The voice, always the voice. Marti Pellow’s incredible vocal prowess has carried him through the good times and the very bad. From the depths of despair to the incredible commercial peaks of Wet Wet Wet and now of course his successful solo career. With his debut solo album “SMILE” he added another string to his bow emerging as a composer and producer. "No one is more surprised than me," he admits. "I'd always thought that I was just a singer and that was my trade. I've been blessed with having a good ear for melody. I can hear melodies very quickly and I can improvise very well. Composing and production are both a case of knowing what goes where and when and then getting great musicians to work with. Mind you, I'm a nightmare to work with; I move very quickly; I'm a typical addict, I want it here and I want it now. And nobody can understand my accent."

The link up with Chris Difford was a critical part of the process. Chris, of Squeeze, had written the excellent lyrics to Love Is My Shepherd on Wet Wet Wet's “Picture This” album. Marti Pellow was looking for someone to put words to his own melodies and soon realised he needed to look no further than Deptford's finest. The two became firm friends as well as collaborators. "Personally, he's a real rock for me," explains Marti, "especially through all the bad shit of my addictions. Professionally, I wanted someone worthy of my melodies and my first choice was Chris Difford. There was no second choice. After I'd decided to go it alone I went down to his house in Rye and said, 'Look, I need you and your lyrics and I need to stay in your house. Where's me pipe and slippers?'

 Whilst - by his own admission - Marti Pellow (born Mark McLachlan on March 23, 1966) was something of a “studio slugabed” towards the end of Wet Wet Wet, he was always the group's public face and voice. From their formation in Clydebank in 1983 as Vortex Motion who earned a crust covering Clash songs in local bars, they blossomed into one of the great British groups of the '80s and '90s. Among their 12 British Top 10 hits, they managed three Number 1 singles, “With A Little Help From My Friends”, “Goodnight Girl” and their version of Reg Presley's “Love Is All Around” which was Number 1 in 15 countries and stayed at the British summit for a splendidly symmetric 15 weeks. They also had four British Number 1 albums: not bad for a singles band. "Being a pop star was everything I thought it would be and more," he says firmly. "There were screaming, adoring women everywhere, but for us it was always about music and Wet Wet Wet wrote great pop songs. When people start to look back at what we did and how we did it, they'll remember what a good group we were. I'd love to think of future generations discovering us. And they will..."

Essentially a modest sort of chap, Marti wasn't wholly sure if his old fans would still be there with the prospect of a solo tour. He thought his first solo dip in the live waters might have to take the form of a club tour. He needn't have worried and before Christmas in 2000 played a sold out tour of Britain's larger venues, including two nights at the Royal Albert Hall. It was almost as if he'd never been away. "I knew I had a fully loaded gun with the Number One singles," he smiles. "But I was more apprehensive about the “SMILE” songs because there were no reference points for the audience, but it was important that I played those songs." And how did they go down? "Oh, quite well – it was great to see all the fans still there supporting me." And then he sets that massive grin free. "It was mental actually and I did it clean," he says proudly. "I toured with nothing, no drugs and no drink. Previously, I'd always thought I'd need to get fucked up to work, but I now know that's not true. I could savour the moments better and that was such a high in itself."

So here he is. Focused, happy, full of great music and ready to conquer the world for a second time. "Hey, I've still got loads of problems, but it's cool with me and it's cool with the missus. I'm clean as a whistle, fighting fit and I'm looking after myself. I see myself as a long term project and I'm something that I need to address every day."

After a busy 2001, notably being given the keys to Memphis, an honour only ever been given to the likes of Nelson Mandela and blues legend, BB King; followed by his having his debut solo album going straight into the top 10; singing his hit Close To You on the set of Emmerdale Farm; and having his second single, I've Been Around The World reaching number 7 in the singles chart.  Marti finished the year with a sell-out tour starting in Glasgow and finishing at London's Wembley Arena.

2002 kicked off with a very special concert on the 5th February at the Royal Albert Hall in aid of the Teenage Cancer Trust where Marti was joined on stage by some of the best female artists around including Emma Bunton, Lesley Garrett, Belinda Carlisle and Dina Carroll.  Marti completed a critically acclaimed performance of Billy Flynn in the hit West End musical Chicago at the end of the year and released his solo album ‘Marti Pellow Sings The Hits Of Wet Wet Wet and Smile’ which has achieved a double gold status in sales and is now nearly platinum .

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