Where singer Kim Wilde used to stay as a kid in Wakefield
It’s a little-known fact that pop icon Kim Wilde, of Kids in America fame, has a connection to Wakefield.
In the early 1960s, Kim visited the city as a young child and stayed with the Pitchforth family on Lupset estate.
It all came about because her dad, the well-known rock ’n’ roller Marty Wilde, was often booked for week-long cabaret appearances at the famous Wakefield Theatre Club and Batley Variety Club.
One day, he mentioned to Brian Pitchforth, a young man performing at Batley with his band, the Jack O’ Diamonds, that he didn’t really like staying in hotels.
“I’m sure my mum wouldn’t mind putting you up,” Brian told him.
And so he took Marty home to meet his parents, Frank and Elsie, who lived in a modest three-bedroom council house on Townley Road.
The Pitchforth family and the Wildes soon became friends, and Marty stayed with them whenever he came to the city, often bringing his wife Joyce and occasionally their two young children, Kim and Ricky.
Jan Samuel, Frank and Elsie’s granddaughter, was a teenager at the time and looked after the Wilde children while their parents were at the Theatre Club.
She said: “Both Joyce and Marty were friendly, warm and down to earth and they felt like members of the family.”
Marty and Joyce attended Brian’s wedding and the christening of his daughter Selina. When Frank died, the couple returned to attend his funeral.
After Frank’s death, the Wildes continued their friendship with Elsie, inviting her, Brian and the young Selina to their lavish 25th wedding anniversary party at Knebworth. Marty and Joyce have now been married for 66 years.
Marty, still touring at the age of 87, appeared at Leeds City Varieties on September 4, and Jan, her brother Andy Gough, and their cousin Selina Rich were invited backstage to meet him.
Selina said: “We used to visit Marty and Joyce’s home in Hertfordshire and spoke regularly on the phone, but, over the years, we lost touch.
“Seeing Marty on Friday night brought back a lot of happy memories.”
Andy added: “Marty said it would be his last time touring in the north but that he loved Yorkshire, and in particular, Wakefield.
“He said that he had learned so much about being humble through staying at my grandma and grandad’s house, which was nice to hear.”