Date: 29 April 1992
Originally published in: Telegraaf (Netherlands)
Written by: Ron Peereboom Voller
Kim rubs her eyes after a brief beauty sleep. She is a little nervous, she says. “This is the first interview I’m doing after a long pause”. Two years no less, because that’s how long she’s been gone. One of them was spent recording the new album ‘Love is’.
So the whole circus starts all over again. “There we go again”, she sighs. “Don’t get me wrong, I love my job. I approach it differently than before. I am more relaxed and I can keep my distance from the pop world better than before. Why? Because of more experience, wisdom coming with the years… This time I do it my way!”
It was different in the past. After her first hit ‘Kids in America’ and a few successful follow-ups her career went downhill. “I was living in London at the time and it all fell apart. My contract ended and no-one knew how to take it from there. It was a disappointing time but it served me well. For the first time I had an opportunity to think about things and I started writing my own songs for the first time. They weren’t masterpieces but it was important for me: I never thought I could do it.”
The cover version of ‘You keep me hangin’ on’ got her out of trouble. Suddenly she became number one in America, and ended up on stage with Michael Jackson. “My God, what a circus that was”, she remembers. “Three months of performing in front of hundreds of thousands of people. People said I had to have a big ego to stand on stage before Michael Jackson. But it wasn’t like that. It was nothing more than the chance to show what I could do.”
After the hurricane the silence came. She moved to the countryside and prepared for the new record. “I am lucky that my record company is patient. I got the time and the rest to work. And this time we took things slowly: it had to be just right. And I can say that I’m a satisfied person now.” ‘Love is holy’ is the first single. “I loved that song right away. It’s more than a catchy tune for me. It became the theme of the album: not just the love between two people, but also love for people in general. I can work with that theme. Certainly this last year. Love has become my religion.”
