Born on November 18: Kim Wilde, British pop icon of the 80s
Born in London's Chiswick in 1960, the Marilyn Monroe-lookalike pop singer had plenty to live up to. Her father had been a massive pop star in the sixties, with a brother that wanted to follow in his footsteps.
In the Smith family (the real Wilde surname), the music bug is passed from father to son, father to daughter and brother to sister. Before his youngest daughter took over, baby-faced Marty, now 89, racked up a number of hits in the early '60s, including “A Teenager in Love” and “Donna” – with the obligatory “wap-doo-waps” and sugary choruses.
After “Kids in America”, her first 45t in January 1981, Kim Wilde became the number one family project. It was a vein in which Daddy Marty knew all the tricks, co-written by him and his son. Strangely, it only reached number two in the English charts...
Encouraged by this, they naturally went back to the drawing board for the twelve tracks on her debut album. And so it was that Kim, at barely 20, entered the (wet) dreams of male teenagers of the time.
Kim Wilde: a triumphant welcome
Four decades later, with less hair and potbellied tummies, ex-teens nearing old age no doubt still think it's for them and them alone that the young lady was singing. “Boys”, “Water on Glass” or “Chequered Love” mixed synths, electric guitars (but not too loud) and a falsely fragile, fluted voice. At every concert, they still give a triumphant welcome to their now sixty-year-old idol. Talk about nostalgia! I confess I still have an autograph I got at London's Virgin Megastore in July 1981...
She eventually took control of her own destiny (even daring to confess a passion for gardening). Despite fourteen albums to her credit (including the unmissable “Winter Songbook” in 2013), Kim Wilde never quite found the magic touch of “View From a Bridge” or “Cambodia”, with titles such as “Teases & Dares” or “Love Is”. Before setting off on tour again next year, the singer is currently fine-tuning “Closer”, her fifteenth album and first in just over six years.
A dozen concerts are planned in the United Kingdome in March 2025, and the Netherlands in October 2025, with an extra show at De Roma in Antwerp (Belgium) on October 17.
Check all the dates here
(MH with AK - © Etienne Tordoir)
Photo: Kim Wilde on the Génération 80 TV set in Brussels (Belgium) in autumn 1981.