Ricky Wilde (born Ricki Steven Reginald Smith, 6 November 1961, sometimes credited as Ricki Wilde) is a British songwriter, musician, and record producer. He is the younger brother of singer

Kim Wilde Kim Wilde (born Kim Smith, 18 November 1960) is an English pop singer. She first gained success in 1981 with her debut single "Kids in America", which peaked at no. 2 in the UK. In 1983, she received the Brit Award for Best British Female solo ...

; their father is singer and songwriter

Marty Wilde Marty Wilde, (born Reginald Leonard Smith; 15 April 1939) is an English singer and songwriter. He was among the first generation of British pop stars to emulate American rock and roll, scoring several 1950s and 1960s hit singles including " E ...

Career

Kim Wilde - 2019242174017 2019-08-30 Werner Rennen - 2204 - AK8I2205

At the age of eleven, Wilde was signed by record producer

Jonathan King Jonathan King (born Kenneth George King; 6 December 1944) is an English singer, songwriter and record producer. He first came to prominence in 1965 when "Everyone's Gone to the Moon", a song that he wrote and sang while still an undergraduate, ...

to King's

UK Records UK Records was a music label launched in 1972 by Jonathan King to distribute his own releases and those by some other artists.Look-in ''Look-in'' was a children's magazine centred on ITV's television programmes in the United Kingdom, and subtitled "The Junior '' TVTimes''". It ran from 9 January 1971 to 12 March 1994.Donny Osmond Donald Clark Osmond (born December 9, 1957) is an American singer, dancer, actor, television host and former teen idol. He gained fame performing with four of his elder brothers as the Osmonds, earning several top ten hits and gold albums. In the ...

on the cover in June 1973 with the headline "Is Ricky Wilde the new Donny?". Subsequent singles were "Do It Again, a Little Bit Slower", "I Wanna Go to a Disco" and "Teen Wave". However, the singles were not successful in the UK, although he was featured in

youth Youth is the time of life when one is young. The word, youth, can also mean the time between childhood and adulthood (Maturity (psychological), maturity), but it can also refer to one's peak, in terms of health or the period of life known as bei ...

magazines at the time and appeared with his father alongside eleven years old pop rival Darren Burn in

BBC Television BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1 January 1927. It p ...

's '' Man Alive'' documentary film ''Twinkle Twinkle Little Star'', made in July 1973. He had some

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * '' H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014, a British compilation album s ...

Scandinavia Scandinavia is a subregion#Europe, subregion of northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It can sometimes also ...

and Spain at the time.

Recordings A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, re ...

of new material in 1980 led to the 'discovery' of his sister Kim. Ricky's new role was that of producer and co-writer, a role he has fulfilled up until now. By his own admission, he was happy to be more in the background as of that moment. After Kim Wilde paused her career in pop music, Ricky Wilde continued to work in the

music industry The music industry are individuals and organizations that earn money by Songwriter, writing songs and musical compositions, creating and selling Sound recording and reproduction, recorded music and sheet music, presenting live music, concerts, ...

. In 2005 he was one of the initiators of the band, Sonic Hub, and of the record label Sonic Hub Records. He co-directed the film ''Shoot The DJ'', released in 2010. "I Am an Astronaut" was covered by

Snow Patrol Snow Patrol are a Northern Irish–Scottish Rock music, rock band formed in 1994 in Dundee, Scotland, consisting of Gary Lightbody (vocals, guitar), Nathan Connolly (guitar, backing vocals), and Johnny McDaid (piano, guitar, keyboards, backi ...

for the

Save the Children The Save the Children Fund, commonly known as Save the Children, is an international non-governmental organization. It was founded in the UK in 1919; its goal is to improve the lives of children worldwide. The organization raises money to imp ...

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one Performing arts#Performers, performer or by several performers. If the recordings are from ...

Colours Are Brighter ''Colours Are Brighter'' is a charity record which was released on Rough Trade Records on 16 October 2006, all proceeds going to Save the Children. The CD features 13 songs aimed at children, by some of the UK's biggest indie pop bands, and was ...

''; it also featured as a

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

to their single " Open Your Eyes". It was translated into Swedish, and recorded by nine-year-old

Linus Wahlgren Linus Carl Henrik Wahlgren (born 10 September 1976) is a Swedish actor. He is the son of actors Christina Schollin and Hans Wahlgren and brother to actors and singers Pernilla Wahlgren, Pernilla and Niclas Wahlgren. He has also appeared in a few ...

in 1985. The Swedish version was later covered by Wahlgren's nephew

Benjamin Ingrosso Benjamin Daniele Wahlgren Ingrosso (born 14 September 1997) is a Swedish singer, songwriter and record producer. As a child, he appeared in the leading role in several musicals, and in 2006 he won Lilla Melodifestivalen with the song "Hej Sofia" ...

in 2007, also at nine years of age. Ricky started a podcast with famous blogger Lee Bennett and Eastenders soap star Jake Wood called 'Unsung Heroes', talking to songwriters and producers behind the scenes in the music industry.

Influences

Wilde has named

Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD) are an English electronic music, electronic band formed in Meols, Merseyside in 1978 by Andy McCluskey (vocals, bass guitar) and Paul Humphreys (keyboards, vocals). Regarded as pioneers of electronic musi ...

(OMD) as "heroes" and a key source of inspiration. Other influences have included

Ultravox Ultravox (earlier styled as Ultravox!) were a British new wave band, formed in London in April 1974 as Tiger Lily. Between 1980 and 1986, they scored seven Top Ten albums and seventeen Top 40 singles in the UK, the most successful of which wa ...

John Foxx John Foxx (born Dennis Leigh; 26 September 1948) is an English singer, musician, artist, photographer, graphic designer, writer, teacher and lecturer. He was the original lead singer of the New wave music, new wave band Ultravox, before leaving ...

Gary Numan Gary Anthony James Webb (born 8 March 1958), known professionally as Gary Numan, is an English singer, songwriter and musician. He entered the music industry as frontman of the New wave music, new wave band Tubeway Army. After releasing two st ...

, Skids,

Sex Pistols The Sex Pistols are an English punk rock band formed in London in 1975. Although their initial career lasted just two and a half years, they became culturally influential in popular music. The band initiated the punk movement in the United Ki ...

the Clash The Clash were an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1976. Billed as "The Only Band That Matters", they are considered one of the most influential acts in the original wave of British punk rock, with their music fusing elements ...

Kraftwerk Kraftwerk (, ) is a Germany, German Electronic music, electronic band formed in Düsseldorf in 1970 by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider. Widely considered innovators and pioneers of electronic music, Kraftwerk was among the first successful a ...

and

the Stranglers The Stranglers are an English rock music, rock band formed in 1974. Scoring 23 UK top 40 singles and 20 UK top 40 albums to date in a career spanning five decades, the Stranglers are one of the longest-surviving bands to have originated in the ...

Discography

Wilde has writing and production credits on

albums.

References

External links

* *
Shoot the DJ film
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilde, Ricky 1961 births Living people English male singers English male songwriters English record producers