She usually looks sensually and seductively into the lense. Beautiful Kim Wilde is a sex symbol for men, but also a good example for countless girls. Surprisingly enough Kim looks very differently upon herself.
We are in a photo studio where Kim is working with a whole team of stylists, hairdressers and make-up artists who think up her image and take care of it. As a model the beautiful Kim would undoubtedly do very well (just look at the pictures on the next pages). Still she complains: “I think it’s terribel to have to pose.” After the photo session she has time for an interview. Kim: “I am a survivor. I have gotten through all the fashion hypes of the eighties. That’s because I have a lot of strength around me.”
With that ‘strength’ she means her family who has supported her since her first hit in 1981, “Kids in America” with management, production, songwriting and presentation. Kim Wilde is a family business.
Last summer the somewhat slumped career of Kim Wilde was revived by Michael Jackson who invited her for the support slot during his European tour. Although she is very grateful to him, she knows that the success of ‘You came’ and ‘Never trust a stranger’ is mostly because of her own talent. She writes her own songs these days (together with her brother Ricky).
By what was Kim inspired on her new album ‘Close’? The answer is surprising: “I love painting, that makes my life beautiful. The French painter Chagall (one of the most influential painters of this century) has been an obsession of mine for a while. He inspires me in my songwriting. Unfortunately I will never reach Chagall’s level of artistry in my lyrics. But they are straight from my heart.”
How would Kim describe her own character? Is she really as exciting as she looks? Kim shakes her head in denial very decidedly. “I always think I am… just so normal! People who know me always say that I am so normal and I consider that to be a compliment. I don’t feel like a popstar. This morning I was fitting a leather jacket with my stylist and I said: ‘This is really a jacket for popstars’. And he said: “But Kim, you are a popstar!’. And that’s true, but I don’t feel one. I believe I am a bit of a disappointment for many people. I am not the ‘hello, here am I!’ type of person. I don’t think too highly about myself. I am kind and I can be funny. Sometimes I’m egocentric and grumpy. I really hate that about myself. I hide myself behind a mask then, so no-one notices.”
Not a wild type, that Kim. And she doesn’t make good on her exciting image when she meets new people. But she does seem to have a big romance – the English tabloids are full of it! – with Calvin Hayes (from Johnny Hates Jazz). “Yes, those gossip stories”, Kim reacts laughing. “We go back a long time, though. My father (Marty) and his father (Mickey Most, a famous producer) have been friends for a long time. Did you know that Calvin was on the sleeve of my debut album, ‘Kim Wilde’ (1981)? The story that I am quitting singing (which was said by my own father no less!) is not true, but Calv’ is my big love. We spend every free minute at one another’s house.” At home? No parties until the little hours?
“Rarely”, Kim says dreamingly. “We’re happy to be with the two of us.” A last question burns on our lips. Is there a marriage in sight? Kim is silence for a moment and then says: “Anything is possible!”.