Marty Wilde has said the chart success of his greatest hits album proves the public’s love of rock and roll is alive and well.

The Very Best of Marty Wilde debuted at number seven in the end-of-week chart.

Wilde, who celebrated his 80th birthday earlier this month, told the Press Association: “I’m thrilled to bits with the whole thing.

Investitures at Buckingham Palace
Marty Wilde is made an MBE by the Queen (Yui Mok/PA)

“I’m amazed to be in the charts and lucky enough to have a good album of new material that’s going to come out later in the year.”

The singer scored a string of hits in the 1950s and 1960s with songs such as A Teenager In Love and, alongside Cliff Richard, he was one of the best-known teen heartthrobs of the era.

The album, part of the Dreamboats & Petticoats anthology, features music penned by the veteran performer.

Wilde put the success of the record down to the enduring power of rock and roll music, adding that he hoped it would prompt listeners to recall the sweeping influence the sound had on the youth of the time.

Marty Wilde celebrates 80th birthday
Marty Wilde at his home in Hertfordshire (Ian West/PA)

He said: “It’s an incredible thing and I think it’s great for rock and roll. It’s great to highlight the impact that rock and roll had.

“There has never been an impact like it. Before, it had just been big band music and stuff like that, and then this came in right out of the blue.

“Rock and roll was designed to be picked up by young people. They could dance to it. It had a great beat and that beat has remained.”

He added: “The longevity is something you can’t totally explain. I believed from the very start that rock and roll would last.

“I’m honoured just to have been a part of it. If I’d been born just a few years later or before, I would have been singing a different tune.”

Dreamboats & Petticoats Presents: The Very Best of Marty Wilde is out now.