Cambodia
Kim Wilde creates a story on 45
In the early Eighties, there was a division between ‘rock’ and ‘pop’ that was easily distinguishable: ‘serious’ music lovers were into guitar-driven ‘rock’ songs, whereas others would prefer the more synth-oriented ‘pop’.
This goes some way into explaining why Kim Wilde’s debut album was accepted by pretty much everyone, whereas the follow-up ‘Select’ (1982) divided music critics and pop fans alike. While the album still contained some ‘rock’ tracks (‘Can you come over’ as the most straightforward example) the singles drawn from that album led people to believe that Kim had ‘gone synth’.
The lead single from ‘Select’ was released months before it — simply because the album wasn’t ready yet and there was a demand for new Kim Wilde music. Primarily from Mickie Most and his record company RAK, but fans were getting impatient as well. ‘Kim Wilde’ (1981) and its three singles had sold well, but by October 1981, there was a need to hear new music from Kim Wilde. These were different times after all: artists had less than a year to come up with a new album, and even less to come up with new singles. And so, without any procrastination, brother Ricky and father Marty Wilde, the songwriting team that had been responsible for all of Kim’s hits until then, created a track that was to become ‘Cambodia’.
Already in August 1981, Kim said that they were working hard:
Ricky and Dad had only just started writing together and there was a lot of pressure on them. They virtually had to write from nine to five. They did it under the worst conditions. But fortunately they are good under pressure.’ (Three steps to Kim’s success, TV Scene (Australia), August 15, 1981)
Considering they had just delivered 12 songs (the album ‘Kim Wilde’ plus two B-sides) within just nine months, it was quite astonishing that Ricky and Marty came up with ‘Cambodia’ after that. Especially since the lyric was such a departure from those from previous songs:
It’s about a wife of an American pilot, who ends up being killed in the Cambodian war. The lyric was originally written in the first person. But while I could really identify with the woman in question, I changed it, so that I now sing it in third person. (On December 17 she presents her new song ‘Cambodia’ in Musikladen: Kim Wilde, Bravo (Germany), December 16, 1981)
Marty described how the song came to be:
One day, Ricky and I heard a track with two bass notes repeating one after the other and we both thought this would be a great introduction to a song. Ricky did a demo at RAK Studios and had added these kind of Oriental percussion sounds to it. It sounded to me as though it had to be something Oriental and I asked one of Kim’s friends who was listening to the demo had anyone else ever written a song called ‘Cambodia’. She said that there was a similar title recorded by the Dead Kennedys and at first I was a bit concerned because I wanted the song to be original and fresh.
However, I thought the subject matter so good and so strong that I went ahead anyway and although I didn’t want to turn the song into a political essay, I tried in my own way to show what I believe that most people felt about South Vietnam and the terrible tragedies that occurred there.
It’s a song that leaves you with various questions. A song which you don’t know what it’s about or what’s happening in it. You get a certain idea, but you just don’t know. And a song like that tries a lot to make the mystery bigger. That’s Cambodia to me. It’s open to all kinds of interpretations. Like most of our songs, really. That’s why I don’t like talking about it. It’s irrelevant. (Kim Wilde: Paul Evers’ bubblegum picture, Muziekkrant Oor (Netherlands), April 7, 1982)
‘Cambodia’ was released on November 2, 1981. The single came in a remarkable sleeve, featuring a drawn story at the front (by an uncredited artist) and a photograph of Kim at the back (resulting from a session with Gered Mankowitz). There were a lot of variations internationally, probably because local record companies thought it was risky not to see the name ‘Kim Wilde’ appear on the single’s sleeve — or a picture of the singer herself. And so, while the ‘real’ front cover was used for the UK and German pressings, the record companies in France, Italy, Portugal and Spain all used variations on the back cover instead.
Another interesting fact: although there was no extended version of ‘Cambodia’, the German record company released a 12" single, just like they had done for ‘Kids in America’ and ‘Chequered Love’. The larger disc included the same tracks as the 7" single. Still, it would become a collector’s item in later years, as many fans wanted to get their hands on this rather limited edition.
Music videos and performances
There was, of course, also a music video for ‘Cambodia’. Just like the videos for ‘Kids in America’ and ‘Chequered Love’, Brian Grant was the director. The video was shot at Shepperton Film Studios and featured a 19 ft. python and a deadly Tarantula spider. Brian Grant:
I think I’d watched ‘Apocalypse Now’ too many times and had delusions of being a movie director. (I love 1981, BBC (UK), January 20, 2001)
As a 20-year-old, Kim did enjoy the process of making music videos and did what she was directed to do, but in hindsight, she didn’t enjoy every aspect of making the video for ‘Cambodia’:
Doing ‘Cambodia’ was pretty scary ‘cos I was lying on the floor and this big, huge, fat boa constrictor thing was slithering all over me and a tarantula trotted… Never again. I shall never work with those animals again. (I love 1981, BBC (UK), January 20, 2001)
The music video was distributed all over Europe, but there was also a demand for Kim to appear in various television shows. After appearing in the BBC’s Top of the Pops, she flew to France, Italy, Switzerland and Germany to perform the song in December 1981 and early 1982. This video shows you some of those performances — as well as the live performance by the end of 1982 when Kim finally went on tour with the song material from her first two albums.
Success
Kim’s fourth single was another hit for her. It reached number 1 in Sweden, Denmark and Switzerland, number 2 in Germany (where it remained in the charts for 26 weeks), South Africa and the Netherlands, and was top 10 in the rest of Europe and Australia. However, the single achieved the biggest success in France, where it also got to the top of the charts and sold over 1 million copies. It is still Kim’s best selling single in that country, achieving platinum status.
Cover versions
Just like Kim Wilde’s debut single ‘Kids In America’, ‘Cambodia’ was subsequently covered by many other bands and artists. Where ‘Kids In America’ was recorded mainly (although not exclusively) by rock- and punk-oriented bands, ‘Cambodia’ was recorded by a more varied group: starting with electronic bands such as Norwegians Apoptygma Berzerk and German DJ Pulsedriver, there were also hardcore techno acts like Vorwerk and Marco V, as well as the Swedish death metal band Hearse. Swiss duo Letris made a rather innocent pop cover.
And then there were some translations as well: German singer Jacqueline released ‘Verloren In Der Einsamkeit’ (‘Lost in loneliness’) in 2010, while Finnish singer Satu Pentikäinen released ‘Matka tuntemattomaan’ already in 1982.
Remixes
As it was released in 1981, there was no remix or extended version of ‘Cambodia’, although the album version did add a ‘Reprise’ — a faster instrumental version of the track. Amazingly, there were no later remixes of ‘Cambodia’ (‘Kids In America’ was remixed in 1994 and 2001 and ‘View From A Bridge’ in 2001) until Kim released ‘Never Say Never’ in 2006. This album, consisting of new tracks and re-recorded versions of old hits, included a remix of ‘Cambodia’ by Paul Oakenfold.
The remix proved to be controversial: one half of the fans were not impressed, saying that the track was repetitive and unimaginative, the other half dug the groove and thought it even added something to the original.
The original, of course, cannot be surpassed. Even after 30 years, the song is played on the radio regularly and it is a favourite during Kim Wilde concerts all over Europe.
