Date: 1 October 2006
Originally published in: Gay & Night Magazine (Netherlands)
Written by:
The name Kim Wilde brings back memories of the 80’s, the time the English singer stormed the charts with songs as You Keep Me Hangin’ On and Cambodia. Twenty-five years after her biggest hit and a wealth of gardening experience under her belt the musical drive returns. The gay-icon is back!
Kim Wilde could always count on a large gay following. Homos adore this queen and love her personality. The ash blond singer with the crystal-clear voice and Monroe image has always been one of the most appealing pop stars. Not for nothing the French labeled her the ‘Brigitte Bardot of rock’ and the Germans still perceive Kim as the most sexy glamour girl of the eighties. These ingredients make Kim Wilde a British icon that recently made a modest comeback with her Anyplace, Anywhere, Anytime, unforgettable in every disco.
Kim Wilde started her career in the 80’s. In her career she scored fourteen number-1 hits and close to fifty top ten hits worldwide. With that she became the most successful female British artist ever and a gay-icon. Kim, like Madonna and Kylie, is a strong woman with a message and an attitude in which many recognise themselves. The homo community embraced Kim from the beginning. How does Kim explain this herself?
“I presume it is because of my openness and enthusiasm. I’ve always supported the homo community. When I started, in the early eighties, they were having a tough time being accepted. In those days homos really needed to fight for acceptance. Often I’ve talked with homos about their experiences. The homo community has always seen me as a kind of icon, as someone who understood them and with whom they could identify. I myself have many homo friends. Many of them I’ve known from the time they were fans. My songs also seem to have helped them during these difficult moments. And I consider that a wonderful compliment.”
This year Kim Wilde celebrates her 25th anniversary. “Yeah. I’m only 45 but sometimes, when I look back on my lengthy career, I feel very old. Even though I haven’t always been in the picture. The past ten years I introduced a kind of sabbatical where my career was concerned. I’d arrived at the point that I realised how much I’d missed in my life. When you become famous at a young age you lose control over your own life. There came a moment that I said to myself: Kim, enough is enough! So I put my career on hold to lead a ‘normal’ life. As a housewife, wife, mother, kids and a quiet life in the English countryside. And of course: gardening, because that became a hobby, a new passion in which I found satisfaction and peace. Music however never entirely disappeared from my life, but was put on the backburner for a while. Except playing at being a housewife I studied horticulture. I’ve even got a degree in it! Flowers, plants and gardening still take up my time, every day. It’s really something good and positive for me, something I need.”
But blood will tell. So Kim has returned to her first love: music. “Music is my first passion and you simply can’t suppress it. After my collaboration with Nena and Anyplace, Anywhere, Anytime, three years ago, I felt music would be a really good thing for me to do again. I’m terribly pleased with my new album Never Say Never, an apt title wouldn’t you say? The disc includes new tracks and reworked versions of classic dance pop songs. Music is back in my life. I’m really looking forward to the concerts, the renewed contacts with the fans. Obviously true love is an everlasting love.”
