It seems like the 80’s are happening all over again. Simple Minds and The B52’s are on their way. Icehouse are planning a national tour. The Machinations and The Models are back in business and Howard Jones synth sounds are back in vogue. Kim Wilde was a massive British pop star in the 1980’s and she continued to make a dent into the Top 40 through to the mid nineties. Selling over 10 million albums, Kim’s hits include the likes of Cambodia, View From A Bridge, Chequered Love and her cover of the Motown staple, You Keep Me Hanging On. One song in her canon still reigns supreme, the sublime Kids In America. Kim will be in Australia later this year … so we thought we’d get the lowdown on how that classic slice of new wave pop came to life.
Do you remember the first time you came to Australia?
It would have been when I was 13 in ’73, because my dad (Marty Wilde) was workingin a few clubs in the Kings Cross area of Sydney. That’s when I fell in love. I’ve got photographs of me on Bondi Beach and he newly finished Opera House.
When did you first come back professionally? Was it six or seven years later?
Yeah, it was in the early ’80s to promote “Kids in America,” working on Countdown with Molly Meldrum.
Jim Kerr told us when he first went on Countdown, it was the first time he felt like a real pop star. What are your memories of Countdown and hosting?
I do remember the fun we had on the show, and Molly, and him just being completely all over the place. Asking me the longest question of my career. At the end of it, I didn’t even quite understand what he’d asked me. He’d managed to cram about 100 different questions into one. At the end of it I said, “I haven’t got a clue what you’re talking about.” So he’s a very lovable man. It was really good fun. I remember there being a lot of laughter, a lot of craziness.
Your brother Ricky and your dad wrote “Kids in America,” didn’t they?
They did. I was sitting at home. I was out of college. My brother was sitting at home too and we had two little rooms next door to each other in the house with my mum and dad. My mum and dad had Ricky and me when they were 20, so they were very young parents. My dad was hugely into music, buying vinyl all the time, buying the very best new releases from a whole array of incredible artists. So there was a lot of amazing music being played in the house. Everything from Elvis to Tchaikovsky and everything in between.
I’m curious about the writing partnership there. Did Ricky come up with the music and your dad came up with the lyrics?
Yeah. I heard Ricky composing the music on a little synth, a mini portable synth he’d been given from my dad, which was pretty phenomenal in those days. Before that all you had was those stylophones. Rick started writing on this little black and yellow portable synth. And he wrote all the music and the melody. Then my dad got a hold of it and came up with this story about the youth of America, the kids in America. Based on all kinds of things that were floating around in his mind.
Did he ever explain to you where he got the idea for the lyrics from?
He had done a few times. I think it was a combination of when he was growing up, Elvis, and the whole rock and roll scene. Everything seemed to be more colourful and more fabulous in America. They were eating hamburgers, and hanging out at the hop and jumping into fast cars. They had Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis, and some of it I think was inspired by that, from my father’s view that it was always happening better, bigger, and brighter in America.
But also he was tapping into that ‘get out of my space’ kind of youth vibe that he was watching, especially through punk that insolence and fighting back against the establishment. He wanted to combine those two things somehow, which he did brilliantly.
When you heard the song, did you immediately know it was a great song?
Yeah, I did. I’d been brought upon American pop music too. Our house is full of American artists of all kinds. Aretha Franklin, Joni Mitchell, Stevie Wonder, the Beach Boys mostly what we were listening to was from America. It always seemed that made sense to me from that point of view. Also the attitude of it, because everyone has an attitude when they’re 18.
I was curious about the kind of music you were listening to when you were 18. Do you remember?
Yeah, it was new wave, post-punk. I was listening to a lot of the Clash. I love pop music too. I loved Abba. I loved a bit of everything. I went to see the Police. The Police were brilliant at that time, the beginning of their career. I loved that combination of new wave punky energy and reggae which the Clash did as well. So yeah, I like music with a bit of attitude, but I also loved pop music.
You’ve had an astonishing run of hit singles. Have you got some sort of preternatural way of picking a hit?
No, I never got involved in the picking a hit thing. I always left that. Initially when we signed to RAK Records, Mickie Most was very good at picking out the song he felt could be a hit. That was left to him. We didn’t always have hits. Mostly we seemed to get it right. There’s a knack to that but I’m not sure it’s anything you can analyse too much.
Will you be playing some new stuff on the tour as well the old stuff?
We might throw in a couple of the new tracks which we really love that I’ve done in the last few years on recent albums. There won’t be anything from the brand new album, which is a real shame. We’ve got some really rip-roaring, fantastic pop records ready for you. We’ll be playing a collection of the biggest hits and then hopefully a bit of collaboration with Howard, which I’m sure will happen. Really looking forward to playing with Howard Jones.
You’ve known each other for at least 30 years, right?
Yeah. Nearly 100. We have. We’ve met a lot in the last 15 or 20 years while we’ve been doing various festivals, especially like ’80s gatherings. He’s a superb human being. I can’t wait to spend more time with him.
Kim Wilde and Howard Jones are touring Australia throughout November 2016. For ticket information click here http://www.metropolistouring.com/kim-wilde-howard-jones
