Kim Wilde - Kids In America

crapfromthepast wrote: At the time, ["Kids in America"] was far more popular in the rest of the world than in the U.S., although it's very fondly remembered here.

"Very fondly remembered here"??? Absolutely. "Far more popular in the rest of the world than in the U.S."??? Not really. I say that because the song was actually much bigger here than its #25 Billboard & #20 Cash Box peaks would seem to indicate, if that's all one were to go by. Two other major factors to consider: 1) It was a hit here in the U.S. more than a year after being so in most of the rest of the world (Summer of '82 vs. Spring of '81); this can be attributed to the video eventually gaining a strong foothold on MTV, as EMI was initially going to pass on releasing Wilde's debut album here. And as I recently mentioned when also discussing the popularity of Talking Heads' "And She Was", MTV play wasn't factored into the trade magazines' pop charts. And 2) The song actually lasted 18 weeks on the "Hot 100" in Billboard, as well as 20 weeks on the "Top 100" in Cash Box, which is much more characteristic of a top 10 - or even top 5 - hit. In addition to peak position, longevity is just as important to consider when judging a song's popularity, and w/ that also factored in, it's easy to see why "Kids in America" just barely missed being one of the top 100 hits for all of 1982 here in the U.S. (probably fell in the top 110, if not 105, using Jim Quirin & Barry Cohen's much more accurate formula in their book, Rock 100, vs. Joel Whitburn's Pop Annual) - and that's WITHOUT the MTV popularity also factored in...

crapfromthepast wrote: On CD, EMI put out Very Best Of in 1987, to cash in on the success of "You Keep Me Hangin' On" on MCA. I was unaware of this CD until right now (!)

That's most likely because The Very Best of... was never issued here in the U.S. (in any format). It was first released in 1984 as a contractual filler, when she left RAK/EMI, and signed w/ MCA. But at that time, because CDs were still just a minor blip on the radar screen (less than 5% of the market), it initially came out on vinyl LP & cassette only (have the latter myself - used to see it in used bins quite a bit back in the late '80s and early '90s). As you correctly note, it DID finally come out on CD as well in 1987, but that can be attributed more to the digital disc gaining a foothold in the battle of the music formats vs. Wilde's success w/ her cover of "You Keep Me Hangin' On" that same year - after all, the compilation was already three years old at that point, so how could it possibly be called a "cash-in" by RAK/EMI??? (But since you mentioned her version of "YKMHO", I DO feel it was one of the best cover tunes of the '80s - I actually prefer it over the original!)

It's also important to remember that Wilde's second and third albums, Select (1982) and Catch as Catch Can (1983), weren't released here in the U.S., either. In fact, her second American album was actually late 1984's Teases & Dares, her debut for MCA. So w/ her 1981 s/t debut - the parent album of "Kids in America" - still in print Stateside, there was no need to ever issue 1984's The Very Best of... here. And while there have been umpteen collections of her hits issued elsewhere in the world since, at this time, her only U.S. compilation has been 1993's The Singles Collection 1981-1993 on MCA - which thankfully includes the (international) hits from her first three albums on RAK/EMI...

80smusicfreak wrote: Two other major factors to consider: 1) It was a hit here in the U.S. more than a year after being so in most of the rest of the world (Summer of '82 vs. Spring of '81); this can be attributed to the video eventually gaining a strong foothold on MTV, as EMI was initially going to pass on releasing Wilde's debut album here. And as I recently mentioned when also discussing the popularity of Talking Heads' "And She Was", MTV play wasn't factored into the trade magazines' pop charts.

Another factor to consider here too...Top 40 radio was
still in its post-disco slump in 1982, and wouldn't re-
ignite for another 6 months or so. Many cities (even
major ones like NYC) didn't really have a top 40 station
in those years, so a lot of potential fans of the song
likely never heard it. MTV was only a year old then, and
wasn't on most cable systems yet (and cable itself
wasn't available in many places then either).