Born Terry Lewis, Mark Wynter was a teen ballad singer somewhat in the style of Ricky Nelson and Bobby Vee. He had a brief spell of success in the early sixties, scoring nine UK hits between 1961 and 1964. Only two of them (Venus in blue jeans, Go away little girl) made the top ten although two others (Image of a girl, It's almost tomorrow) came close. None of the other five hits made the top twenty but they did better than the seventeen singles that missed the charts completely. So Mark's contribution to pop history is fairly modest but as this double CD shows, his music is definitely worth a listen despite Mark's habit of mostly recording cover versions of American songs. This was a common practice among British singers at the time.
Mark began his recording career on Decca, releasing seven singles and an EP on that label of which the first four charted including the aforementioned Image of a girl. Those recordings are outside the scope of this compilation, which focuses on his Pye recordings. The switch to Pye in 1962 reaped immediate rewards with Venus in blue jeans (a cover of an American hit by Jimmy Clanton) making the UK top five. If you've heard of Mark Wynter at all, you'll be familiar with this track. The follow-up, Go away little girl, was another big UK hit but is not nearly as well know, As Beatle mania took hold, Mark's style of music became less popular and he struggled to make an impact, eventually switching to an acting career.
This comprehensive compilation contains all the A and B sides of his Pye singles together with all his Pye EP tracks and some LP tracks. If you enjoy listening to American singers like Ricky Nelson and Booby Vee, you might enjoy listening to Mark Wynter.