From: London, England, U.K.
Marty Wilde was born Reginald Leonard Smith in the Blackheath area of London on April 15, 1939. At age 18, he was performing under the name Reg Patterson at London's Condor Club in 1957 when he was spotted by impresario Larry Parnes who gave him his long-lasting stage name. Wilde was one of the first British pop stars in the late 1950s to emulate U.S. early rock and roll, scoring several hit singles throughout the late 50s and early 60s as a celebrated teen idol.
In the late 1960s, Wilde dabbled a bit in psychedelic pop with the release of his spring of 1969 LP Diversions, which contains the minor U.S. hit (peaked at #47 on the Billboard Hot 100) 'Abergavenny' about a small town in Wales and another standout track titled 'Zobo (1871-1892)', both featured here on TWOS. It should also be mentioned that Wilde was an accomplished songwriter as well and, along with his writing partner Ronnie Scott, penned several songs in the late 60s, including the Status Quo tracks 'Ice In The Sun' (hit #8 in the U.K. and #70 in the U.S.) and the excellent 'Elizabeth Dreams'.
In the early 1970s, Marty began writing several songs for his eldest son Ricky Wilde, who consequently also became a teen idol in Great Britain. The 80s saw him writing songs for his daughter Kim Wilde, including the international smash 'Kids In America'. Marty has continued successfully penning songs for others and recording his own songs throughout the decades, charting in the U.K. most recently with his 2020 song 'Running Together' that features both Kim and Ricky. Wilde has thus amazingly earned the honored distinction of garnering U.K. chart success, as either a singer or songwriter, across eight consecutive decades.