Fancy were a British studio group concocted by producer Mike Hurst. Hurst, who was on the cusp of snaring a string of UK hits with rock-n-roll revivalists, Showaddywaddy, wanted to record an updated version of the Troggs’1966 #1 smash, “Wild Thing,” and found players who helped him suitably glam-up up the track for the times (the bitchin’ synth solo was excecuted by legendary studio musician, Alan Hawkshaw). For the vocal, Hurst had an idea.
Reg Presley was great, but the Troggs’ original was not sexy. However, the Jimi Hendrix version certainly was. Around 1972, I began to wonder if it could be done in a different way. Would it be even sexier sung by a woman?
Someone suggested Hurst recruit former Penthouse “Pet of the Month,” Helen Caunt (no, that’s not a typo) for the lead vocal spot. Hurst wanted a woman who would “massage” the song, but Caunt was determined to “sing”—even though she couldn’t actually hold a tune. Eventually, Hurst convinced Caunt to try a breathy approach, and also instructed her to moan over parts of the backing track.
Oh God, it worked, and turned everybody on to such an extent that mature musicians were seen to blush.
With Caunt’s salacious vocal in place, Fancy’s version of “Wild Thing” sounds damn near pornographic.
Helen Caunt on the cover of Penthouse, October 1971 (full, NSFW-ish image here)
“Wild Thing” was released on a 45 in the UK in 1973, but failed to generate much action. The BBC felt it was a little too spot-on and passed on the risqué track, which surely had much to do with its failure in Britain.
The results were quite different in the US, as “Wild Thing” climbed all the way to #14 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart during the summer of 1974. The picture sleeve featured models who had nothing to do with the recordings. Again, Hurst:
I suggested to Helen we do a picture surrounded by four black models. For a Penthouse Pet she was surprisingly demure, but she finally came round to my way of thinking. You only saw Helen’s back, but the entire band and camera crew were rushing around behind to get the full frontal. She was not amused.
It was conceived as a one-off, but with “Wild Thing” turning into a surprise hit, an album was quickly assembled. But before they went back in the studio, there was the matter of Caunt’s singing ability—or lack thereof. Helen was fired, with many try-outs taking place before they found Australian Annie Kavanagh, who had previously performed in Jesus Christ Superstar, and worked with Steely Dan, amongst others. Now an actual band, Fancy made a go of it with more singles (the similarly sultry, “Touch Me” made it to #19 in the states) and another album, Turns You On, as well as tour dates opening for name acts like Steppenwolf and KISS. But by 1976, the group ran out of steam, and Fancy called it a day.
Watch Fancy perform “Wild Thing” on television, after the jump…
