Troggs – "Feels Like a Woman" (1967)

You move, you groove

You love like a woman

You feel like a woman to me

So far, this year’s “29 Posts in 29 Days” has alternated between overrated and underrated recording artists.

I’m not sure I’ll be able to maintain that every-other-one pattern until the end of the month.  It’s much easier to find overrated groups than underrated ones – and it’s much more natural for me to trash someone than to praise someone.

So don’t be surprised if you start seeing back-to-back (or back-to-back-to-back) “overrated” posts.

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A lot of Americans think of the Troggs as a one-hit wonder.  “Wild Thing” was a huge worldwide hit in 1966, and made it all the way to #1 on the Billboard “Hot 100.” 

A year later, “Love Is All Around” – a truly lovely song – was a #7 hit single for the Troggs.  But it couldn’t be more different than “Wild Thing” – I wonder how many people realize both songs were recorded by the same group.

The Troggs were a pretty big deal in the UK in the mid-sixties.  The first two singles they released after “Wild Thing” made it to #1 and #2 in the UK, and the next three were top 20 hits.  But other than “Wild Thing” and “Love Is All Around,” the Troggs didn’t make a dent in the U.S.  (It probably didn’t help that their first American tour didn’t take place until 1968, when those two singles were out of sight, out of mind.)

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The Troggs may not belong on the Mt. Rushmore of British Invasion bands – they’re certainly not up there with the Beatles, Stones, Who, and Kinks.

But their musical oeuvre is head and shoulders above that of the Dave Clark Five, Gerry and the Pacemakers, Herman’s Hermits, and nearly all of the other British Invasion groups.

The Troggs

In my book, the Troggs are clearly underrated – especially when you look at the list of artists who were fans of their music (which includes Iggy Pop, MC5, the Buzzcocks, and the Ramones).. 

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I would have underrated the Troggs were it not for Steven Lorber, who regularly featured Troggs records on his “Mystic Eyes” radio show.  (Steven is still playing Troggs records.  When I appeared as a guest on his current radio show last year, his playlist included a very odd Troggs cover of “Good Vibrations.”)

One of the songs I heard on “Mystic Eyes” was “Feels Like a Woman,” today’s featured song.  It was the B-side of a 1972 single that failed to chart in the U.S. or anywhere else.  (God only knows how Steven tracked it down.)

It’s an uberromantic song – perfect for February 14!

Click here to listen to “Feels Like a Woman,” which was written by Troggs frontman Reg Presley.  (Presley died from lung cancer in 2013.)

Click on the link below to buy the song from Amazon: