Kim Wilde is making her comeback. At 24 she has become independent finally. Gone is the little girl of father Marty and the polite older sister of brother Ricky. Now Kim decides what’s going to happen!
The result has surprised everyone. The singles “The Second Time” and “The Touch” and the LP “Teases and Dares” have all sold well and show that Kim has grown artistically as well as a human being.
For a long time it seemed that Kim would never be freed from her role as the most manipulated “hit machine” of the pop world. The old popsinger Marty Wilde and Kim’s younger brother Ricky “One-Hit-Wonder” Wilde pulled the strings for Kim’s early successes “Kids in America” and “Chequered Love”.
Marty and Ricky wrote the songs and arrangements and produced them as well. Kim had to play along, sing and be beautiful. No wonder that she had enough!
After her breakthrough in 1981 Kim had a few more hits with “Cambodia”, “View from a Bridge” and “Love Blonde”. Then her career went downhill. Song after song become a flop and didn’t reach the charts – Kim slammed her fist on the table. She left her parents’ house and bought her own flat in London. Then she made the following demands to her father and brother:
- I decide which songs are recorded and how they are produced
- I get the right to write and record my own songs
- I decide on my image in the future.
She also left the record company RAK that had always been Marty and Ricky’s preference, and signed a contract with MCA.
Now we see the result of Kim’s steps towards independence. Gone is the eternal teenager with her sweet pop songs. A harder, more mature Kim Wilde has appeared,who writes her own songs and has co-produced her new LP.
There are already rumours that Marty and Ricky will be pushed aside forever when recording sessions for the new album start. Kim has to renew herself musically to stay on top.
Her biggest wish at the moment is to get a real good producer. Michael Jackson’s producer Quincy Jones has already been named…
But Kim in 1986 is already very different from the one we knew. A young woman who doesn’t see a problem in touring Eastern Europe with concerts in Poland and the GDR, or to make a video with a Cinderella theme (“The touch”). The latter could be a kick to brother Ricky and father Marty, by the way.
