No longer a teen, but still a star

AS a young reporter on the Northampton Chronicle and Echo back in 1963, I was sent to cover a rock concert starring a lanky crooner called Marty Wilde. Next week my wife and I are going to a rock concert starring - you guessed it - Marty Wilde.

Fifty-five years ago, when Marty appeared alongside the late Billy Fury, no-one at the ABC Cinema in Northampton imagined that the callow Teds on stage would last more than six months. Pop stardom was a fleeting phenomenon in those days. So-called ‘stars’ came and went as teenage fads flared up and fizzled out in weeks.

Marty, though, has stayed the course. At Truro’s Hall for Cornwall, he will appear with other 1960s pop singers like Eden Kane and Mark Wynter on what is billed as his 60th anniversary tour. This week we saw Joe Brown on the same stage, showing off his impressive musical talents with all the aplomb he displayed as far back as 1957.

Marty, now 78, will no doubt wear his trademark Teddy Boy coat, beetle-crusher shoes and DA (Duck’s Arse) haircut during his rendition of his handful of hits.

It will be interesting to hear how he handles his number one success, A Teenager in Love, particularly as he hasn’t been a teenager since circa 1958 - a little under 60 years ago.

No doubt he’ll sound even better now than he did then.