"Wild Thing" was originally recorded by the [Wild Ones](https://hooktube.com/watch?v=9rxDOncgSrY) in 1965. Songwriter Chip Taylor composed it very quickly: within a couple of minutes, he had the chorus and a "sexual-kind-of-feeling song" emerged. On his demo version, Taylor banged on a tambourine while producer Ron Johnson "was doing this little thing with his hands", as Taylor related it. The result sounded "cool". Producer Gerry Granahan approved the song and then produced the Wild Ones' recording, with vocals by Chuck Alden. However, on its release in November 1965, the record failed to sell, and Alden later said that he regretted not performing the song in the same way as Taylor's demo. The solo in the middle of the song was performed by the recording engineer using his hands as a whistle. This sound was subsequently imitated by the Troggs in their version using an ocarina. This was written by a songwriter named Chip Taylor, who has made tons of money from it because it has been recorded by many artists and is constantly being used in movies and TV shows. Taylor used a lot of this money to gamble - for years he bet about $10,000 a day and was kicked out of every casino in Las Vegas for card counting. He also wrote ["Angel Of The Morning"](https://hooktube.com/watch?v=24rYz9QAvdQ) which was a hit for Merrilee Rush in 1968. Taylor is the brother of actor Jon Voight and the uncle of Angelina Jolie. The style of music exemplified in this song became known as "Caveman Rock." The Troggs is short for "troglodyte" (meaning "cave dweller"), which helped bolster this image. Over the next few years, The Troggs moved away from this Neanderthal sound and had a big hit in 1968 the much more evolved ["Love Is All Around"](https://hooktube.com/watch?v=WO6glz0wpmo). The Troggs version of "Wild Thing" is ranked at number 261 on the Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.