The day we met Marty Wilde
JEFFREY DAVIES looks back at the times he met Marty Wilde, one of the UK’S first rock and roll stars
ABERGAVENNY. Endless Sleep. A Teenager in Love. Jezebel. Rubber Bullet. Sea of Love. A handful of hit rock and roll songs sung by the legendary Marty Wilde, one of the first, biggest and bestloved British rock and roll singers of the late 50s and 60s.
Born Reginald Smith in London in 1939, the singer, songwriter and guitarist was spotted by showbusiness impresario Larry Parnes in 1957 and, together with his backing band The Wildcats, went on to be among the first generation of British pop stars to emulate American rock and roll.
Father of pop stars Ricky, Kim and Roxanne Wilde, Marty is currently celebrating an impressive eight decades as a recording artist and songwriter. And he is still belting out the iconic hits today at 60s nostalgia shows up and down the country. I interviewed the most engaging rock and roller on two occasions; once back in the nineties and then five years ago before his appearance in the Solid Silver 60s Show at the Playhouse, Weston-super-mare...
A wonderful life as a rock and roll pin-up in the 1950s and 1960s?
“Yeah. The whole era was such a special time. An incredible time to have been around. To have been alive. And audiences coming to see us today recognise that. In a way they’re reliving their past,” a most friendly Marty Wilde told me before taking to the stage of the Playhouse in Weston-super-mare.
“All the songs will bring back memories and different experiences of their lives. It’s a trip down memory lane; I always try to remain true to the 50s and 60s. All the songs and all the hits
of the artists in the show were routed in the era, it’s a lovely thing to be able to do.”
It would be fair to say that Marty didn’t follow any trend. He was his own man; a pioneer of the time. He influenced the biggest change in popular musical culture.
“I don’t know about that,” he answered modestly.
“But I certainly would have played a small part in a big movement which had a huge musical influence and impact, not just in Great Britain but in the world. To have been part of that was a privilege,” the 6ft 4 in London-born Marty added.
Marty pre-dated the likes of The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Kinks, David Bowie, Marc Bolan, Bryan Ferry et al. His influence must have played a part in their popular music ascendancy?
“Yeah. I think that sort of happens in music all the time really. You do play a small part in influencing people. It’s like evolution; it just goes on and on and on with people being influenced by their predecessors,” he agreed.
No other era in pop music has achieved the same level of ‘music respect’ as the 50s and 60s. What makes the music culture of the time so memorable and iconic? Are people just nostalgic about the past generally? Or do they hanker after what they knew?
“It was a mixture of both really. It was a huge jump from one style of music to another.
From what had been before to rock and roll. Prior to that most people in this country had not heard of rhythm and blues and had not probably listened to much Black music, or even country and western music, come to that. But when the two came together, when they fused together as they were in rock and roll, it had this huge appeal. You can’t underestimate the impact that rock and roll had and still has right up to this very day.”
Marty’s fan-base - how does he define his followers today?
“They’re parents and grandchildren mainly. But all sorts really. Quite a range of people. Some kids are raised on those old songs which is a bit strange in a way,” he laughed.
“A lot of people come to see what it was like back then. You know: what was the influence? How did it happen? Why did it happen? Why did it have such a big impact? But by and large it would be people from that era who remember what an unbelievable time it was.”
Endless Sleep, A Teenager in Love, Rubber Ball, Jezebel and Abergavenny are just a handful of hits from Marty and The Wild Cats’ back catalogue. Does Marty have a particular favourite to recall?
“It’s hard to say. I don’t really have one because they’re all so special. But probably A Teenager in Love. It’s a strange song in a way; strange for a man of my years to be singing it,” the 76-year-old said with a smile.
“But it has given people great happiness over the years. It’s an enigma. It’s a strange thing how some songs do resonate with people. And that song does.”
It must have been fantastic for a young man – a teenager – to be a pop idol during the rapidly changing late 50s and 60s. The girls wanted their boyfriends to be like their poster boy Marty. And the boys did their best to emulate him.
“It was an amazing time, yeah. It was a privilege really. Most red-blooded males in the mid
50s and upwards wanted to be a rock and roll singer. But that was whittled down to about two or three people. And I was one of them! I can consider myself extremely fortunate,” he said.
So how did a young Reginald Smith end up becoming Marty Wilde, one of rock and roll’s most eminent and legendary stars? After all, it wasn’t the kind of job you would ask the school’s careers teacher about, I remarked.
“I wanted to be a singer from when I was a young boy. A young guy. At that time I was singing folk songs and skiffle songs until rock and roll came in. When rock and roll did arrive it was a bit like winning the lottery for me. It was just as good as that; it blew me away. I knew exactly from that moment precisely what I wanted to do,” he answered.
“Hearing rock and roll music for the first time was amazing. It was Rock Around the Clock from Blackboard Jungle [a 1955 social drama film about teachers in an inter-racial inner-city school]. Then, Elvis Presley came along. Once I saw him and heard his records that was it. I knew for certain what I wanted to do.”
Marty Wilde. A great name for a rock and roll star. How did he acquire the stage name?
“My name came from Larry Parnes who was the manager of myself, Tommy Steele and Billy Fury. He used to make up the names. I didn’t want either of them to be honest with you. Anyway he tossed a coin and he won both times. And so Marty Wilde I became. Don’t get me wrong; I’m glad he won now,” Marty laughed.
Marty is very precise about other singers ‘in the business’ that he has revered along the way. Fellow performers that he has looked up to as fine artistes and performers.
“The biggest influence was Elvis. Then there was Buddy Holly and Jerry Lee Lewis,” he said.
“You could borrow little pieces of their phrasing or the way they approached music. You could add your own little input. Without a shadow of doubt, those were the people who influenced me and gave me inspiration in all sorts of ways.
“Another two I must mention are Eddie Cochran and Chuck
Berry who had an enormous influence on me. And still do today.”
Abergavenny, Marty’s selfpenned global hit of 1969. How did that come about?
“Oh, I was on my way to Swansea to play Robin Hood in a pantomime. On the way down there I just saw the name. It resonated with me because it had a rhythm: ‘A-ber-ga-ve-nny’. I thought wow,” he remembered.
“I’ve always tried to write songs that had great titles. For me the title and the rhythm sound of Abergavenny was like a brass band,” he explained.
The father of four created his own family of pop stars: Ricky, Kim and Roxanne Wilde. How did dad Marty feel when he realised his own children chose to follow in his footsteps?
“Well I was always playing music and playing records to them. Literally from the time they were born. I always used to have big speakers in the house. They listened to real good music and real good sounds. They weren’t listening to it from a tinny old wireless though.
“I used to play a lot of Paul Simon records. I’m a huge fan and still am. I also played The Who, Bowie and all sorts of music like that which my children also listened to. So those influences remain with them. So it’s no surprise that three out of four of my children are in pop music. The other one didn’t want to be a pop star so he formed his own gardening company and he’s doing very well,” proud dad Marty said.
Still singing at 77, the icon continues to enjoy his life on stage. Why, when he could be resting, feet up, watching Morse or Midsomer Murders on TV?
“It’s my phenomenal love of music that’s carried me on. Music is my drug. I want to hear it last thing at night before I go to sleep, and first thing in the morning when I wake up. Music has been my entire life from the moment I was born to the present day. Just to be able to do it still at this time of life is a wonderful thing.”
Interviewing a legend you admire is sometimes disappointing. Not so Marty Wilde; he was warm, welcoming, friendly and engaging on both occasions.
When rock and roll did arrive it was a bit like winning the lottery for me. It was just as good as that. It blew me away. I knew exactly from that moment precisely what I wanted to do Marty Wilde