With his tall, dashing looks and smooth delivery, Marty Wilde became one of the
early British pop idols with a string of hits in the 1950s and '60s, before
helping his daughter Kim to fame in the '80s. Born Reginald Smith in South
London, he grew up in a musical family and when his bus driver father took him
to a forces concert, the three-year-old jumped up on stage and sang his dad's
favourite song 'It's a Grand Old Song They Sing'. As the skiffle craze was
bringing Britain's post-war youth to life, he left school at the age of 15 to
work as a messenger, but was soon out playing...