Faded jeans, old jackets, a wild lion’s mane and no trace of make-up – whoever visits Kim Wilde (20) at home in her village in Hertfordshire, could easily walk past England’s new rocklady, without recognising her. During television performances Kim, who has sold a million records worldwide in a few weeks, looks extravagent, sexy and a little mundain. The fact that she doesn’t laugh during her performances gives her an unapproachable appeal. Privately though there’s only one appropriate description: Kim Wilde is normal through and through. No frills, no airs, no attitudes. The lightning career in which Suzi Quatro-discoverer Mickie Most has delivered to her, Kim Wilde sees in a very down-to-earth way. “I was a fast climber and could go down just as quickly – my father Marty Wilde has had this experience as a rock ‘n’ roll singer in the Sixtie”, says Kim, “My life hasn’t changed fully because of two hits. My job has changed, not me myself.”
Four days a week Kim fulfills her “new duties”: television performances, photo sessions, interviews with journalists, recording sessions and phone interviews with America, Japan and Australia fill Kim’s calendar from ten in the morning until nine in the evening. Despite all the rush around her Kim is always in a good mood and refreshingly spontaneous.
In the afternoon she goes to McDonald’s around the corner, and sometimes she disappears quickly to search for clothes in second hand shops and the charity shop Oxfam. The jeans, men’s shirts and jackets only cost two pounds (around ten German marks). “I don’t have a lot in my closet”, says Kim Wilde. “I always look for interesting pieces, to combine. Whatever I wear privately, I also wear on stage. I never wear skirts – I feel best in jeans and blouses.”
At Thursday night Kim Wilde turns her back on showbusiness regularly and drivers with her old black Mini Cooper to her family in Hertfordshire. There she walks through nature with her two dogs, sleeps until noon, cooks (Greek or Japanese) for friends from her former art college, makes drawings and reads. “I love being alone and need the loneliness, to come back to myself and load up my battery”, says Kim Wilde. ” Iam not a jet set type, who has only waited to come into the limelight.”
Kim thinks back with melancholy feelings to the time when she toured with her father Marty around small clubs and sang background vocals: “I always loved these performances. These days you go by plane to a television studio, where you sing your latest hit, miming to playback, then back with the next plane. I find that somehow unnatural – I would prefer to sing live on stage. But my producer Mickie Most wants to start with concerts only in the latter part of the autumn, when a perfect show concept has been developed.”
The five man band shall be perfect, and put together by her brother Ricky – who wrote almost all the songs on her new LP “Kim Wilde” – as well as the light show. Kim Wilde herself wants to present herself as natural as possible. “I don’t want to be and won’t be a superstar”, she thinks, “fans should think: she is like me – aside from the fact that she is on stage, singing.”