50 songs to take to my grave #46: Kim Wilde

Remember waaay back (29th August, 2014 in fact) when I posted this? 'Twas one of my most popular posts. Seems I'm far from the only one who thought Ms Wilde's debut was a shining moment. Charlotte Hatherley clearly thinks the same. In 2004, while still a member of Ash, she announced a solo record. The first taste of it came in the form of a free download of a song named after the 80s pop princess.

Kim Wilde didn't sound like Ash. It was poppy as hell, only poppy in a skewed XTC/Wire kind of way. It's skitty and jagged and about the most fun you could squeeze into a four minute pop song. MrsRobster thinks it sounds like Charlotte's trying to play several songs at once, the way it judders from one key to another at unexpected junctures. It was all so wonderfully erratic. In Ash, Charlotte was just the guitar player. On her own she dazzled and bewildered. She was so obviously meant to go out on her own.

Despite the quirkiness of the song, it's unashamedly pop through and through. Those backing vocals really give the game away: "Oooooooo ba-ba-ba-oooooooo..." as does the fact that it gets into my head and swims round and round and round. I loved it from the first moment I heard it, and I still love it now. Curiously though, it's one of those rare times the edited single version beats the album version. While only 22 seconds shorter, it just seems right. The 'full' version extends the closing sequence and it sounds quite odd - not the good odd as in the rest of the song, but odd as in contrived. So it's the slightly shorter mix I'm taking with me.

And the title? Well, while there's no mention of Kim at all in the lyrics, two of her early songs are referenced. 




As a bit of a bonus for you, and as a means of linking my Kim and Charlotte posts together, here's an updated version of Kim's best known song featuring Charlotte.