Marty Wilde, (born Reginald Leonard Smith; 15 April 1939) is an English singer and songwriter. He was among the first generation of British pop

stars A star is an astronomical object comprising a luminous spheroid of plasma held together by its gravity. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked eye at night, but their immense distances from Earth ma ...

to emulate American

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from Africa ...

, scoring several 1950s hit singles including "

Endless Sleep "Endless Sleep" is a "teenage tragedy" pop song written and originally recorded by rockabilly singer Jody Reynolds in 1957. Background Reynolds wrote the song in 1956, after listening to Elvis Presley's "Heartbreak Hotel", and first performed it ...

", "

Sea of Love Sea of Love may refer to * ''Sea of Love'' (film), a 1989 American thriller film * "Sea of Love" (Phil Phillips song), a 1959 song by Phil Phillips and The Twilights, covered by many performers * "Sea of Love" (The National song), 2013 * ''The S ...

" and " Bad Boy". During the 1960s and 1970s, Wilde continued to record and, with

Ronnie Scott Ronnie may refer to: *Ronnie (name), a unisex pet name and given name * "Ronnie" (Four Seasons song), a song by Bob Gaudio and Bob Crewe *"Ronnie," a song from the Metallica album '' Load'' *Ronnie Brunswijkstadion, an association football stadium ...

, co-wrote hit singles for others including

the Casuals The Casuals were a British pop group from Lincoln, Lincolnshire, Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England. They are best known for their 1968 No. 2 UK hit record, hit song, "Jesamine". Career Originally formed in 1960 by John Tebb (piano and vocals) and ...

' "

Jesamine "Jesamine" is a song written by Marty Wilde (Frere Manston) and Ronnie Scott (songwriter), Ronnie Scott (Jack Gellar), and recorded by the English band The Casuals. Initially recorded by The Bystanders as "When Jezamine Goes", the version release ...

" and

Status Quo is a Latin phrase meaning the existing state of affairs, particularly with regard to social, political, religious or military issues. In the sociological sense, the ''status quo'' refers to the current state of social structure and/or values. W ...

's "

Ice in the Sun "Ice in the Sun" is a song by the band Status Quo (band), Status Quo. The track was sound recording and reproduction, recorded in 1968, and appeared on ''Picturesque Matchstickable Messages from the Status Quo'', an album by Status Quo that was rel ...

". He is the father of pop singer

Kim Wilde Kim Wilde (born Kim Smith, 18 November 1960) is an English pop singer, DJ and television presenter. She first saw success in 1981 with her debut single "Kids in America", which peaked at No. 2 in the UK. In 1983, she received the Brit Award f ...

and co-wrote many of her hit singles including "

Kids in America "Kids in America" is a song recorded by English pop singer Kim Wilde. It was released in the United Kingdom as her debut single in January 1981, and in the United States in spring 1982, later appearing on her Kim Wilde (album), self-titled de ...

" with his son

Ricky Ricky may refer to: Places *Říčky (Brno-Country District), a village and municipality in the Czech Republic *Říčky v Orlických horách, a village in the north of the Czech Republic * Rickmansworth, a town in England sometimes called "Ricky" ...

. He continues to perform and record.

Career

Wilde was born in

Blackheath, London Blackheath is an area in Southeast London, straddling the border of the Royal Borough of Greenwich and the London Borough of Lewisham. It is located northeast of Lewisham, south of Greenwich and southeast of Charing Cross, the traditional ce ...

. He was performing under the name Reg Patterson at London's Condor Club in 1957, when he was spotted by

impresario An impresario (from the Italian ''impresa'', "an enterprise or undertaking") is a person who organizes and often finances concerts, plays, or operas, performing a role in stage arts that is similar to that of a film or television producer. Hist ...

Larry Parnes Laurence Maurice Parnes (3 September 1929 – 4 August 1989) was a British pop manager and impresario. He was the first major British rock manager, and his stable of singers included many of the most successful British rock and roll singers of t ...

. Parnes gave his protégés stage names such as

Billy Fury Ronald Wycherley (17 April 1940 – 28 January 1983), better known as Billy Fury, was an English singer, musician, songwriter, and actor. An early star of rock and roll, he equalled the Beatles' record of 24 hits in the 1960s and spent 332 we ...

Duffy Power Duffy Power (born Raymond Leslie Howard; 9 September 1941 – 19 February 2014) was an English blues and rock and roll singer, who achieved some success in the 1960s and continued to perform and record intermittently later. Career Ray Howard w ...

and

Dickie Pride Dickie Pride (born Richard Charles Kneller; 21 October 1941 – 26 March 1969) was an English singer. He was one of Larry Parnes' stable of pop music stars, who didn't achieve the same successful career as some of his contemporaries. Early li ...

, hence the change to Wilde. The 'Marty' came from the acclaimed 1955 film of the same name. Wilde was signed to the British recording arm of

Philips Records Philips Records is a record label founded by the Dutch electronics company Philips. It was founded as Philips Phonographische Industrie in 1950. In 1946, Philips acquired the company which pressed records for British Decca's Dutch outlet in A ...

, with US releases appearing on the Epic label via Philips' reciprocal licensing agreement with

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

stateside. (Philips had yet to acquire the

Mercury Mercury commonly refers to: * Mercury (planet), the nearest planet to the Sun * Mercury (element), a metallic chemical element with the symbol Hg * Mercury (mythology), a Roman god Mercury or The Mercury may also refer to: Companies * Merc ...

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 Sir Thomas Hicks (born 17 December 1936), known professionally as Tommy Steele, is an English entertainer, regarded as Britain's first teen idol and rock and roll star. After being discovered at the 2i's Coffee Bar in Soho, London, Steele reco ...

and

Cliff Richard Sir Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb; 14 October 1940) is an Indian-born British musican, singer, producer, entrepreneur and philanthropist who holds both British and Barbadian citizenship. He has total sales of over 21.5 million s ...

. Wilde's backing group was called the Wildcats. At various times they featured

Big Jim Sullivan James George Tomkins (14 February 1941 – 2 October 2012), known professionally as Big Jim Sullivan, was an English musician whose career started in 1958. He was best known as a session guitarist. In the 1960s and 1970s, he was one of t ...

on lead guitar, Tony Belcher on rhythm guitar, Bobby Graham or Bobbie Clarke on drums, plus

Brian Locking Brian Locking (22 December 1938 – 8 October 2020) was an English musician and songwriter known for his brief tenure as bassist with ''Marty Wilde, The Wildcats'' in 1956 and The Shadows, between 1962 and 1963. During his time with the Shadow ...

on bass guitar and

Brian Bennett Brian Laurence Bennett, (born 9 February 1940) is an English drummer, pianist, composer and producer of popular music. He is best known as the drummer of the UK rock and roll group the Shadows. He is the father of musician and Shadows band me ...

on drums, both of whom later joined

the Shadows The Shadows (originally known as the Drifters) were an English instrumental rock group, who dominated the British popular music charts in the late 1950s and early 1960s, in the pre- Beatles era. They served as the backing band for Cliff Richard ...

. He appeared regularly on the

BBC Television BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1927. It produced television programmes from its own studios from 193 ...

show '' 6.5 Special'' and was the main regular artiste on the Saturday

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

popular music Popular music is music with wide appeal that is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. These forms and styles can be enjoyed and performed by people with little or no musical training.Popular Music. (2015). ''Fun ...

shows '' Oh Boy!'' and ''

Boy Meets Girls ''Boy Meets Girls'' was a UK popular music TV show which was launched in September 1959 replacing the earlier show '' Oh Boy!''. The show was presented and produced by Jack Good. Marty Wilde was the principal resident male artist and The Verno ...

''. There he met Joyce Baker, one of

the Vernons Girls The Vernons Girls were an English musical ensemble of female vocalists. They were formed at the Vernons football pools companyLarkin C., ''Virgin Encyclopedia of Sixties Music'' (Muze UK Ltd, 1997), , p. 461 in the 1950s in Liverpool, settling ...

who were also show regulars. Their courtship was made public but after their marriage Wilde's popularity as a

teen idol A teen idol is a celebrity with a large teenage fan base. Teen idols are generally young but are not necessarily teenagers. An idol's popularity may be limited to teens, or may extend to all age groups. By region Asia East Asia possess ...

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 ''Bye Bye Birdie'' is a stage musical with music by Charles Strouse and lyrics by Lee Adams, based upon a book by Michael Stewart. Originally titled ''Let's Go Steady'', ''Bye Bye Birdie'' is set in 1958. The short story "Dream Man", authored ...

'' and several films. He enjoyed success as a songwriter in the late 1960s and early 1970s. In collaboration with the songwriter

, he co-wrote the

one-hit wonder A one-hit wonder or viral hit is any entity that achieves mainstream popularity, often for only one piece of work, and becomes known among the general public solely for that momentary success. The term is most commonly used in regard to music p ...

' "Jesamine" under the pseudonyms of Frere Manston and Jack Gellar. The pair also wrote Lulu's "I'm a Tiger" and the early

hit, "

". He also tried to tap into the growing

glam rock Glam rock is a style of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom in the early 1970s and was performed by musicians who wore outrageous costumes, makeup, and hairstyles, particularly platform shoes and glitter. Glam artists drew on diver ...

boom, releasing the single "Rock'n'Roll Crazy" / "Right On!" billed as Zappo, and recording as The Dazzling All Night Rock Show ("20 Fantastic Bands"), and Ruby Pearl and The Dreamboats ("The Shang-A-Lang Song"). None of the releases were a commercial success, and Wilde ditched the glam rock genre, going on to work with his son,

Ricky Wilde Ricky may refer to: Places * Říčky (Brno-Country District), a village and municipality in the Czech Republic * Říčky v Orlických horách, a village in the north of the Czech Republic *Rickmansworth, a town in England sometimes called "Ricky ...

. 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 Business is the practice of making one's living or making money by producing or Trade, buying and selling Product (business), products (such as goods and Service (economics), services). It is also "any activity or enterprise entered into for pr ...

with another UK tour which featured his youngest daughter Roxanne Wilde, and the issue of a

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several Performing arts#Performers, performers. If by one artist, then generally the tr ...

, ''Born To Rock And Roll – The Greatest Hits''. It included a

duet A duet is a musical composition for two performers in which the performers have equal importance to the piece, often a composition involving two singers or two pianists. It differs from a harmony, as the performers take turns performing a solo ...

with Kim Wilde of

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...

's "

Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word "Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word" is a song written by English musician Elton John and songwriter Bernie Taupin. It was recorded by Elton John and released in 1976, both as a single and as part of the '' Blue Moves'' album. It was John's sec ...

", which was released as a promotional only single. In 2017, Wilde went on a UK tour with The Solid Gold Rock'n'Roll Show, which also featured

Eden Kane Richard Graham Sarstedt (born 29 March 1940Some sources, including his own website, give 1942 as his birth year; but official sources give 1940.), known by the stage name Eden Kane, is an English pop/ rock singer, musician, record producer and ...

Mark Wynter Mark Wynter (born Terence Sidney Lewis; 29 January 1943) is an English singer and actor, who had four Top 20 singles in the 1960s, including "Venus in Blue Jeans" and " Go Away Little Girl". He enjoyed a lengthy career from 1960 to 1968 as a p ...

and Mike Berry. In 2019, he toured the UK again with American artist Charlie Gracie and Mike Berry. The projected 2020 tour has been re-scheduled to 2021 due to the Covid-19 health situation. On 9 October 2020, Wilde entered the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...

at number 75 with ''Running Together''. It was released on his own Pushka label, and featured his daughters Kim and Roxanne Wilde, with input from son Ricky. Wilde thus has the distinction of UK chart success, as either a singer or songwriter, across eight consecutive decades.

Family

He and his wife, Joyce, have four children,

Kim Kim or KIM may refer to: Names * Kim (given name) * Kim (surname) ** Kim (Korean surname) *** Kim family (disambiguation), several dynasties **** Kim family (North Korea), the rulers of North Korea since Kim Il-sung in 1948 ** Kim, Vietnamese f ...

(born 1960),

(born 1961), Roxanne (born 1979) and the youngest, Marty Jr (born 1983), who was a contestant on

the Golf Channel Golf Channel (also verbally referred to as simply Golf) is an American sports television network owned by the NBC Sports Group division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. Founded in Birmingham, Alabama, it is currently based out of NBC S ...

's '' The Big Break IV: USA vs. Europe'' in 2005. Kim, Ricky and Roxanne have worked in the

music industry The music industry consists of the individuals and organizations that earn money by writing songs and musical compositions, creating and selling recorded music and sheet music, presenting concerts, as well as the organizations that aid, train, ...

, like their parents.

Discography

Songwriting

Wilde wrote and co-wrote the following notable songs: *" Bad Boy" - Robin Luke,

Robert Gordon Robert Gordon may refer to: Entertainment * Robert Gordon (actor) (1895–1971), silent-film actor * Robert Gordon (director) (1913–1990), American director * Robert Gordon (singer) (1947–2022), American rockabilly singer * Robert Gordon (scr ...

Nirvana ( , , ; sa, निर्वाण} ''nirvāṇa'' ; Pali: ''nibbāna''; Prakrit: ''ṇivvāṇa''; literally, "blown out", as in an oil lampRichard Gombrich, ''Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benāres to Modern Colombo.' ...

Françoise Hardy Françoise Madeleine Hardy (; born 17 January 1944) is a French former singer and songwriter. Mainly known for singing melancholic sentimental ballads, Hardy has been an important figure in French pop music since her debut, spanning a career of ...

(song title styled as "Pas Gentille") *"

Cambodia Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailand t ...

" -

Chequered Love "Chequered Love" is the second single by British singer Kim Wilde. The song was released in the spring of 1981 to follow Wilde's successful debut "Kids in America". As with that single, writing credits were given to Wilde's father and brother M ...

" - Kim Wilde *" Child Come Away" - Kim Wilde *" Ego" - Kim Wilde *" Four Letter Word" - Kim Wilde *" House of Salome" - Kim Wilde *"I'm A Tiger" -

Lulu Lulu may refer to: Companies * LuLu, an early automobile manufacturer * Lulu.com, an online e-books and print self-publishing platform, distributor, and retailer * Lulu Hypermarket, a retail chain in Asia * Lululemon Athletica or simply Lulu, a C ...

" -

The Casuals The Casuals were a British pop group from Lincoln, Lincolnshire, Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England. They are best known for their 1968 No. 2 UK hit record, hit song, "Jesamine". Career Originally formed in 1960 by John Tebb (piano and vocals) and ...

It's Here "It's Here" is a song by English singer-songwriter Kim Wilde, released as the first single from her seventh album, '' Love Moves'' (1990), and is also her first release of the new decade. Wilde was the most charted and biggest-selling British fe ...

" - Kim Wilde *"

" - Kim Wilde *" Love Blonde" - Kim Wilde *" Love in the Natural Way" - Kim Wilde *"

Never Trust a Stranger "Never Trust a Stranger" is a song by English singer Kim Wilde, released as the third single from her sixth album, '' Close'' (1988). Remixed from the original album track by producer Ricki Wilde, it was released in the autumn of 1988 following t ...

" - Kim Wilde *"

Rage to Love "Rage to Love" is the third and final single from ''Teases & Dares'', the fourth studio album by Kim Wilde. Released in April 1985, the song was remixed by Dave Edmunds for its release as a single. It became Wilde's biggest UK hit for three years ...

" - Kim Wilde *" Schoolgirl" - Kim Wilde *"

The Second Time "The Second Time" is the first single from Kim Wilde's fourth studio album ''Teases & Dares'' (1984). It was re-titled "Go for It" for the North American market. The track was also Wilde's first release on the MCA record label. Her last few re ...

" - Kim Wilde *" The Touch" - Kim Wilde *" View from a Bridge" - Kim Wilde *" Water on Glass" - Kim Wilde *" Young Heroes" - Kim Wilde

Filmography

Marty Wilde has appeared in the following films:- * ''

Jet Storm ''Jet Storm'' (also known as ''Jet Stream'' or ''Killing Urge'') is a 1959 British thriller film directed and co-written by Cy Endfield. Richard Attenborough stars with Stanley Baker, Hermione Baddeley and Diane Cilento. The film is a precurso ...

'' (1959) * ''

The Hellions ''The Hellions'' is a 1961 British adventure film directed by Ken Annakin starring Richard Todd, Anne Aubrey, Lionel Jeffries, Ronald Fraser and Colin Blakely that was set and filmed in South Africa. Plot A lone law enforcement officer, Sam ...

'' (1961) * ''

What a Crazy World ''What a Crazy World'' is a 1963 film directed by Michael Carreras from a script by Carreras and Alan Klein, from the latter's stage play. It is a pop musical featuring a number of late 1950s and early 1960s musical performers, including an ...

'' (1963) * '' Stardust'' (1974)

References

External links

Official Marty Wilde website (with discography)
*

'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!'
* * * *
Entries at 45cat.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilde, Marty 1939 births Living people English pop singers English male singers Jamie Records artists English songwriters People from Blackheath, London Singers from London Musicians from Kent British rock and roll musicians British rockabilly musicians Members of the Order of the British Empire Philips Records artists Epic Records artists British male songwriters