Troggs star leaves Wild Thing legacy

The structure is simple, the guitar riffs basic, the lyrics at best inane, but Wild Thing remains a garage rock classic more than 45 years after its release made The Troggs and lead singer Reg Presley international stars.

Presley - whose raunchy, suggestive voice powers this paean to teenage lust - died on Monday after a year-long struggle with lung cancer that had forced him and the band into reluctant retirement, his agent Keith Altham said. He was 71.

"My dear old pal Reg Presley of The Troggs died today," Altham said, calling the frontman "one very real person in a sometimes very unreal world".

The Troggs, part of the British invasion of the United States in the 1960s spurred by The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, perfected a simple, hard-driving approach to the three-minute rock song that was miles away from the lyrical art-rock of The Beatles or the poetic songs of Bob Dylan.

This was rock music at its "boy meets girl" basics, with a caveman's approach to romance - and it created such a powerful image that Presley and the band played these songs to appreciative, if smaller, audiences until illness intervened.

Written by American songwriter Chip Taylor, Wild Thing was originally recorded by Jordan Christopher & The Wild Ones in 1965, and quickly forgotten. It took The Troggs' cover a year later to make it a classic.

With its basic three-chord approach and driving beat, Wild Thing became a hit on both sides of the Atlantic, and has been covered by literally hundreds of bands since its 1966 release.

The song was picked up not only by semi-skilled garage bands the world over - the lead guitar lines were easily copied - but also by masters like Jimi Hendrix and Bruce Springsteen who treasured the tune's raw energy. It even led to a successful novelty song, with a vocalist "singing" the lyrics in late US senator Robert Kennedy's distinctive voice.

The Troggs, from the Andover area of England, had several other hits, including Love is All Around and With a Girl Like You. They faded in the 1970s, but Love Is All Around was revived in the 1990s by REM and Wet Wet Wet.

Presley, also a prolific songwriter, helped found The Troggs while he was working as a bricklayer. Born Reg Ball, he took the stage name "Presley" at his manager's suggestion.

He announced his retirement in January last year in an open letter to his fans thanking them for their support. He said he was receiving chemotherapy and not feeling "too bad".

He also had a strong interest in crop circles, paranormal activity and UFOs.

His daughter Karen told the WENN website that she, her brother and mother were with him when he died. "We're absolutely heartbroken," she said.