Isomatic UK Weblog

This evening we went to The Regent Centre in Christchurch to see Marty Wilde and the Wildcats perform songs from the 1950s and early 60s. The theatre was packed to capacity with an enthusiastic audience, all paying the 'concessions' price. In the first half the Wildcats performed without Marty, all but the drummer singing at some time. Our favourite number from this set was Be Bop A Lula, composed by Gene Vincent, who performs it on this link. Note the great guitar backing by the greatest rock guitarist of all time, Cliff Gallup. He sounds even better on Race With The Devil.
For the second set the Wildcats were joined by Marty, who looks incredibly young for his age. He performed numerous songs, including his big hits:
Donna, written and originally sung by Ritchie Valens;
Danny, written by Ben Weisman with lyrics by Fred Wise and recorded for the film King Creole but eventually eliminated. I remember listening to it on the juke box in a cafe in Plaistow as a teenager;
Bad Boy, Marty's own composition
Teenager in Love, written by Doc Pomus with Mort Shuman and originally sung by Dion and the Belmonts.
However, our favourite was Apron Strings, written by Aaron Schroeder with George David Weiss and first recorded publicly by Cliff Richard, although Elvis Presley had already made a home recording not intended for release.
A great evening of nostalgia that had us all singing along.

Labels: Pop Music