"Wild One" or "Real Wild Child" is an Australian
rock and roll
Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock-n-roll, and rock 'n' roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from African ...
song written by Johnny Greenan,
Johnny O'Keefe
John Michael O'Keefe (19 January 1935 – 6 October 1978) was an Australian rock and roll singer whose career began in the early 1950s. A pioneer of Rock music in Australia, his hits include " Wild One" (1958), " Shout!" and "She's My Baby". O ...
, and Dave Owens. While most sources state that O'Keefe was directly involved in composing the song, this has been questioned by others.
Sydney
Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...
disc jockey Tony Withers was credited with helping to get radio airplay for the song but writer credits on subsequent versions often omit Withers, who later worked in the United Kingdom on pirate stations
Radio Atlanta
Radio Atlanta was an offshore commercial station that operated briefly from 12 May 1964 to 2 July 1964 from a ship anchored in the North Sea, three and a half miles off Frinton-on-Sea, Essex, England. The radio broadcasting vessel was owned, at th ...
and, as Tony Windsor, on
Radio London.
According to O'Keefe's guitarist, Lou Casch, the song was inspired by an incident at a gig in
Newtown, Sydney, in about 1957. According to Casch, as O'Keefe and the Dee Jays played at an upstairs venue, an "Italian wedding" reception was taking place downstairs. Some of the dance patrons came to blows with wedding guests in the men's toilets, and within minutes the brawl had become a full-scale riot that spilled out into the street, with police eventually calling in the Navy Shore Patrol to help restore order. In an article by
Clinton Walker
Clinton Walker is an Australian writer, best known for his works on popular music. He wrote the books ''Highway to Hell'' (1994; a biography of Bon Scott), '' Buried Country'' (2000), ''History is Made at Night'' (2012), and others. He has als ...
that tries to answer the question, What was Australia’s first rock’n’roll record? the writer quotes Dee Jays’ saxophonist – and the song’s co-writer – John Greenan corroborating Casch’s account and elaborating upon it.
The release date of the single, 5 July 1958, is considered the birth of Australian rock and roll.
Iggy Pop
James Newell Osterberg Jr. (born April 21, 1947), known professionally as Iggy Pop, is an American singer, musician, songwriter, actor and radio broadcaster. He was the vocalist and lyricist of proto-punk band the Stooges, who were formed in 1 ...
recorded a cover version that was released in 1986, and collaborated with the band
Jet on a rerecorded cover released in 2008.
The Living End
The Living End is an Australian punk rock band from Melbourne, formed in 1994. Since 2002, the line-up consists of Chris Cheney (vocals, guitar), Scott Owen (double bass, vocals), and Andy Strachan (drums). The band rose to fame in 1997 after ...
performed the song at the 2008
APRA Awards to mark the 50th anniversary of the original release.
O'Keefe's recordings
O'Keefe was the first artist to record it, on his debut
EP ''Shakin' at the Stadium'', released on the
Festival
A festival is an event celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, Melā, mela, or Muslim holidays, eid. A ...
label. This version, ostensibly recorded live at the
Sydney Stadium
The Sydney Stadium was a sporting and entertainment venue in Sydney, which formerly stood on the corner of New South Head Road and Neild Avenue, Rushcutters Bay. Built in 1908, it was demolished in 1970 to make way for the construction of ...
, was in fact a studio recording, overdubbed with the sound of a real audience.
An alternative version was recorded and released outside Australia: in the United States (as "Real Wild Child") on
Brunswick and in the UK on
Coral
Corals are colonial marine invertebrates within the subphylum Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact Colony (biology), colonies of many identical individual polyp (zoology), polyps. Coral species include the important Coral ...
. "Festival liner notes have always put forward that the crowd overdub was the only difference... Ignoring the crowd overdub at the start, both versions have a different intro and JOK's vocal on the foreign versions is noticeably wilder than on the EP version issued here… As far as I know, the US/UK single version which, IMHO, is markedly superior to our version, was never issued in Australia... at the time,
utit did finally appear on a local compilation LP in the 70's and is now commonly available on various JOK CDs."
Tony Watson
The song was the first Australian rock recording to reach the national charts,
peaking at No. 20.
Iggy Pop version
Iggy Pop
James Newell Osterberg Jr. (born April 21, 1947), known professionally as Iggy Pop, is an American singer, musician, songwriter, actor and radio broadcaster. He was the vocalist and lyricist of proto-punk band the Stooges, who were formed in 1 ...
included a cover of the song on his seventh studio album ''
Blah-Blah-Blah'' (1986). Titled "Real Wild Child (Wild One)", this became a No. 10 hit on the
UK Singles Chart in January 1987. In Canada it charted for 20 weeks despite never peaking higher than No. 65 on the ''
RPM
Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or r⋅min−1) is a unit of rotational speed (or rotational frequency) for rotating machines.
One revolution per minute is equivalent to hertz.
Standards
ISO 80000-3:2019 def ...
'' Top Singles chart. It also charted on the US
''Billboard'' Album Rock Tracks
Mainstream Rock is a music chart published by ''Billboard'' magazine that ranks the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations in the United States. It is an administrative category that combines the " active rock" and " heritage rock" fo ...
chart, peaking at No. 27. In New Zealand the song reached No. 1 on the week of 21 June 1987, becoming Pop's biggest hit there.
The Iggy Pop version was featured in the film ''
Problem Child'' and its sequel, ''
Problem Child 2
''Problem Child 2'' is a 1991 American black comedy film and a sequel to the 1990 film '' Problem Child''. The film stars Michael Oliver, John Ritter, Laraine Newman, Amy Yasbeck, and Jack Warden. Oliver reprises his role as Junior, an adopted ...
''. It also featured in ''
Crocodile Dundee II
''Crocodile Dundee II'' is a 1988 action comedy film and the second installment of the ''Crocodile Dundee'' film series. It is a sequel to '' Crocodile Dundee'' (1986) and was followed by ''Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles'' (2001). Actors Pau ...
''. It also appeared in the beginning and during the closing credits of ''
Open Season 3
''Open Season 3'' is a 2010 American animated comedy film and the third in the ''Open Season'' film series. Directed by Cody Cameron, the film theatrically premiered in Russia on October 21, 2010 and was released direct-to-video in the United S ...
'', and also appeared in trailers from the 1996
Nickelodeon Movies
Nickelodeon Movies Inc. is an American Filmmaking, film production company based in Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California and owned by Paramount Global. Originally founded in 1995, it serves as both the film production division of Nickelodeon Pro ...
spy comedy film ''
Harriet the Spy
''Harriet the Spy'' is a children's novel written and illustrated by Louise Fitzhugh that was published in 1964. It has been called "a milestone in children's literature" and a "classic". In the U.S., it ranked number 12 in the 50 Best Books f ...
''. A clip of the song is also used in the opening titles of the Australian music television programme ''
Rage
Rage may refer to:
* Rage (emotion), an intense form of anger
Games
* Rage (collectible card game), a collectible card game
* Rage (trick-taking card game), a commercial variant of the card game Oh Hell
* ''Rage'' (video game), a 2011 first- ...
.'' Part of the version was also used at the start of the Remix Edit of Iggy Pop's own song "Monster Men" from ''
Space Goofs
''Space Goofs'' () is a French animated series that was produced by Gaumont Multimedia for its first season and Xilam for its second season, produced for France 3, and broadcast on that network from September 6, 1997 to May 12, 2006. The first ...
''. The song was also featured in the supernatural horror film ''
Five Nights at Freddy's
''Five Nights at Freddy's'' (''FNaF'') is a video game series and media franchise created by Scott Cawthon that includes video games, novels, graphic novels, and films. The story arcs typically follow a night guard or other character trying t ...
''.
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Jet and Iggy Pop version
A cover of the song was recorded again by Iggy Pop who teamed up with Aussie rockers
Jet, titled "The Wild One". It was released as a CD single and download on 19 July 2008 as a tribute to
Johnny O'Keefe
John Michael O'Keefe (19 January 1935 – 6 October 1978) was an Australian rock and roll singer whose career began in the early 1950s. A pioneer of Rock music in Australia, his hits include " Wild One" (1958), " Shout!" and "She's My Baby". O ...
and peaked at number 56 on the
ARIA Singles Chart
The ARIA Charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA became the offici ...
.
Charts
Other covers
In 1958, the song was released as a single by
Jerry Allison
Jerry Ivan Allison (August 31, 1939 – August 22, 2022) was an American musician. He was best known as the drummer for the Crickets and co-writer of their hits "That'll Be the Day" and "Peggy Sue", recorded with Buddy Holly. His only solo cha ...
, a member of
the Crickets
The Crickets were an American rock and roll band from Lubbock, Texas, formed by singer-songwriter Buddy Holly in January 1957. Their first hit record, "That'll Be the Day", released in May 1957, peaked at number three on the ''Billboard'' Top ...
, using the name Ivan, with
Buddy Holly
Charles Hardin Holley (September 7, 1936 – February 3, 1959), known as Buddy Holly, was an American singer, songwriter, and musician who was a central and pioneering figure of rock and roll. He was born to a musical family in Lubbock, Texa ...
backing him on guitar. Retitled "Real Wild Child," the song became a moderate hit, peaking at No. 68 on the
''Billboard'' Hot 100.
"Wild One" was also recorded by
Jerry Lee Lewis
Jerry Lee Lewis (September 29, 1935October 28, 2022) was an American pianist, singer, and songwriter. Nicknamed "The Killer", he was described as "rock 'n' roll's first great wild man". A pioneer of rock and roll and rockabilly music, Lewis m ...
in 1958 but was not released until 1974 on Lewis's album, ''Rockin' and Free''. His version also appears in the 1989 motion picture and soundtrack album for ''
Great Balls of Fire!'', ''
Nowhere Boy
''Nowhere Boy'' is a 2009 British biographical drama film, directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson in her directorial debut. Written by Matt Greenhalgh, it is based on Julia Baird's biography of her half-brother, the musician John Lennon. ''Nowhere ...
'', and ''The Complete Novel'' edition of ''
The Outsiders The Outsiders may refer to:
Literature and stage
* ''The Outsiders'' (novel), a 1967 novel by S. E. Hinton
* ''The Outsiders'' (musical), a 2023 musical based on S. E. Hinton's novel
* ''The Outsiders'' (play), a 1911 play by Charles Klein
* ...
''. His version was used as a
plot device
A plot device or plot mechanism
is any technique in a narrative used to move the plot forward.
A clichéd plot device may annoy the reader and a contrived or arbitrary device may confuse the reader, causing a loss of the suspension of disbelief ...
in the Australian movie ''
Romulus, My Father
''Romulus, My Father'' is a biographical memoir, first published in 1998, written by the Australian philosopher Raimond Gaita. The memoir outlines the life of his father, Romulus Gaita (1922 – May 1996).
Plot
Romulus Gaita fled his hometown o ...
''.
It was recorded and released as "Real Wild Child" by
Jet Harris
Terence "Jet" Harris (6 July 1939 – 18 March 2011) was an English rock and roll musician. He was an original member of Cliff Richard's backing band the Shadows, serving as the bass guitarist from the group's inception until April 1962, aft ...
, former bassist with
the Shadows
The Shadows (originally known as the Drifters between 1958 and 1959) were an English instrumental rock group, who dominated the British popular music charts in the pre-Beatles era from the late 1950s to the early 1960s. They served as the bac ...
, in 1962 on Harris' self-titled EP. A further version, "Real Wild Child (Wild One)" was recorded by British guitarist,
Albert Lee
Albert William Lee (born 21 December 1943) is an English guitarist known for his fingerstyle and hybrid picking technique. Lee has worked, both in the studio and on tour, with many famous musicians from a wide range of genres. He has also m ...
, on his 1982 self-titled album.
Other artists to record this song include
Status Quo
is a Latin phrase meaning the existing state of affairs, particularly with regard to social, economic, legal, environmental, political, religious, scientific or military issues. In the sociological sense, the ''status quo'' refers to the curren ...
,
Everlife
Everlife was an American pop rock band made up of three sisters, Amber, Sarah, and Julia Ross which formed in early 2001.
History
Everlife originated in Indiana, Pennsylvania. The band was formed in the winter of 1997 with Sarah on the drum ...
,
The Runaways
The Runaways were an American rock band who recorded and performed from 1975 to 1979. Formed in 1975 in Los Angeles, the band released four studio albums and one live album during its run. Among their best-known songs are " Cherry Bomb", " Holl ...
,
Joan Jett & the Blackhearts
Joan Jett and the Blackhearts is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1979 as a conjunction of lead musician, singer and songwriter Joan Jett and the backup band. It has undergone many lineup changes since its inception, w ...
,
Marshall Crenshaw
Marshall Howard Crenshaw (born November 11, 1953) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and guitarist best known for hit songs such as " Someday, Someway", a US top 40 hit in 1982, " Cynical Girl", and " Whenever You're on My Mind". He is ...
,
Brian Setzer
Brian Robert Setzer (born April 10, 1959) is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He found widespread success in the early 1980s with the 1950s-style rockabilly group Stray Cats, and returned to the music scene in the early 1990s with ...
,
Lee Rocker
Leon Drucker (born August 3, 1961), professionally known as Lee Rocker is an American musician. He is a member of the rockabilly band Stray Cats.
He is the son of the classical clarinetists Stanley Drucker, the late former principal clarinet ...
,
Teenage Head,
Albert Lee
Albert William Lee (born 21 December 1943) is an English guitarist known for his fingerstyle and hybrid picking technique. Lee has worked, both in the studio and on tour, with many famous musicians from a wide range of genres. He has also m ...
and
Wakefield
Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 109,766 in the 2021 census, up from 99,251 in the 2011 census. The city is the administrative centre of the wider Metropolit ...
. A cover by
Christopher Otcasek appeared on the soundtrack to the film ''
Pretty Woman
''Pretty Woman'' is a 1990 American romantic comedy film directed by Garry Marshall and written by J. F. Lawton. The film stars Richard Gere and Julia Roberts, and features Héctor Elizondo, Ralph Bellamy (in his final performance), ...
''. The cover by
Wakefield
Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 109,766 in the 2021 census, up from 99,251 in the 2011 census. The city is the administrative centre of the wider Metropolit ...
appeared in the movie ''
EuroTrip'' and its soundtrack.
An up-tempo rock version of the song (titled as
''Real Wild Child
'') was covered by the fictional band
Josie and the Pussycats Josie and the Pussycats (sometimes simply known as The Pussycats) is a fictional girl group rock band created by Dan DeCarlo for Archie Comics
Archie Comic Publications, Inc. (often referred to simply as Archie Comics) is an American comic boo ...
(lead vocals provided by singer
Kay Hanley
Kay Hanley (born September 11, 1968) is an American singer and songwriter. She is best known as the vocalist for the alternative rock band Letters to Cleo.
Life and career
Hanley grew up in Dorchester, Massachusetts, across the street from the ...
) in the 2001
film of the same name.
Everlife recorded a pop rock cover of the song for the soundtrack to the 2006 animated movie ''
The Wild
''The Wild'' is a 2006 animated adventure comedy film directed by Steve "Spaz" Williams with a screenplay by Ed Decter, John J. Strauss, Mark Gibson and Philip Halprin, as well as featuring an ensemble cast consisting of Kiefer Sutherland, ...
''.
Girls Aloud
Girls Aloud are a British-Irish pop music, pop girl group that was created through the ITV (TV network), ITV talent show ''Popstars: The Rivals'' in 2002. The line up consisted of members Cheryl (singer), Cheryl, Nadine Coyle, Sarah Harding, N ...
singer
Sarah Harding
Sarah Harding (born Sarah Nicole Hardman; 17 November 1981 – 5 September 2021) was an English singer, model and actress. Her professional career began in 2002 when she successfully auditioned for the ITV (TV channel), ITV reality series ''Po ...
recorded a version of the song for the soundtrack to the 2008 film ''
Wild Child''.
A variation of this song with different lyrics was also sung by
Suzi Quatro
Susan Kay Quatro (born June 3, 1950) is an American singer, bass guitarist, songwriter, and actress. In the 1970s, she scored a string of singles that found success in Europe and Australia, with both "Can the Can" (1973) and "Devil Gate Drive" ...
and released in 1974 as a track on her second album
''Quatro''. As pointed out by Clinton Walker once again,
the songwriting credit was taken by her Chinnichap production team at RAK Records, whose
Mike Chapman
Michael Donald Chapman (born 13 April 1947) is an Australian record producer and songwriter who was a major force in the British pop music industry in the 1970s. He created a string of hit singles for artists including The Sweet, Suzi Quatro ...
, as an Australian, would have been well familiar with.
Another cover of the song, with the title "Real Wild Child," was by Levi Kreis portraying Jerry Lee Lewis on the original Broadway cast recording of the Broadway musical ''
Million Dollar Quartet
"Million Dollar Quartet" is a recording of an impromptu jam session involving Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins and Johnny Cash made on December 4, 1956 at the Sun Studio, Sun Record Studios in Memphis, Tennessee. An article about th ...
''. Kreis won a 2010
Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical
The Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical is an honor presented at the Tony Awards, a ceremony established in 1947 as the Antoinette Perry Awards for Excellence in Theatre, to actors for quality featured roles in a musi ...
.
A seasonal version of the song was covered in December 2014 by former UK soap actor
John Altman with backing band JoanOvArc.
A punk version was recorded in 1980 by
Teenage Head on their album "
Frantic City
''Frantic City'' is the second studio album by Teenage Head. It was released in 1980. The album was certified Platinum in Canada in 1983.
Track listing
Personnel
;Teenage Head
*Frankie Venom (Kerr) - vocals
*Gordon Lewis - guitar
*Steve ...
".
Further utilisation
The 1986 Iggy Pop version of the song is used as the title music to the
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is Australia’s principal public service broadcaster. It is funded primarily by grants from the federal government and is administered by a government-appointed board of directors. The ABC is ...
's all-night
music video
A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...
programme, ''
rage
Rage may refer to:
* Rage (emotion), an intense form of anger
Games
* Rage (collectible card game), a collectible card game
* Rage (trick-taking card game), a commercial variant of the card game Oh Hell
* ''Rage'' (video game), a 2011 first- ...
'' and is also featured in the game ''
SingStar Amped''.
This version is also used for the opening credits of the German TV series ''
Der letzte Bulle
''The Last Cop'' (German: ''Der letzte Bulle'') is a German television series that was first aired in 2010. The series is about a policeman from the 1980s put into a modern police department in Essen.
Plot
The show is set in Essen, in the cent ...
'', first aired in Germany in 2010.
In 1998,
Australia Post
Australia Post, formally the Australian Postal Corporation and also known as AusPost, is an Australian Government-State-owned enterprise, owned corporation that provides postal services throughout Australia. Australia Post's head office is loca ...
issued a special edition set of twelve
stamps
Stamp or Stamps or Stamping may refer to:
Official documents and related impressions
* Postage stamp, used to indicate prepayment of fees for public mail
* Ration stamp, indicating the right to rationed goods
* Revenue stamp, used on documents to ...
celebrating the early years of Australian rock and roll, featuring Australian hit songs of the late 50s, 60s and early 70s: "Each of them said something about us, and told the rest of the world this is what popular culture sounds like, and it has an Australian accent." One of the stamps featured Johnny O'Keefe and "Wild One".
Everlife's cover was featured in the video game ''
Lego Rock Band
''Lego Rock Band'' is a 2009 rhythm game developed by TT Fusion in partnership with Harmonix and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. It is the fifth console installment in the ''Rock Band ''series, while it incorporates elemen ...
''.
Wakefield's cover was featured in the video game ''
Tak and the Power of Juju
''Tak and the Power of Juju'' is a 2003 platform game developed by Avalanche Software and published by THQ for the GameCube, PlayStation 2 and Game Boy Advance. The game was released in North America on October 15, 2003 and in Europe on Marc ...
''.
Joan Jett's version appeared in an ad for the sitcom ''
Hot in Cleveland
''Hot in Cleveland'' is an American television sitcom aired on TV Land and starring Valerie Bertinelli, Jane Leeves, Wendie Malick, and Betty White.
The series, which was TV Land's first original series, premiered on June 16, 2010, and was ...
''. It also appeared during the closing credits of ''
Bad Teacher
''Bad Teacher'' is a 2011 American comedy film directed by Jake Kasdan and written by Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky. The film stars Cameron Diaz, Justin Timberlake, Lucy Punch, John Michael Higgins, and Jason Segel, and follows a cynic ...
''.
In 2014 it was used in a commercial (titled "Family Racer") for the 2015
Hyundai Sonata
The Hyundai Sonata () is a mid-size car that has been manufactured by Hyundai since 1985. The first generation Sonata, which was introduced in 1985, was a facelifted version of the Hyundai Stellar with an engine upgrade, and was withdrawn fr ...
.
Notes
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wild One, The
1958 songs
1958 singles
1986 singles
2006 singles
2008 singles
Johnny O'Keefe songs
Iggy Pop songs
Jet (band) songs
Jerry Lee Lewis songs
Number-one singles in New Zealand
A&M Records singles
Leedon Records singles
Warner Music Group singles