Between 1958 and 1962 Marty had thirteen consecutive hit records, including Endless Sleep (which reached number 4 in the charts), Donna (3), Teenager In Love (2), Sea of Love (3), the self-penned Bad Boy (7), Rubber Ball (9), Little Girl (16), Jezebel (19) and Tomorrow's Clown (33) and, after a hugely successful appearance on the BBC's '6-5 Special' - which led to an avalanche of fan mail - Marty secured a residency on the cult ABC TV programme, 'Oh Boy!' before hosting the original 'Boy Meets Girl' Show.

Marty's backing group, The Wildcats, included the legendary musicians 'Big Jim' Sullivan on lead guitar, Brian 'Liquorice' Locking (bass) and Brian Bennett (drums); both of whom went on to become members of The Shadows, replacing originals Jet Harris & Tony Meehan In 1962 Marty took to the West End stage at Her Majesty's Theatre starring to critical acclaim in the musical 'Bye, Bye Birdie', before a flirtation with the silver screen, taking lead roles in 'Jetstorm', The Hellions' and 'What A Crazy World' (with Joe Brown). Much later, in 1974, Marty was to play the role of David Essex's manager in 'Stardust', the hugely successful follow up to 'That'll Be The Day'.

As pop historians are aware, the mid-1960's marked a dramatic change in the popular music scene. The advent of The Beatles brought a new generation of performers and those whose careers had begun in the Rock'n'Roll era had to respond accordingly. Marty did just that by forming The Wilde Three - with his wife, Joyce, and the future Moody Blues vocalist, Justin Hayward - and, almost uniquely for UK performers in those days, by further developing his songwriting talents (which had previously borne fruit with the top three single, 'Bad Boy'). Marty penned hits for Status Quo (Ice In The Sun), Lulu (I'm A Tiger), The Casuals (Jesamine), Peter Shelly (Love Me Love My Dog) and for himself (Abergavenny), whilst No Trams To Lime Street, a breakthrough in TV musical plays, gave him a perfect opportunity to demonstrate his considerable versatility.

However, performing was never far from Marty's thoughts and his popularity on the club circuit continued to grow, making him one of the most admired attractions throughout the country. In 1981, Marty's songwriting found an unlikely outlet in his eldest daughter, Kim and, with his eldest son Ricky, Marty co-wrote countless hits. Beginning with the multi-million selling 'Kids In America' and including hits such as 'Chequered Love', 'Water On Glass', 'Cambodia', 'View From A Bridge', 'Love Blonde', 'Rage To Love' and 'Four Letter Word', Marty's creative contribution during a career which spawned 10 albums and sales in excess of 10 million was immeasurable, helping Kim to become the most successful British solo female singer in terms of chart success. So, to the present: as a father and grandfather with a rapidly expanding family - and a real passion for golf - time is at a premium, however Marty still performs as many shows as possible. He has topped the bill on five extensive 'Solid Gold Rock'n'Roll' tours and presents his own 'Born To Rock'n'Roll' show at theatres across the UK. To celebrate the 50th Year of a unique career, a retrospective CD, ‘Marty Wilde – The Greatest Hits, Born To Rock’n’Roll’, featuring duets with daughters Roxanne and Kim, was released by Universal Music in March 2007.

<back to the what's on page