Catch as Catch Can is the third studio album by Kim Wilde, released in autumn 1983. The album was not released in North America, neither were any of the singles.
Having toured the UK and Europe in November and December 1982, there was a silence of six months. Kim Wilde returned with the single "Love Blonde", a jazz/swing-inspired track that lyrically mocked the blonde bombshell image that some media had dealt Kim in the previous years. But the sound was unique to the single; the rest of the album continued the electronic theme that was introduced on Select. Most of the songs were again written by Marty and Ricky Wilde, except the second single "Dancing in the Dark", which was written by Nicky Chinn and Paul Gurvitz. Ricky Wilde produced the album.
Some of the songs seemed to be telling a story ("House of Salome", which was released as a single in selected countries, and "Sing It Out for Love") whereas "Dream Sequence" was one of Marty's more imaginative lyrics, describing what seems to be a random sequence of images. The cool blue cover image was provided by photographer Sheila Rock.
The album suffered from mixed reviews in the press and the lack of successful singles. Even a second European tour could not help the decline in sales.
At the time of release, the new compact disc format was introduced. In Japan, the album was released on this new format. In later years, this release became a much sought-after item among Kim Wilde fans, who often paid more than $100 to get their hands on a copy. Elsewhere in the world, the album has been released on CD only once, as part of a 3-CD box set named The Originals (1995). Available for a limited period only, this also has become a collectable item. It was finally re-released on 18 May 2009 as a remastered special edition following Kim Wilde and Select in April.
Catch as Catch Can received mixed reviews from contemporary critics. Jessi McGuire of Record Mirror found that the album contained "something for everyone" and praised Ricky Wilde for "showing a constantly changing style" in his songwriting, while comparing Kim's "young and snotty" voice to Michael Jackson's on songs such as the "hot and funky" "Back Street Joe".[3] McGuire was less receptive to the song "Sparks", which was described as coming "dangerously close to sounding like good old Cliff (National Pop Institution) Richard himself".[3] In a negative review, Josephine Hocking of Smash Hits described Wilde's voice as "pretty-but-slight" and panned the album's songs as "a mass of uninspired synth patterns and plodding arrangements."[4]
