Singing legend Marty Wilde in Eastbourne: this is how to get tickets

Joining Marty is Eden Kane and his long serving band The Wildcats plus special guests Mark Wynter and Nancy Ann Lee.

The late 50s and early 60s were some of the most exciting and important years in the history of music. With the arrival of rock n’ roll, a whole new pop culture was born.

Performing their own hits and collaborating live on stage, Marty and Eden the original teen idols, will show how rock n’ roll with its fusion of sound and rhythm shaped the style of music that we listened to then and still do today.

Marty made music history when he became the first ever UK music artist to achieve eight consecutive decades of chart success as a UK singer songwriter. His latest album Running Together was released in 2020 and is his first album to feature an all-original collection of songs written or co-written by Marty.

Having been spotted performing at London’s Condor Club in 1957, Marty Wilde enjoyed a string of hits, popularising rock ‘n’ roll in this country. Being down to earth was always Marty’s approach. Think of all the artists who have fallen by the wayside down the decades, from Hendrix to Moon, from Joplin to Kossoff.

That was never going to be Marty’s way.

“I was just scared of that heavy drugs scene. What a waste to spend an afternoon or an evening doing that stuff when you can just get on with living. I have always been a pretty basic feet-on-the-ground person.

“I have never been overawed by showbusiness. To me, it’s just a job. It’s something that I just accept. You just get on with it, and sometimes it is very exciting. There is a big adrenaline rush when you are doing a show and people are loving it and the crowds are roaring, but by and large once you leave the theatre you are just thinking about your next job. I am always thinking ahead. The silliest thing a lot of artists can do in their mental state is to think that they have got some god-given thing, that a great big finger has come down from heaven and a voice has told them that they are fantastic. I have never thought that.”

And that’s despite the fact that Marty really can be counted as one of British rock ‘n’ rolls great pioneers in the late 50s.

“I formed a group when I was 16 and then we switched to rock ‘n’ roll. I was doing a show in Soho in London when Lionel Bart saw me and tipped off Larry Parnes who was Tommy Steele’s manager. He came down to see me.

“He asked my parents and they had to sign once I had OK’d it. Larry Parnes was responsible for Tommy Steele, myself, Billy Fury, Georgie Fame. He was a very good manager.

“I was just coming up to almost my 18th birthday. It took about six months. I was making records but they weren’t getting anywhere. And then I had a record called Endless Sleep. That changed everything.”

Except that it didn’t change Marty…

Tickets on https://www.eastbournetheatres.co.uk/events/dreamboats-and-petticoats-featuring-marty-wilde

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