A new single by Kim Wilde is always an event, but more recently it has become more of an event because finally they're being released on 7" vinyl again. 'Trail of destruction' is a powerful song with strong lyrics that should grab you by the throat upon first listen. Unfortunately in my case the single came out while I was on holiday and so my first listen happened on a mobile phone that is becoming a bit geriatric.
So I was happy to receive this physical copy. The only criticism I would venture is the lack of a B-side. Kim has delivered strong B-sides throughout her career, but this particular disc only contains an etching of the 'Kim Wilde' logo and her autograph. It's a nice touch, of course. The new album Closer is out in January, but at the end of this month there are deluxe editions of her three 90s albums on MCA, so plenty of stuff to listen to in the meantime.
My collection: 7" single no. 7297 Found: Cherry Red website, received 24 August 2024 Tracks: 'Trail of destruction'
I'm not a fan of bootleg singles, mainly because they're illegal and always released without the artist's consent. On the other hand, I have every single item ever released by Kim Wilde (or am still trying to get my hands on them) so I don't feel too guilty about buying one every once in a while.
This single, pressed on clear vinyl, features two live tracks taken from a TV broadcast. Apparently there were only 30 copies pressed; this is number 8.
Obviously I have a lot of Kim Wilde singles, as you can see here, but I am a sucker for rare pressings - and boy, this really is a rare one. Made in the Philippines, it features 'Chequered love' on the A-side and, strangely, 'Kids in America' on the B-side.
What's also interesting, is that this single features the classic 'EMI' logo on the label. Although Kim was signed to RAK records in the UK, and RAK is actually mentioned on this label, the Philippines probably didn't use the RAK artwork on their records at all.
The single came in a generic white sleeve. If anyone is reading this in the Philippines, I am quite interested in the sleeve that would have been on this one originally - most probably a record company sleeve or something!
As a lifelong collector of Kim Wilde records, a limited edition 7" single of her latest single 'Shine On' was a musthave of course. The single was released back in August, and right now the item has sold out, although you can still find some copies on Discogs.com and Ebay. And it's worth owning, not only for the two excellent tracks on this disc, but also for the fact that it is pressed on blue vinyl. Oddly, to my knowledge this is the first coloured vinyl 7" single ever by Kim Wilde.
'Shine On' is performed as a duet with Boy George. The two have crossed paths several times during the last four decades, but never collaborated on a song. The other side featured 'You're My Karma', another duet but this time with up and coming British talent Tom Aspaul. Everything is produced, as usual, by brother Ricky Wilde, who turns 60 today. Gosh, how time flies!
My collection: 7" single no. 6424 Found: Cherry Red records, received 5 August 2021 Cost: £7.99 Tracks: 'Shine On' (with Boy George) / 'You're my karma' (with Tom Aspaul)
2020 was a historic year for Marty Wilde. Not only did he release a new studio album, it also reached the UK albums chart. This made him the first British singer to have a hit in every decade since the 1950's. Earlier this month he was also the first British artist to receive a vaccination against the Covid-19 virus.
All these feats aside, one would almost forget the most amazing feat of all: releasing a 7" single together with his daughter Kim Wilde for the first time! '60's World' was released at the beginning of December - available only in combination with the vinyl double LP for 'Running Together'. The single features two tracks from the album: '60's World' (the duet with Kim) and 'Rockabilly Dreams', one of the most engaging tracks on the album. The fact that the sleeve was signed by Marty and Kim makes this a true collector's item for anyone who ordered this beauty.
My collection: 7" single no. 6332 Found: MartyWilde.com website (UK), received December 20, 2020 Tracks: '60's World' / 'Rockabilly Dreams'
This is an interesting one. If you were to listen to 'V Patek Nevolej', the A-side of this single, you would think I have truly lost my mind. It is a sort of country-inspired song from Czechoslovakia, released in 1984. Not too good, is it?
But, of course, I bought this single for the B-side. 'At zivot ma svuj dej' is still sung in the Czech language, by Jirina Urbanova this time, but it is actually a cover version of Kim Wilde's 'Cambodia'. How did I find this rare track? Thanks to Discogs.com of course - my main source of rare records these days.
My collection: 7" single no. 5890 Found: Discogs.com, January 31, 2018 Cost: 3 euro Tracks: 'V Patek Nevolej' (M. Javurek) / 'At zivot ma svuj dej' (J. Urbanova)
When the duo Groovenut decided to remix Kim Wilde's 'You came', little did they know that there were actually plans to re-record and re-release this track. It was 2005, a full 17 years after the release of the original track, and the plan was simply to update the track for the new century.
When they asked for permission to use the samples of the track, they never got that permission. But in 2006, when 'You came (2006)' was released in Europe, they were asked to recreate the mix, using the new vocal tracks. The original mix was only ever released on white label 12" singles - and fortunately I found a copy.
My collection: 12" single no. 444 Found: unknown, 2005 Cost: unknown Tracks: 'Love you more'
Mel Smith and Kim Wilde were asked to record a song for Comic Relief, to be released just in time for Christmas 1987. At the time, Mel and Kim Appleby were storming the charts as Mel & Kim, so this 'Mel & Kim' release was quite an original invention.
The 12" single features extra comedy dialogues by Mel Smith and Griff Rhys-Jones, who were wellknown for their comedy TV series 'Alas Smith & Jones'. Kim Wilde still sings 'Rockin' around the Christmas tree' live whenever an appropriate occasion comes up, such as this month's Quofestive tour together with Roy Wood and Status Quo.
My collection: 12" single no. 61 Found: LP Top 100, Den Haag, 1987 Cost: 15 guilders Tracks: 'Rockin' around the Christmas tree (The Mega Merry Magimix)' / 'Deck the blooming halls' (The Mel Smith Yuletide Choir)
Of course I couldn't let the birthday of Kim Wilde go by without writing about one of her discs. So I thought I'd dig out a very rare one. This promotional 7" single was released in Australia in 1982. Marked 'For radio play only', it features two tracks from her second album 'Select' which were never released as a single commercially.
'Ego' and 'Words fell down' were the first two tracks from 'Select', both written by Ricky and Marty Wilde, her brother and father respectively. At the time of its release, Kim was only 21 years old. And now she's 51... Time flies, eh? A very happy birthday to Kim.
My collection: 7" single [not numbered] Found: eBay.com, 2009 Cost: 7 euro Tracks: 'Ego' / 'Words fell down'
Hard to believe, but it's 30 years ago today that Kim Wilde's fourth single 'Cambodia' was released. At the time, I was only 11 years old and although I liked the music, I was a few years away from becoming a Kim Wilde 'fan'. There was a lot of good music around at the time, but this song stood out because of the strange lyrics and the music that was so different from the two previous hits by Kim, 'Kids in America' and 'Chequered love' ('Water on glass' never got a full release in the Netherlands).
30 years later, 'Cambodia' has become a classic pop song. The song is still played regularly on the radio and it's one out of two songs by Kim that are always recalled by people from my generation - even those who don't listen to much pop at all. I have several copies of this single although I didn't buy the first one - a German pressing - until 1984, when I had found all the other Kim Wilde singles in the previous year. Back in 1981, I didn't buy new singles as they were too expensive....
My collection: 7" single no. 255 Found: Den Haag, 1984 Cost: 3 guilders Tracks: 'Cambodia' / 'Watching for shapes'
I first heard of this single in the mid-Eighties, when a picture of it appeared in a magazine. The writer of the piece mentioned that this single could be found in the sale bins in Japan. That's nice, I thought, but how the hell do I get my hands on it? This proved to be a problem. I had to wait for almost five years until I saw a copy. When I did, I nearly froze. I considered whether I could shell out the amount the seller wanted for it, and in the end, I did. Caution to the wind, eyes closed, and just do it. Of course, in the 20 years since then I've seen this disc for fractions of the price. I can console myself with the thought that this is still a mint copy. But I'd never pay this much for a single ever again.
'Bitter is better' was released to coincide with an ad campaign for a Bitter Lemon softdrink in Japan. The track was written by Masami Tsuchiya (from the Japanese pop group Ippu Do) and Bill Crunchfield. The single was only released in Japan, in early 1982. I'm still curious whether it was a hit there - but there's no way to find out I'm afraid. My collection: 7" single no. 1517 Found: Record fair, Amsterdam, September 21, 1991 Cost: 100 guilders Tracks: 'Bitter is better' / 'Boys'
I don't really know why - well it probably was a lack of funds - but I never bought the 12" single of Ferry Aid's 'Let it be' despite being a fan of several artists on this record. 23 years later, I finally managed it and what a pleasant surprise this disc holds...
The remixed version of 'Let it be' starts with the part of Kate Bush, so basically it starts on a high. It's very interesting to hear a different sequence of artists in the 12" mix.
My collection: 12" single no. 545 Found: discogs.com, received May 18, 2010 Cost: 5 euro Tracks: 'Let it be [12" remix]' / 'Let it be (Mega message mix)'
This promotional jukebox single from Italy is evidence that the Italians were a bit slow in picking up one of Kim Wilde's biggest hits, 'You keep me hangin' on'. While the Bee Gees' 'You win again' was released in September 1987, Kim's single was originally released a year earlier.
I have no documentation on the chart history of 'You keep me hangin' on' in Italy, but I suspect it only charted when this promo was circulated. By that time, it had already reached number 1 in the US Billboard Hot 100 chart - no mean feat for a female singer from the UK.
My collection: 7" single no. 4866 Found: eBay.co.uk, received May 15, 2010 Cost: 6 pounds Tracks: 'You keep me hangin' on' (Kim Wilde) / 'You win again' (Bee Gees)
In 1981, Kim Wilde debuted with the single 'Kids in America'. It was a big hit all over Europe, but in the USA it took almost a year for it to be released. When it was released, it did reach the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, peaking at number 25.
This promotional 7" single was released in the USA to help along radio promotion. This rare single features the track on both sides, so as to avoid DJ's playing the B-side by mistake. It was quite extraordinary to find this single in pristine condition almost 30 years after its release.
My collection: 7" single no. 4849 Found: eBay.com, received May 11, 2010 Cost: $7 Tracks: 'Kids in America' / 'Kids in America'
'In my life' was the second new song on the compilation album 'The Singles Collection 1981-1993' and was released as a single in remix form in 1993. It was the final Kim Wilde single to be released on the 7" vinyl format.
Partly due to the flat and uninspired remix by West End, 'In my life' achieved little chart success, peaking at number 54 in the UK singles chart and number 78 in Germany.
My collection: 7" single no. 2060 Found: Wreckastow, Rotterdam, December 24, 1993 Cost: 10 guilders Tracks: 'In my life (West End 7")' / 'In my life'
When Kim Wilde was about to release a compilation album in 1993, there was a need for a hit single. Not convinced that they had a hit single among their newly written material, the Wildes set about searching for a song to cover. Eventually they decided on Yvonne Elliman's Saturday Night Fever hit 'If I can't have you'.
Although not as inspired as the 1986 cover of 'You keep me hangin' on', Kim's version of 'If I can't have you' certainly gives the old song a kick up the arse, and it was rewarded with good chart placings: the single reached number 12 in the UK singles chart and number 23 in the Dutch Top 40.
My collection: 7" single no. 2042 Found: Wreckastow, Rotterdam, October 23, 1993 Cost: 10 guilders Tracks: 'If I can't have you' / 'Never felt so alive'
'Million miles away' was released as the third and final single from Kim Wilde's 1992 album 'Love is' in Europe and Japan. The track was a remixed version of the album version. The sleeve featured a photograph of Kim that looked a lot like a photograph of Marilyn Monroe made a few decades previous.
It was very hard to get hold of this 7" vinyl: most shops didn't stock the format anymore, and although this single was made in Holland, I finally found a copy almost a year after its release in Austria!
My collection: 7" single no. 1933 Found: Vienna, July 6, 1993 Cost: 30 Schilling Tracks: 'Million miles away' / 'The light of the moon (belongs to me)'
'Who do you think you are?' was released as the second single from Kim Wilde's 1992 album 'Love is' in Europe and as the third single in the UK. The lyric of the song was written by Kim and were an observation of stardom and what it can do to people - and it was as much a comment on herself as it was on others.
The single reached number 49 in the UK singles chart and number 58 in Germany.
My collection: 7" single no. 1687 Found: Melody Maker, Den Haag, July 17, 1992 Cost: 6,5 guilders Tracks: 'Who do you think you are?' / 'I've found a reason'
Although 'Heart over mind' still sounded a lot like a Rick Nowels & Ellen Shipley composition, 'Heart over mind' was written by four other people. It was the final track to be recorded for Kim Wilde's 1992 album 'Love is', in fact the album had been completed and this song was sent over by Rick Nowels (who had written other tracks on the album) and Wilde decided to record it.
The original album version was edited for the 7" single release. It reached number 34 in the UK singles chart.
My collection: 7" single no. 1772 Found: London, October 21, 1992 Cost: 2 pounds Tracks: 'Heart over mind' / 'I've found a reason'
After a brief pause, Kim Wilde started working on her eighth studio album 'Love is' in 1991. Some of the work was done in America, with Belinda Carlisle's main songwriter and producer Rick Nowels. He and Ellen Shipley wrote 'Love is holy', a song he had lying around for a while until Kim heard it and wanted to record it.
Backed with the beautiful 'Birthday song', which Kim wrote for her niece Scarlett, the single was released in April 1992. It met with considerably more success than the singles Kim released in 1990, reaching number 18 in the Dutch Top 40 and number 16 in the UK singles chart.
My collection: 7" single no. 1637 Found: Melody Maker, Den Haag, April 27, 1992 Cost: 6,5 guilders Tracks: 'Love is holy' / 'Birthday song'
