Marty Wilde on British Rock ’n’ Roll, Kim Wilde, Kids in America & Let’s Rock This Place

Marty Wilde looks back on nearly seven decades in music—from becoming one of Britain’s first home-grown rock-and-roll stars to helping create a new generation of hits with his children Kim and Ricky Wilde.

Marty remembers a childhood shaped by the Second World War, discovering rhythm through Bill Haley and hearing Elvis Presley for the first time. He explains how manager Larry Parnes launched his career and how television programmes including Six-Five Special and Oh Boy! transformed young British performers into national stars.

But success brought difficult choices. Marty reveals that he was warned his career would suffer if he married Joyce—and why he chose love and family over protecting his teen-idol image.

He also explores the songwriting career that followed his early success, including “Bad Boy”, “Jesamine” for The Casuals and “Ice in the Sun” for Status Quo.

The conversation then moves to the remarkable Wilde family partnership. Marty recalls working with Ricky Wilde, recognising Kim Wilde’s star quality and co-writing “Kids in America”, “Chequered Love”, “Cambodia” and other defining records of the 1980s.

Marty also discusses protecting his publishing rights, the decisive role Joyce played in the family business and the creation of his new rockabilly album, Let’s Rock This Place, with Darrel Higham and The Enforcers.

CHAPTERS

00:00 Introduction
01:14 Welcome and a career spanning nearly seven decades
01:42 A childhood shaped by the Second World War
04:27 Discovering music and rhythm
06:06 His father, harmony and the family’s musical roots
08:00 Learning guitar and forming a skiffle group
10:53 Radio Luxembourg and the arrival of rock and roll
14:09 Hearing Elvis Presley for the first time
16:31 Being discovered by Larry Parnes
17:05 His grandmother’s extraordinary prediction
19:43 British rock and roll versus its American origins
21:31 How sudden success changed his life
22:35 Insecurity, appearance and becoming a star
24:27 Six-Five Special, Oh Boy! and television fame
27:32 Being warned that marriage would damage his career
29:41 Building a musical family
31:30 Writing “Bad Boy” and becoming a songwriter
33:41 Visual storytelling in “Cambodia”
34:58 Kim Wilde and the creation of “Kids in America”
37:35 Recognising Kim’s identity as an artist
39:56 Reworking “Rage to Love” for himself
43:46 Writing and recording as a family
47:01 The story inside “Cambodia”
49:56 Joyce Wilde, publishing and protecting the family business
52:48 Let’s Rock This Place and working with Darrel Higham
56:53 Returning to the stage with The Wildcats
58:14 His own legacy and his children’s achievements
58:48 Choosing family over fame
61:00 Closing thoughts

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Watch the interview:
https://youtu.be/Fc-ZU7kUC60

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