"Wild Thing" was written by the American songwriter Chip Taylor, who composed the music and the lyrics. It was first recorded in 1965 by the New York band The Wild Ones, with vocals by Chuck Alden, but that single did not chart. The version that became famous was recorded by the British group The Troggs at Olympic Sound in London, on the recommendation of their manager Larry Page, and released on Fontana in April 1966 with "From Home" on the B-side. It reached No. 1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks in July 1966, No. 2 on the UK Singles Chart, and No. 1 in Australia and New Zealand. Classed as garage rock, hard rock and proto-punk, the song was covered by The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Fancy, The Runaways, X and Sam Kinison, among others. Rolling Stone ranked it 257th on its 2004 list of the 500 Greatest Songs, and the Grammy Hall of Fame inducted it in 2019.
