by Lorraine Gibson.

He may be 83, but Marty Wilde, the original Fifties pioneer of British rock and roll and veteran recording artist/ songwriter is still playing live and very much kicking.
Speaking to him ahead of his show at Sturminster Newton Exchange, 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.
Yet, the influence of The King lives on. “You could feel the excitement in those early Elvis performances and that’s what’s stayed with me all these years. “It’s what I still aim to bring to every show I do.”

He’s been taking the current show to venues all year, including an age-defying, 23-date tour with fellow 1960s artists, Mark Wynter and Eden Kane, but taking a rare month off – his first break in years – has seen him pen new songs (as well as his memoirs) and get back in the recording studio.

By the end of this year, the evergreen hit machine will have completed 54 concert dates and, so far, shows no sign of flagging, with further dates scheduled for 2023.
Marty and his band, The Wildcats, will be rocking the stage at the Tivoli Theatre, Wimborne on December 1.
martywilde.com, tivoliwimborne.co.uk.