Customer Reviews

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After three unsuccessful singles, Marty began a run of five consecutive UK top ten hits with a cover of Endless sleep (Jody Reynolds) in 1958. Three more cover hits (Donna, A teenager in love, Sea of love) followed, then came Bad boy, his first original hit.

Following those first five hits, Marty's star faded somewhat. He had eight further UK hits (Johnny Rocco, The fight, Little girl, Rubber ball, Hide and seek, Tomorrow's clown, Jezebel, Ever since you said goodbye) but only one of them (Rubber ball, a cover of Bobby Vee's classic) made the top ten and even that fared less well than the original. By the time the last of those hits came in 1962, Marty was more interested in acting than singing, being unwilling (or unable) to adapt to changing styles.

This compilation contains all of Marty's UK hits and the best of his other music including B-sides and failed A-sides. If you are into British rock'n'roll, Marty Wilde should be in your collection.

One of only two CDs I've ever found of an artiste whose chart success deserves much more recognition. A great selection of Marty's recordings from about 1957 to 1962. It includes most or all of the tracks on his American covers album "Wilde About Marty" which shows just how well he rose to the challenge of at least equalling the originals.
The gems are his hits, of course, most of which are here.
Again, most are covers but very much "made his own" - surely
"Teenager in love" leaves Dion & The Belmonts version standing! Marty's songwriting shines on "Bad Boy", "Ever Since You Said Goodbye",and the dramatic "Tomorrow's Clown". He was as big as Cliff Richard and should have remained so - he had the talent.

I love the track Bad Boy. Heard it on Heartbeat and it just kept playing through my head! Got on the computer and, you're great Amazon!...got that song. Rest of the CD is good but Bad Boy is so cool....

My opinion about the product is that I got what I expected.I knew the
artist,but I didn't know if it was recordings from his young days.It
was from his young days all right.Therefore I can only recommend the
CD to others who like rock n' roll from the 50'ies.

This is a must own album because it contains Bad Boy. The others are mostly cover songs by American Artists, and although "Marty" does a great job, I will stick to the originals. I am very happy to get a copy of his monster hit Bad Boy.

Did you know his last popular hit was in 1969 and called Abergavenny (taking a trip up to Abergavenny), using yet another stage name Shannon? Don't try to find it on cd...it's never been released. His daughter did a couple of 80's releases with the Wilde name...Kim Wilde: You Keep Me Hanging On/Kids In America..

This Bad Boy was worth the price.

When I was first becoming accustomed to living in Scotland in the mid-fifties and early sixties, I acquired a liking for British Rock & Roll, or popular music in general, and one of my first "favorites" was Marty Wilde. This CD is a most welcome addtion to my R&R collection!

One of the very first "positives" I associated with Marty Wilde was the fact that he did a much better job with his renditions of some very popular songs of the time than did the original artists. For example, his version of "Donna," made famous by Richie Valens, is much, much better! His romantic rendition of Phil Phillips' "Sea of Love" is superior by orders of magnitude!! Also, "Endless Sleep" is markedly better than Jodie Reynolds' origial version.

One problem with best of compilations is that they just look at top 40 listings. Sometimes there are songs which anoraks like me remember from the year dot which are regularly played on radio at the time but don't feature in the Guinness Book of hit singles, and are lost in the mists of time. Abergavenny is one, celebrating the Welsh town close to the Brecon Beacons. I have a recent compilation of Yardbirds hits which covers the time after their last chart entry in 1966, and also a Mark Wirtz compilation of various mis-hits. Perhaps a complete discography compilation could be produced with hits and mis-hits alike to show the career of one of Britains pioneer rockers - warts and all.

Thanx