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Troggs Singer Reg Presley Battling Lung Cancer, Retires From Band

Christie Goodwin, Getty Images

Reg Presley, the lead singer for 'Wild Thing' hitmakers the Troggs, has revealed that he's battling lung cancer. The 70-year-old is retiring from the garage-rock pioneers while he undergoes chemotherapy.

The Troggs, who also had hits with 'Love Is All Around' and 'With a Girl Like You,' started their career in England in 1964 and have been active ever since. Presley suffered a stroke in 2010 and was thought to have had another in December 2011 while performing in Germany.

"During my stay in hospital tests showed that in fact I have lung cancer," Presley said in a statement on the band's official site. "I am receiving chemotherapy treatment and at the moment not feeling too bad.

"However I've had to call time on The Troggs and retire. I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for the cards and calls and for your love, loyalty and support over the years.

"I shall miss you all."

Fans who wish to send well wishes to Presley can mail them to the Troggs' fan-club secretary Jacqueline Ryan at 56 Waite Davies Rd., London SE12 OND.

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Jensen Lee

Sad to hear the news about Reg Presley. While the Troggs pioneered Neanderthal rock with 1966’s “Wild Thing,” the song was first written by Chip Taylor for the Wild Ones, the house band of Sybil Burton’s NYC discotheque Arthur. On request, Taylor took three hours to write, record and deliver a demo of the song, complete with a whistling interlude by an engineer. The Wild Ones’ version suffered from too much orchestration and died a quick death. Rockaeology at http://bit.ly/m3B6c8 tells how the Reg Presley discovered the demo in London and reinstated the primitive sound of Taylor’s original, substituted an ocarina for the whistling and hit number one in a few weeks.

January 26 2012 at 5:42 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply