CONCERT: Kim Wilde, English pop icon of the eighties

Born in London's Chiswick district in 1960, the pop singer with the Marilyn look had a lot in common with a famous singer father and a brother who dreamed of following in the footsteps of the pater familias.

 In the Smith family, the Wilde family's real surname, the music bug is passed down from father to son, from father to daughter, and even from brother to sister. Before his youngest daughter took over, Marty Wilde, now 86, with her angelic face and slicked-back hair, racked up a few hits in the early 1960s, such as "A Teenager In Love" and "Donna." Wap Doo Wap and sweet backing vocals included...

From "Kids In America," her first single in January 1981, with a song co-written by her father and brother, Kim Wilde became, in a way, the number one family project, exploiting a vein of talent whose father Marty knew all the tricks. Even though this first attempt only reached number two in the UK charts, encouraged by this initial success, they naturally repeated the effort for the twelve tracks on her self-titled debut album. This is how Kim, barely 20 years old, entered the (wet) dreams of the male adolescents of the time. Four decades later, a few less hairs and potbellies in addition, the ex-teenagers approaching the third age probably still think that it is for them and them alone that the young lady sings "Boys", "Water On Glass", "View From A Bridge" or "Chequered Love", a mixture of now dated synths, electric guitars (but not too forward) and a small, falsely fragile fluty voice. At each concert, they always give a triumph to their idol, now sixty years old. I confess I still have an autograph I obtained at the Virgin Megastore in London in July 1981...

Although she eventually took charge of her own destiny (even daring to admit her passion for gardening), with fifteen albums to her name (including the inevitable "Winter Songbook" in 2013), Kim Wilde has never really rediscovered the magic touch of "View From A Bridge" or "Cambodia." Despite almost catchy album titles like "Teases & Dares" and "Love Is," before heading back on tour this fall, the singer has just released "Closer," her fifteenth album, whose title evokes her 1988 album, with just one more letter. It's also her first in just over six years.

Concerts:

October 17: De Roma - Antwerp (Belgium)

October 27/28: Het Depot - Leuven (Belgium)

October 29: Concertgebouw - Bruges (Belgium)

All other dates can be found here: https://www.kimwilde.com/tour-dates

(MH with Stéphane Soupart - © Etienne Tordoir)

Photo: Kim Wilde on the TV set of Génération 80 in Brussels (Belgium) in the fall of 1981.