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Marty Wilde, MBE can legitimately be described as a musical legend.  One of the first musicians to bring rock-and-roll to the U.K., his career has spanned over 60 years.  Cherry Red’s RPM imprint has recently celebrated Wilde’s legacy with a package that brings together his earliest hits and numerous rarities.  A Lifetime in Music: 1957-2019 – Hits, Highlights, and Rarities collects 132 tracks on 4 CDs including 24 previously unreleased cuts.

Wilde, born in Blackheath, South London, was playing London’s Condor Club in 1957 when he was noticed by impresario Larry Parnes.  The U.K.’s first rock-and-roll manager, Parnes transformed Reginald Smith – then performing as Reg Patterson – into Marty Wilde.  (His stable of artists would include, at one time or another, Tommy Steele, Billy Fury, Duffy Power, and Georgie Fame.)  He was signed to the Philips label and debuted with a cover of “Honeycomb,” the Bob Merrill tune that became a U.S. hit for Jimmie Rodgers.  That track opens RPM’s set, the first two discs of which comprise all of Wilde’s 1957-1962 singles including major hits like his versions of “Endless Sleep” (No. 4, U.K. Singles Chart, 1958), “Donna” (No. 3, 1959), “A Teenager in Love” (No. 2, 1959), “Sea of Love” (No. 3, 1959), “Bad Boy” (No. 7, 1959), “Rubber Ball” (No. 9, 1961), and “Jezebel” (No. 19, 1961).

In bringing these songs to the U.K., Wilde channeled an American rock-and-roll sensibility through his own charismatic energy.  He was also becoming a top-notch songwriter, sharing credit on his first B-side with his friend Lionel Bart (Oliver!) for “Wild Cat.”  (Marty’s backing band, The Wildcats, was credited on the first ten tracks here.)  Beginning with 1959’s “Bad Boy,” his solo songs appeared on 45s.  Other songwriters represented include the young Rod McKuen (“Sing, Boy, Sing”), Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman (“A Teenager in Love,” “It’s Been Nice”), Ernie Maresca (“No One Knows”), and Billy Sherrill (“Like Makin’ Love”).  Wilde even branched out with standards like “Autumn Leaves,” heard in a lush, string-laden reading from 1960 which was one of his rare U.S.-only single recordings.  (All three of his U.S. sides, including a promo single, are included here.)

The set overlooks Wilde’s final Philips single (“No! Dance with Me” b/w “Little Miss Happiness” from March 1963, available on CD as part of Mercury’s 2010 compilation The Full Marty) but picks up with all of his 1963-1964 Columbia single sides on which he worked with arrangers including John Barry and Ivor Raymonde.  The first two discs also feature a number of bonus tracks, including Wilde’s three songs from the London cast recording of Bye Bye Birdie, the American musical in which he played the Elvis Presley-esque Conrad Birdie: “Honestly Sincere,” “One Last Kiss,” and “A Lot of Livin’ to Do.”  Wilde brought authenticity to the role which comes through on the recordings.  There’s also a TV recording of the Motown classic “Money (That’s What I Want),” four rare 1965 sides from folk-style trio The Wilde Three on Decca, and a clutch of latter-day tracks from 2001-2017 including a cover of The Everly Brothers’ “The Price of Love” with daughters Kim and Roxanne Wilde.

The third CD boasts an entire concert recorded for Radio Luxembourg in 1959 in which Wilde reprised such favorites as “Donna” and “A Teenager in Love” alongside renditions of “I Forgot to Remember to Forget,” “Fever,” “Blue Suede Shoes,” “Oh Boy,” and “High School Confidential.”  This fascinating show, previously unreleased and in fine sound quality, features The Wildcats line-up of Big Jim Sullivan on guitar, Brian Locking on bass, and Brian Bennett on drums.  It is joined by 1970s and 1980s singles from the Bus Stop, Magnet, and Kaleidoscope labels including an interpretation of Roy Orbison’s “In Dreams” and a disco-fied version of Hal David and Paul Hampton’s “Sea of Heartbreak.”  The fourth and final CD, all licensed courtesy of Wilde, has 32 never-before-released demo recordings spanning primarily original compositions recorded between 1960 and 1972, opening a window onto Wilde’s songwriting process.

At age 80, Marty Wilde remains a vital presence.  He has provided an introduction to this set’s 28-page booklet which features liner notes by compiler Graham Hunter and an afterword by Brian Bennett, OBE.   Within the clamshell case, each disc is housed in its own paper sleeve with the track listings and credits listed.  Simon Murphy has remastered from a variety of sources, a fact which the set acknowledges: “The best possible sources have been utilized in the remastering of this release.  However, due to the absence of original master tapes, the sound quality of some of the recordings is not of the usual standard but their inclusion has been justified due to their historical importance.”  Part hits collection, part collector-oriented rarities set, A Lifetime in Music is an excellent tribute to the raw power of Marty Wilde’s rock-and-roll, not to mention his tenacity and longevity.  Look for it at the links below from Cherry Red and RPM!

Marty Wilde, A Lifetime in Music: 1957-2019 (Cherry Red/RPM RPMBX544, 2019) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

CD 1

MARTY WILDE AND HIS WILDCATS – SINGLES As and Bs

1. HONEYCOMB
2. WILD CAT
3. LOVE BUG CRAWL
4. AFRAID OF LOVE
5. OH OH, I’M FALLING IN LOVE AGAIN
6. SING, BOY, SING
7. ENDLESS SLEEP
8. HER HAIR WAS YELLOW
9. MY LUCKY LOVE
10. MISERY’S CHILD

MARTY WILDE – SINGLES As and Bs

11. THE FIRE OF LOVE
12. NO-ONE KNOWS
13. DONNA
14. LOVE-A LOVE-A LOVE-A
15. A TEENAGER IN LOVE
16. DANNY
17. SEA OF LOVE
18. TEENAGE TEARS
19. BAD BOY
20. IT’S BEEN NICE
21. JOHNNY ROCCO
22. MY HEART AND I
23. THE FIGHT (STEREO)
24. JOHNNY AT THE CROSSROADS (STEREO)
25. I WANNA BE LOVED BY YOU (STEREO)
26. ANGRY
27. LITTLE GIRL
28. YOUR SEVENTEENTH SPRING (STEREO)
29. MY BABY IS GONE (STOP THIS WORLD)
30. AMAPOLA (STEREO)
31. AUTUMN LEAVES (STEREO)
32. RUBBER BALL
33. LIKE MAKIN’ LOVE
34. WHEN DOES IT GET TO BE LOVE
35. YOUR LOVING TOUCH
36. JETSTREAM

CD 2

MARTY WILDE – SINGLES As and Bs

1. HIDE AND SEEK
2. CRAZY DREAMS
3. TOMORROW’S CLOWN
4. THE HELLIONS
5. COME RUNNING
6. EV’RYONE
7. JEZEBEL
8. DON’T RUN AWAY
9. EVER SINCE YOU SAID GOODBYE
10. SEND ME THE PILLOW YOU DREAM ON
11. HONESTLY SINCERE
12. ONE LAST KISS
13. A LOT OF LIVIN’ TO DO
14. LONELY AVENUE
15. BRAND NEW LOVE
16. SAVE YOUR LOVE FOR ME
17. BLESS MY BROKEN HEART
18. WHEN DAY IS DONE
19. I CAN’T HELP THE WAY THAT I FEEL
20. KISS ME (as Marty Wilde & The Wildcats)
21. MY, WHAT A WOMAN (as Marty Wilde & The Wildcats)
22. NOBODY BUT YOU (DEMO)
23. MONEY (LIVE TV PERFORMANCE)

THE WILDE THREE – SINGLES As and Bs

24. SINCE YOU’VE GONE (as The Wilde Three)
25. JUST AS LONG (as The Wilde Three)
26. I CRIED (as The Wilde Three)
27. WELL WHO’S THAT (as The Wilde Three)

BONUS TRACKS

28. BORN TO ROCK AND ROLL (LIVE)
29. MOVE IT (with Brian Bennett, Hank Marvin & Bruce Welch) (LIVE)
30. MILK COW BLUES (with Albert Lee & His Band) (LIVE)
31. THE PRICE OF LOVE (with Kim & Roxanne Wilde) (LIVE)
32. I AM AN ASTRONAUT
33. LULLABY (RE-RECORDING)

CD 3

RADIO LUXEMBOURG BROADCAST (1959)

1. MY BABE
2. BLUE MOON OF KENTUCKY
3. A TEENAGER IN LOVE
4. GO GO GO (MOVE ON DOWN THE LINE)
5. MY HAPPINESS
6. I FORGOT TO REMEMBER
7. I’M IN LOVE AGAIN
8. FEVER
9. MY BABY LEFT ME
10. TROUBLE
11. INSTRUMENTAL
12. DANNY
13. HAVE I TOLD YOU LATELY THAT I LOVE YOU
14. BLUE SUEDE SHOES
15. HIGH SCHOOL CONFIDENTIAL
16. I NEED YOUR LOVE TONIGHT
17. I KNOW WHERE I’M GOING
18. RIP IT UP
19. DONNA
20. OH BOY
21. MEAN WOMAN BLUES

BONUS TRACKS

22. CATERPILLAR (as Cold Fly)
23. YESTERDAY STARTED FOR JUDY (as Cold Fly)
24. ALL NIGHT GIRL
25. SHE’S A MOVER
26. I LOVE YOU
27. IN DREAMS
28. HARD TO FIND, EASY TO LOSE
29. SEA OF HEARTBREAK
30. DON’T WANNA BE THE ONE
31. ONE SUCH AS I (DEMO)

Tracks 1-21, 31 previously unreleased

CD 4

PREVIOUSLY UNISSUED DEMO RECORDINGS

1. THE NEXT HUNDRED YEARS
2. FEEL IN THE MOOD
3. SLAP BANG
4. A LAY-ABOUT’S LAMENT
5. WASN’T IT A HANDSOME PUNCH-UP
6. POLARIS
7. YOUR KIND OF LOVE
8. IS IT TRUE
9. MY, WHAT A WOMAN
10. SINCE YOU’VE GONE (as The Wilde Three)
11. JUST AS LONG (as The Wilde Three)
12. I JUST WANNA DANCE (as The Wilde Three)
13. HARMONICA
14. THE BEGINNING OF THE END
15. DADDY WHAT’LL HAPPEN TO ME
16. ALL I CAN SAY IS GOODBYE
17. JESAMINE
18. ELIZABETH DREAMS
19. THROUGH MY TELESCOPE
20. RIFLES AND FIREWATER
21. IT’S SO UNREAL
22. IT DIDN’T HAVE TO BE THIS WAY
23. SANTA MARIE
24. HALFWAY TO WHERE
25. SUNNY ST LOUIS
26. A PLACE IN MY HEART
27. SHEY SHEY
28. LEAPING ABOUT
29. JUNGLE JIM
30. TRY
31. I’M A MOVER
32. IT’S A HANG UP WORLD (by Marty & Joyce Wilde)