Marti Pellow reveals the first record he bought and how his parents influenced him
He joined us on Greatest Hits Radio
Last updated 22nd Mar 2024
To celebrate Marti Pellow's birthday on 23rd March 2024, we thought we'd take a look back at when he joined us for an exclusive gig in Glasgow. Performing many of his hits back in December, he also spoke to Greatest Hits Radio's Jackie Brambles.
Chatting to Jackie about growing up in Scotland, the singer revealed how his parents' love for music influenced his music, and what the first record he bought with his own money was.
"I think you first get introduced through your mum and dad's record collection," Marti explained. "My father, he liked a lot of Nelson Riddle, you know, for the big tour singers like (Frank) Sinatra and Tony Bennett, and he liked about Bill Evans, so he liked a wee bit of jazz, but he also had a flavour for country music, he loved Johnny Cash."
However, Marti's mum had a different taste in music, giving the young singer a rather eclectic mix growing up.
"My mother," continued Marti: "She loved all pop music from the late 50s to the early 60s, so I was getting switched on to Burt Bacharach and Hal David, I got a lot of melodies coming in there."
The former Wet Wet Wet singer then went on to reveal the first record he bought was one that he still loves to this day. "Once I started to be able to afford and buying little records, you know, I think the first record I bought was The Isley Brothers in 1973, it was the ‘3 + 3’ album.
"And that's one of my favourite albums of all time, and I just kept playing that all the time and then I got introduced to a lot of soul music. You know, like Carla Thomas and Ann Peebles, because Glasgow had a big soul movement, and the boys that I broke bread with, you know, were in the band, they would go and see bands like The Clash or (Elvis) Costello."
Throughout the interview, Marti also revealed that he's most proud of his sobriety, celebrating a massive 25 years sober, and reminisced about his early days with Wet Wet Wet, when they used to hang around Deacon Blue and Texas.
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