The peak of popularity of the British singer Kim Wilde came in the eighties. Already her first single "Kids in America" reached number two on the UK Singles Chart. At the moment, Kim has released 14 albums. In addition to this, in the early 2000s, she made significant progress in gardening and wrote several books on the topic.
Early years and release of the first albums
Kim Smith was born in 1960. She was the first daughter of the rock and roll performer Marty Wilde (quite in demand in the fifties). Her mother's name was Joyce Baker, she was a singer and dancer.
During her childhood, Kim changed several schools. She was also educated at St Albans College of Art.
Even before the start of her career, she sang along at her father's concerts. In 1980, Wilde's talent attracted the attention of the respected British producer Mickey Moust, and soon she signed an agreement with the record company RAK Records.
Wilde made her debut as an independent singer on the single "Kids in America". It was released in January 1981. This single was characterized by a rather aggressive playing style and an emphasis on synth sound. The song "Kids in America" became incredibly successful in Britain. She also made her way to high chart positions in several other countries, such as France, Germany and Australia. But in the United States, despite the name, the track did not receive such fame, it managed to reach only 25th place in the main American Billboard Hot 100. Today, the composition "Kids in America" is considered one of the best in Kim's repertoire. Wilde.
The first album (simply called "Kim Wilde"), like the first single, was a resounding success. The disc received the status of "gold" and sold six million copies.
It is also worth noting that at the end of 1981, another Wilde single, Cambodia, was released. This song was remembered not only for its melody, but also for the fact that its text contained a certain anti-war message. She is also considered one of the best in the work of Kim. In general, 1981 can be called the most successful in the singing career of Kim Wilde.
In 1982, the singer's second album, Select, was released. It reached the top of the French charts, and in Germany and Australia hit the top ten.
The singer's first concert took place in September 1982 in Denmark. It is also worth noting that in October of the same year she went on her first UK tour.
But the third album (its name is "Catch as catch can", it was released in 1983) was in for a failure - from a commercial point of view, it failed. This failure forced the singer to end cooperation with RAK Records and enter into an agreement with another studio - MCA Records.
Kim Wilde on MCA
The first disc, recorded and mixed on a new label - "Teases & dares" (1984). She, too, was not very successful at home, in Britain. Although the single "Rage to love", written in the rockabilly genre, still reached the top twenty of the UK Singles Chart. Moreover, in 1985 the song "Rage to love" was performed in the television series "Knight Rider".
The Teases & Dares album had another important feature. If earlier all the compositions (including the most recognizable hits) were composed by the singer's father, as well as her brother Ricky, then there were two compositions, the author of which was Kim herself.
In 1986, Kim Wilde released her fifth album, Another step. And on it already the absolute majority of the compositions were written by the singer herself. By the way, this very album includes the famous cover of The Supremes 'superhit "You Keep Me Hangin' On". This cover at one time soared to the first position of the American chart, which for the singer from the United Kingdom is undoubtedly an outstanding achievement. Wilde is only the sixth British performer to climb to the top of the US Billboard Hot 100.
In 1988, Kim Wilde's most successful record, Close, went on sale. She was in the top ten of the British charts for over 50 days. The sales of the record were accompanied by a big tour of Europe, where Kim sang as the opening act for Michael Jackson himself.
The seventh numbered album "Love Moves" was published in 1990. In the UK, it was not even included in the top thirty albums, but in some Scandinavian countries it rose to the top ten. The songs "It's here" and "Can't get enough" are considered especially significant on this album. In support of Love Moves, a European city tour was again organized, this time with David Bowie.
Wilde's eighth album, Now and Forever, was released in 1995. He is considered one of the most unfortunate in her discography.
In 1996 and early 1997, Kim Wilde collaborated with the West End Theater (one of the most famous theater venues in London). Here she was engaged in the musical "Tommy". After completing work on the musical, she was preparing to record new tracks, but there were difficulties with the recording studio. At that time, MCA Records had already been taken over by a larger label. As a result, Wilde was forced to interrupt work on the album, it was never released.
The singer's creativity in the XXI century
After "Now and forever", Wilde's new records were not released for about 10 years. And the singer also did not perform live long enough, until January 13, 2001. On this day, she appeared as a guest at a concert organized by the Fabba musical project.
After that, Kim decided to actively tour again with her songs. And, starting in November of that year, she toured the UK three times and another Australia.
The concerts were followed by new tracks. In the summer of 2003, the single "Anyplace, Anywhere, Anytime" was released, which Kim recorded together with the German singer Nena. The composition entered the TOP-10 in Germany, Austria, the Netherlands and Switzerland.
In 2006, Wilde signed a contract with the German office of the record company EMI. It was under this label that she published her next album "Never say never". There were 8 completely new compositions on the album and 5 old ones that were reworked. As a result, the album proved to be financially successful in several European countries. But in the UK it was not even published.
On August 27, 2010, Kim's eleventh album Come Out And Play was presented to the public.
A year later, in August 2011, Wilde's twelfth album was released. It was named "Snapshots". The album contains fourteen compositions, all of which are cover versions of hits from past years. The very first track from the album, "It’s Alright", deserves a special mention. This is a very unusual re-version of the composition of the same name by the English group East 17. This cover not only became one of the leading singles from the album, but also received a separate video, which was filmed in the city of Bonn. This clip was posted on the site MyVideo.de (this is the most popular German video hosting) in July 2011.
In 2013, Kim Wilde released the first Christmas album in her discography, Wilde Winter Songbook. It included classic Christmas songs, several covers, as well as original compositions.
The next studio album appeared only five years later, that is, in 2018. The 57-year-old Kim Wilde's Here Comes The Aliens includes 12 tracks, including a duet with rising star Frida Sundemo. Interestingly, the cover of the album was made in the style of movie posters of the fifties (the creation of this cover was done by Kim's niece named Scarlett).
Kim Wilde as a gardener
At the dawn of her musical career, Kim worked in a flower shop. During her first pregnancy, she again became very interested in plant growing and horticulture and completed related courses. And a little later, she created an original, very beautiful garden especially for her children.
Her talent was quickly appreciated and she was recruited as an expert on the Better Gardens program, which aired on one of the UK channels. Wilde then appeared in two episodes of the BBC's Garden Invaders.
In 2001, her name was entered in the Guinness Book of Records for transplanting the largest tree from one place to another. At the same time, it must be admitted that it did not stand in a new place for too long, in 2007 it was hit by a storm.
In 2005, Wilde won a gold award at the prestigious flower show held in Chelsea.
On top of that, she has published two gardening books. The first of them is called "Gardening with children", it was published not only in English, but also in several other languages, in particular, in Spanish, German and French. The title of the second book is "First-time gardener".
Personal information
In the eighties, Kim Wilde had an affair with musicians Calvin Hayes and Gary Bernacle. In 1993, the media reported on Kim's relationship with television presenter Chris Evans.
In September 1996, Wilde became the wife of Hal Fowler, with whom she co-starred in the musical Tommy. After the wedding, the singer said in an interview that she wants Hal's children as soon as possible. As a result, in 1998, the couple had a boy, Harry Tristan, and in 2000, a girl, Rose Elizabeth.
