Kim Wilde muziek cassette debuut album

In 2019, Cadbury aired an advert for its dark chocolate. At the beginning of the commercial, we see a wide shot of a gorgeous, pastoral, English country house. The camera zooms in on an attractive, middle-aged woman dressed in sensible, autumnal clothing. Her blonde hair is piled loosely on top of her head. She’s watering plants with a garden hose, looking up briefly to ask the camera, “remember me? Spiky hair ripped jeans.” She turns away, looks over her shoulder, and impishly says, “the Kids in America?” As the ad continues, we see the woman – a model of English efficiency – take trays of plants in and out of a greenhouse whilst she introduces Cadbury’s dark chocolate. She makes repeated references to “kids in America” as she continues to tend to the garden.

The beautiful blonde in the commercial is, of course, Kim Wilde, a wildly successful pop star of the 1980s who combined high-gloss glamor with New Wave and pop music. Starting with her self-titled debut album, Wilde enjoyed a remarkably successful career, charting an incredible 20 times in the UK top 40 (even enjoying some US hits, too).


She was a gorgeous Bridgett Bardot beauty with a sweet, pretty croon, and most importantly, a fabulous, slightly camp attitude. She locked in her icon status with the fizzy poppy “Kids in America”, a record that perfectly encapsulates the unabashed fun of bubblegum New Wave.

Kids in America” was the biggest hit of Kim Wilde, a scrumptious platter of sparkling pop tunes, all penned by Wilde’s brother Ricky and her dad, Marty Wilde, a legendary English rock ‘n’ roller who had a lengthy career, scoring hits in the 1950s and 1960s. He and his son put together a great vehicle for their muse, Kim, a singer who combined the best parts of other rock girl singers like Belinda Carlisle and Debbie Harry.

The song is a fantastic introduction to Kim Wilde. It’s a silly, amusing tune with a dreamy Wilde singing the appealingly messy song with backing from Ricky Wilde’s creative production and spirited playing by rock group, The Enid. There are goofy synths Ricky plays with and a jumping beat. And the “woah-ohs!” that answer to the catchy chorus set up camp in listeners’ brains, never leaving.

So much of Kim Wilde is about its namesake making a strong impression on the listening public. Back in the late 1970s, early 1980s, there was often a loose, DIY aesthetic to pop music – a vestige of punk’s influence on mainstream pop culture. And because pop music was also all about image – Kim’s stunning looks were equally important to the whole package. Though she and Debbie Harry are two distinct artists, each with a different sound, it’s clear that the marketing and packaging of the album made passing mention of Blondi. Wilde is front and center on the album art, bathed in the spotlight, as she affects a moody pout, while three faces lurk in the shadows.

Like other women in rock music, Wilde’s beauty was used to sell “Kids in America” and the rest of Kim Wilde. “Looks were a big part of my success,” she admitted to the Guardian. “And I always understood that.” She conceded to being objectified as a pop star but “went along with it quite willingly”. But it’s important to note that Kim Wilde is a triumph of style and substance, working together. Ricky and Marty Wilde join forces to make a winning album. Given Marty’s history of 1960s American-inspired British rock, it’s all the more impressive that he, along with his son, can create sounds that affectionately ape the pseudo-sneering of late 1970s New Wave pop.