Wilde World: Richard Anthony

Kim Wilde’s first records were written and produced by her father and brother, Marty and Ricky. The three of them have had a great influence on the music world, as this regular series ‘Wilde World’ shows.

Richard Anthony was born as Ricardo Anthony Btesh in Cairo, Egypt. With his parents he moved to Argentina and England, before finally settling in France at the age of thirteen. His music career started in 1958, initially recording cover versions of Paul Anka’s ‘You are my destiny’ and Buddy Holly’s ‘Peggy Sue’ in French. Besides many more cover versions he also releases original chansons. He has a successful career until the mid-Seventies, when he is unable to catch on to the disco trend. After this, his hits become more sporadic, but he keeps performing live until 2012. After suffering from cancer, he passes away on April 19, 2015.

Leapy Lee recorded ‘Someone’s in love’ in 1969; a song written by Ronnie Scott and Marty Wilde. Richard Anthony’s French translation ‘Seul sous la pluie’ (‘Alone in the rain’) appears as the B-side of his 1970 single ‘Bien l’bonjour’.

Listen to ‘Seul sous la pluie’