MATTHEW LINDSAY
Think of Wet Wet Wet and the first thing that comes to mind is likely to be Marti Pellow, a twinkle in his eyes, ‘big, cheesy grin’ and a blueeyed soul voice. In the popular imagination, Marti Pellow is Wet Wet Wet. So when the singer quit in the middle of 2017, panic swept through the band.
First there was anger, not personal, just professional, says the band’s drummer Tommy Cunningham. Tours had been tentatively proposed, including Australia, according to bassist and songwriter Graeme Clark. For keyboard player Neil Mitchell, the news came as a bolt from the blue: “I didn’t actually speak to Marti. We did four or five shows, finished in Edinburgh, then went home. After that, his manager phoned the band manager – he has his own theatrical manager – who told us Marti wanted to leave. Marti didn’t give us any inclination that was the case. He is his own man, doesn’t give much away. But we got a shock and I didn’t really expect it.”
Cunningham echoes Mitchell’s surprise at the news. Hearing of Marti’s departure on holiday, he tried to delay any statement being released to the press. The most pragmatic member of the band, he thought a compromise could be made but nothing could be done; their singer had quit. Clark was less blindsided by the exit, feeling for some time that Pellow existed in his own orbit.
On and off stage, the bassist sensed a widening distance between the singer and the mates he’d been with since high school. Despite the sense of impending doom, Graeme remembers a feeling of relief.
Pellow was his friend, but the band had become a “dictatorship, not a democracy”; every move had to be co-ordinated around Marti’s solo career.
What would they do now? Valiantly carry on, says Mitchell. “Once we got over the shock, we agreed to at least try to find a singer. We had a lot of conversations about whether we were doing the right thing. What would people think? We really didn’t want to stop so we had to give it a shot and see what happens.”
A NEW HOPE
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About Classic Pop
Issue 50 of Classic Pop is on sale now!
For our 50th issue, we had to come up with something very special – and we certainly have… our cover stars this month are The Specials, hot on the heels of the release of their superb chart-topping album, Encore. Our must-read interview with the band delves into their remarkable comeback and the story behind their superb new record.
We also catch up with the iconic Gloria Estefan who tells us how she brought Latin grooves to the world and Bonnie Tyler talks us through her new studio album, which features a hotly-anticipated duet with Sir Rod Stewart.
30 years on, we celebrate New Order’s Technique in our latest Classic Album feature and we also serve up a buyer’s guide to the blue-eyed soul of Simply Red.
As Wet Wet Wet face the future without Marti Pellow, we meet the band as they embark on a fresh chapter with new frontman, The Voice winner Kevin Simm.
Our packed new album reviews section features the wonderful return of Chaka Khan plus Dido, Sophie Ellis-Bextor and Paul Weller. On the reissues front, we check out a must-have 10-CD Heaven 17 boxset plus re-releases from David Bowie, Sparks, Erasure and more.
In our live reviews section, we elbow our way down to the front for Gary Numan and Echo & The Bunnymen at the Rockaway Beach Festival plus gigs by Chrvches and The Christians.
Enjoy the issue!