Marty Wilde

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 Wilde, Kim Wilde 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 protégées 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; 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.

Later on, as songwriter and/or record producer, he masterminded 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

• "Honeycomb" (-) (Jimmie Rodgers)

1958

• "Endless Sleep" (4) (Jody Reynolds) (June 1958)
• "Fire of Love" (-) (Jody Reynolds)

1959

• "Donna" (3) (Ritchie Valens) (February 1959)
• "A Teenager in Love" (2) (Dion and the Belmonts) (May 1959) This was also covered in the UK by Craig Douglas.
• "Sea of Love" (3) (Phil Phillips) (September 1959)
• "All American Boy" (Bobby Bare, mislabeled as by Bill Parsons) (September 1959)
• "Blue Moon of Kentucky" (Bill Monroe) (September 1959)
• "Bad Boy" (7) (November 1959) — which Wilde wrote — a Top 50 hit in the US in 1960 and covered shortly after its release by Robin Luke, in 1964 by Françoise Hardy and later by Nirvana and Robert Gordon. The b-side, "It's Been Nice", a Doc Pomus-Mort Shuman composition was later recorded by The Everly Brothers and Freddy Cannon.

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 Europe in May 1968. (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. Doolittle (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)
• Wilde About Marty / Showcase BGOCD594 (CD compilation album of the first two LPs, 2003)
• Born to Rock And Roll - The Greatest Hits (CD, 2007)^[5]

Songwriting

The following songs were written, or co-written, by Wilde and recorded by as noted:^[6]

• "2-6-5-8-0" - Kim Wilde
• "Action City" - Kim Wilde
• "All the Love I Have" - John and Anne Ryder
• "Back Street Joe" - Kim Wilde
• "Bad Boy" - Robin Luke, Robert Gordon, Nirvana, Françoise Hardy
• "Bladerunner" - Kim Wilde
• "Boys" - Kim Wilde (B-side of "Water on Glass")
• "Cambodia" - Kim Wilde
• "Can You Come Over" - Kim Wilde
• "Can You Hear It" - Kim Wilde (B-side of "Love Blonde")
• "Chaos at the Airport" - Kim Wilde
• "Chequered Love" - Kim Wilde
• "Child Come Away" - Kim Wilde
• "Ego" - Kim Wilde
• "Elizabeth Dreams" - Status Quo
• "Everything We Know" - Kim Wilde
• "Falling Out" - Kim Wilde
• "Four Letter Word" - Kim Wilde
• "Halfway to Where" - The Freshmen
• "Harmonica" - Graham Bond Organization
• "Hide all Emotion" - Sandie Shaw (B-side of "Think Sometimes About Me")
• "Hot Summer Girls" - Flash Cadillac
• "House of Salome" - Kim Wilde
• "I Still Believe in Tomorrow" - John and Anne Ryder
• "Ice in the Sun" - Status Quo
• "I'm a Tiger" - Lulu
• "It's Here" - Kim Wilde
• "Janine" - Kim Wilde
• "Jesamine" - The Casuals (as earlier was co-penned under the name Frere Manston)
• "Just a Feeling" - Kim Wilde
• "Just Another Guy" - Kim Wilde (B-side of "Child Come Away")
• "Kids in America" - Kim Wilde
• "Love Blonde" - Kim Wilde
• "Love in the Natural Way" - Kim Wilde
• "My Heart is Free" - The Fireballs
• "Never Trust a Stranger" - Kim Wilde
• "Our Town" - Kim Wilde (B-side of "Young Heroes")
• "Paradise Flat" - Status Quo
• "Polaris" - The Krew Kats
• "Rage to Love" - Kim Wilde
• "Schoolgirl" - Kim Wilde
• "Shane" - Kim Wilde (B-side of "Chequered Love")
• "Shoot to Disable" - Kim Wilde
• "Sing It Out For Love" - Kim Wilde (B-side of "House of Salome")
• "Sparks" - Kim Wilde
• "Stay Awhile" - Kim Wilde
• "Suburbs of Moscow" - Kim Wilde
• "Take Me Tonight" - Kim Wilde (B-side of "View from a Bridge")
• "The Second Time" - Kim Wilde
• "The Touch" - Kim Wilde
• "Thought It Was Goodbye" - Kim Wilde
• "Tuning In Tuning On" - Kim Wilde (B-side of "Kids in America")
• "View from a Bridge" - Kim Wilde
• "Watching for Shapes" - Kim Wilde (B-side of "Cambodia")
• "Water on Glass" - Kim Wilde
• "Wendy Sadd" - Kim Wilde
• "Words Fell Down" - Kim Wilde (B-side of "Ego")
• "You'll Never Be So Wrong" - Kim Wilde
• "Young Heroes" - Kim Wilde

Filmography

Marty Wilde appeared in the following films:-

• Jet Storm (1959)
• The Hellions (1961)
• What a Crazy World (1963)
• Stardust (1974)^[7]

Quotation

NME - January 1961^[8]

See also

• List of show business families
• List of Epic Records artists

References

External links

• Official Marty Wilde website (with discography)
• IMDb
• Marty Wilde page @ www.45rpm.org.uk
• 'His violent hip-swinging was revolting': Fifty years ago this month, the fever of rock'n'roll came to British TV screens. Cliff Richard and Marty Wilde tell John Pidgeon how Jack Good created Oh Boy!'