With a name like The Troggs, and a signature song like “Wild Thing,” it’s understandable the band might get pegged as garage rockers that didn’t have a second move. But they proved quite adept at ballads as well, as evidenced by their 1967 smash single “Love Is All Around.”
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Who knew this sweet little song could do so much damage, not just in its original incarnation but also via a massive cover version in the ’90s? Here’s the story of how “Love Is All Around” was created, and how, in 1994, it just kept going around, and around, and around ….
Troglodytes Unite
Formed in the early ’60s in England, the quartet known as The Troggs (short for Troglodytes) released their first recordings in 1964. That was a heady time for British bands, as it was that same year The Beatles made the jump from England to America, clearing a path for others to join them.
Few British Invasion bands boasted a breakthrough as distinctive as “Wild Thing.” It was a song whose relatively primitive musical foundation made millions of amateur musicians believe they could do something quite similar. It went to No. 1 in the U.S. in 1966, while just missing the top of the charts in Great Britain.
How does a band follow up something so striking? Well, it turned out to be not that daunting a task for The Troggs, in part because they didn’t write “Wild Thing” anyway. Their lead singer and chief songwriter, Reg Presley, penned a wide variety of songs at various tempos during the band’s heyday. “Love Is All Around” just happened to be the one that did major damage in the U.S. as well as the UK.
Finding “Love”
Presley wrote “Love Is All Around” not long after returning home to England after a stint in America. Happy to be back with his wife and daughter, he flicked on the telly and saw a Christian music group singing a song called “Love That’s All Around.” Inspired by this song and the warm feelings of being home with his family, he soon had written a wonderful ballad of his own.
Released at the tail end of 1967, the song caught the flower-power vibes that were prevalent at the time. As a result, it made it to the Top 10 on both sides of the Atlantic. It would also be the last major hit by The Troggs. But as it turned out, it wasn’t done charming audience members.
In 1994, the Scottish group Wet Wet Wet was asked to do a cover of the song for the romantic comedy Four Weddings and a Funeral. The movie was a hit, and the song was an even bigger one, at least in the UK. This version of “Love Is All Around” topped the British charts for an incredible 16 weeks before finally relinquishing the space.
Behind the Lyrics of “Love is All Around”
I feel it in my fingers / I feel it in my toes. So sings Reg Presley at the beginning of “Love Is All Around,” an unabashedly sentimental tribute to that most celebrated of emotions. It’s written on the wind, he insists, touching on the magic of it all. And it’s infinite: There’s no beginning / There’ll be no end.
In the narrator’s case, love manifests itself in his romantic partner’s presence: I see your face before me / As I lay on my bed. Their marriage testifies to their belief in it: You gave your promise to me / And I gave mine to you. Why not enjoy these blissful feeling while the opportunity exists: So if you really love me / Come on and let it show.
There’s something so direct and innocent about The Troggs’ “Love Is All Around” that’s hard to resist. It suggests it really is all that simple when you’re with someone special. It’s no wonder then this ditty has been charming folks, in separate iterations, for all these years.
Photo by Daily Mirror/Mirrorpix via Getty Images
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