The Troggs Newcastle Polytechnic 1st October 1976
How could I have forgotten to write about The Troggs? I was a big fan of theirs; they had all those great hits in the ’60s. However, I didn’t get to see The Troggs live until 1976, one Friday night at Newcastle Poly. I found the date on the Steve Brown Band’s site, which contains a wealth on information about the band’s history and the gigs they played. The Steve Brown Band were supporting The Troggs that night; they noted about the gig: “Wild reaction from large audience. Encore after 3 minutes shouting from crowd”.
“Troglodyte may refer to:
A cave dweller, one who lives in a cave.
Troglodytae or Troglodyti, an ancient group of people from the African Red Sea coast
Troglodites, a fictional tribe described in Montesquieu’s Persian Letters, supposedly descending from the ancient Troglodytae
Caveman, a stock character based upon widespread concepts of the way in which early prehistoric humans may have looked and behaved
A British band who became known as The Troggs” (Wikipedia)
The Troggs were the forerunners of punk and garage. They lived up their caveman name with an image and sound which was basic and raw. Their records conisted of a few slabs of chords over a sold chugging rhythm, and lyrics that were just as basic. “Give it to Me”; “I Can’t Control Myself”. How did they get away with it. And of course “Wild Thing” was the big one. It sounded so different, quite shocking actually.
I have strong memories of this gig. I was excited about finally getting to see the Troggs. It was one of the first dances of a new academic year, and the Students Union ballroom was filled with students eager for a good night out, lots of drink, silly dancing and good fun to be had by all. And the Troggs were just the band to give them all of that. The student crowd joined in with all the songs, and went generally crazy. Reg Presley egged them on, and guitarist Chris Britton squeezed garage chord rhythms from his Les Paul. Classic.
Typical Troggs setlist of the period: Got Love If You Want It; Louie Louie; (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction; With a Girl Like You; Love Is All Around; Feels Like a Woman; Strange Movies; Gonna Make You; Walkin’ the Dog; No Particular Place to Go; Give it to Me; Wild Thing; I Can’t Control Myself
I’ve seen the Troggs a couple of times since on 60s package shows, which was fun, but Troggs music is best heard (and felt) in a packed ballroom surrounded by a few hundred drunken idiots showing themselves up to the strains of “Wild Thing” or “I Can’t Control Myself”.
Reg Presley passed away a few years ago. Chris Britton continues to lead the
Troggs, taking garage punk pop to a new generation of ravers, and to grey haired loons.
RIP Reg Presley.
28 Mar
Vintagerock's Weblog. 
Posted by Neil Thompson on March 28, 2015 at 4:41 pm
Sounds like a great gig, Peter. I saw the mighty Troggs three times. The first one was Sunderland Empire, 1st November 1969. First on were Nottingham band, The X-Caliburs. When they’d finished the compere walked on with the curtain closed – ‘The Troggs are behind this curtain’ – not much response – ‘I SAID THE TROGGS ARE BEHIND THIS CURTAIN’ – much more response this time with girls screaming – and the curtains opened and there are our heroes – brilliant – they did all their hits and a few B-sides. The headliner was Sandie Shaw, who was good, but me and our Mitch had gone to see Andover’s finest. I saw them again in January 1980 at the Nashville in London which was plagued with sound problems but great to see anyway – and we went backstage to meet them! The third time was the 100 Club, London in November 2001. They were part of a 3 day punk festival and were just class – perfect sound this time. Just before the end of their set the P.A. was cut off because 999 were waiting to headline – Reg went mad! when the speakers were eventually put back on he said ‘Don’t you ever do that to a professional’ and got loud cheers from the crowd – brilliant band.
Posted by vintagerock on March 28, 2015 at 4:53 pm
Many thanks indeed Neil. The Troggs and Sandie Shaw; wow excellent! 🙂 Cheers Peter