Kim Appleby has opened up on her 1980s success with late sister Mel and their place in Stock Aitken Waterman’s pop dynasty.
The duo launched onto the music scene in 1986 with an infectious brand of carefree pop that took them straight to the upper echelons of the charts, with debut release Showing Out (Get Fresh At The Weekend) peaking at No. 3 in the UK and follow-up Respectable topping the charts worldwide, including Australia and Europe, and the US where it was a surefire dance hit.
The pair seemed unstoppable, but following the release of their debut long-player ‘F.L.M.’ (1987) Mel was diagnosed with cancer in her spine and, in January 1990, she passed away after contracting pneumonia, aged just 23.
Looking back over their success and her subsequent solo career in a previously-unpublished 2018 interview in the December 2022 issue of Retro Pop, Kim reflects on the pair’s history with The Hit Factory.
“A lot of people don’t know,” says Kim, “they think we were still there when the Kylies and the Jasons, Big Fun, The Reynolds Girls, Rick [Astley]… I think Rick used to make us cups of tea in the studio at the time!”
She adds: “The Kylies, the Jasons, everyone else – by that time Mel had been diagnosed with cancer and we were spectators to it all. We were at home thinking, ‘Wow, where did all this lot come from?’
“It went from being a very quiet studio and us having them all to ourselves and them doing the odd remix here and there, to all of a sudden an onslaught of artists coming out, and then it being called The Hit Factory.
“So The Hit Factory came after us. It came about a year later, or several months later. It was definitely when Melanie and I were resting. So I don’t consider us as part of The Hit Factory.”
It’s for that reason that, when invited to perform as part of Hit Factory Live in 2012, Kim “politely declined”. Of the decision, she insists: “It wasn’t personal, I just didn’t want to go out there with backing tracks and try to recreate something that was done perfectly in the first place. And it just leaves me with a bad taste in my mouth.
“If I’m going to perform the Mel and Kim songs again, then I want it to be as classy as possible. I want it to be a tribute,” she adds. “There’s no way that I’m trying to recreate what Mel and I did.
“People say, ‘Are you going to wear the hats? Are you going to get the dancers?’ No. Because for me it’s sacred. I really don’t want to touch that, that was just perfect and it’s brilliant.”
Read the full interview in the December 2022 edition of Retro Pop, out now. Order yours or subscribe via our Online Store, use our Store Finder to locate your nearest stockist, or get Digital Copies delivered direct to your devices.
