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Select Sound Studios for sale

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October 1, 2000 - Select Sound Studios, the Wilde family studio in Knebworth, which was opened in 1984, is now up for sale. It is the sad conclusion of a series of mysterious events behind the scenes of KimWilde.com since the end of March 2000.

Regular readers of this site will know that this site is not operated by Kim's management, record company or any representative of Kim, but by a Dutch fan. Contact to official channels was always limited to the occasional visit to the Wilde HQ in Knebworth and e-mail correspondence with Nick Boyles, Kims manager since many years.

Last time I heard from Nick was in March 2000. A few mails since then have been left unanswered, and already in April I heard for the first time that the Select Sound Studios building looked "abandoned", according to a fan. Ever since then, I have been looking for some sort of confirmation. Unfortunately, this was very hard to come by. Not having been to the UK for some time, I was unable to check it myself, and there was no reaction from fans living in the area and media in Hertfordshire.

Until today, that is. Apparently, Select Sound Studios now has a "for sale" sign over the door. Clearly this indicates that the Wildes are no longer interested in owning a studio. Select Sound Studio was the place where at least part of every Kim Wilde album since 1984 was recorded, as well as the album "Solid Gold", released by father Marty in 1994. Roxanne was last year reported to record an album with her band, but as far as I know it was never the intention to record it at Select Sound Studios.

Obviously, the closing down of Select Sound Studio is the end of an era which lasted for 16 years. With no means to contact the Wilde family at this time, it's difficult to say whether this also means that Kim and Marty will definitely stop recording music. I will not speculate on this site. I can only add that I am sorry for not bringing this news earlier. I just had to be sure before I did.