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Marty Wilde

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Marty Wilde
Birth nameReginald Leonard Smith
Born (1939-04-15) 15 April 1939 (age 85), Blackheath, South London, England, United Kingdom
GenresRock and roll, pop, rockabilly
Years activeLate 1950s–present
LabelsPhilips (UK), Epic (US)
Websitemartywilde.com

Marty Wilde (born Reginald Leonard Smith, 15 April 1939)[1] is an English singer and songwriter. He was among the first generation of British pop stars to emulate American rock and roll, and is the father of pop singers Ricky, Kim and Roxanne Wilde.

Career

Wilde was born in Blackheath, London. He was performing under the name Reg Patterson at London's Condor Club in 1957, when he was spotted by impresario Larry Parnes.[2] Parnes gave his protégés stage names like Billy Fury, Duffy Power and Dickie Pride, hence the change to Wilde.[2] The 'Marty' came from the commended 1955 film, Marty. Wilde was signed to the British recording arm of Philips Records, with US releases appearing on the Epic label via Philips' reciprocal licensing agreement with Columbia Records stateside. (Philips had yet to acquire the Mercury group as its US division.)

From mid-1958 to the end of 1959, Wilde was one of the leading British rock and roll singers, along with Tommy Steele and Cliff Richard.[2] Wilde's backing group was called the Wildcats.[2] At various times they featured Big Jim Sullivan on lead guitar, Tony Belcher on rhythm guitar and Bobbie Clarke on drums; plus Brian Locking on bass guitar and Brian Bennett on drums who both later joined the Shadows.[2]

He appeared regularly on the BBC Television show 6.5 Special and was the main regular artiste on the Saturday ITV popular music shows Oh Boy! and Boy Meets Girls.[2] There he met and married Joyce Baker, one of the Vernons Girls who were also show regulars. The courtship was highly public but, after the marriage, Wilde's popularity as a teen idol declined.

He moved partly into all-round entertainment, appearing in musicals such as Conrad Birdie in the original West End production of Bye Bye Birdie[2] and several films.

He enjoyed success as a songwriter in the late 1960s and early 1970s. With Ronnie Scott, he co-wrote the one-hit wonders the Casuals' "Jesamine" under the pseudonyms of Frere Manston and Jack Gellar. The pair also wrote Lulu's "I'm a Tiger" and the early Status Quo hit, "Ice in the Sun".[2]

In the early 1970s, Wilde changed his music style to glam rock and became 'Zappo'. He released only a few singles which never charted and reverted to Marty Wilde shortly after.

Wilde also appeared on Candid Camera, in on the joke, 'recording' a version of "Teenager in Love", with a backing group consisting of three volunteers from a bingo hall next door to the recording studios.

Later on, as a songwriter and record producer, he was behind a string of 1980s hits for his daughter Kim Wilde.[2]

Like many of his contemporaries, Wilde continued to perform in nostalgia tours in the UK and beyond. In 2007, he celebrated 50 years in the business with another UK tour which featured his youngest daughter Roxanne Wilde, and the issue of a compilation album, Born To Rock And Roll – The Greatest Hits. It included a duet with Kim Wilde of Elton John's "Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word", which was released as a promotional only single. The tour culminated in a concert recorded at the London Palladium, and was most notable for reuniting all the remaining Shadows: Hank Marvin, Bruce Welch, Jet Harris, Brian Locking and Brian Bennett.

Family

He and his wife Joyce have four children, Kim (born 1960), Ricky (born 1961), Roxanne (born 1979) and the youngest, Marty Jr. (born 1983), who was a contestant on the Golf Channel's The Big Break IV: USA vs. Europe in 2005. Kim, Ricky and Roxanne have worked in the music industry, like their parents.[3]

Discography

Singles

His notable UK singles are listed below, with their peak positions in the UK Singles Chart[4] and, for cover versions, the song's original artist given in a further set of brackets.

1957

1958

1959

1960

  • "Johnny Rocco" (30) (March 1960) – written by Les Vandyke.
  • "The Fight" (47) (May 1960)
  • "Little Girl" (16) (October 1960)

1961

  • "Rubber Ball" (9) (January 1961) (Bobby Vee)
  • "Hide and Seek" (47) (July 1961)
  • "Tomorrow's Clown" (33) (September 1961) – written by Wilde
  • "Sea of Heartbreak" (Don Gibson)

1962

  • "Jezebel" (19) (Frankie Laine) (April 1962)
  • "Ever Since You Said Goodbye" (31) (October 1962)

1968

  • "By the Time I Get to Phoenix" (Johnny Rivers, Glen Campbell) (January 1968)
  • "Abergavenny" – which Wilde (as Frere Manston) and Ronnie Scott (not the famous jazz musician) (as Jack Gellar) wrote, with the orchestra of Peter Knight (not the folk musician) backing – was a hit in, among other places, Europe in May 1968[5] and Australia, on the Go-Set charts from the mid summer of 1968, eventually reaching the top 10 several times.[6] (It was also a Top 50 hit in the US in August 1969 under another Reginald Smith pseudonym, "Shannon".)

1971

  • "The Busker"

Albums

  • Wilde about Marty (LP Philips BBL 7342, August 1959)
  • Marty Wilde – Showcase (LP, Philips BBL 7380, 1960)
  • Versatile Mr Wilde (LP, Philips BBL 7385, 1960)
  • Bye Bye Birdie (LP, Philips S/ABL 3383, 1961)
  • Dr. Dolittle (LP, 1968)
  • Diversions (LP, Philips SBL 7877, 1969)
  • Rock 'n' Roll (Philips 6308 010, 1970)
  • Good Rockin' Then and Now (LP, Philips 6382 102, 1974)
  • The Wildcat Rocker (LP, Philips 6381 022, 1981)
  • Solid Gold (CD, Select Records SRCD01) (issued to accompany Wilde's 1994 tour of the same name)
  • Wilde About Marty / Showcase BGOCD594 (CD compilation album of the first two LPs, 2003)
  • Born to Rock And Roll – The Greatest Hits (CD, 2007)[7]

Filmography

Marty Wilde appeared in the following films:-

See also

References

  1. ^ "Martywilde.com". Martywilde.com. Retrieved 16 July 2011.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Bruce Eder. "Marty Wilde | Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved 27 January 2014.
  3. ^ "Wilde Life Encyclopedia biographies". Wilde-life.com. Retrieved 16 July 2011.
  4. ^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 602. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  5. ^ "Abergavenny - Record Details". 45cat. Retrieved 19 July 2016.
  6. ^ "1968 Charts Index". Go-Set, The Teens & Twenties Newspaper. Retrieved 20 July 2016.
  7. ^ "Marty Wilde | Discography". AllMusic. Retrieved 27 January 2014.

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