![]() That’s where the great love affair started for my father – as soon as he heard an Elvis Presley record.” They dared to dream through these great records imported from America. They dared to have an identity, for starters. “When rock’n’roll came along, it was a great thing for the kids to dream about again. “When Elvis and rock’n’roll was imported over from America, it was to a generation of kids whose parents had dealt with the war, and rationing, and they’d all been brought up in pretty poor conditions,” she continues. I think a lot of that got caught up in the lyrics – all the kids in America are having a better, more interesting, more dangerous time than we were here.” We weren’t doing things like that in the UK. Everyone was going to drive in movies and drinking milkshakes and having hamburgers in America. “Of course for his generation, that was very true. “My dad’s head went into a fantasy, this idea of everything being better in America,” says Kim. Lawnmower Deth and 80s pop star Kim Wilde team up for anti-Christmas singleĪlong with Ricky’s ear, it was Marty’s preoccupation with American rock’n’roll that gave the song its cinematic, escapist backbone. ![]() He sat down and came up with Kids In America.” Rick went in and created the whole backing track, played it to my dad and asked him to come up with some lyrics, which he did. Their drummer, Chris North played on the first album and on Kids In America. “There was a great prog band who ran the studio called The Enid. “We recorded it at a local studio in Hertford called The Lodge,” says Kim. The song’s rock credentials don’t end there, but perhaps most leftfield are its connections to the prog world. He had it very clearly in his head, and Kids In America really embodies that sound.” He wanted to combine that synth element with a pop and rock sensibility to make the new sound. “Those were the records he was listening to non-stop, and those were the kind of records he wanted to make. “Ricky’s influences at the time included Ultravox, John Foxx, Gary Numan, The Skids, Sex Pistols, Clash, Kraftwerk and The Stranglers,” says Kim. The song cherry picked the most exciting sounds of the late 70s, reimagining them in a way that would come to define the 80s. That was particularly annoying coming through into my room while I was trying to listen to Joni Mitchell,” she laughs. It had a sort of pulsing beat which ended up being the intro to Kids In America. “I remember that happening, because his bedroom was next to mine and he’d got himself a Wasp keyboard – the little yellow and black thing – and I was really annoyed by all the noises coming out of his room. “He went home that weekend – we were all living in Hertfordshire at this point – and he wrote Kids In America,” recalls Kim. So Ricky set about writing the song that would transform both of their careers – but not without inspiring some good, old-fashioned sibling bickering in the process. He was determined to impress upon Mickie that he didn’t need other producers, that he was a one-man show.” “They were sort of like the Stock Aitken Waterman team, but it was Mickie Most, Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman. “Mickie asked Ricky who I was and mentioned something about getting me in with his producers, Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman, who were writing all the hits for Suzi Quatro and numerous others at RAK Records at the time,” says Kim. "I feel extremely honoured it’s mine.As it turned out, Kim wasn’t the only one sensing an opportunity. "Now I realise what a piece of gold that song is," she said. And though Kim admitted to The Guardian that she once felt "very caged in" by the track, her mind has since changed. 30 in America, starting Wilde on a pop career that lived up to her name. (According to one legend, the song was in fact barred from charting for a week while officials verified that the single really was selling that well.) Ultimately, "Kids in America" peaked at No. The song was complete as is, and set the British charts on fire when it was released. One of the song's most notable features was a happy accident: the "whoa-oh" that follows the title line was a placeholder that never got filled in by a guitar or keyboard. I think a lot of that got caught up in the lyrics - all the kids in America are having a better, more interesting, more dangerous time than we were here." We weren't doing things like that in the U.K. "Of course for his generation, that was very true. "My dad's head went into a fantasy, this idea of everything being better in America," Kim later said. The Wilde family's shared love for American music and culture inspired the lyrics (even if "East California" is as present on a map as "South Detroit" is for Journey).
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |