Kim Wilde’s first records were written and produced by her father and brother, Marty and Ricky. The three of them have had a great influence on the music world, as this regular series ‘Wilde World’ shows.
After his big success in the late Fifties and early Sixties, Marty Wilde found that his artist name was giving him some trouble. In the Sixties he started using nicknames like Frere Manston, Shannon and Zappo in order to try and resolve this problem. Unfortunately, even using other names he didn’t achieve the kind of chart success he’d known before. Fortunately he was more successful as a songwriter – perhaps because Frere Manston – his songwriting alias – was not immediately linked to the rock ‘n roller of earlier days.
’20 fantastic bands’ was written by Peter Shelley and Marty Wilde – and it even says so on the label. But the performing band, ‘The Dazzling All Night Rock Show’ only released this one single. Which in turn makes us wonder, was this not just another alias for Marty Wilde himself? Listen for yourself, below. Released on November 23, 1973, the single didn’t become a hit.