Marty became a regular on late-1950s TV music shows 6.5 Special, Oh, Boy! and Boy Meets Girls, during which time he met and married Joyce Baker, who was a member of vocal group the Vernons Girls. His run of hit singles began in 1958 with ‘Endless Sleep’, and the following year he had Top Ten hits with ‘Donna’, ‘A Teenager in Love’, ‘Sea of Love’ and ‘Bad Boy’. The last of these he wrote himself, which was unusual at the time; apart from Buddy Holly, few 1950s artists wrote their own material.

In the early 1960s, Marty had more hits, including ‘Rubber Ball’ and ‘Jezebel’, but he was now moving more into acting and songwriting. He co-wrote ‘Jesamine’, a big hit for the Casuals, ‘I’m a Tiger’ for Lulu, and the early Status Quo single ‘Ice in the Sun’. 

His family are all talented musicians and singers. His daughter Kim Wilde had eight UK top ten hits in the 1980s, including three – ‘Kids in America’, ‘Chequered Love’ and ‘Four Letter Word’ – that were co-written by Marty and his son Ricky. 

Mike Read