|
|
|
|
| Birth Name(s) : Kim Smith |
Date of Birth: N/A |
| Status:
Single
|
Partner:
|
| Profession:
Vocalist, Songwriter |
| << Add Kim Wilde To Your Favorites |
|
Full Kim Wilde Biography
Kim Wilde (born Kim Smith, November 18, 1960 in Chiswick, West London) is an English pop singer, professional gardener, and pop cultural figure. She debuted in 1981 with the hit "Kids in America", which reached number two in the UK Singles Chart. In 1987 she made the #1 spot in the United States with her version of "You Keep Me Hangin' On", which had previously been a #1 hit there for The Supremes in 1966.
Wilde received the Best Female Vocalist Award from the British Phonographic Industry (now known as the Brits) in the United Kingdom in 1983, and has subsequently received two further nominations in this category. Also, she has received numerous silver, gold and platinum records from all over the world.
Adding a new dimension to this highly successful career, Wilde appeared in London's West End production of the musical, Tommy, from February 1996 to February 1997.
The album suffered from mixed reviews in the press and the lack of successful singles. Even a second European tour couldn't help the decline in sales, although with hindsight it is easy to recognise how well the album has aged. Quirky electronic noises and beautifully layered soundscapes make this one of the more appealing albums in Kim's repertoire.
Kim cemented her reputation as a singles artist with this album, as again overall sales were disappointing despite the huge success of the songs released from it. Kim Wilde mentioned a few times that it was probably her mistake not to put more effort into cracking the U.S. market by not touring America after she had scored her first number one hit.
Produced by Ricky Wilde and Tony Swain, Close was the final album on which Marty Wilde had co-writer credits. The sixth Wilde outing is widely perceived by fans and critics (and Kim herself) as Kim's most well-balanced album. Many kinds of pop are represented; dance, ballad, rock and midtempo.
No less than five singles were culled from this album. Hey Mister Heartache, the debut, featured backing vocals from Junior Giscombe, You Came, a tribute to Kim's nephew Marty, Ricky's first child, was the biggest hit of the five singles. "You Came" was a hit in several countries throughout the world, reaching the top 10 in most; however it missed the U.S. Top 40, peaking at #41 on the Billboard Hot 100. Never Trust A Stranger, Four Letter Word and Love In The Natural Way were the other singles. Attention for the album was further helped by Kim's live opening shows with Michael Jackson across Europe. Reaching the top ten in almost all Scandianvian countries, Austria and Germany the album went on to sell more than 2 Million copies.
Kim Wilde found herself working with Rick Nowels on this album, the same songwriter who had written for Belinda Carlisle amongst others. Three of the eleven tracks were produced by him while the remaining eight were produced by Ricky Wilde. The majority of the tracks on this album were co-written by Kim. She'd taken a long hard look at herself, resulting in the song "Who Do You Think You Are?", in which she reflects on how she had behaved through the years in her career. There were more love songs than ever before on this album, titles such as "Touched by your magic" and "Heart Over Mind" are an indication of the themes of the lyrics. Nowels provided "Love Is Holy", a song that immediately struck a chord with Kim when she heard it in his studio in America, and became the first single release, giving Kim her first UK top 20 hit in nearly four years, and although the following two singles fell short of equalling it's success, the project as a whole was well-received by critics, who noted the Carlisle connection in some tracks. The rest of the album, however, was more consistent with the Wilde sound: guitar riffs over synths. Overall, the sound is more introspective and organic than the commercial pop of Love Moves, and especially haunting of all was the closing track, "Too Late", in which the loss of love is described in mournful tones.
Kim Wilde and David Fountain designed and created 'All about Alice' for the 2001 Tatton Flower Show, 18 to 22 July 2001. The garden represented the story of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. The garden was built on two levels, with a large gnarled oak tree as its centrepiece displaying a carving of Cheshire Cat. The lower level of the garden contained a grotto, with tapered walls to give the impression of the room becoming smaller, like the rabbit hole down which Alice tumbled to her adventures. A maze of tall, clipped hornbeam enclosed contorted mirrors to add to the sense of distortion. Throughout the garden, scale was increased or decreased and the planting was wild and unkempt, in keeping with Alice's confusion during her strange experiences. The upper level of the garden represented four stories taken from Alice's adventures. The Mad Hatter's tea party amongst wild woodland planting was littered with crockery and a top hat carved from tree trunks. The Queen's croquet lawn was set in a wild flower meadow. The figures of the Queen, King and a pawn stood on a chessboard of grass and water, which was surrounded by playing cards from the four suits, created from clipped box trees. This garden was awarded the 'Best Show Garden' award. |
|
|
| Add Kim Wilde Biography (SuperUSERS) + |
| Add Kim Wilde Review/Comment
|
HQ Kim Wilde Pictures (1) | Random Kim Wilde Picture
|
| << Back to the Kim Wilde Homepage |
|
