Kim Wilde - Love Blonde: The RAK Years (2024) [Hi-Res]

Kim Wilde has blazed a trail ever since she made her debut with the indelible ‘Kids in America’ back in 1981. Kim’s early hits on Mickie Most’s RAK Records blend angsty new wave energy with the innate pop sensibility she shares with her chief collaborators, brother Ricky and father Marty.

Love Blonde: The RAK Years is the most comprehensive collection of Kim’s RAK output ever assembled. Boasting 50 tracks across four CDs, it brings together three classic studio albums, ‘Kim Wilde’, ‘Select’ and ‘Catch as Catch Can’, each remastered and expanded with bonus tracks, plus ‘Special Disco Mixes’. Featuring era-authentic artwork and previously unseen photos, this exclusive remix album features 12” versions of ten singles, extended and reinvented in the spirit of the 80s. Six of these mixes have been newly commissioned especially for this package.

This package features an impressive roll call of UK hit singles: ‘Kids in America’ (#2), ‘Chequered Love’ (#4), ‘Water on Glass’ (#11), ‘Cambodia’ (#12), ‘View From a Bridge’ (#16), ‘Child Come Away’ (#43), ‘Love Blonde’ (#23) and ‘Dancing in the Dark’ (#67). Kim’s global appeal also led to further overseas releases such as ‘Bitter Is Better’, ‘Take Me Tonight’ and ‘House of Salome’. Bonus material including B-sides and album out-takes from the album sessions rounds out a complete survey of Kim’s RAK years.