Credit: Far Out / Fontana Records
Sun 27 September 2026 0:30, UK
While it’s far from a musically or lyrically complex song, The Troggs’ ‘Wild Thing’ certainly ignited something in the world of rock and roll when it was released in 1966.
It certainly wouldn’t be considered remotely outrageous by today’s standards, but 60 years ago, this song arrived before the world had truly undergone a sexual revolution, after the discussion of the topic became far less taboo. The lyrics are lustful, and the instrumentation is loose and carefree – this was brave for the time, given that the general public were still getting acclimatised to the idea of rock and roll becoming increasingly subversive.
However, The Troggs weren’t the first to record the track, which was written by Chip Taylor in 1965 and originally offered to New York outfit the Wild Ones. Socialite Sybil Christopher had introduced the band to Taylor in the hope that they could come up with something together that had a raucous energy; ‘Wild Thing’ fitted the bill.
Allegedly, the song was written in a matter of minutes, and Taylor reportedly knew that the song had a provocative edge to it with its overt sexual energy. All that was needed on the band’s part was bringing it all to life in a way that felt befitting of the song’s overall themes of sexual desire, so they quickly put together a demo of the track as proof of concept.
Taylor performed alongside the band on tambourine on the original version, but perhaps the most interesting element of the track was producer Ron Johnsen’s decision to make a whistling sound with his hands after two choruses, which Taylor felt was an ingenious addition to the song.
Yet the song never worked out for the Wild Ones and failed to sell a significant number of copies when it was released in late ’65. Evidently, the world wasn’t quite ready for it, but by the time The Troggs picked up on the song and came to record their version, they ramped up its aggression and also adapted the whistling section into one of the most memorable yet bizarre instrumental breaks of the entire decade.
What is the strange whistling solo on ‘Wild Thing’?
The Wild Ones had a few regrets about their recording of the song, most notably that they’d opted not to perform it exactly as Taylor had demonstrated on his initial demo. The Troggs, on the other hand, were a lot more faithful to the original idea, aside from the fact that they chose to replace the hand whistle with an unusual choice of wind instrument.
Further reading: From The Vault
Rather than directly imitating what Johnsen did on the original, The Troggs chose to use an ocarina, a small clay vessel flute commonly associated with Latin American traditional music. For this to come in at the halfway point of the song, after its distorted guitars and growled vocals may have seemed bizarre, but the fact that it stands out from the rest of the provocative song adds to the daring charm that it possesses.
Maybe the ocarina wouldn’t be considered the sexiest instrument, and perhaps a guitar solo or saxophone interlude would have done the trick better, but as far as songs with this small clay flute go, it’s probably the most notable, if out-of-place usage in the history of rock and roll.
