Kids in America (Kim-Lian song)
| "Kids in America" | ||||||||
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Artwork for European release
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| Single by Kim Wilde | ||||||||
| from the album Kim Wilde | ||||||||
| B-side | "Tuning In, Tuning On" | |||||||
| Released | 26 January 1981 | |||||||
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| Recorded | 1980 | |||||||
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| Length | 3:27 | |||||||
| Label | RAK | |||||||
| Songwriter(s) | ||||||||
| Producer(s) | Ricky Wilde | |||||||
| Kim Wilde singles chronology | ||||||||
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| "Kids in America 1994" | ||||
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| Single by Kim Wilde | ||||
| Released | 2 May 1994 | |||
| Format | 12", CD single | |||
| Length | 3:53 (Cappella Mix) | |||
| Label | MCA | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Ricky Wilde, Marty Wilde | |||
| Producer(s) | Ricky Wilde | |||
| Kim Wilde singles chronology | ||||
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"Kids in America" is a song recorded by British singer Kim Wilde. It was released in the United Kingdom as her debut single in January 1981, and in the United States in spring 1982, later appearing on her self-titled debut album. The song reached number two on the UK Singles Chart, number one in Finland and South Africa, and charted in the top 10 of many European charts as well as Australia and New Zealand. In North America, the song reached top 40 in Canada and the United States. It has sold 679,000 copies in France, was certified gold in the United Kingdom, and has sold over three million copies worldwide. The song has been covered by many artists from different genres.
RAK Records boss Mickie Most heard Wilde singing on a backing track to another song recorded by her brother Ricky Wilde, an aspiring young songwriter and producer who had had some fame as a child singer in the style of Donny Osmond in the early 1970s.
Most liked Kim's voice and looks and expressed an interest to work with her. Eager to grab the opportunity, Ricky went home and wrote "Kids in America" that same day with his father Marty in the family's front room. Marty Wilde, also a former singer, had been a teen idol and actor in the UK in the late 1950s and early 1960s.
They wrote the song using a WASP synthesizer owned by Ricky, and the song's eighth note synth basslines, which form its intro, was inspired by the songs of Gary Numan who was popular at the time. The melody in the song's opening lines was also heavily influenced by Numan, according to Ricky.
They went into the studio with everything except the lyrics to the chorus, which Marty Wilde, who was responsible for writing the lyrics to the song, came up with in the last minute. The line "Whoah-oh!" that's sung after the song's title was originally meant to be a guitar lick or a brass stab, but sounded much better sung by the male backing vocals, according to Marty.
After hearing the track for the first time, Most declared it was a smash hit, but it needed remixing, which he did together with Marty at RAK Studios. The song was shelved for a year before being released as Kim Wilde's first single in January 1981.
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Wikipedia