Tone Loc - Wild Thing [Single]

"Wild Thing" was the first single from rapper Tone Lōc's 1989 hit album Lōc-ed After Dark. The track was produced by The Dust Brothers, who would later go on to produce albums by the Beastie Boys, Young MC, Beck.


The song uses an uncredited sample of Van Halen's "Jamie's Cryin'". Van Halen's management at the time asked for a flat fee of $5,000 as payment to have the song sampled by Tone Lōc. Apparently, this decision was taken without consulting the band's members, who in turn did not expect Wild Thing to become the major hit it became. A subsequent civil lawsuit was settled out of court, with the band receiving $180,000 as settlement payment. Alex Van Halen has gone on record saying that he had heard the song over the radio halfway and not realizing it had been sampled until he recognized his (by now famous) tom-tom break at least a few times. Concerning the settlement, he said: "Well, at least we got something. Tone Lōc and his people made millions out of it..."

01. Wild Thing
02. Wild Thing (Wild Beats)
03. Loc'ed After Dark
04. Loc'ed After Dark (Radio Edit)

Tone Loc - Wild Thing [Single]