Marti Pellow
| Marti Pellow | |
|---|---|
Pellow in 2007
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Mark McLachlan |
| Born | 23 March 1965 |
| Origin | Clydebank, Scotland |
| Genres | Pop, soul |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, songwriter |
| Instruments | Vocals |
| Years active | 1982–present |
| Associated acts |
Wet Wet Wet Maggie Pie & The Impostors |
| Website | martipellowofficial |
Marti Pellow (born Mark McLachlan; 23 March 1965) is a Scottish singer. He has been the lead singer of the Scottish pop group Wet Wet Wet since their formation in 1982, and has also recorded solo material.
Pellow's first exposure to music occurred around the age of 7. He would listen to his mother's Barras-bought 8-track record collection of Burt Bacharach and Hal David, but it was the soul genre of the selection that drew him in. Early Marvin Gaye and, especially, Sam Cooke captivated him. He then discovered live music. "Hey, wait a minute – check that picture. Not only is this music amazing, but these guys deliver it live? That's for me."
When he told his father about the direction he wanted his life to take, he was less than enthusiastic. "'Are you on a hallucinogenic substance or something? What's wrong with getting out there and getting an apprenticeship? I'm a builder, your grandfather was a builder, your great-grandfather was a shipbuilder. What do you want to be a musician for?' And I said, 'No, you don't understand – this is my vocation in life; this is what I want to be'."
In 1982, at the age of seventeen, McLachlan, who was training to be a painter and decorator, formed a band with three friends from Clydebank High School in his hometown. The friends were Tommy Cunningham, Graeme Clark and Neil Mitchell, and the band's name was Vortex Motion. This was subsequently changed to Wet Wet Wet, a title taken from the Scritti Politti song, "Gettin, Havin' and Holdin'". McLachlan also changed his birth name in favour of the stage name Marti Pellow, created from his mother's maiden name Pellow and the nickname he was given at school (smarty).
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