ROCK ON, REG, WHEREVER YOU ARE

Reg Presley, lead singer for the Troggs, has died. He sang lead on the immortal Wild Thing, a bulletproof three-chorder that was performed by every garage band ever. It was also a fixture on the Rock Bottom Remainders' playlist; we were probably the only band in history that regularly screwed it up. Here's a YouTube video of us performing it in New York in 2007, when guest singer Larry Portzline donated $2800 to charity for the opportunity to sing it with us. If you look closely at the backup singers, you'll see, among others, Lesley Gore and the late, great Frank McCourt.

Comments

[judi the barberyo-ho-ho]

sigh

[Jeff Meyerson]

I was at that concert. Good times.

[Jan in Grimsby]

Absolutely no apologies for posting this again.
A legend.

[nursecindy]

Too sad. I loved the video.

[Theresa]

That was a good concert you guys had that year. I watched most of the videos on it.

[Not My Usual Alias]

When I heard about his passing, I had an image of St. Peter looking up and breaking into "Wild Thing" at the Pearly Gates while playing air guitar when Reg Presley showed up.

[Layzeeboy]

You made everything groovy.

[Omniskeptic]

A long time back, we were camping near Charlevoix. It was cold and rainy, so we set out to find a bar. What we found was a place near the city limits. We walked in and encountered -- karaoke. The host was trying to lead by example, by singing Wild Thing in an Elmer Fudd voice. Appalling, it was.

[Steve]

I'll always associate "Wild Thing" with romance. It came on the radio while I was on the phone with the latest girl with whom I'd fallen in lust. I think her name was "Shirley".
Come to think of it, that applies to almost every song from the '60s.
Good song, though.