Marty Wilde

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Marty Wilde (born Reginald Leonard Smith on April 15 1939, in Greenwich, South London) is an English singer and songwriter. He was among the first generation of British pop stars to imitate American rock'n'roll.

1 Career
2 Singles
3 Partial discography
4 Filmography
5 Trivia
6 External links
7 Reference

[edit] Career

He was performing under the name Reg Patterson at London's Condor Club in 1957 when he was spotted by impresario by Larry Parnes. Parnes gave his protégées surnames like Fury, Power, Gentle and Pride etc, hence the change to Wilde. The 'Marty' came from the commended 1955 film Marty. From mid 1958 to the end of 1959, Wilde was one of the leading British rock singers, along with Tommy Steele and Cliff Richard. Wilde's backing group were called the Wildcats who featured 'Big Jim' Sullivan on lead guitar, and Brian 'Licorice' Locking and Brian Bennett (drums) who later joined The Shadows.

He appeared regularly on the BBC show 6.5 Special and was the main regular artiste on the Saturday ITV popular music shows 'Oh Boy!' and Boy Meets Girls. There he met and married Joyce, 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 the West End production of Bye Bye Birdie and films.

He enjoyed success as a songwriter in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He penned the virtual one-hit wonder's The Casuals' "Jesamine", plus Lulu's "I'm A Tiger", and the early Status Quo's "Ice In The Sun".

In the early 70's, Wilde changed his music style to Glam Rock and became "Zappo". He released only a few singles which never charted and reverted back to Marty Wilde shortly after.

Later on, as songwriter and/or record producer, he masterminded a string of 1980s hits for his daughter Kim Wilde. His son, Ricki Wilde also gained some notice in the music industry, working mainly in promotion and A&R.

Like many of his contemporaries, Wilde continues to perform in nostalgia tours in the UK and beyond.

[edit] Singles

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

Honeycomb (-) (Jimmie Rodgers)

1958

Endless Sleep (4) (Jody Reynolds)

1959

Donna (3) (Ritchie Valens)
Sea Of Love (3) (Phil Phillips).
A Teenager In Love (2) (Dion and the Belmonts),
Bad Boy (7) — written by Wilde himself, this was even a top 50 hit in the USA and was later covered by Robert Gordon and Nirvana. The flip side It's Been Nice was recorded by The Everly Brothers in 1963.

1960

Johnny Rocco (30)
The Fight (47)
Little Girl (16)

1961

Rubber Ball (9) (Bobby Vee)
Hide and Seek (47)
Tomorrow's Clown (33)

1962

Jezebel (19) (Frankie Laine)
Ever Since You Said Goodbye (31)

In 1969, he had a hit in Europe with his own song Abergavenny (also a top 50 hit in the USA under the artiste's name of 'Shannon').

[edit] Partial discography

Wilde About Marty (LP, August 1959)
Showcase (LP, May 1960)
Diversions (LP, 1969?)
Wilde About Marty / Showcase BGOCD594 (CD compilation of the first two LPs, 2003)