Richard Wilde

It was back in the late 70’s that an aspiring pop star by the name of Richard Wilde - aka Richard Wilkins - bursting with ambition, clear visions of global success and drive, finished University and Teachers College in Palmerston North in New Zealand. But instead of pursuing a career in education, he decided to pursue his desire to make a mark as an entertainer. He reached mid-level pop stardom in his homeland as a solo artist, but eventually Richard’s desire to front a band morphed into the ensemble ‘Wilde & Reckless’.

After sharing bills with INXS, Flowers and Australian Crawl in the pub rock scene of the early 80’s, Wilde & Reckless had multiple radio hits. Richard was “living with my band in a little apartment behind a signwriter’s shop in Curlewis Street, Bondi. I remember going to Radio Rentals to try and hire a TV and they told me there were four types of people they didn’t rent to; and that I was three of them! A Kiwi, a musician and living on a ground floor”. Tours with superstars like Grace Jones came their way, but by 1983 the band had run out of steam and other responsibilities beckoned – and the curtain closed on Wilde + Reckless.

Richard Wilde went on to become ubiquitously known to Australian audiences as the first MTV host and veteran entertainment reporter Richard Wilkins. His brief career as pop star in the late 1970’s through early 80’s became unfairly forgotten until 40 years later, in 2021.