In show business, as in any other business, there are dynasties. For example, reggae king Bob Marley left behind numerous offspring: each of his children became an artist and achieved success on the stage. This article will talk about the representative of another dynasty, this time the English, - Kim Wilde.
Father of british rock and roll
Marty Wilde, nee Reginald Leonard Smith, belongs to the first generation of English pop stars. This artist, as well as several of his colleagues, had the great honor to bring American rock and roll to the English stage.
In the late fifties of the XX century, the performer was one of the most successful singers in England, along with Tommy Steele and Cliff Richard. The band accompanying him at concerts and recordings was called The Wildcats. Mother Kim Wilde sang in the famous pop ensemble.
Musical family
Marty Wilde had four children: the girls Kim and Roxanne, the boys Ricky and Marty. They all followed in the footsteps of their father.
The eldest of the children is an English singer, songwriter, DJ and television presenter - Kim Wilde. She became famous in 1981 after the release of the debut single Kids in America, which reached 2nd place in the UK charts. And in 1983, the girl received the prestigious Brit Awords award in the category "Best Solo Artist".
Beginning of a creative career
In 1980, at the age of 20, Kim Wilde graduated from the College of Art and Design of St. Alban. In the same year, the girl signed a contract with the famous producer Mickey Bridge, known from the albums of artists such as Enimals, Herman's Hermits, Donovan, Suzy Quattro, Jeff Beck and others.
Kim Wilde recorded her first song in 1981. The single became very popular and reached the second line of the British hit parade. The record also hit the "hot five" in Germany, France and Australia. Although in the United States, this single only rose to 25th position in the charts when it was reissued in 1982, however, this song is considered by Kim Wilde to be the card of the star. The debut album, named after her, repeated the success of the single.
Second disc
The very next 1982, a new record of the performer was released. Kim Wilde's song "Cambodia" preceded the release of the album. View from a bridge was also released on the single. All of these records were very successful in Europe and America.
First concerts
Working on the first two records, the singer did not give concerts. Therefore, publications appeared in the press that the young artist did not dare to speak to the public. The doubts of the fans were dispelled in the fall of 1982, when Kim Wilde gave her first concerts in Denmark.
They were followed by a big British tour, which began in October.
Decline in popularity
The third album of the singer was released a year later. Compared to the two predecessors, it can be called a failure. The songs of this disc did not fall into the charts of England and America. For this reason, Kim terminated the contract with the record company Rak and signed a contract with Mca Records in the spring of 1984.
Kim Wilde's first album, recorded at this studio, was coolly received in her native country, but became quite popular in Germany, France and the Scandinavian countries.
The song, topping the German top ten singles, The second time was also known for its video clip.
song's author
Although Wilde's third album was less successful than the first two, it can also be called an important achievement for Kim. After all, it was on this disc that songs appeared, the authorship of which belongs to her. The album contained two such tracks.
The fourth work of the singer, released in 1986, was already more mature in this regard. Here, Kim Wilde is listed as the author or co-author of most of the compositions. The song from this album You keep me hangin 'on, released by the single, topped the American charts. This composition is one of the classic American musical works of the XX century. For the first time she became widely popular in the performance of the ensemble The Supremes. Kim Wilde is the fifth singer from the UK, whose hit hit the American top 100 chart.
Most Popular Album
In 1988, Kim Wilde recorded her most commercially successful album. This disc is called Close.
His release was accompanied by a big European tour where the singer performed on the same stage with Michael Jackson.
In the nineties, Kim Wilde released several albums, each of which was successful in the singer’s homeland and around the world.
In 1996-1997, she participated in the production of The Who’s rock opera Tommy.
Around the same time, Kim began recording her next album, but because of disagreements with the label, she had to interrupt the session. This disc has remained unreleased.
Creativity of recent years
Since 2001, Kim Wilde traveled to the UK several times with concert tours, both solo and with the project Here and now tour, along with other stars of the eighties.
After that, the singer recorded discs on labels and EMI and Sony Music. Each of her albums and single became an event for European pop music. Kim Wilde (whose photo you could see in the article) continued her tradition of re-singing hits of past years and in the 2000s recorded the single Burn to be wild. This song was first performed by the Steppenwulf group and is familiar to many music lovers on the movie The Careless Rider with Jack Nicholson in the title role.
In March 2018, the singer’s 14th studio album, entitled Here come the aliens, was released. She was inspired to write new songs by meeting with an unidentified flying object.
One of the days of 2009, the singer was sitting in her garden when she suddenly noticed something unusual in the sky. The artist says that it was a huge bright ray of light next to the cloud, which then began to move at a fairly high speed. An extraordinary incident gave an idea for the lyrics of the new album.