Anubis Gate

Anubis Gate is a power metal band from Denmark. The band released their first album in 2004, but their history can be traced back to 1984, with bassist Jesper M. Jensen and Henrik Fevre as guitarist and vocalist forming V-Axe. The group changed its name to Graff Spee, and the line-up was completed with drummer Per M. Jensen (ex-Invocator/ex-The Haunted). Gaining some reputation in the local circles, Graff Spee released a few demos, but eventually split up in 1986 “due to creative differences”.

Jesper and Per went on to form heavy metal band Extreme Feedback in 1987, recruiting Morten Sørensen as vocalist and Kim Olesen as guitarist. In 1989 both Jesper and Per moved to Esbjerg to join Jacob Hansen’s Invocator, releasing a couple of demos and also a full-length album Excursion Demise in 1991, before Jesper split and moved back to Aalborg. In the early 1990s, Jesper joined Sørensen (now on drums) in rap-metal act Geronimo, and released an EP in 1995 before the group was disbanded. These two musicians kept in contact however and began to write new material together in a melodic power metal style.

After releasing an instrumental demo under the name of Seven Powers one more band member was recruited; Torben Askholm (previously in Prophets Of Doom and Northern Empire) joined as vocalist and the recording of a demo which eventually became the backbone of their debut album began. Thus Purification was produced during 2003 and released on 26 April 2004. The album aroused a great deal of interest and delight with the press and the audience, and soon both Kim Olesen and Henrik Fevre (who had guested on the debut as both writers and musicians) were made permanent members to solidify the line-up for the next album. A Perfect Forever was released on 19 September 2005. Few months before the band’s first gig at Prog Power Europe Askholm quit the band, and Fevre took over vocal duties for a couple of gigs. Eventually Jacob Hansen, the old friend from Invocator and also producer of the first two albums was chosen as the new singer, and the third album Andromeda Unchained came out 14 August 2007. The album saw the band changing from the early power metal to include more prog metal elements. It was nominated for best production, best album and best artwork at Danish Metal Awards 2008 and won the latter.

The year 2008 saw Anubis Gate writing the concept album The Detached upon a synopsis by Martin Rauff. It was released 30 March 2009 and also nominated for three Danish Metal Awards (Best album, Best cover artwork and best production) at the show of 2010. It won for Best Production – made by Kim Olesen and Jacob Hansen.

A fifth album was scheduled for release in the fall of 2011. Most of the songs were already finished when Jacob Hansen announced his surprising departure from the band. Luckily Anubis Gate had a replacement within the band; bass player Henrik Fevre, who did backing vocals and the occasional lead on recent albums. Founding member Jesper M. Jensen left the band in 2012; he was replaced by Michael Bodin. The first sounds of the new 4-piece were revealed on 31 October 2013 when the digital download EP Sheep was given to the public for free.

In September 2016, the band released a limited box set called Orbits, containing the long out of print first four albums plus a double rarities bonus disc, which included a cover version of Cambodia.

Their seventh album Covered In Black was released in 2017. After this the band needed a break from writing and came up with the idea to do a covers album. As a counterweight to its predecessor the album was aptly named Covered In Colours, containing tracks that the members were greatly inspired by in their youth, careers and by contemporaries. Then, in October 2020, founding member Jesper M. Jensen passed away.

In June 2023 Anubis Gate released their ninth album Interference.


Aga

An AGA is a heat-storage stove as well as a cooker. The heavy cast-iron frame absorbs heat from a relatively low-intensity source. This heat is then transferred to the ovens and hotplates for baking, roasting and frying. A traditional Aga has no temperature controls as it’s left on continuously. This offers benefits such as a constantly pre-heated oven, an additional source of heating, and an efficient way of drying laundry in the colder months. However, many modern Agas can be turned on and off at will, or be controlled more efficiently. Kim actually has an Aga in her own kitchen at home.

On 20 November 2004 she opened an Aga shop in Radlett, Hertfordshire.


An der Nordseeküste

Song written by De Reede, Mol, Ortel, Von Hill and Klaus Büchner.
The song was based on an Irish folk song called ‘The Wild Rover’, written in the 1600s.
The German text was added by Klaus Büchner from the German duo Klaus & Klaus, formed by Büchner with Klaus Baumgart.
When ‘An der Nordseeküste’ was released as a single in 1985, the duo, who had been working together since 1983, had their breakthrough in Germany, with over 250,000 copies sold.

Kim Wilde version

Kim Wilde and her band performed an acapella version of ‘An der Nordseeküste’ in the German TV programme ‘Die goldene Eins’, broadcast on 21 September 1992.


Ať Život Má Svůj Děj

Cover version of Cambodia, with Czech lyrics by Václav Babula.
The song was recorded by Jiřina Urbanová and released in 1984.


Advertisements

While Kim has never been overly commercialized, she has done some advertisements and promotions throughout her career. Sometimes these were agreed upon as part of a promotion for her music, sometimes they were done as part of an agreement and sometimes they were done just for fun. On this page you can find a chronological listing of advertisements with links to more information. The list is not complete but will help you to find relevant information.


Aspaul, Tom

Born as Thomas Paul Frederick Dutton in Wolverhampton, West Midlands (UK), Tom Aspaul grew up in a council estate. He started writing songs from an early age but didn’t get involved in the local music scene. Instead, he studied architecture, followed by a master’s at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design in London.

While still studying his career in music took off. He met several A&Rs and music managers during his shifts working in an East London pub and was eventually drafted to help write new material for the newly reformed Sugababes in 2012. In 2013 he uploaded a demo to Soundcloud, which led to a recording contract with On Repeat Records. His single ‘Indiana’ was covered and renamed as ‘Feels So Good’ by Kylie Minogue on her 2014 album ‘Kiss Me Once’.

After the success of ‘Indiana’ Tom released his second single ‘Good Together’ in December 2014. In November 2015, Tom was chosen by BBC Radio 2 DJ, Jo Whiley as one of three acts from the West Midlands to perform at her BBC Introducing showcase, preceding the BBC Music Awards in Birmingham.

Tom released his first full EP, ‘LEFT’ on BLK&WHT records in November 2016, featuring work with frequent collaborators MNEK and GRADES. 2017 saw more collaborations, with Tom’s vocals featuring on several EDM/dance and house tracks, including songs by Viceroy, Bronze Whale and Sleepy Tom. Aspaul returned in May 2019 with ‘Back 2 Earth’, his first proper single in three years.

Tom’s debut album ‘Black Country Disco’ was released in September 2020. The album was sonically inspired by disco from the 1970’s and 1980’s and primarily produced and co-written with Israeli producer and songwriter Gil Lewis. The album featured the singles ‘Traces’, ‘Close 2 Me’, W.M., ‘Tender’ and ‘01902’.

The album was succeeded by its remix album, ‘Black Country Discothèque’, released on 16 April 2021, featuring collaborations with Kim Wilde, MNEK, Bright Light Bright Light and Brendan Maclean.

Tom Aspaul joined Kim Wilde on the song You’re My Karma, released on Kim’s Greatest Hits album in the summer of 2021.
On 15 December 2022 he joined Kim Wilde on stage during a Christmas concert in London to perform a handful of songs together with her.


Adebari, Eugene

Born in 1960, Eugene Adebari was a largely self-taught photographer who joined the internationally renowned agency Rex at the age of 16 as a tea boy, Eugene developed his career in the classic fashion from the ground up. For his first shoot, Adebari was commissioned to photograph Marvin Gaye in Los Angeles, which led directly to a portrait session with Michael Jackson during the Billie Jean campaign.

In 1983, he did a few photo sessions with Kim Wilde. One of his photographs ended up on the cover of Record Mirror magazine in July 1983.

Eugene went on to photograph major music events, including Live Aid and many of the world’s most successful, prolific and famous artists. His informal yet intimate approach to portraiture led to him to being specially commissioned by performers such as Madonna, Paul McCartney, The Rolling Stones, INXS and Michael Jackson to spend time documenting their travels on the road with unprecedented access. His works have appeared in hundreds of publications worldwide, including Rolling Stone, Time Magazine, NME, Vogue, GQ, Spin, US, Sunday Times Magazine, Q, Elle and CNN. Eugene’s work also encompassed film and he visited film sets as a ‘specials’ photographer, documenting the making of movies and shooting images for film posters.

He died of a heart attack whilst cycling alone in the woods near Windsor in 2008.


Atombuzz

Hardcore punk band Atombuzz was formed in Worthing, Sussex (UK) in 1993 and currently consists of Alex Sedimayr, Natt Om-Buzzick, Ian Morgan and Ross Dumbrell. The band cites influences from Poison Idea, Discharge, The Varukers, The Exploited, Peter and The Test Tube Babies and more.

Their album ‘F.E.A.R.’ was released in February 2012. It featured original material as well as a cover of Kids in America, a track the band successfully played live. The band split up after the release of the album ‘Sun Dried Pickled Egg’ in 2016.


Aksons

Finnish band, specializing in recording cover versions of wellknown songs. Since August 2019, they have posted cover versions of ‘Take on Me’ (A-ha), ‘Mamma Mia’ (Abba), ‘Happy Xmas (War Is Over)’ (John Lennon), ‘It’s a Sin’ (Pet Shop Boys) and Kids in America, as well as two Finnish songs.


Armstrong, Billy Joe

Born on 17 February 1972, Billy Joe Armstrong was the youngest of six children. He grew up in Oakland, California (USA). His interest in music started at a young age. He became interested in punk rock after his brothers introduced the genre to him. In 1987, aged 15, Armstrong formed a band called Sweet Children with his childhood friend Mike Dirnt. In the beginning, Armstrong and Dirnt both played guitar, with Raj Punjabi on drums and Sean Hughes on bass. Punjabi was later replaced on drums by John Kiffmeyer, also known as Al Sobrante. After a few performances, Hughes left the band in 1988; Dirnt then began playing bass and they became a three-piece band. They changed their name to Green Day in April 1989, choosing the name because of their fondness for marijuana.

Green Day became a hugely successful band, releasing 13 studio albums between 1990 and now, as well as three live albums and five compilation albums.

When in 2020 the Covid-19-pandemic struck, Green Day was supposed to go on tour but this was postponed. While stuck at home, Armstrong decided to record some cover versions of songs that interested him. These became the weekly ‘No Fun Mondays’ tracks, posted on social media. Before the end of the year, the tracks were put together on an album also called ‘No Fun Mondays’. One of the tracks he covered was Kids in America.

Billy Joe Armstrong about ‘Kids in America’

’Kids in America’ has got to be one of the best pop songs ever written. The lyrics fit perfectly with the melody. That chorus is huge. Ricky Wilde was also a glam rocker from the ‘70s who put out some great singles. (1)

Interview source

(1) The Tracks of My Years. Spin (USA), 6 January 2021.


Aequivox

Belgian rock choir, brought together in 2004 by rock music fans. Besides a band of electric guitars, keyboards, drum and bass they replace the lead singer by 30 artists singing four voice arrangements of rock and pop songs.

One of the songs they have performed is Kids in America. A video of one of these performances appeared on YouTube in May 2020.


Alchemy

Alchemy was a cover band from Surrey (UK), playing all the greatest hits from the 60’s to the present day. They played at parties, weddings and corporate events. One of the songs in their set was Kids in America – a video of which appeared on YouTube.