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).
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[…] For another song by The Troggs: “Love is All Around.” […]