Date: 24 January 2007
Originally published in: Laut.de website (Germany)
Written by:
Once one of the most successful pop singers in the world, the current horticulturalist Kim Wilde comes back to her old profession. Laut.de met the British before her first gig in Zurich.
For most of the older pop-addicts Kim Wilde celebrated her last hit in 1988 with ‘You came’, younger listeners connect her to her most famous song ‘Kids in America’ from 1981. Last year, she released her comeback album ‘Never say never’, which she played live yesterday evening in Zurich for a radio showcase, and which she will also play live in four German cities soon. In the interview before her appearance, the easily reserved working British woman acts engagingly friendly. The eighties were in retrospect above all a time of the continuous travels around for her, “especially in Germany, Switzerland and France”. Primarily she tried to “protect her cool 20-year old head in this crazy business”. It benefitted her on that occasion of course, that she always had her family to accompany her during tours. On that occasion, however, her brother Ricky and father Marty also composed her songs. In the nineties, Kim Wildes career faded away quietly and secretly and found the blonde to a surprisingly unglamourÃsen hobby after her marriage: Horticulture. “Yes, some people turn to God, I turned to the plants”, she jokes in her Zurich dressing room. Both, singing and creating in the nature brought her just big fun. After the birth of her children, she did garden design professionally. She also appeared in the TV programme “Garden Invaders” shortly thereafter. In 2005, Kim Wilde got the gold medal for her garden creation from the Royal Horticultural Society. “That certainly was one of the most beautiful days of my life”, she summarizes. However even if the music earns a big place in her life again at the moment, the pop-horticultural-mum does only what she likes now and in the future. “I lived very well without this pop star circus for ten years and I could do it also for another ten years.” In February, Kim Wilde plays in Munich, Cologne, Hamburg and Berlin. At the same time, her new book “Gardening With Children” is published in Germany, althought it won’t be available at the merchandise-stand during the tour, as we were told. You can read the complete interview, in which Kim tells about the work with Ex-Ash-Gitarrist Charlotte Hatherley and Producer Uwe Fahrenkrog-Petersen as well as the appearances with Michael Jackson in 1988, on laut.de soon.
