Presley: What's In A Name?

July 30^th – I think I’m right in saying that Reg Presley (no relation of The King, but my guess is his name set him up for feeling hard done by for the rest of his life) Reg Presley could have had absolutely no idea of the impact his song, Wild Thing (which hit the number one slot in the charts on this day in 1966) would have on the 60’s generation; and apart from the fact he recorded it, that impact had absolutely nothing to do with him, as much as he’d liked it to have said the reverse.

I had the (dubious) pleasure of follow-spotting him on a couple of occasions during his latter tours and I have to say, with no malice aforethought, that on stage at least he came across as a disillusioned chap who’d not received the recognition he thought he was worth (there, that was nicely put). Now you have to pay attention as it gets a bit messy from here on in.

Did any of you see, Enemy of the State? That conspiracy-theory movie with Will Smith and Gene Hackman; the one directed by Tony Scott? I thought it was an excellent piece of story-telling (with just a couple of small plot holes…we’ve all got them) and an excellent cameo slot by Tom Sizemore (he of Heat fame). Well, for those who saw it (and if you aint then now’s the time to get on it) there’s also a nice piece of character work by Jon Voight (he of Deliverence fame) as the head of intelligence (not a nice guy at all). Well, Wild Thing? It was written by the brother of Jon Voight, Chip Taylor…honest! I know, Voight/Taylor? No sense there at all, but trust me, I’ll not lie to you. Chip Taylor is his stage name, his real name is James Wesley Voight. There, see? Voight/Voight. Works dunnit? So Chip Taylor wrote Wild Thing and it was originally recorded by an American band called The Wild Ones; Wild/Wild, works dunnit? The band name was probably in homage to the Marlon Brando/Mary Murphy angst-flick of 1953, d’y’ think?

Now, having sort of seen and heard Mr. Presley (not Elvis but Reg) from up close (at one of the shows he gave a 15 minute lecture on politics to the audience; they loved that, you could see them yawning from up in follow-spot position) I’m sure he’d really liked to have written that one or, if not, have been the first to record it; he was neither, and when Jimi Hendrix began to include a cover of it in his live shows and then recorded a blistering version of it at Woodstock…well, suffice to say Mr. Presley (not Elvis but Reg) now not only didn’t write it or record it first nor did he do the definitive version. So, nought out of three.

To get his own back on us all, however, he did write that schmaltzy, love-sick dirge, Love is All Around, which gave that schmaltzy, love-sick dirgee, Marti Pellow out of Wet-Wet-Wet (great name, suited them well) his main hit, so pay-back in full, I’d say.