Song of the Day 2/14: The Troggs, “Love Is All Around”

The Troggs didn’t quite fit into the second wave of the British Invasion. Their version of Chip Taylor’s “Wild Thing” hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1966, but the band never invaded — they didn’t tour the US until 1968.

“Wild Thing” was made even more famous in 1967, when Jimi Hendrix closed his Woodstock set with it before setting his guitar aflame, but the Troggs stayed in Britain. They released a string of hit singles, including “With a Girl Like You” and “I Can’t Control Myself,” that greatly influenced later punk rockers. Their primitive approach was later dubbed garage rock, but it elicited comparisons to cavemen by contemporary critics, an easy connection considering their name was shortened from the Troglodytes.

By 1967, flower power was in vogue, and the band was trying to update its image. Lead singer Reg Presley responded with a song that set the template for many a power ballad to come. Inspired when he saw a British Christian rock band called the Joystrings perform a tune called “Love That’s All Around” on the telly, Presley said he wrote “Love Is All Around” in about 10 minutes. It was the band’s last Top 10 hit in both Britain (No. 4) and the US (No. 7), though the Troggs never broke up. Presley died in 2013 but the band is still performing, with guitarist Chris Stratton the sole original member.

The song has had an eventful afterlife. R.E.M. started covering it on their “Out of Time” tour in 1991, which led to a collaboration with three-quarters of the band (minus Michael Stipe) on a 1992 LP called “Athens Andover,” the two bands’ hometowns. R.E.M. also played it when they appeared on MTV’s “Unplugged.” It’s the rare tune that features bassist Mike Mills on lead vocals.

The most popular version of the song, at least in the UK, was recorded by Wet Wet Wet for the soundtrack of “Four Weddings and a Funeral.” The single spent a then-record 15 weeks at No. 1 on the UK singles chart in 1994. The BBC eventually stopped playing it because so many listeners were sick of hearing it.

BTW, here’s the song that inspired Presley’s most enduring composition. I think it shows that inspiration is a strange thing that can come from anywhere.