Go Away Little Girl: The Pye Anthology

by Greg AdamsMark Wynter, like Marty Wilde and Craig Douglas, specialized in covering American pop and rock hits for the British market. Critics often dismiss such artists without considering the unique characteristics of their recordings -- the quality of the vocal performances, the instrumental arrangements, and so forth. In the case of Mark Wynter, any such dismissal is made at the listener's peril because Wynter's Pye recordings rank among the most gorgeous teen idol concoctions England had to offer in the early '60s. Wynter could shut out Steve Lawrence's recording of "Go Away Little Girl" -- a stateside chart-topper -- simply by covering it, and place a minor American hit like the Cascades' "Shy Girl" in the U.K. Top 30. His cover of "Venus in Blue Jeans" was the hit version in England, and his originals, such as "Running to You" and "Happy with You," are first-rate. His cover songs are interesting, such as the forgotten Tony Bennett hit "Cinammon Sinner," and he was also a capable songwriter, penning solid fare such as "I'm a Lucky Guy" and "It's Love You Want." Wynter's orchestrated pop style is comparable to Jerry Keller, whose "Here Comes Summer" Wynter covers. Go Away Little Girl: The Pye Anthology compiles Wynter's complete Pye recordings from 1962-1974, including all of his chart hits for the label. Wynter mostly stayed with his established style into the late '60s, at which point he would have been categorized as an adult contemporary vocalist similar to Bobby Vinton. His first Pye period ended in 1968, but he recorded a one-off single in 1974 that is indistinguishable from his earlier efforts except for the more modern-sounding instrumentation. Before recording for Pye, Wynter scored a few hits on Decca in the early '60s, and those recordings are compiled on a Dutton Vocalion anthology, The Warmth of Wynter.