Newark Festival : Marti Pellow, Kim Wilde and Go West among acts to appear

A host of chart-topping names from the 1980s have been revealed in the line-up for next year’s Newark Festival.

Wet Wet Wet frontman Marti Pellow will headline Saturday, June 16, at Riverside Park.

Joining him on the bill are Kim Wilde, Go West, Nick Heyward, of Haircut 100 fame, Limahl and The Fizz — formerly Bucks Fizz.

Friday, June 15, sees the return of Riverside Rocks with tribute acts to The Who, The Stone Roses, The Rolling Stones and Queen, featuring Who’s Next, The Ultimate Stone Roses, The Rollin’ Clones and Magic Queen.

The free Family Fun Day returns on Sunday, June 17, with a line-up of activities and entertainment throughout the day, followed by the popular Swing In The Park evening concert and fireworks finale.

Promoter Liz Doogan-Hobbs, of LHG Live, said: “I am proud to be bringing Marti Pellow to the town. His unbelievable vocal talent and brilliant stage presence made Wet Wet Wet such an iconic band and having him here will be a treat for us all.

“To be joined by Kim Wilde, Go West, Nick Heyward and Limahl as well as old Eurovision friends The Fizz, means Saturday is going to be one big party.”

BRIT and Ivor Novello Award-winning singer-songwriter Marti Pellow first came to the attention of the British public as the lead singer of Wet Wet Wet.

As both a solo artist and with his band, Marti has had consistent chart-topping multi-platinum albums with more than 25 chart hits and three of the UK’s biggest number-one singles, including Goodnight Girl and Love Is All Around, which holds the record for the longest time spent at number one.

Marti said: “I am really looking forward to singing for you all at the 2018 Newark Festival in June.

“Newark is a great town — I travelled there as a boy and remember visiting the magic castle.

“My new show is a lot of fun with all the favourites and I am really looking forward to returning to Newark. See you there.”

String of hits

Kim Wilde burst on to the music scene in 1981 with the classic worldwide hit, Kids In America.

This led to a career with more than 30m record sales spanning 12 albums and hits of the 80s including Chequered Love, Cambodia, You Keep Me Hangin’ On, You Came, Never Trust A Stranger and Four Letter Word.

Go West are Peter Cox and Richard Drummie, whose debut single We Close Our Eyes was released in the spring of 1985.

It reached number five in the UK charts and became a top 10 hit in the US.

It was followed by other UK hits, such as Call Me, Goodbye Girl, Don’t Look Down, and King Of Wishful Thinking from the Pretty Woman soundtrack.

The album Go West sold two million copies worldwide and remained on the UK chart for 83 weeks.

Nick Heyward is a songwriter, guitarist and vocalist who achieved success with his former band Haircut 100 in the early 1980s, with four UK top-ten singles, including Love Plus One and Fantastic Day.

Their debut album, Pelican West, went to number one in the UK charts.

Nick then went on to pursue his own music career as a solo artist.

Limahl first found fame as the lead singer of Kajagoogoo, who stormed the charts with Too Shy in the 1980s.

The Fizz, formerly known as Bucks Fizz, were catapulted to fame in 1981 after they won the Song for Europe and the Eurovision Song Contest with Making Your Mind Up.

More than 20 singles were released over the next few years, including three number ones, such as My Camera Never Lies, Land Of Make Believe and Run For Your Life.

They amassed 15m record sales and spent 219 weeks in the UK charts alone.

The Fizz are remembered for their harmonies, energetic dance routines and, of course, the skirt ripping-off routine.

Mr David Lloyd, leader of Newark Town Council, which commissions the festival, said: “This year’s new improved site layout and the fabulous weather made it the the most successful festival to date and was greatly received by the Newark community.

“The Newark Festival is the anchor and highlight of the summer events programme for the town and enables us to attract visitors who, in turn, spend in our shops, bars, restaurants and overnight accommodation.

“Our town centre is outstanding and we want more and more people to come and discover Newark and contribute to our economy.”

Tickets for Newark Festival will go on sale tomorrow at 9am from www.newark festival.co.uk and from Newark Town Hall.

They will also be available at the Christmas lights switch-on in Newark Market Place on Sunday.

Barcode Warehouse return as headline sponsor, and LHG has partnered again with Water’s Edge for the premier ticket enclosure area.