Gillingham, Kent, UK (By Mikey:
[email protected])
Early Days
Kim Wilde (born Kim Smith) was born in Chiswick, West London, on November 18th, 1960.
How It All Began The foundation for Kim's musical career was laid in her own family: her father Marty Wilde was a 60s rock 'n roll star and her mother Joyce Baker was a singer as well. Kim's younger brother, Ricky, was into making music since very early in his life, and he actually released some records.
In 1980, when Kim was nineteen, her father Marty had booked a studio to record a Country & Western album, which has always been one of his ambitions. Another appointment kept Marty from the studio on this occasion, however, and Ricky was asked if he had written any songs that he might like to record. One of the songs he was going to record was "Kids In America", and Kim was going to provide vocals. The recorded demo track was taken to a few studios and, eventually, fell into the hands of Mickie Most, the owner of RAK Records company. So, in 1980 Kim was signed to RAK Records and in January 1981 Kim's first single - "Kids In America" - was released.
The Fame "Kids In America" had an instant success, climbing to number 2 in the UK charts and becoming a Top 30 hit in the USA. The debut album "Kim Wilde" followed later that year and spawned a further two hits, "Chequered Love" and "Water On Glass". By 1982, Kim had already sold more records than her father had done in his entire career. Kim recorded a total of three albums for RAK Records before signing to MCA Records in the summer of 1984. After a relatively quiet period in MCA, such hits as "Another Step (Closer To You)" and an energetic remake of old Supremes' song "You Keep Me Hanging On" brought Kim back to the limelight. The latter song reached number 2 in UK and became Kim's first USA Number 1 single in 1987. The following that was a string of internationally recognised hits such as "You Came", "Never Trust A Stranger" and "Four Letter Word". Meanwhile, Kim Wilde also developed as a songwriter and co-writer, which undoubtedly contributed to her career. With releases of such as albums "Another Step", "Close", "Love Moves" and "Love Is", Kim's initial profile of a 'girl-next-door' turned into a much sexier "Love Blonde" image, with mainstream pop tendencies taking over that synth-driven "new-wave pop" that boosted her to stardom in the early 80s.
The Turn-Around Caring for her new family brought another passion in Kim's life - gardening. Putting her music career behind her, Kim attended garden design courses and in 1999 appeared on TV presenting "Better Gardens" programme series. Since then, Kim settled for a quiet life and her public appearances were limited to garden design programmes on TV and summer garden shows in which she participated.
"Music has always been in my heart..." The year 2001 brought what many of Kim's fans were hoping for: she was singing again. First it was a guest appearance at a concert by ABBA tribute band "Fabba" in January. Then in summer that year it was announced that the 80s revival tour - "Here And Now Tour 2001" - will take place in major British cities in November-December, and that Kim Wilde is among the performers. The tour promotion was quite good, with Kim appearing on TV a couple of times for an interview. All eight concerts achieved a big success. Another surprise for Kim Wilde fans, probably more exiting than her new performances, was that the new compilation "The Very Best Of Kim Wilde", released by EMI in November 2001, and contained a new song, which Kim recorded earlier that year. The song, called "Loved", has been released as a single in some of Europe's countries, achieving an unusual success and making its way into the charts. To compliment the release of the new single, Kim visited Belgium, France and Germany for interviews and live performances. This year Kim had a minor Top 10 hit in the German Chart with 'Anyplace, Anywhere, Anytime' teaming up with Nena (who had a No.1 song in this country with '99 Red Balloons' in 1984) for a duet.
Stepping into Big Sister's shoes
And now her little sister Roxanne is breaking into the music industry, she's already had a minor dance hit 'Destination', performed with DT8.
Single Discography
21 February 1981 Kids In America, peaked at No.2, 13 weeks on chart
09 May 1981 Chequered Love, peaked at No.4, 9 weeks on chart
01 August 1981 Water On Glass, peaked at No.11, 8 weeks on chart
14 November 1981 Cambodia. peaked at No.12, 12 weeks on chart
17 April 1982 View From A Bridge, peaked at No.16, 7 weeks on chart
16 October 1982 Child Come Away, peaked at No.42, 4 weeks on chart
30 July 1983 Love Blonde, peaked at No.23, 8 weeks on chart
12 November 1983 Dancing In The Dark, peaked at No.67, 2 weeks on chart
13 October 1984 The Second Time, peaked at No.29, 6 weeks on chart
08 December 1984 The Touch, peaked at No.56, 3 weeks on chart
27 April 1985 Rage To Love, peaked at No.19, 8 weeks on chart.
25 October 1986 You Keep Me Hanging on, peaked at No.2, 16 weeks on chart
04 April 1987 Another Step (Closer To You), peaked at No.6, 11 weeks on chart
08 August 1987 Say You Really Want Me, peaked at No.29, 5 weeks on chart
05 December 1987 Rockin' Around The Xmas Tree, peaked at No.3, 7 weeks on chart
14 May 1988 Hey Mister Heartache, peaked at No.31, 5 weeks on chart
16 July 1988 You Came, peaked at No.2, 11 weeks on chart
01 October 1988 Never Trust A Stranger, peaked at No.7, 9 weeks on chart
03 December 1988 Four Letter Word, peaked at No.6, 12 weeks on chart
04 March 1989 Love In A Natural Way, peaked at No.32, 6 weeks on chart
14 April 1990 It's Here, peaked at No.32, 6 weeks on chart
16 June 1990 Time, peaked at No.71, 3 weeks on chart
15 December 1990 I Can't Say Goodbye, peaked at No.51, 3 weeks on chart
02 May 1992 Love Is Holy, peaked at No.16, 6 weeks on chart
17 June 1992 Heart Over Mind, peaked at No.34, 6 weeks on chart
12 September 1992 Who Do You Think You Are, peaked at No.49, 3 weeks on chart
10 July 1993 If I Can't Have You, peaked at No.12, 8 weeks on chart
13 November 1993 In My Life, peaked at No.54, 1 week on chart
14 October 1995 Breakin' Away, peaked at No.43, 2 weeks on chart
10 February 1996 This I Swear, peaked at No.46, 1 week on chart
Album Discography
1981 Kim Wilde
1982 Select
1983 Catch as Catch Can
1984 Teases & Dares
1985 The Very Best of Kim Wilde
1986 Another Step
1988 Close
1990 Love Moves
1992 Love Is...
1993 Singles Collection 1981-93
1995 Now and Forever
1996 The Gold Collection
1999 Greatest Hits
