by Lorraine Gibson.

He may be 83, but Marty Wilde, the original 1950s pioneer of British rock and roll and veteran recording artist and songwriter, is still performing live and very much kicking.
Speaking to him ahead of his show at the Tivoli in Wimborne, we get chatting about Elvis Presley and he says that The King was a huge influence on his early career.
“We all wanted to be Elvis. Me, Cliff [Richard] and Billy [Fury], we all copied him – the hair, the clothes, the dancing, the turned-up collars and rolled up sleeves. It took me a while to realise that I wasn’t Elvis and needed do my own thing.”
Marty did do his own thing, racking up hit after hit with the likes of Bad Boy, Sea of Love, Endless Sleep and Teenager in Love. Then he wrote songs for Lulu, Status Quo and the massive next-generation teen anthem, Kids in America for his daughter, Kim Wilde.
“You could feel the excitement in those early Elvis performances and that’s the thing that’s stayed with me. It’s what I still aim to bring to every show I do,” Marty said.
He’s been taking the current show to venues all year, including a 23-date tour with fellow 1960s artists Mark Wynter and Eden Kane.
But taking a rare month off – his first break in several years – has seen him write new songs, as well as his memoirs, and even get back in the recording studio.
By the end of 2022, the evergreen hit machine will have completed 54 concert dates and shows no sign of flagging with more dates scheduled for 2023.
Marty and his band, the Wildcats, will be rocking the stage at the Tivoli Theatre on Thursday 1 December.