Kim Wilde has fulfilled a lifelong dream with “Snapshots”.
An album, 14 tracks and all her favorite songs. Pieces that have followed her over decades and to which she has attached many memories. Those memories she would like to share with her fans because the fans love the live performances of Kim Wilde, in which she gladly gives a few of her favorite tracks for the best. With the current album “Snapshots”, Kim Wilde has therefore not only made a gift for herself.
In the interview, Kim Wilde herself tells us how the idea of a cover album took shape: “I’ve played live a lot in the past ten years, probably more than I did in the Eighties. Well, it’s always great to sing Kim Wilde songs, the audience wants to hear that too. For me as a performer, it is always nice to bring in some variety. So I have started to sing songs I loved, from a really selfish point of view. The audience liked it and it worked really well. Then my record company approached me and said, ‘Why not do an album with all your favorite songs’. And I just said, ‘Yes, I’ll do that’. There are many artists who release cover albums and I think now it’s my turn. It is my third decade in the music industry, it’s my 50th birthday – it’s like a gift to myself!”
If you consider that it is songs that are part of Kim’s favorites, one might think that the song selection was done quickly. But this was not: “I really had to think very long about the songs, it was not an easy process. There are a lot of songs that you love, but they don’t fit your own voice. Therefore, there have been situations of trying. Regardless of whether you like a song, it has to fit and therefore there were many moments where I said “Oh, I love this song” and then it just did not work. It was not so easy as one might think. It was also really good suggestions from people in my environment, people who love music … ”
On “Snapshots” there’s a total of 14 tracks. Are these the best-loved songs of the list or would Kim Wilde’s list have been longer? Kim says in this interview: “In the short time that we had for the album, we have chosen the best songs, but of course there’s a lot more that I would have liked to sing. It was good that we had a window of time, otherwise it would have been endless. ”
Kim about social media
Nowadays almost everyone is using a smartphone to capture snapshots. But how does Kim Wilde keep her memories? “I like still photographs. For my album “snapshots” I’ve spent hours trying to spot the photographs, because there are thousands of photos of my career. And then of course some more of my life. Months before we started the album, I started to sift through photos and it was a real journey into the past – especially the pictures from the beginning of my career with my parents or brother Ricky, who are already twenty years old. ”
What does Kim Wilde prefer – gadgets and social media or reading a book? Kim said: “I think gadgets are really for men. My husband and my son are crazy about gadgets. I’m not crazy about them, but I do follow what’s happening and I’m even on Twitter these days. I also use computers, but only to a certain degree, because I’m still a bit old-fashioned. I want to touch and hold things. ”
Kim Wilde on music and other artists
In her career, which now spans three decades, Kim Wilde has experienced a lot, met many other artists or even collaborated with them. But what was Kim’s greatest experience with another artist? “On a professional level that was working with Michael Jackson in 1988. He was at the height of his career and he was invariably perfect. It was a great privilege for me to see him on stage and to watch his perfection. I could do that while I was touring together with him for three months. That was a great honor! ”
Besides her own music, the Eighties icon is also interested in the music of other artists and does like to visit a Metallica concert together with her son. Who is the overall favorite musician of Kim Wilde? “I can’t answer that. Since there are so many. When I heard Coldplay, I thought, “This is my favorite,” I heard Lilly Allen and thought, “No, she’s my favorite” and then I heard Metallica and thought “No, that’s my favorite.” And it goes on and on. It is impossible for me to answer that. ”
Kim Wilde on Germany
Kim Wilde is known in Germany since the Eighties and she’s popular. She celebrated her breakthrough with “Kids in America” and made the men in this country crazy. Even today her male fans reveal to her that she was their first true love. What connection does Kim Wilde have to Germany? What makes Germany so special to her? Kim, smiling in the video interview: “I’ve been coming to Germany since I am twenty years old. It was one of the first countries where I went to, as “Kids In America” was the breakthrough. The journalists have always wanted more from me. Cologne, Munich, Hamburg, Berlin, so I’ve seen over and over again and visited. My relationship with Germany is therefore already very long, a total of thirty years, and since then I always come back. Now I have a German record company and have also worked with Nena. I do not know where I should stop, because this is a never-ending relationship, which I love. And I’m very grateful and overwhelmed by it. ”
Kim Wilde on goals
Does a successful singer like Kim Wilde, who ruled the music business for thirty years, still have any goals to achieve? “No, I never had any goals. I always wanted to be on stage, singing and making great pop songs. And of course I always wanted to have a family! And I did all that, so I can not ask for more. I can not imagine what would be better than that “