America is going wild over Kim Wilde – and has laid out £ 1½ million to prove it. That is the value of the record deal 21-year-old Kim has just signed with Capitol Records.
They are confident that the spikey-haired blonde can become a major star. Appropriately enough, Kim, daughter of Sixties rocker Marty Wilde, came to the attention of the American record moguls after her first hit, Kids in America. Since then, Sheena Easton has cracked the market across the Atlantic with a string of hits, and Kim’s manager Mickie Most, was quick to help the Americans in their hunt for more British talent.
He and Kim flew out on Wednesday to sign on the dotted line and are due back at Heathrow Airport today. Before she left, Kim said: “This will be the year of doing what I want to do. I’ve only been in the music business about a year but I’ve done a lot of running around and I’ve learned a lot.”
The Wilde success story is very much a family affair. Kim’s father and brother Ricky, co-write most of her hit songs.