Released 1958 Recorded 1958 Length 2:30 | Format EP Genre Rock and roll Label Leedon
Festival | |
"Wild One" or "Real Wild Child" is an Australian rock and roll song written by Johnny Greenan, Johnny O'Keefe, and Dave Owens. While most sources state that O'Keefe was directly involved in composing the song, this has been questioned by others. Sydney 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 and, as Tony Windsor, on Radio London.
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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.
The release date of the single, 5 July 1958, is considered the birth of Australian rock and roll. The band Jet and Iggy Pop cover was released to mark the 50th anniversary of the original release. The Living End performed the song at the 2008 APRA Awards to mark the anniversary.
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 label. This version, ostensibly recorded live at the Sydney Stadium, was in fact a studio recording, overdubbed with the sound of a real audience.
An alternate version was recorded and released outside Australia: in the USA (as "Real Wild Child") on Brunswick and in the UK on 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, [but] it 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
Iggy Pop included a cover of the song on his 1986 album Blah-Blah-Blah. Titled "Real Wild Child (Wild One)", this became a No. 10 hit on the UK Singles Chart in January 1987. It also charted on Billboard's Album Rock Tracks chart, peaking at No. 27. The Iggy Pop version was featured in the films Crocodile Dundee II, Adventures in Babysitting, Problem Child and its sequel Problem Child 2. The clip for that song was used in the opening titles for ABC music block rage
A cover of the song was recorded again by Iggy Pop who teamed up with Aussie rockers Jet which was released as a single in July 2008.
Other covers
In 1958 the song was released as a single by Jerry Allison, a member of the Crickets, using the name Ivan, with Buddy Holly backing him up 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 in 1958 but was not released until 1974 on Lee's album, Rockin' and Free. His version also appears in the 1989 motion picture and soundtrack album for Great Balls of Fire! and Nowhere Boy.
It was recorded and released as "Real Wild Child" by Jet Harris, former bassist with the Shadows, in 1962 on Harris' self-titled EP. A further version, "Real Wild Child (Wild One)" was recorded by British guitarist, Albert Lee, on his 1982 self-titled album.
Other artists to record this song include Status Quo, Everlife, Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, Glamour Camp, Marshall Crenshaw, Brian Setzer, Lee Rocker, Teenage Head, Albert Lee and Wakefield. A cover by Christopher Otcasek appeared on the soundtrack to the film Pretty Woman. The cover by Wakefield appeared in the movie EuroTrip and its soundtrack. Young at Heart often covers the song during their sets at Kelly's Bar.
An up-tempo rock version of the song (titled as ''Real Wild Child'') was covered by the fictional band Josie and the Pussycats (lead vocals provided by singer Kay Hanley) in the 2001 film of the same name.
Alvin and the Chipmunks covered the song for "Chip Tracy" (a parody of the 1990 Dick Tracy film), an episode from the final season of Alvin and the Chipmunks. A second rendition was recorded with the Chipettes for the Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked: Music from the Motion Picture album and the Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked film. A few lyrics have changed in this version.
Girls Aloud singer Sarah Harding recorded a version of the song for the soundtrack to the 2008 film Wild Child.
This song was also sung by Suzi Quatro.
The most recent 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. Kreis won a 2010 Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical.
A seasonal version of the song was covered in December 2014 by former UK soap actor John Altman with backing band JoanOvArc.
Further Utilization
The 1986 Iggy Pop version of the song is used as the title music to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's all-night music video programme, rage 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, first aired in Germany in 2010.
In 1998 Australia Post issued a special edition set of twelve stamps 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.
Wakefield's cover was featured in the video game Tak and the Power of Juju. It also appeared in the beginning and during the closing credits of Open Season 3.
Joan Jett's version appeared in an ad for the sitcom Hot in Cleveland. It also appeared during the closing credits of Bad Teacher. In 2014 it was used in a commercial (titled "Family Racer") for the 2015 Hyundai Sonata.