The studio version of this number, which would enter the Singles charts mid-November 1961, was recorded on 25 May; the 'WITCH DOCTOR' implementation, a portion of which was included in the film 'The Young Ones' premiered in December 1961, and finally made available in its entirety in 1997, was recorded a couple of days before it. The Luxembourg take, the reproduction of which is pretty reasonable, falls somewhere between WITCH DOCTOR and THE SAVAGE in its lead guitar approach (more intricate than the former, less incisive than the latter); Hank's improvised break here, which is nothing if not unrestrained, is certainly different from both and well worth having.
It could be that a recording was made for RL, and broadcast by the station, before any sort of official release, but The Shadows are not known for airing untried and untested numbers and it seems more likely that we are dealing with a recording date — and broadcast — towards the end of 1961 when the Single was in the shops or the film in a cinema near you, though not too late in 1961: it is known that Bruce quickly became disaffected with this tune and subsequently refused to play it. We have a note of a single instance of THE SAVAGE being broadcast during the final series of shows, about a year later, on 23 December 1962 – it could be that our recording was taken from that show, but it is impossible to believe that it was making its Luxembourg debut so late in the day. There is no BBC Radio example.