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| THE TROGGS-Surprise Surprise (I Need You)/ Cousin Jane U.S. Fontana F-1630 1968 |
The Troggs U.S. run at the hit parade was sadly short and sweet with "Wild Thing" bludgeoning it's way to #1 in July '66 and "Love Is All Around" bouncing them back at #5 in November of '68, but between and after it was bleak, but that didn't stop Fontana records from prolifically releasing their singles......
Their follow up in the States to "Love is All Around" was the absolutely dog shit horrible "You Can Cry If You Want To", which was followed in September 1968 by today's selection, "Surprise Surprise (I Need You)". It was previously issued in The U.K and elsewhere in April with a different flip, the curiously named "Marbles And Some Gum". Canada followed the American lead issuing it with the two year old track "Cousin Jane" as a B-side.
"Surprise Surprise (I Need You)" follows Reg Presley's usual leering lyrical pattern, though this time Reg is not doing the leering. Our protagonist arrives at his place to find "the lights were down, the light's were dim...the table lit by candle light a record player rolled" to find his girl was "making love to someone else instead of me" on top of a rollicking piano and a VERY distinctly proto-Ramones drum beat. Quite rocking! I like this!
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| Curious Spanish picture sleeve with intentional defacement |
The flip, "Cousin Jane", penned by their manager Larry Page in conjunction with David Mathews was previously issued in February '67 as a single by artist Barry Benson. The Troggs version first appeared as an E.P. track in Spain, Portugal and France in 1966 but did not surface in the U.K. until their "Troggs Tops 2" E.P. in July and their second British long player "Trogglodynamite" in 1967. For those not familiar "Cousin Jane", this is the band skirting the taboo of incest and boyhood lust ("Cousin Jane, come to stay again..each night tip toe across the landing kiss her lips just as she's standing there.. each night hold her until the morning...no one will ever know"). The subtle instrumentation is just a piano and what sounds like a glockenspiel which a touch of phlanging on the piano bass notes giving it an eerie and foreboding effect. Despite the song's risque topic it's actually one of my favorites by them in terms of delivery.
Both sides are available on a host of compilations and streaming services.
Hear "Surprise Surprise (I Need You)":
Hear "Cousin Jane":
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