Marti’s career began as a teenager when he formed a band with his school friends that became Wet Wet Wet, but even then, when a major record company offered them the top UK pop producers of the day, they insisted on going to Memphis, Tennessee, to find possibly the greatest R&B and soul producer of the 1970’s, Willie Mitchell, the man who’d produced Al Green, Ike & Tina Turner, Ann Peebles and Otis Reading.
It was this level of commitment and self-belief that saw Marti and Wet Wet Wet achieve more success than just about any other band at that time. It was also the years that greatly developed his songwriting, schooled him in production and arranging, gave him huge stage confidence and style and the growth of arguably the greatest white soul voice in pop.
And then when the band went their separate ways for a while, Marti went back to where it had all begun, with Willie Mitchell in Memphis making his first solo album, the platinum selling album Smile. While there he was honoured with the Keys to the City of Memphis, and even had the White House proclaim the 9th May - Marti Pellow Day in Memphis – honours shared by the likes of Nelson Mandella and BB King! Smile saw the start of a writing partnership between Marti and the great British lyricist and pop legend Chris Difford from Squeeze, a partnership which has continued through almost every solo album to this day.
Marti continues to be dedicated to his song writing, to challenging what he has done before, to creating new music and to pushing the boundaries of what is expected, still hitting the road and performing to thousands, still recording and producing top ten records, still the utterly dedicated singer song-writer following his heart.
