Singer Kim Wilde has revealed how her chart-topping 80s hit Kids in America robbed her of her dream job – and how she was robbed of the number one spot by Shakin’ Stevens
Kim Wilde has been praised for her BBC Radio 2 in the Park in Preston this weekend, but things could have all been so different.
The daughter of rock ‘n’ roll legend Marty, impressed fans during her set before headline act Sting took over. However, she previously opened up on how her life could have taken a different turn.
The 80s sensation once confessed that her childhood dream was to sell records – not as a chart-topping singer, but behind the counter of a vinyl shop. Kim previously told the Mirror how she had been looking for work as a teenager while Kids in America was being written – and her house was full to brimming with her dad’s vinyl collection.
She explained in 2020: “Mum sent me to the Job Centre and they said, “What do you want to do? I said, I want to work in a record shop.’ A few months later, a record shop in Hertford needed an assistant and the Job Centre sent me details. I felt pretty confident I could get the job because I had an immense music knowledge. We almost had a record shop in the house.
“But Kids in America charted and scuppered my plans. I was all set to have my dream job and it got snatched away from me by a hit record.” The icon also humorously remarked of her breakout hit: “I bought the single that kept me off No 1. It’s in my collection. It’d be churlish to hold a grudge. Kids in America has given me so much more than a No It’s given me a whole career.”
That single was Shakin’ Stevens’ Green Door. Despite her delight with her own song’s success, she was disheartened when it was narrowly beaten to the Number One spot. Kim went onto become the most successful female singer of the decade after the release of her debut single, which was written by dad Marty and her record producer brother Ricky. But she admits she was not keen on the track when she first heard the music through her bedroom wall.
Speaking to the Mirror in 2020, she confessed: “Rick was writing it on a portable synth and it made a racket, quite frankly. It was irritating. Little did I know he was writing a song that would transform my life.” She did also reveal, however, that her dad’s lyrics made a better first impression. Kim said: “I could see a girl showing she wasn’t going to be talked down to by some guy.” Kim went on to have 17 UK top 40 hits, including Chequered Love in 1981, Four Letter Word in 1988 and 1988’s Never Trust A Stranger.
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