Date: 10 October 1981
Originally published in: Titbits (UK)
Written by: Charlie Reed
Things are really popping for Kim Wilde – but a little thing like taking the pop world by storm isn’t going to change her life. She did allow herself the luxury of a champagne breakfast when ‘Kids in America’ became a hit, but that was about her only concession to fame.
Kim’s a home-loving girl. “I’m just so happy there”, she says. And it’s going to take a special sort of fella to get her to leave.
“I love boys and sex is as important to me as it is to anybody else. I like the thrill of the chase, I’m a Scorpio and they’re incredibly passionate people. But I’ve not steady boyfriend. I guess I’m choosy”, says 20-year-old Kim.
“I’m very close to my Mum and Dad. The family are so much a part of what’s going on at the moment that I don’t want to split and take things away from them”, she adds.
Dad, of course, is a 42-year-old rock ‘n’ roller Marty Wilde, who had a string of hits in the Fifties and Sixties with songs like ‘Teenager in love’.
Then there’s Mum Joyce, brothers Ricky, 19, and baby Marty, plus a two-year-old sister, Roxanne. Home is a thatched cottage near Welwyn, in Hertfordshire.
The two youngsters have really tickled Kim. She says: “They give me terrific pleasure, much more than anything ele I like. They’re so happy all the time.
“A record is just a record, either a good or bad sound. But babies have got eveything – and they’re far better value for money.
“I’m definitely going to have some babies in the future. That’s a long way off yet, though. My Mum was 39 when she had Marty, so I can wait a bit longer before I start panicking.”
Success
“The only problem is I can’t sing in the bath now. It always seems to be full of babies when I want a dip. So I’m relegated to the shower.”
Lack of singing practice in the bathroom certainly hasn’t handicapped Kim’s assault on the charts. She followed her ‘Kids in America’ success with another hit, ‘Water on glass’. Her first album, ‘Kim Wilde’, was also a monster seller.
Meanwhile, the fan mail keeps rolling in – most of it from boys. “It really bucks me up – I’m a real sucker for all those letters saying how wonderful I am”, she says.
“One boy said I was marvellous and all the other nice things. But then he put on the end: ‘I wish you’d do something about your hair. You’re pretty at the moment but if you got that seen to you’d be beautiful’.’
Her peroxide blonde hair is chopped like Rod Stewart’s. And there’s a hit of Debbie Harry and Brigitte Bardot about her face. But there’s no way she’s going to dress up like those superstars.
“I’d rather poke around second-hand stalls and Oxfam shops”, she says. “I don’t believe in spending lots of money on clothes. Basically, I’m scruffy.
“I have a sort of rough and ready look that’s pretty untogether, but definitely uncontrived. Scatty, really, which is the way I am.”
