The chameleonic Kim Wilde was one of the ‘80s biggest music acts, with hits like the brat-punk Kids In America, brooding synth-pop Cambodia, and the brash dance cover You Keep Me Hangin’ On. Now, as the world finally catches on to her stylistic innovations, the Brit is preparing an auspicious new album.
Kim is Zooming mid-evening from her cosy pad in rural Hertfordshire primarily to plug this month’s Australian Greatest Hits Tour – the volume of interview requests apparently taking the promoter aback. The glamorous star is instantly recognisable with her signature peroxide blonde hair, red lipstick and reading glasses. Down-to-earth, she’s charming and conversational, signing off with a very English “darling”.
Kim was last here in 2016, co-headlining with Howard Jones. She’s “really excited” to return. “We’re even better now ’cause we’ve been doing it longer.”
In fact, Kim has “a lovely history” with Australia, accompanying her father, the rock ‘n’ roll (and briefly glam rock) trailblazer Marty Wilde (née Smith), on the road. “I’ve been to Australia so many times – since I was a child,” she reminisces. “I first came in 1973 with my mum and dad – and ’73 was when the Sydney Opera House had just been built. So I remember everyone saying, ‘You’ve gotta go and see this amazing new building.’ And now it’s just become one of the most iconic buildings in the world.”
The Londoner may come from music royalty – Marty was awarded an MBE in 2017 – but her own success was accidental. Kim’s younger brother Ricky had launched a career in the ’70s as a teenybop idol.
Reinventing himself, he demoed Kids In America – Kim, then an art student, provided backing vocals, piquing the curiosity of RAK Records‘ Mickie Most. Most signed Kim and Kids In America became her break-out in 1981 – Ricky moved into a songwriting and production role (with Marty assisting). A self-contained unit, the siblings were the 80s’ Billie Eilish and FINNEAS.
“Beyond my children, it’s the strongest bond I’ll ever have with any human – with my brother Ricky. We grew up in the ’60s, and we just fell in love with pop music when we were tiny kids. We were listening to Motown; we were listening to The Beach Boys [and] The Beatles. When they were all bringing these songs out for the first time – and they just blew us away, even as little four-, five-, six-year-olds. We were just completely intoxicated by pop music.
“Of course, our dad being in the music industry, we were exposed to a lot of music. But it continued into the ’70s when we were teenagers growing up [with] glam rock and Bowie and Marc Bolan and Bryan Ferry and just a whole cascade of fabulous pop stars. There was a melting pot for us to have a stab at it ourselves in the early ’80s – and we hit the jackpot. But we’ve been in love with pop music ever since.”
Kim was consistently ahead of the curve, opening the way for Madonna and Kylie Minogue. On her eponymous debut, she revelled in New Wave with Blondie-esque punk, reggae and even alt-country, the lyrics imaginative and typically oft-beat (Water On Glass is about tinnitus). Kim subsequently explored cutting-edge synth-pop on Select – a no-skip sophomore with narrative-led highlights such as the haunting Cambodia and dark disco View From A Bridge (the avant-garde Child Come Away was originally a standalone).
In 1983, Kim won the BRIT Award for ‘Best Female Solo Artist’, only to stall with Catch As Catch Can – another sonic departure as she introduced club influences. But today, Nile Rodgers‘s remix of the funk Dancing In The Dark sounds modish. “That was a wonderful thing to have him do that – what a legend!”
The singer revived her fortunes mid-decade with a hi-NRG remake of The Supremes‘ You Keep Me Hangin’ On – a US #1. Now a dance diva and involved in songwriting, Kim consolidated her global profile with 1988’s Close – encompassing the smash You Came. Initially a reluctant live performer, she supported Michael Jackson on the European leg of his Bad World Tour.
However, the changing pop climate of the ’90s proved challenging for Kim – although Kids In America would be covered in concert by Nirvana, Dave Grohl singing lead. She recruited DJ/producer CJ Mackintosh for 1995’s Now & Forever, venturing into R&B, soul and UK swingbeat. The album was slept-on, but Kim remains “really fond of” it – declaring the Janet Jackson-like ballad Hypnotise “beautiful,” adding, “I think it’s one of the best songs I’ve ever recorded.”
Kim starred in a West End production of The Who’s Tommy, where she met her now ex-husband, actor Hal Fowler. Burnt out, she decided to leave music, concentrating on raising children and studying horticulture. Yet Kim was soon busy as a celebrity landscape gardener, hosting television programmes and publishing books (she received a prestigious award at 2005’s Chelsea Flower Show).
Significantly, Kim had visited the permaculture pioneer Bill Mollison on his farm in New South Wales in 1994 during her inaugural Australian dates. “I was so impressed by him and the way he was talking about sustainable environmental ways of looking after plants and living,” she recalls. “It had a big impact on me when I got into gardening years later.”
In the 2000s, Kim was drawn back to music, discovering a fervour for performance on the UK’s nostalgic Here And Now Tour. “The love affair has got stronger,” she says. “I did take a step out of the music industry for a while ’cause I stopped having fun – and then I found horticulture. But, when I came back into music, the fun came back because we started doing all this live work – and that’s when I started really enjoying my career in a completely different way.”
Re-energised, Kim united with Nena, of 99 Luftballons fame, for 2003’s Anyplace, Anywhere, Anytime – a surprise Euro hit. She was approached by house DJ/producers, teaming with Reflekt (Seb Fontaine and Jay Peake) for 2012’s A Beautiful House on Armin van Buuren‘s trance label Armada Music. (Lately, house DJs Disfreq and Notre Dame flipped View From A Bridge).
In 2018, Kim released the playful Here Come The Aliens, her first charting album in the UK since 1992’s Love Is – and home to the fan favourite Yours ‘Til The End.
Come January, Kim will present her 15th LP, Closer – its lead single Trail Of Destruction a power-pop protest anthem. She’s even embracing ‘features’, duetting with Ultravox‘s Midge Ure on Sorrow Replaced.
“There are ten bangers on the album,” Kim reveals. “We’re having real problems choosing which ones to be the singles. The songwriters include myself, obviously, my brother Ricky, but also my niece Scarlett Wilde – who’s been in my band for 16 years.
“My band play on all the tracks, so it has a real big band sound. You can hear all the fabulous guitars and bass and drums. It’s all sounding really rock ‘n’ roll. And then, of course, it’s with cascades of Rick’s fabulous synth work and melody and loads of great vocals. So it’s full of fantastic melodies – but it’s quite diverse.
“We used the album Close from ’88 as a sort of blueprint – you know, that was quite a diverse album and lots of different styles of songs… So the new album has all of that going for it. It’s got some killer ballads, it’s got some fabulous dance tracks, it’s got some real good heavy rock-influence tracks… We love it.”
Occasionally, acts are ambivalent about being classified as ‘heritage’. But Kim is accommodating of Retromania. “I think the thing is, because I’ve got a step in the future always, and we’re always creating new albums and writing new songs and keeping our love for music very vital and fresh, that it makes visiting the past and singing songs from the past – it kind of balances that out. It helps me enjoy singing Kids In America for the 6000th time, or whatever it is, when I know that I can be writing and recording new material too.”
Mind, she isn’t necessarily tired of her catalogue. “The audience keep it fresh. When you’re standing in front of a whole load of people getting really excited about hearing Kids In America, it’s really hard not to get excited with them.”
Music is Kim’s current focus, but she hasn’t abandoned cultivation. “I’m gardening all the time,” she laughs. “When I’m not doing music or when I’m not working or taking care of the house, I’m in the garden. I’m in the garden more than I’m in the house – but you could tell if you came and had a look at the house! But I love being in the garden. So it’s a big part of my life still. It’s become a private passion again. I love it.”
For the Wilde dynasty, the future seems promising – Kim’s son Harry is the guitarist in the buzz band Wunderhorse, while her daughter Rose studies psychology. “They’re both songwriters. They started writing when they were very young – much younger than when I started writing.”
Aside from learning to use TikTok strategically – contemporaries like Tears For Fears have benefitted from a platform on which curatorial aesthetics transcend temporality – Kim’s goal is to play Glastonbury, the iconic festival renowned for its cross-generational line-ups.
“We’re kinda hoping we might do that next year,” she laughs again. “We’re just waiting for the invitation.” Regardless, Kim isn’t planning to retire. “My dad’s still performing – he’s 85. So I think I’ve just gotta give in to it. I’ve probably got another good 20 – or more – years left in me.”
Kim Wilde will tour Australia this month on her Greatest Hits tour. You can find remaining tickets on the Metropolis Touring website.
Kim Wilde
October 2024 Australian Tour Dates
Thursday 17 October – The Tivoli, Brisbane – SOLD OUT
Friday 18 October – Twin Towns, Tweed Heads
Saturday 19 October – Enmore Theatre, Sydney – LOW TICKETS
Sunday 20 October – Anita’s Theatre, Wollongong
Tuesday 22 October – Astor Theatre, Perth – LOW TICKETS
Thursday 24 October – The Gov, Adelaide – SOLD OUT
Saturday 26 October – Palais Theatre, Melbourne – LOW TICKETS
