Like “Louie Louie,” “Hey Joe,” and “Wild Thing,” this song was covered many times. As far as I know it was never a big hit, but it should have been. I’d be hard pressed to pick which of these three is best, so I posted them all. The versions by Them and The Troggs come with each band’s usual strengths. The Haunted’s version is a raw gem (I don’t know anything about them past this song). There are numerous other 60’s versions, including one by the MC5. To my ears, none are competetive with the three above. Richard Hell also covered it later, but I hear nothing special in it.
If you haven’t heard this song but it sounds familiar, that might be because Beck lifted the main riff for Devil’s Haircut.
Great song!
And Richard Hell’s drummer was shit.
He was.
That MC5 version is growing on me.
Thx u, proto buff!
Not sure what preceded what, and this is probably just primal rock song structure, but…
That “I-I-I-I” had me singing Micky Dolenz for some reason. More with the Troggs than the others’ versions.
“I try, and I try” — about threw me into Satisfaction. Especially the Them version.
Great calls! Bands were under tremendous pressure to release a charting single every few months. Those who could not were axed very quicky. There was much imitating of current hits as a result.