An icon of the rock’n’roll era is back in South Yorkshire this week, as Marty Wilde takes the stage in Rotherham on Thursday.
Wilde, who’s been performing in the UK since the mid 1950’s, is making his one stop in South Yorkshire at Rotherham’s Civic Theatre as part of his current tour.
He said: “Touring is almost like a natural thing for me, I don’t work as much anymore, but it’s like a lifestyle.”
Wilde has regularly toured since the start of his career, with his first appearance in South Yorkshire being at the Empire Theatre in Sheffield in 1957.
The rock and roller’s audience have grown up with him over the years, and the Civic’s intimate set up provides the perfect place for them to interact.
He said: “In the old days you had thousands of screaming teenagers, and I don’t get them anymore.
“I talk to the audience and we laugh together really, the audience I think are much more appreciative these days, back in the old days they could barely hear you.”
Wilde’s hits include A Teenager in Love, Rubber Ball and Sea of Love, but he is also known for his song writing , having primarily written songs for other artists.
These include the song ‘Kids in America’, written for his daughter, singer Kim Wilde, who herself performed in Sheffield this weekend.
Wilde also spent plenty of time playing clubs in the North, at a time when smaller venues provided his career a lifeline.
He said: “I love working in the North, in the old days you found that Northern audiences were a lot warmer in many ways than others.
“The North also saved me, as there were dozens of clubs where I would play when there was none down South.”
Wilde’s current tour comes off the back of his first number one record, Two Eyes Streaming, which reached number one in the UK Heritage Charts last year.
This, along with the charting of his previous album Running Together, means Wilde has now made the charts in eight successive decades.
Marty Wilde and The Wildcats play at Rotherham Civic Theatre this Thursday, doors open 7:30pm.
Tickets can be purchased here.
