"Lost Girl" is a song by British rock band

the Troggs The Troggs (originally called the Troglodytes) are an English garage rock band formed in Andover, Hampshire in May 1964. Their most famous songs include the US chart-topper " Wild Thing", "With a Girl Like You" and "Love Is All Around", all o ...

, written by lead singer

Reg Presley Reginald Maurice Ball (12 June 1941 – 4 February 2013), known professionally as Reg Presley, was an English singer and songwriter. He was the lead singer with the 1960s rock and roll band the Troggs, whose hits included " Wild Thing" (#1 on th ...

(credited under his birth name R. M. Ball). Released as the group's debut single in February 1966, backed by "The Yella in Me", it failed to chart in the UK but became a top-ten hit in Sweden in December of that year.

Background and release

Larry Page Lawrence Edward Page (born March 26, 1973) is an American business magnate, computer scientist and internet entrepreneur. He is best known for co-founding Google with Sergey Brin. Page was the chief executive officer of Google from 1997 unt ...

signed

in February1966, and the band soon after moved to London. In preparation for the group's debut single, Page booked time at Regent Sound Studios in London, where he had previously recorded demoes with

the Kinks The Kinks were an English rock band formed in Muswell Hill, north London, in 1963 by brothers Ray and Dave Davies. They are regarded as one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s. The band emerged during the height of British rhythm ...

, and the Troggs' lead singer

prepared two songs, "Lost Girl" and "The Yella in Me". The former was a

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...

song which according to Ken Barnes largely revolves around Chris Britton's "wildest guitar work" along with a "psuedo-African" beat by drummer Ronnie Bond.''Archeology (1966-1976)'' (liner notes pg. 4). Barnes, Ken.

The Troggs The Troggs (originally called the Troglodytes) are an English garage rock band formed in Andover, Hampshire in May 1964. Their most famous songs include the US chart-topper " Wild Thing", "With a Girl Like You" and "Love Is All Around", all o ...

Fontana Fontana may refer to: Places Italy *Fontana Liri, comune in the Province of Frosinone *Fontanafredda, comune in the Province of Pordenone *Fontanarosa, comune in the Province of Avellino *Francavilla Fontana, comune in the Province of Brindisi * ...

. 1992. 5144232 "The Yella in Me" was a

novelty song A novelty song is a type of song built upon some form of novel concept, such as a gimmick, a piece of humor, or a sample of popular culture. Novelty songs partially overlap with comedy songs, which are more explicitly based on humor, and w ...

, which Page described as, " resleywalking down the sidewalk with his girlfriend" before getting beaten up by a stranger on the street. The Troggs were initially signed to Page's label

Page One Records Page One Records, established in 1966, was the UK independent record label, owned by the producer/manager, Larry Page. They were involved in a court case in July 1967 with The Troggs.9681 WLR 157; 9673 All ER 822; (1967) 111 SJ 944 The label, ...

, but for the release of "Lost Girl", he arranged for it to be distributed through

CBS Records CBS Records may refer to: * CBS Records or CBS/Sony, former name of Sony Music, a global record company * CBS Records International, label for Columbia Records recordings released outside North America from 1962 to 1990 * CBS Records (2006), founde ...

. The single was released on 11 February 1966. The single garnered little airplay upon release, and according to Presley, it was played "one time on

Radio Luxembourg Radio Luxembourg was a multilingual commercial broadcaster in Luxembourg. It is known in most non-English languages as RTL (for Radio Television Luxembourg). The English-language service of Radio Luxembourg began in 1933 as one of the earlies ...

at 3 AM". After the success of the Troggs' two following singles, " Wild Thing" and "

With a Girl Like You "With a Girl Like You" is a song by English rock band the Troggs, released as a single in July 1966. On the back of the success of " Wild Thing", "With a Girl Like You" topped the charts in the UK, and was similarly a success across Europe, but ...

", CBS reissued "Lost Girl" in September 1966 before the release of the Troggs' fourth single, "

I Can't Control Myself "I Can't Control Myself" is a song by English rock band the Troggs, released as a single in September 1966. It continued their success after " Wild Thing" and "With a Girl Like You", becoming a top-ten hit in a number of countries. Release and ...

". "Lost Girl" again failed to chart in the UK, but it became a chart hit in Sweden, reaching number 16 on Kvällstoppen and entering the top-ten on ''

Tio i Topp ''Tio i Topp'' (English: ''Ten At The Top'') was a Swedish record chart and radio program broadcast by Sveriges Radio P3 between the years of 1961 and 1974. It was launched to combat pirate radio charts and was the first official Swedish record cha ...

'', peaking at number seven.

Reception

Writing for ''

New Musical Express ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'', the critic Derek Johnson stated that the lyrics contrasted against the "fervent, frantic beat", noting that the song had an "explosive, underlying rumble". He ended by stating it to be "quite a raver". Following its release, "Lost Girl" would remain in relative obscurity, partly because the Troggs re-used the melody and drum pattern for the song "From Home", which appeared as the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

of " Wild Thing".''Archeology (1966-1976)'' (liner notes pg. 7). Barnes, Ken.

. 1992. 5144232 According to Britton, the band "liked the rhythm of 'Lost Girl'" to the point that they wanted to record a re-write of it. The single's lack of success led Reginal Ball to adapt his stage name to Reg Presley, while the Troggs and Larry Page decided to record material by outside songwriters for their following singles, instead letting songs written by Presley appear on B-sides and albums.''Hit Single Anthology'' (liner notes pg. 2). Callomon, Martin.

. 1992. 848 164-2

Charts

References

{{Reflist 1966 debut singles 1966 songs The Troggs songs CBS Discos singles Songs written by Reg Presley