Index

» Wild Thing

GOODIES MUSIC REVIEW #12  -  WILD THING

(from C&G #39  February 1999)

Hi there pop pickers and welcome to this month's music review.

WHO?

Last month's hosts My-kill Carcasson and Venisona Redgravy have marched off (in step to "I Am A Carnivore" with lots of chomp-chomp-chomping as they go) to the BBC studios for an interview on the Rabid Frost program, where it's highly likely that they will take the opportunity of eating, er ... meeting his guests, particularly the rabbit ruler of the Animal Revolutionary Party. This will probably necessitate them dressing up as rabbits themselves to escape the outraged animal audience, so we can only hope that they remember to just let "Bell-amy" tear up the whole bloody countryside this time instead of wasting time looking for him, and not to sniff at any pretty flowers unless they want to be pistil-whipped (a botanist's joke - bloomin' awful!) and carted off to hos-petal! (It's thyme to leaf, thank you very mulch!)

Anyway we now cross to our demented DJ's GRRRaeme GRRRden (AKA Brett Allender) and Mildred Make-Everything-Groovy, AaH (AKA Alison Bean) for their review of WILD THING by The Goodies.

WHERE? WHEN?

It was performed live in the Goodies Rule - OK special and this version appears on the "Yum Yum -The Very Best Of The Goodies" CD (released in 1997) and on the 70's albums "The New Goodies LP", "The Goodies Greatest", and "The Goodies Greatest Hits as well as on a single (with Nappy Love on the flip side). Perhaps the more famous version though was the one which appears at the end of the Goodies - Almost Live concert episode, although this doesn't seem to have been used on any of the albums.

WHAT?

Lyrics: sung by Bill, with contributions from Tim and Graeme

(La la la la la la, la la la la la la)

Wild thing (Grrr), you make my heart sing (Aaaah)

You make everything groovy, wild thing (Grrr)

Wild thing, I think I love you

But I wanna know for sure!

Come on, hold me tight … not quite that tight!

Oh yes, I love you

(La la la la la la, la la la la la la)

Wild thing (Grrr), you make my heart sing (Aaaah)

You make everything groovy, wild thing (Grrr), wild thing

[spoken:]  Hang on a minute, would you?  (Wild thing)  Yes alright, I'll be with you in a minute.  (Wild thing)  Here I am.  (Aaah)  Wild thing, I think you move me.  But I wanna know for sure!  Come on, hold me tight.  Oh!  Oh you move me.  I'm moved … completely moved!

(La la la la la la, la la la la la la, etc)

[with INSTRUMENTAL BREAK]

Wooow, wild thing (Grrr), you make my heart sing (Aaaah)

You make everything groovy (You make it so groovy, you make it groovy, you make it groovy), wild thing (Grrr)

Wooow, wild thing, you make my heart sing (Wild Thing)

You make everything groovy (Wild thing), Ohh wild thing (Wild Thing)

Oh shake it, shake it, shake it, shake it, wild thing (Wild Thing)

GRRRaeme & Mildred: Since The Troggs first wowed the world with Wild Thing back in the sixties, there have been stacks of different cover versions (including one by an Australian country music band with the theme music from "Bonanza" in the instrumental break just for something different!), however it's unlikely that any of these efforts have come within a giant beanstalk of the two ripsnorting renditions by the Goodies. They start off by performing to a crowd of screaming, hysterical, stripping, dope smoking coppers at Wembley Stadium (as the police presence is so great that nobody else can get in!) in the Goodies Rule OK special, then graduate to an audience of more civilised (but less tastefully dressed) groupies in the Goodies Almost Live concert, but the magic ingredients are the same: Graeme's menacing "Grrrr" noises, Tim's cries of "Let me hold you tight ... not quite that tight!", Bill's super singing and plaintive wailing and the heavy thrashing rhythm, which makes it an absolute classic. Friends and relatives who wouldn't know a Goodie from a Gumby have agreed that it's the best cover yet, so that's good enough for us!

WHY?

GRRRaeme: Why indeed, as it's one of the very few Goodies songs not written by a certain scruffy, hairy, frustrated little pop star with the initials Bill Oddie. In fact, in the sleevenote of the CD, Bill himself writes that the Goodies version of Wild Thing is a tribute to Jimi Hendrix and rumour has it that the vomit which Jimi choked on was induced by him hearing Tim's invitation to "Come on and hold me tight!". "You bitch!", as a tarted-up Tim said in the Movies episode! In fact Tim's walk to the audience in the Almost Live concert and similar invitation to a pretty young lass in the front row drew neither vomit, tears or laughter, but acute embarrassment, and the policemen were only too happy to hold him tight in Goodies Rule OK, so perhaps a better question is "who were they singing it for?" Who was this wild sexy gal who caused Tim to utter "Oh I'm moved, completely moved ... aaaahh"? Perhaps it could have been tatty go-go dancer Doris Newbold who was a "great little mover" according to Bill, though mainly because she worked for Pickfords! Or maybe it was Mrs Desiree Carthorse who was very wild when charging down the street telling everyone to "Stop it!", though the only way that she would hold Tim tight would have been by a choker hold around his neck! So we can only assume that their "wild thing" was the scruffy cleaning lady in the back row of the Almost Live concert, as she was the only person remaining in the audience at the completion of Bill's final despairing wail, and as she bore an uncanny resemblance to one of "t' delicate ladies of t' temple" of Ecky Thump, she could surely wield a mean black pudding if the Goodies got too wild with her!

Mildred: 'Funky Gibbon' may have gone to number 4, but it was never going to be a timeless rock classic like 'Stairway To Heaven', 'Smoke On The Water' or 'Itsy Bitsy Tiny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini'. And legendary British DJ John Peel agreed or so the story goes - he reportedly "slagged" 'Funky Gibbon', The Goodies, in reply, allegedly "bashing him one". Whether this really happened, though, is irrelevant, because what The Goodies needed if they wanted to go down in rock history was something harder, something definitive and being The Goodies, something funny. "Wild Thing" turned out to be just that something. With the literal mindedness of any pun-touting comedy group, they played, rather than sang about, the three essential elements of the legendary song - Graeme, taking inspiration from his own sideburns, was the wild thing ("Grrrr"), Tim, legendary for coming across like Doris Day and singing like Minnie Mouse, was perfect as the heart singing ("Ah ah ah") and Bill, who's always been one for the birds(*), was the one who made things "grrrooovvyyy". And how grrrooovvyyy it was! If you didn't think The Goodies could be sexy, you were right, but they had a good time trying and even though people weren't exactly rioting to get near them, things were still pretty riotous; Tim daringly flashing his ankle AND sock suspendor at an unwary audience member must go down in history as the funniest rock star/audience member come on before Barry Manilow attempted to go the snog live on stage at Wembley and got his nose stuck in the unfortunate victim's mullet hairdo. What may have seemed to be just another cover of Wild Thing perhaps became the definitive version of the song and I can pay it no higher compliment than to quote those immortal lines "Wild Thing, I think I love you."

(* I know! It's the Bill Oddie/bird/woman joke again. Look, it had to be done, OK?)

HOW!

Using the Black Pudding Ratings System:

MUSIC: GRRRaeme: IIIII Superstar; Mildred: IIIII Superstar

SINGING/LYRICS: GRRRaeme: IIIII Superstar; Mildred: IIIII Superstar

HUMOUR: GRRRaeme: IIII Officially Amazing; Mildred: IIIII Superstar

ALL TOGETHER NOW: GRRRaeme: IIIII Superstar; Mildred: IIIII Superstar

THE BLACK PUDDING RATINGS SYSTEM

IIIII - Superstar.

IIII  - Officially amazing.

III   - Goody goody yum yum.

II    - Fair-y punkmother.

I     - Tripe on t' pikelets.