on and let it show.
Come on and let it show.
Come on and let it show.
Come on and let it show.
Come on and let it show.
09 Anyway That You Want Me (02:44)
If it's love that you want
Baby, you've got it
From the depth of my soul
Baby, you've got it
But I've been watching you
And I don't think that you'll gain
Girl, there's no need to explain
Any way that you want me
Any way that you'll take me
Any way that you'll make me be part of you, anyway at all
If there's dreams in your heart
Will love last forever
And from the depth of my soul
I'll make them come true
But I've been watching you
And I don't think that you'll gain
Girl, there's no need to explain
Any way that you want me
Any way that you'll take me
Any way that you'll make me be part of you, anyway at all
Any way that you want me
Any way that you'll take me
Any way that you'll make me be part of you, anyway at all
Any way that you want me
Any way that you'll take me
Any way that you'll make me be part of you, anyway at all
10 I Can't Control Myself (03:04)
OH NO!
(ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba
ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba)
i cant stand still coz youve got me goin
(ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba)
ur slacks are low and your hips are showin
(ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba)
i thank you girl as ur standing there
your low-cut slacks and your long black hair
i want you going, i want noone else
coz when im with you i cant control myself
defence is down and you got me shakin
(ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba)
you got me so that my nerves are breakin
(ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba)
if u knew me like i know u girl
ur knees would bend and ur hair would curl
you make me move, yeh, like noone else
and when im with you i cant control myself
ive got this feeling thats inside of me
it makes me think of how things used to be
it makes me feel alright
when im with you at night
and we love
and we love
(ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba
ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba)
you fill me so with this big temptation
(ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba)
this kind of feeling could move a nation
(ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba)
but im ok when im here with you
i do the things that you want me to
i do these things for noone else
but when im with you i cant control myself
(ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba)
i cant control myself
(ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba)
i cant control myself
(ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba)
i cant control myself baby
(ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba)
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh
(ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba)
*fade*
11 With A Girl Like You (02:10)
I want to spend my life with a girl like you
Ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba
And do all the things that you want me to
Ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba
Till that time has come
That we might live as one
Can I dance with you
Ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba
Ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba
I tell by the way you dress that you're so refined
Ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba
And by the way you talk that you're just my kind
Ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba
Girl why should it be
That you don't notice me
Can I dance with you
Ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba
Ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba
Baby baby is there no chance
I can take you for the last dance
All night long yeah I've been waiting
Now there'll be no hesitating
So before this dance has reached the end
Ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba
To you across the floor my love I'll send
Ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba
I just hope and pray that I'll find a way to say
Can I dance with you
Ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba
Ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba
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