Kim Wilde
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Kim Wilde |
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| Kim Wilde | ||
|---|---|---|
 Kim
Wilde pictured on the cover of the
2006 album Never Say Never |
||
| Background information | ||
| Birth name | Kim Smith | |
| Born | November 18, 1960 | |
| Origin |  Chiswick, West
London, England |
|
| Genre(s) | Pop, New wave, Rock, Dance | |
| Occupation(s) | Vocalist, Songwriter | |
| Years active | 1981–present | |
| Label(s) | RAK Records, MCA Records, EMI | |
| Website | www.kimwilde.com | |
Kim Wilde (born Kim Smith,
November
18, 1960 in Chiswick, West
London) is an English
pop
singer, professional gardener, and pop
cultural figure. She debuted in 1981 with the hit "
Contents
|
Wilde was the first child of 1950s
Prior to the age of nine, she attended Oakfield Preparatory School, Dulwich. She moved with her family to Hertfordshire at the age of nine, where she was educated at Presdales School, Ware, before completing a foundation course at St Albans College of Art & Design in 1980.
Wilde was signed to Mickie Most's RAK
Records in 1980 and released her debut single,
"
The debut album Kim Wilde followed later that year, and spawned a further two hits, "Chequered Love" and "Water On Glass". Wilde recorded a total of 3 albums for RAK Records before signing to MCA Records in the summer of 1984. Most of the songs, including all her major hits, were written by her father, Marty and brother, Ricki Wilde.
Six subsequent albums for MCA Records have included
international hits such as "Another Step (Closer To You)" (recorded
with Junior), "You Came", "Never Trust A
Stranger", "Four Letter Word", "If I Can't Have You" (a cover of the Yvonne
Elliman (Bee Gees written)
song from the movie
Saturday Night Fever)
and a remake of the Supremes classic "
This same period corresponded with Wilde's development as a songwriter, having written or co-written the majority of the songs on the MCA albums, including many of the above hit singles.
Wilde received the Best Female Vocalist Award from the British Phonographic Industry (now known as the Brits) in the United Kingdom in 1983, and has subsequently received two further nominations in this category. Also, she has received numerous silver, gold and platinum records from all over the world.
Wilde has undertaken 5 solo tours and has performed as opening act for Michael Jackson in 1988, and for David Bowie in 1990.
Adding a new dimension to this highly successful career, Wilde appeared in London's West End production of the musical, Tommy, from February 1996 to February 1997.
During the 1980s,
Wilde was romatically linked with saxophonist Gary
Barnacle, keyboardist
Calvin
Hayes of Johnny Hates Jazz, and
later her band's keyboard player Jeff Hammer,
previously of Teardrop Explodes and Stray
Cats. In 1993
Wilde was also seeing TV presenter
During her first pregnancy an old interest in gardening
resurfaced, and she attended the famous Capel Manor college to learn
about horticulture,
so as to create a garden for her children. She was spotted by talent
scouts of the UK television station, Channel 4,
who asked her to act as a designer for their programme Better
Gardens. A year later she started a two year commitment with
the BBC,
recording two seasons of Garden Invaders. In 2005 she won a Gold
award for her courtyard garden at the
Her first book about gardening was published in 2005, entitled Gardening With Children. The second book followed in April 2006, entitled The First-time Gardener. Translations of the first book were released at the same time in Spain, France, Denmark and The Netherlands.
On January 13, 2001 she performed live for the first time in years, as a guest star in a show by ABBA tribute band, Fabba, for a local charity. This sparked her interest in performing live again. Since November 2001, she has toured the UK 3 times in the "Here & Now Tour", an Eighties revival concert series, together with recording artists such as Paul Young, Human League, Belinda Carlisle and Howard Jones.
New music also followed: in 2001 she recorded a new track, "Loved", for a compilation album which became a surprise hit in Belgium, and in 2003 she had pan-European success with "Anyplace, Anywhere, Anytime", a duet with another 1980s pop star German singer, Nena.
In 2006 Wilde signed a new record deal with EMI and released the first single from her 10th studio album in many countries across Europe, Scandinavia and Asia. "You Came 2006" charted well in most of these countries, becoming her biggest solo hit in Germany since 1988. The second single from the album, which was voted for by fans on her official website was "Perfect Girl", released in November 2006, it did spend 9 weeks in the German single Top 100. A 3rd single "Together we belong" was released in March 2007. The album "Never Say Never" includes eight brand new tracks plus 5 completely re-worked previous hits of hers and has charted well in Belgium, France, Switzerland, Austria and Germany (where her profile has remained high since the duet with Nena). There are no plans at the moment to release the album in her home country. A 4th single from "Never say never" will be released in Germany on August 3rd 2007. The song "Baby obey me" has been remixed and added some rap by the German rapper Il Inspector.
Kim Wilde's debut album was released when she was 20 years old, and turned her into Europe's most popular female popstar within a few months time. Most of the music on this album was played by the symphonic rock band The Enid, and the songs were all written by Marty Wilde and Ricky Wilde. Production duties were fulfilled by Ricky Wilde.
Musically, the album was mainly rock-oriented, which wasn't surprising because of the appearance of The Enid, but it also featured a reggae track ("Everything We Know") and a brass section appeared on "2 6 5 8 0". Lyrically, Marty Wilde provided a few surprises: besides the obligatory love songs there was also a song about a rare minority of people who continually hear sound in their head ("Water On Glass"), the deterioration of inner cities ("Our Town") and a song about a theory that sound is alive ("Tuning In Tuning On"). The singles "Kids In America" and "Chequered Love" were big hits all over Europe, the former would later become a classic pop song.
The album entered the British album charts at no. 10, moving into the top 3 the next week. During promotion, Kim's band consisted of Ricky Wilde, James Stevenson (musician) and later boyfriend Calvin Hayes, who also appeared on the sleeve of the album. Kim later commented that, at that time in the industry, it was passe for a female to attempt to launch a serious career in pop music on her own, and that the backing band had been shown on the sleeve to give credibility to the album. Still she was attacked for trying to copy the allure of U.S. band "Blondie".
The first single from this album, Cambodia, was released in December 1981 and signalled a different sound from the Wilde camp. The Enid was out, synths and electronic music was in. Again, the songs were written by Marty and Ricky Wilde, production by Ricky Wilde. This was a cause for concern for the "serious" music press at the time: was Kim just a puppet being manipulated by her family? In reality, Kim simply profited from the craftsmanship of her father and brother. The lyrics of the songs were as imaginative as they were on the first album: the second single View From A Bridge and the album track "Wendy Sadd" seemed to be about suicide, "Chaos At The Airport" described a nightmare about flying and "Ego" was quite the opposite of a lovesong. Musically, the 1980s had really begun: lots of synthesizers and drum computers seemed to dominate the soundscape. One old-fashioned rocksong appeared near the end of the album: "Can You Come Over" was recorded at the Wilde's home. The striking cover image was a photograph from Gered Mankowitz.
This long-awaited sequel to the debut album Kim Wilde stormed the charts in a host of mostly European countries, although it did not surpass the success of its predecessor.
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. The album 'Catch As Catch Can' didn't contain any track similar
to this single, it rather continued the electronic music 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
The album suffered from mixed reviews in the press and the lack of successful singles. Even a second European tour couldn't help the decline in sales, although with hindsight it is easy to recognise how well the album has aged. Quirky electronic noises and beautifully layered soundscapes make this one of the more appealing albums in Kim's repertoire.
Kim Wilde left RAK Records, who released her first three
albums, and signed to MCA Records. This was her first album for them.
Ricky and Marty Wilde produced this album together, wrote most of the
songs. However, it also featured for the first time two songs written
and composed by Kim: "Fit In" and "Shangri-la". One obvious thing leapt
out: both songs were remarkable for their personal lyrics. "Fit In" was
inspired by Kim's neighbours banging on the ceiling when she was
playing a 12" single by Frankie Goes to Hollywood,
"Shangri-la" seemed to describe a longing for a place without a care.
At first, the singles taken from this album seemed to continue the
trend of receding sales figures, as both The Second Time
and The Touch were relatively unsuccessful. Still
"The second time" reached the top ten in Germany and was welcomed as her big comeback
single over there. By the end of 1984 Kim was voted for the 3rd time since 1981 "Most popular
female popstar" by Germany's biggest teen
magazine "Bravo",
putting Madonna on hold in the lesser
regions of that poll. In addition, The Second Time
was Kim's second single to reach the Billboard
charts in the
Kim's image was changed from a girl wearing second hand
clothes and self-dyed hair to a Barbarella-inspired sci-fi goddess (by
Boasting 12 tracks (13 on the CD and cassette) and a varied team of songwriters, Another Step was an artistic but not necessarily a commercial triumph for Kim. She'd co-written more than half of the tracks herself. The first half of the tracks ('Side A' in the days of vinyl) was uptempo, whereas the other half ('Side B') contained ballads. Most of the tracks were produced by Ricky Wilde, but there were also production duties fulfilled by Reinhold Heil, Richard James Burgess, Rod Temperton, Dick Rudolph and Bruce Swedien. The album's first track was a cover of the Supremes hit You Keep Me Hangin' On. Released as a single in the United States, it became number one in the summer of 1987. The track reached No. 1 in Canada and Australia, and was almost equally successful in the UK, where it peaked at no. 2. The next single was Another Step (Closer To You), a duet with British soul singer Junior Giscombe. This UK top 10 hit single was the first one Kim had co-written herself. The 3rd and final uptempo single off the album was Say You Really Want Me, causing a minor controversy when the video was banned from children's programming because it showed Kim writhing on a bed having fun with a pearl necklace. Despite the raunchy image and publicity which accompanied the specially-remixed song, it didn't set the charts alight and the album saw no further single releases. All of the tracks on Another Step were a departure from the synth sound of the previous albums. There was more guitars on most of the tracks: "The Thrill Of It" and "I've Got So Much Love" had a dinstinctive 'rock' feel. The ballads were touching and well produced, the most noteworthy being Kim's self-penned and produced "Don't Say Nothing's Changed" which closed the album. The sound of Kim Wilde had obviously matured. A re-package of this album was released a few months after the initial launch, with a new sleeve design and the addition of bonus tracks, but this failed to reignite interest and has since become a collectors item for fans.
Kim cemented her reputation as a singles artist with this album, as again overall sales were disappointing despite the huge success of the songs released from it. Kim Wilde mentioned a few times that it was probably her mistake not to put more effort into cracking the U.S. market by not touring America after she had scored her first number one hit.
Produced by Ricky Wilde and
It comes as no surprise upon listening that no less than five singles were taken from this album. Hey Mister Heartache, the debut, featured again backing vocals from Junior Giscombe, You Came, a tribute to Kim's nephew Marty, Ricky's first child, was the biggest hit of the 5 singles and combined touching lyrics with a very catchy pop melody, and it remains one of Kim's strongest compositions. "You Came" just missed the U.S. Top 40 peaking at #41 on the Billboard Hot 100. Never Trust A Stranger was a throwback to early Kim Wilde songs, a largely guitar-driven, melodramatic affair. Four Letter Word, the last song to be written by Marty and Ricky Wilde for Kim, was a moving, demulcent, ballad lamenting lost love, and Love In The Natural Way was a poppy ballad. Album tracks included "Stone", a dynamic song accusing the world leaders of doing nothing about environmental problems that the world was facing, "Lucky Guy", a cover of the song by Todd Rundgren, and "European Soul", a song about the painter Marc Chagall. Released in the summer of 1988, it stalled at first in the UK charts, but became a slow burner and ended up the first album since her debut to reach the top 10, staying in the chart for 38 weeks. Attention for the album was further helped by Kim's live opening shows with Michael Jackson across Europe. Reaching the top ten in almost all Scandianvian countries, Austria and Germany the album went on to sell more than 2 Million copies.
Love Moves contained six tracks written by Ricky and Kim Wilde and 4 tracks written by Kim Wilde and Tony Swain. Production was done by Ricky Wilde.
Promotion of the first Wilde album of the new decade began with the release of the single "It's Here" in the spring of 1990, a lightweight-upbeat melodic track with summer sounding Spanish guitars where Kim describes her search for a place of her own in a competitive world. Obviously this album was an attempt to follow on from the success of Close, but unfortunately it didn't. There were no clear indications why not: the lyrics were as heartfelt as any lyric written by Kim, and the music was melodic as ever, particularly the singles released (which were as strong as any of the singles from the previous album). Some critics lamented the MOR feel of the album and the use of similar production sounds used throughout. Perhaps this was the point, as unlike the varied styles of sounds of Close, Love Moves seemed to nudge towards concept album territory in the fact the tracks were musically succinct and cohesive. As usual, every effort had been made to create an impressive album. It included guests like Jaki Graham who contributed backing vocals and Deon Estus playing bass guitar. "World In Perfect Harmony" and "Who's To Blame" showed two faces of a similar problem: hope for a better world and despair at how mankind is treating the environment respectively. "In Hollywood" is about a world of glamour where love seems to lose out in between famous people. Kim wasn't especially "Wilde" on this album, except for the track "Can't get enough (of your love)" where the guitar rips one more time. This was the first Wilde project to yield no top 40 releases in the UK (Time, the second release is the lowest charting single in her discography). Nevertheless, astonishingly, 5 singles in total were released across Europe, with only Can't Get Enough making any impact, notching up a long run on the French singles chart. Kim stated in many interviews in recent years, that the album marks a rather depressing time in her life, but remains a personal favourite of hers.
Kim Wilde found herself working with Rick Nowels on this album, the same songwriter who had written for Belinda Carlisle amongst others. Three of the eleven tracks were produced by him while the remaining eight were produced by Ricky Wilde. The majority of the tracks on this album were co-written by Kim. She'd taken a long hard look at herself, resulting in the song "Who Do You Think You Are?", in which she reflects on how she had behaved through the years in her career. There were more love songs than ever before on this album, titles such as "Touched by your magic" and "Heart Over Mind" are an indication of the themes of the lyrics. Nowels provided "Love Is Holy", a song that immediately struck a chord with Kim when she heard it in his studio in America, and became the first single release, giving Kim her first UK top 20 hit in nearly 4 years, and although the following two singles fell short of equalling it's success, the project as a whole was well-received by critics, who noted the Carlisle connection in some tracks. The rest of the album, however, was more consistent with the Wilde sound: guitar riffs over synths. Overall, the sound is more introspective and organic than the commercial pop of Love Moves, and especially haunting of all was the closing track, "Too Late", in which the loss of love is described in mournful tones.
With the previous 3 albums somewhat more alike one another
than the first five, Kim decided it was time for another change, and
she chose to make an album with a decided soul/R&B feel to it.
Ricky Wilde still produced the album, but joined forces with
After a comparatively long period of negotiations, Kim Wilde finally signed a new record deal with the German division of EMI in late 2005. In July 2006, it was confirmed that a new album, entitled 'Never Say Never', would be released in Germany on 8th September 2006. The album was since released in Germany, Austria, Belgium, Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, France, Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, Poland, South Africa and Japan. A single, a re-working of Kim's 1988 hit 'You Came' preceded the album and was released in Germany on 18th August 2006 where it reached no. 20 - her biggest hit there since 1988 (Never trust a stranger). In Austria it reached no. 24, in Belgium no. 33, Finland no. 24, Sweden no. 25, Italy no. 36, Netherlands no. 26, Poland no. 25 and Switzerland no. 19. Kim had announced that the sound of the album would be strongly reminiscent of her earlier work. It is a 14 track album, with eight new songs and six new versions of some earlier hits. The track listing contained a reworking of her biggest hits 'You keep me hangin' on', this time as a duet with Nena, and 'Kids in America', as a duet with Charlotte Hatherley. Cambodia appears as a bonus track in a remix by Paul Oakenfold. The album was a moderate success and reached the top 20 in several European countries. The second single from the album was 'Perfect Girl', released in November 2006 and voted for by her fans through a poll on Kim's official website. 'Perfect girl' spent 9 weeks in the German singles top 100 reaching no. 52. It was also released in Belgium, Switzerland and (download only) in the Netherlands. A third single, 'Together we belong', was released in March 2007, but as there where hardly any promotion and no video for the single, it did not reach the German Top 100, even though it did well on radio. A fourth single off the album 'Never say never' is released this summer. The single 'Baby obey me' is released in two versions: the original album version and a remixed version featuring Ill Inspecta.
Notes: US top data: for singles from The Billboard Hot 100, for albums from The Billboard 200; UK top data for singles and albums from UK Singles Chart.
| Year | Album Name | Label | US Top | UK Top | Ger | WW sales mil. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | RAK Records | 86 | 3 | 1 | 1.3 | |
| 1982 | Select | RAK Records | 19 | 4 | 1.1 | |
| 1983 | Catch As Catch Can | RAK Records | 90 | 23 | ||
| 1984 | MCA Records | 84 | 66 | 22 | ||
| 1986 | Another Step | MCA Records | 40 | 73 | 42 | 1.2 |
| 1988 | Close | MCA Records | 114 | 8 | 10 | 2.0 |
| 1990 | Love Moves | MCA Records | 37 | 24 | ||
| 1992 | MCA Records | 21 | ||||
| 1995 | MCA Records | 114 | 68 | |||
| 2006 | EMI | 17 |
| Year | Album Name | Label | US Top | UK Top | Ger |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | RAK | 78 | 61 | ||
| 1993 | MCA Records | 11 | 21 | ||
| 1993 | Alex Records | ||||
| 1995 | EMI | ||||
| 1996 | The Best Of | EMI | |||
| 1996 | EMI | ||||
| 1998 | More of the Best | Disky Communications | |||
| 1998 | Disky | ||||
| 1999 | Original Gold | Original Gold | |||
| 1999 | EMI | ||||
| 1999 | Love Blonde | Pinnacle | |||
| 2000 | EMI | ||||
| 2001 | EMI | ||||
| 2001 | EMI | ||||
| 2002 | Rough & Tough: Best of Kim Wilde | EMI/EMI Plus | |||
| 2002 | Now & Forever: Single Collection | Universal | |||
| 2004 | Best of Kim Wilde | Disky | |||
| 2004 | Disky | ||||
| 2005 | Disky Communications | ||||
| 2005 | Best 1200 | Universal | |||
| 2006 | EMI |
| Year | Single Name | Label | US | UK | GER | WW (mill.) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | RAK Records | 25 | 2 | 5 | 2 | |
| 1981 | Chequered Love | RAK Records | - | 4 | 2 | |
| 1981 | Water on Glass | RAK Records | 53 Mainstream Rock |
11 | - | |
| 1981 | Cambodia | RAK Records | - | 12 | 2 | |
| 1982 | Ego | RAK Records | - | - | - | |
| 1982 | Young Heroes | RAK Records | - | - | - | |
| 1982 | View From a Bridge | RAK Records | - | 16 | 6 | |
| 1982 | Take Me Tonight | RAK Records | - | - | - | |
| 1982 | Child Come Away | RAK Records | - | 43 | 36 | |
| 1983 | Love Blonde | RAK Records | - | 23 | 26 | |
| 1983 | RAK Records | 67 | 26 | |||
| 1984 | House of Salome | RAK | - | - | - | |
| 1984 | Bitter is Better | RAK Records | - | - | - | |
| 1984 | The Second Time (US title: "Go For It") | MCA Records | 65 | 29 | 9 | |
| 1984 | MCA Records | - | 56 | 29 | ||
| 1985 | Rage to Love | MCA Records | - | 19 | 45 | |
| 1986 | Schoolgirl | MCA Records | - | - | 38 | |
| 1986 | MCA Records | 1 | 2 | 8 | ||
| 1987 | MCA Records | - | 6 | |||
| 1987 | Say You Really Want Me | MCA Records | 44 | 29 | ||
| 1987 | 10 Records | - | 3 | - | ||
| 1988 | Hey Mister Heartache | MCA Records | - | 31 | 13 | |
| 1988 | You Came | MCA Records | 41 | 3 | 5 | |
| 1988 | MCA Records | - | 7 | 11 | ||
| 1988 | Four Letter Word | MCA Records | - | 6 | 27 | |
| 1989 | MCA Records | - | 32 | - | ||
| 1990 | MCA Records | - | 42 | 21 | ||
| 1990 | MCA Records | - | 71 | - | ||
| 1990 | MCA Records | - | - | 58 | ||
| 1990 | MCA Records | - | - | - | ||
| 1990 | MCA Records | - | 51 | - | ||
| 1992 | Love Is Holy | MCA Records | - | 16 | 42 | |
| 1992 | Heart Over Mind | MCA Records | - | 34 | - | |
| 1992 | MCA Records | - | 49 | 58 | ||
| 1992 | MCA Records | - | - | - | ||
| 1993 | MCA Records | 12 Hot Dance |
12 | - | ||
| 1993 | MCA Records | - | 54 | 78 | ||
| 1994 | MCA Records | - | - | - | ||
| 1995 | MCA Records | - | 43 | 79 | ||
| 1996 | MCA Records | - | 46 | 91 | ||
| 1996 | MCA Records | - | 86 | - | ||
| 2001 | Loved | EMI | - | - | - | |
| 2002 | Edel Records | - | - | 84 | ||
| 2003 | Warner | - | - | 3 | ||
| 2006 | EMI | - | - | 20 | ||
| 2006 | Perfect Girl | EMI | - | - | 52 | |
| 2007 | Universal | - | - | - | ||
| 2007 | Together we belong | EMI | - | - | 107 | |
| 2007 | Baby obey me | EMI | - | - | Summer 2007 |
Kim Wilde holds the record for being the most-charted British solo female act of the 1980s. She was even more successful in France where she was known as the "Brigitte Bardot of Rock". Her song "Cambodia" sold over a million copies there and 4 of her early singles reached number one. Germany and Switzerland were also big fans, and she sold very well in Australia right up until If I Can't Have You (#3 in 1994, going platinum), with the compilation album The Singles Collection 1981-1993 reaching the Top 10. The Americans took an interest in 1987, making You Keep me Hangin' On a number one hit. Indeed, most of her achievements were made in the 1980s and some of her songs from this period became international standards. Her second career as a gardener has been equally successful, having received many accolades within only 5 years as a serious gardener, including a Gold at the 2005 Chelsea Flower Show. She also held an entry in the Guinness Book of records for successfully moving and replanting the world's largest tree with fellow horticulturist Dave Fountain. Unfortunately the tree was blown away by a storm in January 2007.
Wilde has recorded eight cover versions, 4 of them being released as singles (see discography)
Many artists around the world have done cover versions of Kim Wilde songs, ranging from pop and rock to dance and death metal versions. The most famous bands to cover Kim Wilde songs are Apoptygma Berzerk, Atomic Kitten, Bloodhound Gang, James Last and Lasgo - to name but a few.
Kim Wilde's first book was written in 2004 and released on April 4, 2005 by Collins publishers. The book contains many projects for getting - and keeping - kids interested in the outdoors. Along with guidelines for safety in the garden there are ideas for maintaining a child's attention span throughout the gardening process, which can be slow. Illustrated step-by-step projects range from creative ways to plant, such as rainbow and sensory gardens, to making scarecrows, wormeries and tile mosaics.
Written in 2005 and released on April 3, 2006 by Collins publishers, The First-Time Gardener is Kim Wilde's beginner's guide to gardening. The book tells all about the basics of gardening. The book assumes no prior knowledge and takes the reader through the basics of planning a garden, choosing plants and turning your ideas into reality - including how to make the most of climbers, containers, and hanging baskets. Not all gardens should be created from scratch, as per the TV makeovers. In fact, if you can wait a while to see what happens in your new garden, then you may find you've inherited some weird and wonderful plants. Kim explains how to make the most of your garden - any garden, even if your basic knowledge is limited or non-existent.
Kim Wilde has designed and created numerous gardens during her involvement in the Better Gardens and Garden Invaders TV programmes and commissioned by individuals and organizations. She has also created gardens for Flower Shows across the UK, a few of them are described here.
Kim Wilde and
Kim Wilde and
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