‘I’m not ready for a steady relationship’

Aside from the flopped single “Child come away” and the more successful “Love blonde” it’s a long wait for the new album by Kim Wilde. Her LP “Catch as catch can” is almost ready. “Finally”, the fans will say, but if you believe Kim, we’re not at the end of our surprises yet.

The year 8000

“In November I’ll be doing a live show here”, beautiful Kim laughs. “I hope to convince you all of my musical evolution. The synthetic sound of my last album will sound a lot more mature now. I hate to be called a trendy singer.” In this context Kim places her recent change of image. “In fact I try to look as anonymous as possible. “I really don’t like to be associated with the current ‘fashion music’. I like a more ‘timeless’ image. No-one can put me in a box that is out of fashion in a few months. Although I will be faithful to a style of clothing that goes back to the fifties, but you will still see that in the year 8000.”

One and a half hour in the bathroom

Kim likes to stress that despite the great successes she has remained a normal girl. “My father and my brother can tell you long stories about that”, she smiles shyly. “I can get very mad when I see that I’ve gained a pound. I subject myself to a power diet and calculate the calories after every meal, but every time I start eating chocolate again after a while.”
Suddenly one family anecdote follows the other. “Ricky can really get angry when I take one and a half hour in the bathroom every morning”, Kim says. “You should know how angry I can get when I find a run in my stocking. I hate broken fingernails and sometimes I catch myself holding up traffic because I am doing my eyeliner in the mirror of my car while the traffic light is on green. I think you’re not a real star when you do things like that.”

Marty: the English Elvis

Kim wants to avoid becoming a one hit wonder. “My father Marty has gone through enough of that”, she sighs. “In 1957 he was the English Elvis Presley and all his records were giant hits. Then The Beatles started. There was no place for Marty Wilde. Luckily, he was a great composer as well and could make a living that way, although he was forced to use a pseudonym, because the name Marty Wilde was synonymous to ‘old fashioned’ by then. I know for sure he took that situation very hard. When I listen to his records now, I know that his songs were great. Since then he wrote songs for people like Lulu, Status Quo and the Casuals. He was forced to perform in dark clubs to make some more money though. I think that’s a shame. If it were me, I don’t know if I would have the courage to get up on the stage then.”

Long live the old romance

Kim is obviously still very fond of her father. Still she isn’t planning on starting a family of her own yet. “First and foremost, the times have changed”, she explains. “Love is a word that is used too often and seldom in the right circumstances. Love is spoken of, even when it’s just a flirt. I think it’s a shame that no-one dares to defend the old romantic values because it seems ridiculous these days.”
About marriage, Kim also has her own ideas. “It’s typical that children from a failed marriage vow to do it better when they marry themselves”, she says. “As if they should continue the work of their parents. On the other hand, there’s the young people who come from a good marriage. For them, it has no value. I belong to the second category. My parents have always been happy with eachother, but I always thought marriage was something to drown in. I do realise that a steady relationship can be fantastic. Maybe I’m just not ready for it.