Today (November 18, 2009) is the 49^th birthday of British pop singer Kim Wilde. She released her debut single way back in 1981 with "Kids in America" which was a huge success in the UK but only reached #25 on the US charts. Though she would have a bigger hit in the US later on, this is my favorite song by Wilde so this week's first Flashback Video is "Kids in America" by Kim Wilde...

Wilde would continue to achieve success and popularity in the UK, but it would not be until her fifth album, Another Step released in 1986, that Wilde would finally find major success in the United States. It would come with her cover of the Supremes 1966 classic "You Keep Me Hangin' On" which would make it all the way to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in June of 1987. Wilde's version was a total re-working of the original, completely transforming the Supremes' Motown Sound into a 1980s power pop song which allowed her to become only the fifth UK female solo artist ever to top the U.S. Hot 100 chart. So this week's second Flashback Video is "You Keep Me Hangin' On" by Kim Wilde...

That song was played to death back in the summer of 1987. Wilde's popularity was still primarily in Europe where she actually holds the record for being the most-charted British solo female act of the 1980s, with 17 UK Top 40 hit singles throughout the decade. Since her 80s success, Wilde has still been active in the music industry, but has also achieved success in her second career as a gardener. As recently as this spring (2009) she successfully toured around Europe to almost sold-out venues proving her music still means a lot to her fans. To many fans, especially in the US, she will always be remember for those 80s hits.

That will wrap up another issue of Kickin' it Old School. Thanks for reading. If you are interested in reading any of my other 80s related issues, please click there for a summary of those. If you want to see the past issues of Flashback Videos, just type that into the Google Search Box at the top of the right hand column and it should give you a list of all of them. You can also always click on the Archives in the upper left hand column or use that Google Search Box to find any past issues or topics you may have missed. If you are a fan of Kickin' it, PLEASE CLICK ON THE FACEBOOK LOGO in the upper right hand column. This will take you to the Fan Page where I ask you to then click on "Become a Fan". Even if you are not a Facebook member yet, please consider joining and registering as a fan at that page. You can also follow Old School on Twitter by clicking on the FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER LOGO also in the upper right hand column. This will take you the page and you can just click on the box that says "Follow". Let other 80s fans know about it as well! Peace and much love.