Rock

The song “Love is All Around” by The Troggs is one of the popular sixties British invasion songs. During the British music explosion in 1964, four lads from Hampshire, England formed a band called the Troglodytes. They soon shortened their name to The Troggs and began recording. Following their 1966 monster hit “Wild Thing” they showed a softer side with the touching ballad “Love Is All Around.” The Troggs’s  gritty performance is offset by a sweet string quartet and a clock-type percussion, creating a sound that foreshadowed the Garage Band sound of the early 1990s.

“Love Is All Around” was written by lead singer Reg Presley who said he was inspired by a TV program of the Joy Strings Salvation Army band called “Love That’s All Around.” Presley recalls, “I went over to turn it off, knelt down and heard that ‘Love, love’ I got a bass line  ‘doom, doomdoom, doomdoom, doomdoom, doom,’ and I got: ‘I feel it in my fingers, I feel it in my toes … And so the feeling grows.”

The single was released in the UK in October 1967. It reached #5 on the UK singles chart in November. The following February “Love Is All Around” came on the Billboard Hot 100 and eventually peaked at #7 in May 1968. However, the song was to have its greatest success almost 30 year later.

In 1994 the box office smash Four Weddings and a Funeral featured a cover of “Love Is All Around” by the group Wet Wet Wet as a major part of the soundtrack. This time “Love Is All Around” went to #1 for fifteen straight weeks on the UK Singles Chart. It was either #1 or #2 in 8 other European countries, although it stayed just below the top 40 in the US. This 1994 revival earned Reg Presley massive royalties as the songwriter. He denoted the proceeds to crop circle research.

The Troggs were: Reg Presley (lead vocals), Chris Britton (lead guitar), Pete Staples (bass guitar) and Ronnie Bond (drums).

Here are the lyrics to “Love is All Around” by The Troggs:

“I feel it in my fingers, I feel it in my toes
Love is all around me and so the feeling grows
It’s written on the wind, it’s everywhere I go
So if you really love me, come on and let it show

You know I love you I always will
My mind’s made up by the way that I feel
There’s no beginning, there’ll be no end
Cause on my love you can depend

I see your face before me, as I lay on my bed
I kinda get to thinking of all the things we said
You gave a promise to me, and I gave mine to you
I need someone beside me in everything I do

You know I love you I always will
My mind’s made up by the way that I feel
There’s no beginning, there’ll be no end
Cause on my love you can depend

It’s written on the wind, it’s everywhere I go
So if you really love me, come on and let it show
Come on and let it show (repeat)”

If you are interested in reading about and listening to another song by The Troggs (in a different mood), please click here for “Wild Thing.”

If you would like an album of music by The Troggs, please click on the photo below:

Check Out The Groove Pad for More 1960s Music

The Pass the Paisley Groove Pad is a resting stop, a place to chill out and listen to the featured song on the stereo. If the mood strikes you, click on the juke box to access and listen to the 50+ commercial free online songs there. The TV has several channels, with selections updated twice a week. Every now and then, Pass the Paisley hosts an all-request of 1960s and 1970s songs for a Be-In at the juke box in the Groove Pad. Keep on truckin’. Hope you enjoyed “Love is All Around” by The Troggs.