Review – The Collection

Greatest hits from pouting blonde pop star turned horticulturalist.

Now that she’s gone into landscape gardening, Kim Wilde’s MCA hits have been gathered up on this 18-track compilation. Unfortunately, this comes minus the Mickie Most anthems Kids in America and Cambodia, but does include her 1986 hit You Keep Me Hangin’ On, where Wilde’s voice still glides over the hi-energy beat with real passion and bite. There’s also the dramatic sweep of Never Trust a Stranger and a few fair-to-middling ’90s tracks. The rest though is vamped-up, yet pedestrian ’80s pop, from the Pat Benatar-style riffery of Another Step to the Brit-funk of Hey Mister Heartache. The public soon stopped wanting to know.
Rating: ***