Today's Pick: Select - Kim Wilde

Now I'll really struggle to describe my feelings for this masterpiece. Select is the album that made me love new-wave and shaped my taste in music. Analog synths, raw and natural vocals, lyrics with stroies to tell, Kim with her perfect hair style, a simple artwork that goes perfect with it's title... Words fail me to praise this perfection! I put this on my turntable every time I hear today's shitty music on the radio just to keep me going.


After making a debut with her self titled album and taking the UK, Europe and US by storm in 1981; Kim didn't lose any time to record her second album. His father Marty Wilde and brother Ricky Wilde wrote all the lyrics. Using more synthesizers and less guitars than the first album; Select is more agressive than her debut album. From air disasters to police brutality, apparent suicide, the nervous situation UK was in then and war circumstances Select lyrically has a darker side which reflects Marty and Rick's dark side. With all those coming together, Select is more of a new-wave and synth-pop album than her previous pop-rock album by including more snyths and electronic elements.


On the cover we see Kim Wilde with her breath taking beauty. Her signature hairdo with almost no make up makes the album's artwork very iconic. Every single detail from her pose to hair, from the graphics to the font reflects the 80s perfectly. It's one of the most famous album covers of the 80s and also one of my most favourites hence it's on the header of my blog with Miss Minogue. On the front of the cover, Kim stands before a white background and on the back, we see her before the black background. I think they tried to describe the feel of the album. Mostly dark and sometimes bright, like her vocals, Sometimes agressive and confident but sometimes fragile and blue; hence the title is Select.


Unlike the three minute songs produced to be played on the radio, the songs on the Select have good bridges, instrumental breaks and long endings. The songs give us all a sense of resolution. They just don't start and finish in 2 minutes and 45 seconds.


TRACKLIST:  

1. Ego
2. Words Fell Down
3. Action City
4. View From A Bridge
5. Just A Feeling
6. Chaos At The Airport
7. Take Me Tonight
8. Can You Come Over
9. Wendy Sadd
10. Cambodia - Reprise


The album makes an energetic start with Ego. Containing electronic synths and a fast rhythm, Ego is about someone that Marty Wilde knows. It's a perfect example of 80s new wave - electronic music. On the second track, Words Fell Down; we see Kim Wilde with her confident vocals. It's a classic pop song in it's stand-out ways.
Action City was written during UK going through social unrest and it reflects the unsafe position Marty Wilde feels. The sythns and electric guitars literally supports the title and lyrics of the song. It's one of the strongest and definitive tracks of the album with it's sound.
The fourth track, one of the fan favourites, View From A Bridge is one of the darkest songs of the album with it's lyrics about a girl commiting a suicide and jumping off a bridge. The almost sad intro of the song leaves itself to a moving and swinging kick accompanied by Kim's sometimes insane and affective vocals. I can feel the insanity when Kim shouts ''But then a voice said jump! And I just let go.'' Such a perfect track before ending the first half of the album with a stunning love song.
The last song on the Side A; Just A Feeling is my all time favourite Kim Wilde song. The chanting beginning of the song joined by analogue synths and drums makes a perfect start for this masterpiece. When I read what Marty Wilde said about the song I was highly disappointed. ''This is just a simple love song and the only line that I really love in the song is that line that says "I always looked on the touch of your love as a warm stream running over me". Even the critics called the song ''Stunning'' while the album was suffering from bad and unjust reviews. The lead synth pads, basses and Kim Wilde's fragile vocals just gets me every time I listen to the song. The electric guitar solo and the fascinating outro that lasts more than a minute are my favourite parts. I turn up the volume every time the outro comes and it just hypnotizes me. There's just no other perfect way to end a song. I get the chills every time the captivating synths kick in suddenly while Kim silently chants. It just reflects the feeling the song wants to give in a perfect way.  Sadly, we don't get such a song today.
The second half of the album begins with Chaos At The Airport. It has it's definive electric guitar throughout the song which fits with the feel of the song. It gets you allerted and nervous in a good way. The lyrics are about the air disasters and the fear of flying which makes the song very unique and personal. Like most of Kim Wilde songs, Chaos At The Airport is very underrated and unappreciated.
Take Me Tonight is the second track on the Side B. Having an intro with synths. The song has a funny story. After finishing his gig, Marty Wilde goes to a bar in the disco and silently watched everybody and thinks about what plans are they having for that night. Then he writes this song imagining what Kim Wilde would think and say if she was one of the people in that crowd.
Can You Come over is the most rock oriented song in the album and my least favourite song on the album. This song has a funny story too. The vocals were recorded in Kim's bedroom, in her house. Because they were behind the recordings of the album. So they needed a RAK MOBILE which was a long lorry, converted to a recording studio. They extended the cables to Kim's room and recorded the song there. Maybe this was the reason why Can You Come Over sounds slightly different than the rest of the songs that are on the album.
The second last song on the album, Wendy Sadd is one of the best songs Kim has ever done in her career. It's about police brutality that takes place in the US (how surprising!!). It was written by Marty and Ricky Wilde like the rest of the songs. The song has one of my most favourite lines: ''Lost in the night, somebody said go easy on the girl. You'll never get a confession if you treat her that way''. Wendy Sadd is a real person that Marty met at Top Of The Pops but she's not related to the story of the song. Her name was used because Marty loved the name and wanted to write a song about it. Wendy Sadd is another dark song that leaves the listener nervous. And the nervousness reaches it's climax at the end of the song when Kim shouts ''Wendy Sadd'' and leaves the listeners with one of the most tense ending a song could ever have which makes me fall in love with the song. It gets you so nervous it's almost like you're stressed and filled with anxiety. It's just pure perfection.
We close the album with Cambodia which is the perfect example for a new wave song. It was released months before the release of Select as a lead single. The lyrics are about an airforce wife who was Thailand based and how the ugly face of the war changed her husband. The storyteller lyrics were supported by a sad music filled with synths and sound effects. Marty says he's wrote the song while thinking about an American pilot flying in a F-4 Phantom II and getting shot down by an air missile. The song includes helicopter noises as well. It's another masterpiece that satisfies the listeners both with it's music and lyrics. The song ends with Kim Wilde chants ''She won't see his face again'' magically while the album comes to an end with the Reprise of Cambodia kicks in a little after Kim Wilde finishes her lines and leaves the listeners. Beginning with on and off sytnhs repeating itself, the drums kick in fastly and it goes on with Kim sadly chanting to reflect the whole air of the album. The whole Reprise built on fast drums with synths which makes it electronic yet so symphonic. It's just the best way to finish an album and to make it a masterpiece.


CHARTS: 

Sadly Select couldn't make the impact that Kim's debut album did. But that couldn't prevent it to be a fan favourite album. Critics only favoured Cambodia, Just A Feeling and View From A Bridge and called the rest of the album ''dull''. Just unbelievable!

Australia: 7
Austria: 4
Belgium: 4
Denmark: 1
France: 1
Germany: 2 (26 weeks)
Ireland: 15 (8 weeks)
Netherlands: 2 (12 weeks)
Norway: 3
South Africa: 2
Sweden: 1 (22 weeks)
Switzerland: 1 (11 weeks)
United Kingdom: 12 (12 weeks)

Select Germany LP (1C 064-64 787) 

Back Cover

Inner Sleeve Front

Inner Sleeve Back

Side A 

Side B

Thanks so much to Wilde Life for the information and facts. Visit www.wilde-life.com for further information about the album and Kim Wilde. 

This Week's Pick: Stay On These Roads - A-ha

I was out for some record shopping yesterday. I was so lucky to find UK 7'' singles of The Sun Always Shines On TV & Stay On These Roads. After making a perfect debut with Hunting High And Low and raising the stakes, the second LP Scoundrel Days didn't satisfy me with it's heavily influenced rock sound. It's a great album but it never sounded A-ha to me. It doesn't fit between Hunting High And Low & Stay On These Roads. If I didn't know A-ha I'd say they made their debut with Hunting High And Low, released Stay On These Roads as the second album and then released Scoundrel Days cause their fourth album East Of The Sun West Of The Moon sounds more similar to it. When I was reading about the album on Wikipedia, it says that they chose the Alternative Rock sound over Synth Pop because Synth Pop begun to fall out of style. Synth Pop will NEVER EVER lose it's style and uniqueness. Alternative Rock? Really? We're not rebellious teens anymore! Rock music lost it's thing after the 70s and they tried to shove Rock in our faces throught the 90s and it was just not right.  Anyway, Stay On These Roads was a BIG RELIEF after Scoundrel Days. It's more synth oriented and  it's classic A-ha with it's deep lyrics and synth pop sounds. Plus we can clearly see how hot the trio looks unlike the depressing artwork of Scoundrel Days.


TRACKLIST:

1. Stay On These Roads
2. The Blood That Moves The Body
3. Touchy!
4. This Alone Is Love
5. Hurry Home
6. The Living Daylights
7. There's Never A Forever Thing.
8. Out Of Blue Comes Green
9. You're The One
10. You'll End Up Crying


The album is produced by Alan Tarney, and it was recorded in RG Jones Studios, Wimbledon between 1987-1988 and released on 3rd of May 1988. After the dark and haunting air of the Scoundrel Days, Stay On These Roads has a deeper and spiritual feel with some strong lyrics. To me, we can see it on the two top points of the album: There's No Forever Thing & Out Of Blue Comes Green.
There's Never A Forever Things is deep enough with it's title and the lyrics will eventually make you cry with the music. Morten tells us not to cry but his voice touches the most hidden spot in us so it's hard not to feel affected while listening to it. Is it because of his voice and the song that makes me feel blue or is it the fact that there's really never a forever thing?..
After There's Never A Forever Thing, Out Of Blue Comes Green is like a sunlight appearing between the dark clouds. There's still clouds, it's still dark but there's something to enlighten the spirit and push the clouds away. ''Father! My wings are clipped. See the steps that made me drip. Now I'm so lonely.'' Written by Pal Waaktaar the song must be very personal since his wife Lauren Savoy is the one behind the title of the song. Of course Morten Harket is very successful to deliver the vocals and reflect the feel of the song.


The album begins with the title track Stay On These Roads. It's another big one like Hunting High And Low & Living A Boy's Adventure Tale. The vocals of Morten are lush! The songs is a living proof against the people who say pop music can't reflect any emotions. The album continues with The Blood That Moves The Body. The song talks about teen suicides in Japan and paying it's tribute to Eyes Of A Blue Dog, a short story by Gabriel Garcia Marquez with the line ''Red Stains on Eyes Of A Blue Dog''. Touchy! is the third song of the album. The most uplifting song on the album along with You Are The One. Yamaha DX7 was used during producing the song. It was released as the third single off the album and sold 900.000 copies around the world, reaching #11 in the UK. This Alone Is Love only has three verses but they're deep enough to make the song strong with it's long and catchy outro. The last song on the Side A, Hurry Home is another deep song with some personal lyrics. It's about the self changes that the narrator is having.


The second half of the album begins with the the famous and arguably the best Bond theme; The Living Daylights. Sounding all diferent than the single version, the song remains one of the most known A-ha songs. Always performed in their tours the song has been extended into a sing along with the audience. There's Never A Forever thing slows things down and leaves the listener fragile with Out Of Blue Comes Green as the follow-up track. The second last track of the album You Are The One raises the energy and makes us move as a feel-good song. I've always found You Are The One as another attempt to make Take On Me 2. The ''aaaah'' vocals that performed by the trio on the backing vocals give the song another joy. It's so 80s. It's classic, it's catchy and it makes you happy. You'll End Up Crying is the closing track of the album. The song only includes synth string sessions. Still strong and still effective as a synth ballad.

There is not a single track I skip as I spin the LP. Every single song has a soul and depth. Unlike todays shallow pop songs which written by at least ten people came together, most of the songs on the album were written by Pal Waaktaar and sometimes by the rest of the trio. No wonder it's a successful album like their earlier albums.


CHARTS: 

Australian Albums (Kent Music Report): 52

Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria): 9

Canadian Albums (RPM): 55

Dutch Albums (MegaCharts): 5

,French Albums (SNEP): 3

German Albums (Offizielle Top 100): 4

Italian Albums (Musica E Dischi): 2

New Zealand Albums (RMNZ): 36

Norwegian Albums (VG-Lista): 1

Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan): 10

Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade): 6

UK Albums (OCC): 2

US Billboard 200: 48

EU LP (925 733-1) Front

EU LP Back

EU LP Inner Sleeve Front

EU LP Inner Sleeve Back

Lyrics to  Out Of Blue Comes Green taken from the innersleeve

EU LP Side A

EU LP Side B

This Week's Pick: Love Moves - Kim Wilde

I'm going to write about one of my favourite Kim Wilde albums this week. Even though it was released in 1990. The decade I can not stand!! I've always hated the 90s because everybody who made their debut in the 80s went indie, grunge or r&b and tried to ignore what they've done in the 80s. Suddenly everybody started to feel embarrassed about the 80s, what they've done, how they looked and what they sang and tried to create a new image to fit in with the new trend so they could make people forget about the 80s. Madonna pushed herself and chose the r&b path with Erotica & Bedtime Stories, Kylie went indie and mocked her PWL days with Impossible Princess, A-ha went rock with East Of The Sun, West Of The Moon, Bananarama got more daring but lost their soul with Pop Life. The Human League tried new sounds with Romantic?. There were also new acts who got big with their ''fresh'' sounds which were the ''trendsetters'' of the music scene. None of my favourite acts could maintain their success through the whole decade. And arguably, one of them was Kim Wilde. Since the beginning of the the 80s, she's had a successful yet on and off career. She was cool, she was in her twenties and she was the most popular female singer in the UK and rest of Europe. After releasing Close in 1988 she's reached the top of her career. Every single she released from the album was a hit. She's toured with Michael Jackson as his opening act around Europe and had two busy years. After the tour was over, she's got back in the studio for her seventh album in late 1989. After Close taking people by the storm, she's rised the stakes. Everybody was waiting something huge, something similar to Close but stronger and bigger. Being close to 30, Kim was starting to see things differently. Especially after finishing her relationship with the lead singer of Johhny Hates Jazz; Calvin Hayes. Being so popular and having not much time to herself because of the tour pushed Kim to loneliness and exhaustion.


When all that came together, Kim lost the sight while she was recording the album 7 in their studio. She was close to stop everything and cancel the whole project while she was halfway. Learning from her experiences; Kim had a different point of view to life now and she's reflected it to her lyrics perfectly. All the tracks were composed by Kim herself and her brother Ricky Wilde which makes the lyrics very personal. That's why the album was called Love Moves. When asked about the reason why the album was called Love Moves, Kim said ''Because it's true. Love makes you do even bigger things'' in one of her interviews.


Almost just a month before the release of Love Moves, Kim Wilde released It's Here as the first single of the album on 26th March 1990. It was about Kim Wilde looking at things differently and finally seeing what was there all the time. We still don't know what's it and where it is though. The single wasn't successfull as her previous releases from Close.


Finally, Love Moves was released on the 1st of May 1990. The songs were personal, strong and confident. The album's had a Middle Of The Road feel like her previous albums. The album saw Wilde talking about her having a new point of view, how she feels about love, enviroment problems and the plastic life of Hollywood celebrities.


There are many underrated songs in the album as usual. Love (Send Him Back To Me) is certainly one of them. I used to despise the song because of it's sound and also because it wasn't like any traditional Kim Wilde song. It was far away from being a new wave song. But the more I listened to it, the more I loved it. It's one of the strongest songs on the album. Sounding similar to Paula Abdul's Straight Up, Love was written about Kim begging love to have his lover back. Even though it sounds very 90s, I love Love (Send Him Back To Me) a lot. It could easily top the charts with a good video. The third track Storm In Our Hearts was a dark love song with some jazz elements. It was also a stand out track with it's strong and deep lyrics. World In Perfect Harmony and Who's To Blame? were written about what's happening to people, what are they doing with our world and how we can lose our future with our ways. World In Perfect Harmony sees Kim' seeking for a world in peace and harmony while  she questions what are we doing to our world in Who's To Blame. Someday is one of two ballads of the album along with I Can't Say Goodbye. The sixth song on the album; Time was about Kim Wilde falling in love. The strongest song on the album with a lovely video, Time failed to be in top 40 in the UK charts and makes it her most underrated single. With perfectly produced drums and synths; Time sounds so much like a Stock Aitken Waterman song. Especially like Kylie's Better The Devil You Know which makes Time my most favourite song on Love Moves.
After the concerning track Who's To Blame?, comes Can't Get Enough (Of Your Love) which has some rock and Hi Nrg elements. With being almost a classic Kim Wilde song, Can't Get Enough is a fan favourite. The lyrics are a bit personal as usual. On the 9th track In Hollywood, we hear the names of some celebrities like Mike Tyson, Donald Trump (unfortunately) and her then wife Ivana (what a nightmare!). The last song on the album is I Can't Say Goodbye which is another love ballad.

 Although the songs were promising the album couldn't maintain the success of Close. It was one of her lowest selling albums in the UK. Although reaching top 10 in the Scandinavian countries,it peaked at #126 in Australia. Being disappoint of the failure, ''I think the album itself still stands, it was a very strong album, and it was very disapppointing that it didn't do well. But it didn't really come too much as a big surprise, because my career before then had always been very up and down. So it wasn't a complete shock, but it was very disappointing.'' said Kim Wilde. I don't know if Kim Wilde will ever read this but I'll give it a shot. Love Moves was a brilliant and eclectic album. Your true fans appreciate the songs and the obvious effort you've put into them. So please forgive the album and perform it's songs on your future tours!


Love Moves was released on LP, Cd and cassette. The UK LP has the title in the middle while the German pressing has it on the top right corner. There's not a reissue of  Love Moves unlike her previous albums but I hope we get it one day with some unreleased tracks, remixes and instrumentals.


TRACKLIST:

1. It's Here
2. Love (Send Him Back To Me)
3. Storm In Our Hearts
4. World In Perfect Harmony
5. Someday
6. Time
7. Who's To Blame?
8. Can't Get Enough (Of Your Love)
9. In Hollywood
10. I Can't Say Goodbye


CHARTS:

Germany: 24
Netherlands: 35 (7 weeks)
Sweden: 10 (6 weeks)
United Kingdom: 37 (3 weeks)

Love Moves German LP (2292 -57225-1)

Love Moves German LP Back

Love Moves German LP Inner Sleeve Front

Love Moves German LP Inner Sleeve Back

Love Moves German LP Side A

Love Moves German LP Side B

This Week's B-Side: Virtual World - Kim Wilde

Written by Ricky and Kim Wilde in 1989 or 1990, Virtual World was released as a B-side to the lead single It's Here which was taken from the 1990 album Love Moves. Then it was given as a B-Side again when she released Can't Get Enough (Of Your Love) as a single. The song is talks about the future and what the world will become. In a way all the things she's mentioned in the song are made possible nowadays. Virtual World also has an extended version which was released on the 12'' single and cd single.

Unlike her formerly known works, Virtual World has a dance-pop and synthpop sound. And the music goes very well with the lyrics. The keyboards are reminding me In Hollywood. I think they were recorded around the same time. And of course, like all her songs, Virtual World left very underrated and unpopular. I hope she performs it live one day.

It's Here German 7'' (2292-57275-7 LA)

It's Here German 7'' Back

It's Here German 7'' Side A 

It's Here German 7'' Side B

This Week's Smash Hit: Never Too Late - Kylie Minogue

Another Smiley-Kylie classic Never Too Late, was released on 23 October 1989 as her third single from her second album Enjoy Yourself, making it her last release in the 80s. Such a great closure to the 80s with it's optimistic, feel good lyrics and music. Hitting the charts at #4 in the UK and #1 in Ireland, Never Too Late was another hit. It quickly became a fan favourite. Kylie performed Never Too Late on Enjoy Yourself Tour, On A Night Like This Tour. It was planned to be performed on KylieFever2002 and was in the proposed setlist on the beginning of the act Cybertronica but removed from the revised setlist. Fans wanted her to perform it since On A Night Like This Tour and we've finally got what we wanted on her latest world tour Kiss Me Once Tour. She's got back together with Stock Aitken & Waterman to access the PWL sounds for the Dollhouse section of the tour. So Kylie performed Never Too Late in Dollhouse Medley as the third track after Hand On Your Heart.


COMPOSITION

Never too late was written by Stock, Aitken & Waternan like the rest of the song that were on Enjoy Yourself. The song is about Kylie is being mad about his lover and that it's never too late for them to be together no matter what his lover did to her.


VIDEO

Directed by Pete Cornish, the video was shot against the blue box with Kylie and two back up dancers. The video showed Minogue in various costumes with her dancers in front of various backdrops – some of the costumes are as a cowgirl, '70s disco, Chinese dress with fans and as a 1920s flapper. It was awarded the Logie for the "Most Popular Music Video" at the 32nd Annual TV week Logie Awards held in 1990 in Australia. It's one of my most favourite Kylie videos ever because it reflects the feel of the 80s with it's images and moves.

TRACKLIST

12'' Maxi Single

Side A:

1) Never Too Late (Extended)

Side B:

1) Kylie's Smiley Mix (Extended)


7'' Single

Side A:

1) Never Too Late

Side B:

1) Kylie's Smiley Mix


UK Cd

1) Never Too Late
2) Never Too Late (Extended)
3) Kylie's Smiley Mix (Extended)


German 3'' Cd

1) Never Too Late (Extended)
2) Kylie's Smiley Mix (Extended)

UK 12'' (PWLT 45)

UK 12'' Back

UK 12'' Side A  

UK 12'' Side B

UK 7'' (PWL 45)

UK 7'' Back

UK 7'' Side A 

UK 7'' Side B

Germany 7'' (246 562-7)

Germany 7'' Back

Germany 7'' Side A

Germany 7'' Side B

UK Cd (PWCD 45)

UK Cd Inside

UK Cd

Germany 3'' Cd (246 561-2 XS)

Germany 3'' Cd Back 

Germany 3'' Cd Inside

My collection of Never Too Late