Artist You Should Know: Kim Wilde

ARTISTS YOU SHOULD KNOW: Kim Wilde

By: Brian Cotnoir

     One of the best teen-bop hits of all-time has to be the track “Kids in America”.  Most people could singer the chorus off the top of their heads; probably because the song has been covered by a number of famous bands and artists such as One Direction, Cascada, the Bouncing Souls, the Bloodhound Gang, and MxPx, and it has been featured in many popular children’s films such as “Meet the Robinsons”, “Jimmy Neutron”, ”Clueless, and also “Digimon: The Movie”.  Now here comes the million dollar question: do you know the name of the artist who performs the song?  You probably don’t, do you.  The artist who originally performed the song is a singer named Kim Wilde—who ironically enough is British, and not American.  

Not the best "dancer" in this early Music Vid

Kim Wilde circa 1980's

    Singer Kim Wilde was born, Kim Smith in Middlesex, England in 1960.  She was the daughter of a British Rock N Roll star named Marty Wilde.  In early 1981 Kim was working with her younger brother Ricky—another aspiring singer/songwriter—when Kim’s voice caught the attention of RAK Record producer Mickie Most.  In 1982 Kim performed and recorded a song co-written by her father and brother called “Kids in America” and it was a hit.  “Kids in America” propelled Kim Wilde to the top of the new wave charts in her native England, but strangely enough only had moderate success on U.S. radio airwaves (peaking at #25 on the U.S. Hot 100 charts).  Kim Wilde would eventually find more success in the U.S. a few years later in 1986 with her cover of the Supreme’s hit song “You Keep Me Hangin’ On”.  The song went to #1 on the U.S Hot 100 Charts.  After that Wilde’s success mostly dwindled in the U.S., but she still remained fairly popular in the U.K. Today, Wilde still occasionally performs in the United Kingdom and released her 12^th album “Snapshots” in 2011.  

She doesn't even sound the same on this track (She's much better)...Still can't dance though

                                                             

Kim Wilde 2011

    Even though Wilde isn’t as popular as other female artists in her time such as Madonna, Joan Jett, and Sinead O’Connor I still think Wilde should still be remembered as one of the iconic new-wave singers of the 1980’s for not only the popularity of “Kids in America”, but also for her cover of “You Keep Me Hangin’ On”, which I personally feel is a fantastic cover.  It’s one of those rare occasions when I don’t think much of the original version of the song, and instead prefer another artist’s cover.  Kim Wilde wherever you are—probably somewhere in England—I hope you are still performing the songs that made you famous.