October 2019
Focus
everything about confide in me
Exclusive interview with tove lo
On oublie le reste...
her collaboration with jenifer and everything that happened in october !
It’s difficult to age with dignity in the pop world but I’d like to think I’ve managed it so far. Kylie Minogue
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E SUM UP 4. Throwback Calendar
9. WHAT HAS KYLIE BEEN UP BETWEEN CELEBRATION AND CONFIDE IN ME ?
14. Confide In Me 30. Interview : Tove Lo 33. Kylie and Jenifer : the duet 36. Reg Watson 38. News 44. Kylie In The Press 49. Fashion 52. Meanwhile, on social media 54. KYLIE REACTIONS
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Hiiiiiiiii lovers !
It’s never too late as Kylie would say ! We’re a few days late, but here we finally are with our new edition of the Kylie Times, which is, again, quite full ! For you this month : first of all an exclusive interview with Tove Lo ! We met the singer and asked her some questions about her collaboration with Kylie. Then Isa has prepared you an incredible focus on « Confide In Me » (you’ll know everything about this song after reading it !), while I tell you all about the collaboration between our fave Australian and the French singer Jenifer. And of course, you will read everything that happened in October (we have lots of news for you, including the release of the « Golden Tour » DVD, FINALLY!). Take care Lovers ! xx Laeti et Isa
THROwback CALENDAr OCTOBER 1984 - 2018
Let’s have a look back at the most important events in Kylie’s career through the years and that took place in october.
1984
Kylie gets her first major role in a series, where she plays the character of Charlotte « Char » Kernow in The Henderson Kids. Thanks to the money she got with this role she was able to record a demo tape, where she sang « Dim All The Lights » by Donna Summer, « New Attitude » by Patti Labelle and « Just Once » by Quincy Jones. Kylie is so moved by this experience that she ended up crying in the studio! (Awww).
1986
She appears on the TV show Young Talent Time and sings with the different members of the Neighbours’ cast. Kylie also duets with her sister Dannii: they performed a song that suits them really well: « Sisters Are Doin’ It For Themselves » by Eurythmics and Aretha Franklin.
1987
October 26th : After a 10-day stay in England, Kylie goes to the PWL studios to record a track that will follow « Locomotion », with Stock Aitken and Waterman. Despite the growing success of Neighbours in England, the trio of pro-
Kylie in the series « The Henderson Kids » (1984).
Kylie and Dannii at the Young Talent Time (1986).
« Je Ne Sais Pas Pourquoi » (1988). Kylie during her first tour : « Disco In Dream Tour » (1989).
growing success of Neighbours in England, the trio of producers didn’t really know who Kylie was and even forgot about her coming to their studio. They wrote a song for her pretty quickly while the singer was waiting nearby and it turned out to be « I Should Be So Lucky ». After recording the track quickly too, she went back to Australia to continue filming Neighbours, without really knowing if the recording would lead to something…
1988
October 8th : Kylie is interviewed by Phillip Schofield for the show Going Live and is joined by Dannii, who makes her first appearance on English television. October 10th : « Je Ne Sais Pas Pourquoi » is released in England and enters the 11th position, before reaching the second one. October 16th : Kylie sings « The Loco-Motion » and « Je Ne Sais Pas Pourquoi » for the show Live From The Palladium. October 20th : She performed « Je Ne Sais Pas Pourquoi » at the Top Of The Pops. October 28th : The singer is meant to perform a song at the World Popular Song Festival in Tokyo, where « Got To Be Certain » was nominated as Australia was now part of the competition. However, this event is rescheduled because the Japanese Emperor Hirohito is in poor health conditions.
1989
October 2nd : Kylie goes to Japan for her first live concert. This is the beginning of her « Disco In Dream Tour » for four dates in the country and ten in England. The singer is the producer of the 40-minute concert and is accompanied by the choreographer Venol John. Her mother Carol followed her there and was in charge of the costumes and a TV crew came with her to film her
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trip for a special documentary broadcast on television. In Tokyo, she sings in front of more than 38,000 people. October 9th : The singer released her second album, « Enjoy Yourself », which became a double platinum disc after its release in England and ranked directly at the first place. For those who bought the album at the time, it came with a poster and a paper for a competition to meet her. Kylie insisted on the fact that the cover of the album should be made with recyclable paper. October 15th : Kylie’s tour flies to England as part of the « Coca-Cola Hitman Roadshow », where she shares the stage with other artists produced by SAW. October 21st : She sings her new single « Never Too Late » on Going Live. October 23rd : « Never Too Late » is released and ranks fourth in England. It becomes a silver disc. Following the death of Princess Diana, the name of the new album of the singer who was supposed to be « Impossible Princess » is considered inappropriate. Promotional copies are removed and a press release confirms that the album should be known simply as Kylie Minogue for Europe. Its release was even delayed.
Release of the song « Where The.Wild Roses Grow » with Nick Cave (1995).
out in Japan.
1993
1990
October 22nd : Release of the song « Step Back In Time », which reaches the fourth place in England and makes it her 11th consecutive track to reach the top 5. October 27th : The singer performs « Step Back In Time » on Going Live. On air, Kylie announces a contest to win a limited edition copy of her new album with her name in golden letters. Panic at PWL: the record company had decided to not release this edition but no one had informed Kylie... 100 copies are urgently pressed and given to DJs as a prize for the contest.
1991
October 14th : Kylie’s fourth album « Let’s Get To It » becomes a gold record in the first week of its release in England and receives very good reviews from the music press. October 21st : « Word Is Out » comes out in Japan. Meanwhile, « Finer Feelings » is being announced as the next single in England but its release is post-poned in favor of « If You Were With Me Now », the duet with Keith Washington. This is the first time Kylie co-wrote a single. The track ranks fourth in the charts in England. October 25th : The « Let’s Get to It Tour » begins in Plymouth. This is an extension of the « Rhythm Of Love Tour » with a playlist change to include several tracks from the new album. The costumes for this tour were designed by John Galliano. Too busy criticizing Kylie’s clothes for being too « hot », the press didn’t even bother talking about the concerts themselves.
1992
The « Let’s Get To It Tour » is launched ! (1991).
October 21st : Kylie’s first « Greatest Hits » album comes
Kylie is invited by Baz Luhrmann, the director of Strictly Ballroom (and more recently Romeo & Juliet as well as Moulin Rouge) to pose in the studios of Universal in Los Angeles for the photographer Bert Stern. The photos appear in the 22-page special edition of Australian Vogue magazine in January 1994.
1994
October 21st : The album « Kylie Minogue » is released in Japan. The main single chosen to promote this album is « Where Is The Feeling? » which was released as a mini CD single.
1995
October 2nd : « Where The Wild Roses Grow », the duet between Kylie and Nick Cave is released in England and ranks at the 11th position. Both artists are photographed together for the cover of NME magazine. October 5th : They sing the track on the show Top Of The Pops. October 15th : The song ranks second in the charts in Australia. October 21st : During Stonewall’s Equality, which fights for gay and lesbian rights, Kylie duetted with Elton John on Andrew Sisters’ song « Sisters ». A photo of this performance was used on the cover of Gay Times magazine.
1996
Kylie participates in her second short film, « Misfit », directed by Sam Taylor-Wood and nominated for the Turner Prize. The film features an androgynous and undressed Kylie, where she does some lip synching on an opera track.
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Throwback Calendar • October
1997
October 11th : Nick Cave asks Kylie to sing a song with him at The Jazz Cafe in Camden. They performed « Still Your Face Come Shining Though », written only a few days before. October 22nd : Despite the delay in some countries, « Impossible Princess » is released simultaneously with « Some Kind Of Bliss » in Japan. The « Did It Again » video is shot in London. Directed by Pedro Romanyi, it includes different Kylies: « CuteKylie », « DanceKylie », « SexKylie » and « IndieKylie » who are all fighting for supremacy! Kylie’s promotional tour begins in Europe, where she stops in Paris and Hamburg. The following week, she goes to Singapore and Australia, where she stops in Melbourne, Adelaide, Brisbane and Sydney. She performs « Some Kind Of Bliss » on Hey, Hey, It’s Saturday and records a performance of « Did It Again ». She then goes to Auckland, New Zealand.
1998
October 7th : Kylie unveils a new statue of her at the Madame Tussaud’s Museum in London. October 12th : « Cowboy Style » is released in Australia and includes a special live video filmed during rehearsals of the « Intimate And Live » concerts. October 19th : Arthrob Records in England releases the track « German Bold Italic » (GBI) by Towa Tei, featuring Kylie. The single is ranked 63rd.
1999
October 21st : Release of the book « Kylie ». On this occasion a signing session is organized at Selfridges in London. On the cover of the book, you can find a life-size photo of the singer’s arm. It includes many photos, paintings, visual interpretations and texts by Elton John, George Boy, Patrick Cox, Bono, Jason Donovan and Kylie herself. The profits made with the sales of this book are donated to charity.
2000
October 2nd : Kylie makes an incredible performance at the closing ceremony of the Sydney Olympic Games. Accompanied by many dancers, the singer interpreted « On A Night Like This » in a long golden dress and « Dancing Queen » of ABBA in a pink mini bustier with a pink headdress. The ceremony ended with a giant fireworks display and was seen by more than 4 billion viewers worldwide! October 9th : « Kids » is released in England and ranks second in the charts. October 12th : « Light Years » comes out in Japan and contains a bonus version of « Your Disco Needs You », with the bridge spoken in Japanese. October 16th : Release of the album « Hits + » which is a compilation of Kylie’s songs from when she was at deConstruction. There are singles, b-sides and remixes and four tracks that had not been released: « Difficult By Design », « Gotta Move On », « Stay This Way » and « This Girl ». October 18th: After her triumphant performance at the closing ceremony of the Olympic Games, Kylie opens the Sydney Paralympic Games ceremony and performs « Waltzing Matilda », « Celebration » and « Spinning Around ». The singer made the cover of the Rolling Stone magazine in a bikini and with a gold medal in her hand.
2001
The singer.... during the closing ceremony of the Olympics Games (2000). Kylie during the show « An Audience With Kylie » (2001).
October 1st : Release of Kylie’s eighth album « Fever ». The singer collaborated with Steve Anderson, Mark Pichiotti, Biff Stannard, Julian Gallagher and Cathy Dennis for this mostly dance opus. The same day, the video and the DVD « Live In Sydney », which was filmed during the last concert of the « On A Night Like This Tour » is released. Both the album and the video rank first in England. October 6th : The program An Audience With Kylie is broadcast in England to more than 7 million viewers. The singer plays different tracks (including « Especially For You » alongside Kermit The Frog) and answers questions from celebrities in the audience. October 8th : « Fever » comes out in Australia and ranks directly at number 1. October 11th : The album comes out in Japan with two
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first date will be in Glasgow, before continuing its journey in England, Ireland, Europe and Australia. The show is sold out really quickly ! October 16th : She filmed the music video of her new single « I Believe In You ». The video is directed by Vernie Yeung. October 23rd : The promotion of « I Believe In You » begins with a performance at the Nordic Music Awards in Oslo. The track is co-written and produced by Jake Shears and Babydaddy of Scissor Sisters and is quickly playlisted by radios even before its commercial release. Kylie at the ARIA Awards. The singer won 5 awards in a night only ! (2002). Release of the new song of the singer, « 2 Hearts ». (2007).
bonus tracks: « Good Like That » and « Baby ». Kylie wins the « Best Female Artist » award and « Best Pop Release » for « Light Years » at the ARIA Awards in Australia. « Can’t Get You Out Of My Head » becomes the most played track in England in 2001 and was broadcast by more than 3,000 radios in a week, making it the mostplayed song of all time!
2002
October 15th : It’s Kylie’s ARIA Awards night ! The singer wins five awards: « Best Single » and « Best Selling Singles » for « Can’t Get You Out Of My Head », « Best Pop Release » and « Best Album Sale » for « Fever » and « Achievement Award » for being the most successful Australian artist of all times! October 27th : Channel 4 in England airs a documentary about the « KylieFever2002 Tour » and Kylie’s popularity. It’s entitled « Feel The Fever ».
2003
October 17th : First performance of « Slow » at Top Of The Pops where the singer presents her new look very inspired by Brigitte Bardot with long blond hair and a bright red lipstick. October 18th : Kylie’s website gives all the details about the exclusive « Money Can’t Buy » concert that will be filmed for television and during which the singer will present her new album tracks. 4000 tickets are available to attend this performance at the Hammersmith Apollo in London on November 15th and tickets are given away via competitions through TV, radio and internet medias.
2004
October 13th : Kylie unveils the details of her « Showgirl - The Greatest Hits Tour » tour planned for 2005 and the
2007
October 1st : Kylie as well as different artists are on a compilation that marks the 30th anniversary of BBC Radio One : « Radio 1 Established 1967 » which contains covers of artists of songs which marked the radio during these thirty years: Kylie’s song is « Love Is The Drug » by Roxy Music, released in 1975. October 10th : Kylie’s new single « 2 Hearts » is launched on English radio. The song was written and produced by British duo Kish Mauve. The music video comes out at the same time, we see the singer with curly hair wearing a bright red lipstick, singing in a microphone with a diamond skull. October 16th : In a Dolce & Gabbana dress, Kylie goes to the cinema at Leicester Square in London for the premiere of « White Diamond », an intimate documentary directed by William Baker and filmed during the « Showgirl Homecoming Tour ». This film is broadcast only for one night in a selection of cinemas across the country. October 17th : Kylie is the new face of Tous, a jewelry brand based in Spain. « Kylie represents our values because she shows herself as a strong woman and she always sets the trend. She’s fresh, dynamic and as sweet as Tous is » said the creative director of the brand, Rosa Tous.
2008
October 1st : Kylie receives two awards at the BT Digital Music Awards, « Best Pop Artist » and « Best Innovation » for the KylieKonnect website, which allowed fans to create their profile on it.
2009
October 16th : The bollywood film « Blue » is released in movie theaters. Kylie has a small role and sings the song « Chiggy Wiggy », co-produced by AR Rahman, who has already won an Oscar. The singer embodies her own role in this film that tells the story of a group of underwater treasure hunters.
2010
October 15th : « Get Outta My Way » reaches the top of the Billboard Club Chart. October 21st : On the occasion of 30 years of Enigma ma-
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Throwback Calendar • October gazine, Kylie offers a unique concert in Cairo surrounded by the Pyramids of Giza. The singer wears a dress signed Emilio Pucci and Louboutin stilettos. October 27th : She presents the amfAR Inspiration Gala ceremony at the Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles celebrating the masculine style. An auction was also organized to raise funds. October 30th : Kylie goes to France to sing at the Starfloor event organized by Fun Radio. She performed « Get Outta My Way », « Can’t Get You Out Of My Head » and « Love At First Sight » and joined Taio Cruz on stage to sing « Higher » live for the first... and last time.
is written, and each artist had to write a page of this tale, looking only at the last sentence of the previous page.
2011
2017
October 5th : Kylie receives the « Doctor of Health Sciences » award from the Anglia Ruskin University in Chelmsford for her work in preventing illness. The singer had the usual outfit when you receive this distinction at the end of school and said: « I never went to university so my dad will be very proud when he sees the pictures ». October 22nd : The singer is invited to participate to X Factor in Kiev, Ukraine, where she sang « Get Outta My Way » and « Can’t Get You Out Of My Head » at the beginning of the show then « I Should Be So Lucky » and « All The Lovers » at the end.
2012
October 3rd : Kylie goes to the Rio Film Festival to promote the movie Holy Motors. October 11th : She participates to the 50th New York Film Festival to promote Holy Motors again. October 26th : Release of the album « The Abbey Road Sessions » in Australia, which is a best-of of Kylie’s best songs re-recorded in orchestral version. It ranks in the seventh position. October 29th : « The Abbey Road Sessions » comes out in England and reaches the second place of the charts.
2014
October 7th : Release of the music video of the track « God Only Knows » on the YouTube channel of the BBC. Kylie appears and sang a few sentences of this cover of the Beach Boys’ song for the launch of BBC Music. October 16th : A short video of one minute and a half is posted on Flight Facilities’ channel where Kylie covers the track « Crave You », originally performed by the band. October 29th : The singer came out of a cake to wish and sing a happy birthday to her friend Mario Testino in a golden dress, a style inspired by the 20s.
2016
October 6th : Launch of the campaign « Say I Do Down Under » by Kylie and her ex at the time whose name we prefer not to mention. Beginning of the shooting of the movie « Flammable Children » in Australia. The actress found Guy Pearce with whom she worked with in Neighbours.
October 1st : Kylie goes to Paris for the Fashion Week and participates to the Vogue evening at the Grand Palais which showcases the Irving Penn exhibition. She finds friends there: Jean-Paul Gaultier and Dita Von Teese. October 2nd : She goes to the Stella McCartney fashion show. October 12th : The singer is invited to the Attitude Awards at the Roundhouse in London where she received the award of « Legend » for her help and support to the LGBT community. October 16th : In Tokyo she participates in an event organized by jewelry brand Tiffany & Co where she sang her greatest hits.
2018
October 7th : Due to an infection of her vocal cords, Kylie has to cancel her performances in Dublin and Belfast. The singer will reschedule them a little later in December. October 15th : Release of the music video « Music’s Too Sad Without You », shot in Italy at the La Fenice Theater in Venice. She had been singing in this theater a few months before with Jack Savoretti and they took the opportunity to shoot the music video of this song the same day. October 29th : She performs « A Lifetime To Repair » on the X Factor TV show. October 30th : Kylie and Paul attend the Harper Bazaar Awards held at the Claridge Hotel.
2015
October 28th : Release of the music video « The Other Boys », shot alongside Jake Shears and Nervo. Kylie participates in the project « Children In Need » in order to raise money for children in need. A children’s story 8 www.kylie-world.com
Snippet of the song with Jack Savoretti « Music’s Too Sad Without You » (2018). Laeti, October 2K19
what has KYLIE been up between Celebration (november 1992) and Confide In Me (august 1994) ? This, of course, is a non-exhaustive list because otherwise I’d need to write a book but I think the main info is here!
February 1993: She announces that she has signed with deConstruction At the time, rumours abounded that « giants » like Sony and Warner Bros were chasing Kylie. Everyone was wondering which big record label Kylie would sign with. So it came as a massive surprise when she announced a deal with deConstruction records - a small independent dance label owned by Keith Blackhurst and Pete Hadfield, which - shortly after her signing - would become a subsidiary of BMG. deConstruction was the label of, among others, M People, K-Klass and Black Box. Kylie admitted she had met a lot of record companies, and that she liked deConstruction’s attitude, enthusiasm, arrogance and the vision they had. « It was all very new and exciting. There wouldn’t be much point in leaving PWL and going somewhere exactly the same, so it was a big chance ». Clearly she didn’t want to be marketed anymore as just another pop singer, she wanted to discover new
ways to gain artistic credibility and prove once and for all that she was more than a puppet.
cooler record ». Kylie said :
« deConstruction have a brilliant Pete Hadfield told the press : reputation to uphold. So I’m kind « There was this great misof relying on their reputation conception... She was far from rather than my own. There were a puppet in any meeting I had two options. Either we could with her… She’s a very driven make another pop record or we individual, very creative, very could throw me into the field aware of imagery… but it struck and just try anything. We chose me that for her to modernise the latter ». and move on she had to take deConstruction promised her she some risks musically and show would do what she wanted to do, but her more creative side… She was always and is a creatively driven in reality they (and Kylie) didn’t have any clear idea of what they would acindividual ». tually do. He then continued : Steve Anderson said of that time : « We regard Kylie as a potential radical dance diva, she’s not a « The move from PWL obviously trashy disco singer. I think she meant there was a chance for felt uncertain about her posireinvention, but I think by sition in the pop world. Certainly gning with deConstruction, eveshe wasn’t regarded as the icon ryone thought it was going to she is now. I think there was be a big dance record, especially an idea that she wanted to join coming to us, which is why we something cooler and make a wanted to do the very opposite 9 www.kylie-world.com
Isa, October 2K19
of that. We were so surprised when « Confide » was chosen as the first single though. It was incredibly brave, but it paid off ». Indeed everyone was kind of expecting deConstruction to basically place Kylie’s vocals on some house records with a techno edge, but their intention was to push things musically as far as she could go. And for that, Kylie took the time (more than a year) to work on the album and collaborated with many different producers and songwriters. KM in Lalala : « My first steps into the world of songwriting were tentative ones but now I love the creative process and the room that is given for expression and feel very much at home there. The fact that you start a session with nothing and end up with a kind of friend in a new song is so exciting and inspiring. The ultimate reward is to have people enjoy and relate to music and songs
I have created ». The very first recording Kylie did after signing with DeConstruction was with St Etienne on a new version of their third single « Nothing Can Stop Us ». They also recorded another new song, « When Are You Coming Home? » but Kylie decided it was too pure pop. Then she started co-writing tracks with dance producers the Rapino Brothers, of which the track « Automatic Love », but most of the other songs were never released (some did feature later in the « Hits+ » album). She also worked with Brothers In Rhythm as you will see in the « Confide In Me » focus that I did for you.
She also worked with the Pet Shop Boys. DeConstruction was really engaged in what Pete Hadfield called the « re-engineering of Kylie Minogue ». I’m not going to talk too much about Kylie’s fifth studio album here, but it’s pretty clear that the record was much more mature and stylish than what she’d ever done before. Not all reviews were positive, but the desire to show growth and maturity on it was evident. The deal covered Kylie’s music worldwide, with the exception of America where she signed to Imago records, and Australia, where she remained with Mushroom.
The Beloved wrote at least one song for her new album, but for some reason it didn’t end up on there : « I’ve never met them. It was on the cards and I was excited by it, and I’m not even sure why it didn’t happen ».
February 1993: She is at the Brit Awards She was there to read out the nominees for the « Best International Solo Artist », and the winner was Prince. Prince wasn’t there to come and pick his award up so it was Cher who came on stage instead. It was
hilarious though because the first words she said were « I’ve actually never met Prince ». She was given a paper saying « Cher please read this, this is what he wants you to say » (LOL).
1993: She meets William Baker (sorry not sure when exactly but defo that year) Yep, it was in 1993 that Kylie met William Baker. Will was working part time (he was at college) in the Vivienne Westwood shop in Mayfair (London) and he had contacted deConstruction asking if Kylie needed a stylist, not really believing that this would work. However, less than one month later, Kylie came into the shop and they got on well, so Kylie left him her phone number, and that’s how he became her personal stylist before becoming her creative director. At that time Kylie was living with her friend and Katerina Jebb in London. The first time that William went
to their apartment with Kylie and that Kat entered the room, apparently Kat eyed him suspiciously, and he was amazed at the number of photo sessions that the two had undertaken (Kat, if you’re reading this, please share the pics with us). That particular day, Kat and Kylie were planning on doing a photoshoot, inspired by a video of Blondie performing live, and that shoot remains one of William’s favourites (although he wasn’t allowed to attend the photoshoot itself, he provided the clothes for it: the famous stained Marilyn Monroe T-shirt and the T-shirt featu10 www.kylie-world.com
ring sexually explicit handwritten text with two zips covering the breasts). William wrote (in the Lalala Book) : « Kat shaped the woman that Kylie is today, influencing her style possibly more than any other individual. Kat’s technique was not so much voyeurism as reportage, capturing Kylie’s joie de vivre, the reality and not the artifice surrounding her friend ». After that photoshoot Kat, Kylie and William begun spending more Isa, October 2K19
Intro • Confide In Me time together: Will was styling Kylie and Kat taking photographs. Kat shot Kylie in a variety of panic-stricken poses, from swinging across a room on a chandelier to falling from a balcony. It was the first time Will spent a lot of time with Kylie and Kat, the shot taking place over a long weekend. And as we all know, this was the first shoot of many.
May 1993: She is at the World Music Awards in Monte Carlo She arrived at the event at the arm of a stranger, who was none other than Brendan, her brother (guess the press was disappointed there). However, you know the
press, the next day, newspapers were all over the fact that she had slowdanced with Prince and so, of course, they were probably a couple (again).
June 1993: She performs for the first time at the G-A-Y London night club Kylie performs at the Bang! nightclub (which has been renamed G-A-Y) in London as part of the Gay Pride celebrations and sang « Shocked », « Step Back In Time », « Celebration », « What Do I Have To Do » and, of course « Better The Devil You Know ». The performances gave Kylie, then in the process of realigning her career in a more adult direction, a new credibility.
In April 2018, Kylie gave fans a huge throwback on as she took to the G-A-Y stage to perform once again for the club’s 25th anniversary. She then shared a pic on social media saying : « G-A-Y London, that was UNREAL!! Happy, happy 25th Birthday! First played here in 1993!! Thank you for all your love!! ».
July 1993: Non-Stop History 50+1 is released in Japan Kylie’s « Non-Stop History 50+1 » is a remix album that was released on 1 July 1993 in Japan and in the United Kingdom in October 1993. The album contained excerpts of most of Kylie’s PWL songs plus
the Techno RAVE Mix of « Celebration ». All the tracks - except that particular rave mix - run into each other, creating a megamix.
August 1993: She is voted « Coolest woman in Music » by the Select Magazine October 1993: Kylie is contacted by Baz Luhrmann! Baz Luhrmann, the director of Strictly Ballroom (and more recently Romeo & Juliet and Moulin Rouge!) invited Kylie to pose at Universal Studios in Los Angeles and work with world famous photographer Bert Stern, for the January 1994 edition of Australian Magazine Vogue, and well, of course, she accepted. Kylie became « Judy Lamour » for a 22-page special of the magazine. « The most enjoyable photoshoot I have ever done was for Australian Vogue in 1993. Baz Luhrmann and his team were guest edi-
tors for the January 1994 issue and they asked me to take part in a twentytwo page story based on the rise and fall of a Hollywood starlet. Bert Stern, most famous for his portraits of Marilyn Monroe in « The Last Sitting », photographed the story on location in Los Angeles over two days. It meant playing a lifetime in a few days. 11 www.kylie-world.com
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December 1993: She is cover girl of the Australian Style Magazine And what a different cover it is! Kylie was radically different, nearly unrecognizable!
too upset with the break-up, optimistically stating :
*** In 1993, it was also made official that Kylie and Zane O’Donnell’s on-off relationship had come to an end towards the end of the year. In public at least, Kylie didn’t seem
« For now I’m on the single road again, which is a breath of fresh air ». How lovely !
January 1994: She is at her sister Dannii’s wedding to Julian McMahon Dannii and Julian met while working on the set of the show Home and Away and got married after dating for almost three years. Of course, Kylie was there and she sang three songs at the reception, « Celebration », « Fly Me To The Moon » and Sister Sledge’s « We Are Family ». Unfortunately Dannii and Julian divorced in 1995.
March 1994: Kylie appears at the Sydney Mardi Gras for the first time Kylie did a headlining appearance at the party that followed Sydney’s annual Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras parade. It was a grandstanding appearance as there were nearly 20 000 fans there. She performed « What Do I Have To Do » in a minuscule pink feather tutu, supported by various drag queens in similar attire and 30 dancers.
« It was quite moving, I felt very touched at having such an appreciative crowd and just to be able to have the opportunity to say thank you. I felt I owed it to them because they supported me years before anybody else did ». she said gratefully.
April 1994: She is cover girl of Elle Australia Magazine And the pictures were taken by her friend Katerina Jebb. It’s a relaxed (and also topless!) Kylie that we can find in these pics.
June 1994: She is contacted by Director Steven De Souza for the film « Streetfighter » Steven had simply spotted Kylie on the cover of the special Edition of the Who Weekly Australian Magazine of May 1994 about the « World’s 30 Most Beautiful People ». The only role that wasn’t taken in his movie « Streetfighter » was the one of Cammy, and he wanted Kylie to come and try it out.
June 1994: She is cover girl of The Face Magazine for the second Time The photos were taken by Andrew Shoener and Kylie was styled by British stylist and fashion journalist Katie Grand, who was previously working for the magazine Dazed & Confused. Katie said that this was the best-selling issue of The Face during her tenure there. Kylie worked again with Katie Grand a bit later for the photoshoot of her « Kylie Minogue 1994 » album, with the photographer John Rankin who happened to be 12 www.kylie-world.com
Katie’s boyfriend at the time.
Katie Grand Isa, October 2K19
Intro • Confide In Me July 1994: She is cover girl of I-D Magazine And this also for the second time around (the first time was in March 1991). Pictures for this issue were taken by Ellen von Unwerth, who would also be the photographer for promo pictures taken for « Confide In Me ». ***
August 1994: She is (again) cover girl of Australian Style Magazine This time the cover pic and photos inside are the ones that Will Baker was talking about (with the Marilyn Monroe T-shirt etc...). The pics would also be used later for the album’s ultra-rare promo book. If you want to know more about the book, have a look at the « Did You Know » section of the « Confide In Me » focus that I made, especially for YOU Lovers.
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Confide In Me
Almost immediately after signing with deConstruction, Kylie went into the recording studio and stayed there for the best part of the year (actually, over a year), but didn’t return with new material until mid-1994 (and what a long wait it was for us fans, right?). Finally, on August 29th, the song « Confide in Me » was released after having been chosen as Kylie’s new album’s lead single and the least we can say is that the song was kind of a surprise to everyone. Today, « Confide In Me » is still considered as one of Kylie’s greatest yet strangest hits to date. Here is the story of a timeless masterpiece.
BACKGROUND
it all started.
of course, we were huge fans of hers. She was in our studio the week after that phone call trying songs out, including « Confide In Me » ».
As said previously, music industry insiders were convinced that because Kylie had signed to deConstruction (which was a dance-orientated label) she would come back with a single and an album containing huge club sounds, but they were in for a surprise (and so was Kylie’s fanbase)! Instead of that, her new single « Confide In Me » was a sophisticated yet dark song that incorporated, among others, elements of indie music, trip hop, and Middle Eastern instrumentation. Steve remembers their first It wasn’t a « regular » Kylie song meeting with Kylie, when she at all, it was the exact opposite: turned-up at their DMC studios in the poignant message of the lyrics, Slough: the song’s tune and melancholic If you read my focus on « Finer « She was immediately so inspibeats, mixed with Kylie’s breathy Feelings », the name Brothers In ring and very up for trying out vocals revealed a darker and more Rhythm will ring a bell. Basically different sounds. The label just eerie side to Kylie’s pop persona. they had contacted PWL back in told us to go for it. There was no 1991 to remix that song, and the brief or musical direction - they « Confide In Me » was written had tremendous faith in us and by the duo Steve Anderson / Dave result was brilliant. So when Kylie didn’t want to limit the creatiSeaman (aka Brothers In Rhythm had the chance to work with them vity. Kylie’s voice was the sound - we’ll just call them BIR) and again, and this time directly, she of PWL at first and throughout composed by BIR and Owain Bar- didn’t hesitate: one of her favouthe course of recording the alton. Owain Barton, whose name rite remixes from her PWL era was bum she gained confidence in is actually Edward Barton doesn’t the « Finer Feelings » one. work for deConstrucation at all, he is a poet, artist and musician from Manchester, known for his eccentric stage performances and use of home-made instruments. He has had top 30 successes as a songwriter with hits including « It’s a Fine Day (Opus III) », the tune of which was then used in Kylie’s song.
Speaking to Classic Pop magazine (Special Kylie edition) recently, Steve Anderson explained how BIR became involved in Kylie’s first deConstruction album simply entitled « Kylie Minogue » : « Both Keith Blackhurts and Pete Hadfield (the owners of the label) at deConstruction were friends of ours, so when they signed Kylie we called them and said we would love to work with her ».
Before becoming Brothers In Rhythm, both Steve and Dave worked for a company called DMC which was a DJ subscription service providing them exclusive re- he explains. mixes every month. They both had « We had already worked on the single remix of « Finer Feetheir apprenticeship in that comlings » for PWL so there was pany, and thanks to that got a rethat connection anyway… Plus putation for remixing. That’s how 15 www.kylie-world.com
her vocals and she surprised herself with what she was able to do ».
BIR also knew that Kylie was the perfect vehicle for their dance / pop hybrid songs. Her vocal range and willingness to experiment with music made them able to push the envelope further. Rumour has it that the demo of « Confide In Me » was developed in just under an hour. Steve Anderson was impressed with it so he decided to use it as the final recording. « Obviously, there were embellishments to it and we spent a lot of time on the whole production, but it was still the original one that we were using ». Isa, October 2K19
Focus • Confide In Me We could think that because of Kylie’s « PWL » voice, it took a hundred takes before getting the vocals right, but that’s not true at all. On the contrary, it seems that the vocals were done in one take. Recalling this session, Seaman told how Kylie turned up in a taxi at their studio, told the taxi to wait, warmed up and after one take she was back in the taxi (we tend to think this may be a little exaggerated, but OK…). As for Kylie, she remembers other things : « I thought « How on earth am I gonna sing this? » and I remember being in a tiny… It wasn’t even a studio, literally a room the size of a cupboard with no connection to the world, just a door so I would hear the producers saying « Ok so hold that note as long as you can » and I was like « Oh OK » (slightly panicked) ».
« It just all kind of flowed out and slotted into place, which is usually the case with the good stuff ».
However, some additional vocals by Kylie were recorded at DMC and Sarm West Studios in London, and were mixed in the same locations. Years later, Kylie said : « I thought the song « Confide In Me » was amazing and it really gave us a benchmark for where we were to go with the album. I heard pretty much of a demo and it was just right. The deConstruction period was as I wanted it to be. With a lot of records I’ve learned now, you’re not exactly sure what you want but you just have to get into the studio and feel your way, you have a sense, but you can’t really describe what that is until you’re there ».
As previously said the haunting To conclude, BIR admitted melody of the piano that we can that « Confide In Me » is, without hear throughout the whole song the shadow of a doubt the best Ky- is the one of Jane and Barton’s lie track they were involved in and song « It’s A Fine Day ». Then come the one they were most proud of the drumbeats sample from the professionally because it was the Jimmy Smith jazz cover of Barry track that really sort of took her to White’s song « I’m Gonna Love the « next level ». You Just a Little Bit More, Babe ».
THE SONG ITSELF: MUSIC, LYRICS and MESSAGE
Dave Seaman was surprised with the development process, stating :
strings section was then arranged by Will Malone, who is famous for Massive Attack’s track « Unfinished Sympathy ». During the song’s opening and bridge section, a gated didgeridoo is also played by Anderson.
The song has an amazing orchestral backing to say the least. It’s a mix of indie music, dance-pop and Middle Eastern instrumentation, such as the strings and the percussions. Kylie’s vocals are flawless and I could use many more adjectives: deep, haunting, intense, remarkably mellifluous, spine tingling as well as rather dark and creepy… It was definitely not the « PWL Kylie » voice anymore.
The intro of approximately 50 seconds is all strings and slowness, and comes from the original demo of the track. It features a violin solo that was completely improvised in one take by the legendary Gavyn Wright (who lead the string section at the Sarm West studios) and a piano section played by Steve Anderson himself, the piaAs for the lyrics, they talk about no being a beautiful Bösendorfer that Freddie Mercury played on Kylie’s earnest of seduction and for « Bohemian Rhapsody » ! The manipulating people to confide 16 www.kylie-world.com
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into her. William Baker (Lalala book): « The message in the lyrics is that it is she who manipulates the situation by saying « I can keep a secret and throw away the key » and she gains the listener’s respect as the power remains hers. She continues this tease by making any voyeur feel that THEY hold the key to power. « Stick or Twist, the choice is yours ». She offers the choice but still holds the key. She is both key and keyhole, masculine and feminine. This is symbolic of the internal power struggle that rages beneath her surface. She is both puppet and puppet master, a passive/aggressive stance that is key to her own control of her career ».
matter who you are? » as some of her best lyrical performances to date. • Nick Levine (Digital Spy) labelled it one of her most standout singles to date. In 2009, he said: On a side note, I must admit that the « But sometimes to release it, is to set our children free » has confused me since day one… What is it supposed to mean? In my opinion, it means that if we, as adults, get rid of our secret(s), then it implies that when we become parents, our kids won’t suffer from it / that we won’t pass it onto them. But I’m not sure, so Lovers, how do you understand this bit?
The lyrics of the song came together quite easily yet surprisingly. On August 29th, 2019 - the day of the 25th anniversary of the song - Anderson shared a picture on Instagram of the actual notes that were written down at the time by Seaman and which ended up being the lyrics for the song. He also explained in interviews that while he was working on track CRITICS ideas, Seaman, who is a great lyricist and a bit of a poet, used to « Confide In Me » is still a favouscribble down bunches of lyric rite of many fans, and although it ideas on pads. didn’t sell in the vast numbers of her singles with PWL, the song reOne day, Steve noticed the ceived critical acclaim and respect phrase « Confide In Me » at the from music critics. It has been bottom of a page and told Seaman noted as one of the most iconic he loved it, that it would be a great and innovative singles from the nichorus, but that it seemed to work neties and from Kylie’s singles hisbest repeated. Further up the tory and, actually, the whole Kylie page were phrases such as « stick Minogue 1994 era was also been or twist » and « we all get hurt by recognised by authors as an imlove ». Anderson says : portant period of her career and « It was basically all there, musical « re-inventions ». just in the wrong order ». • Brittany Porter from AXS. Here’s the picture that he com listed the lyric « I stand in the shared, in case you didn’t see it. distance / I view from afar / Should I offer some assistance / Should it 17 www.kylie-world.com
« How can we plump for anything other than « Confide In Me? ». Fifteen years on, this sumptuous, string-swathed dance-pop epic still caresses the ears like a flirty hair stylist ». • Louis Virtel (website NewNowNext.com) listed it as her third best track from 48 selected songs; he compared it to the work of Irish singer Sinead O’Connor and said : « Demanding intimacy is a Kylie strong suit, and her performance on this gently prodding, yet desperately longing track is so lovely and vulnerable... ». • Stephen from Homorazzi. com listed it at number 7 on his top 10 : « Top 10 Kylie Songs of All Time », admitting though that « Confide in Me » actually grew on him as time wore on. « My first exposure to it was in her « Greatest Hits » album and it wasn’t a track I paid much attention to, but in time it’s grown into one of my favourites ». Isa, October 2K19
Focus • Confide In Me Minogue’s international perspective lent her canvas precision, not iciness as witnessed with « Confide in Me ». The cut played like a lost spy film accompaniment, its grandiose strings and rumbling groove enthralled. The song let Minogue become the vocalist cynics sneered she’d never be… ».
yearns for a serious artist label ». • Zac Bayly from Oyster Magazine called it his favourite Kylie track. • Marc Andrews from DNA Magazine reviewed the remastered vinyl of the parent album and pointed it as the best track on the album.
• British author and critic Adrian • Mike Wass from Idolator said : Denning called the track : « The Australian diva swit« Truly timeless and absoluched labels and re-emerged tely wonderful. Arguably still with a haunting Brothers In her finest musical moment to Rhythm-produced indie-pop this date ». anthem that still seethes and seduces 20 years later ». and finds the production and lyrical delivery are « classy ». • Cameron Adams from the Herald Sun, placed it at number two on his list of Kylie’s best songs calling it : « THE one that changed everything - where Kylie became instantly cool [...] a lush, six-minute experimental epic with Middle Eastern vibes and modern dance beats, it automatically drew a line in the sand to reboot Kylie ».
• Chris True from American Website AllMusic said the song was « Slicker, more stylish and less hooky than anything she had previously recorded », and actually on that internet site, the single has been selected as a highlight many times from all her albums including: « Confide in Me », « Hits+ », « Greatest Hits 87–97 », and « Greatest Hits 87– 99 ». • Jude Rogers from The Guardian listed the track on her « 10 of the Best Kylie Minogue Songs » in June 2016. Rogers complimented the production and said : • Jason Lipshutz from Billboard « The effect is utterly mes- listed it amongst 9 other tracks on merising, and Kylie is in total his « Kylie Minogue Primer: The control from the off, telling Top 10 Past Hits You Need To Know » you she « can keep a secret list. He also said : and throw away the key ». « Deeply flirtatious and as Later she turns the middle knowingly dramatic as a James eight into a particularly perBond theme song, « Confide vy-sounding card game (« Stick in Me » continued Minogue or twist / The choice is yours »), on her path away from sim- • Quentin Harrison from Albuand also plays with the idea of plistic pop atop a swath of mism wrote on September 19th, her fame (« Hit or miss / The strings and Middle Eastern 2019 : « « Confide In Me » is the choice is yours ») ». influences. The deadpanned salvo of Kylie Minogue… She bridge « Stick or twist, the • Quentin Harrison from PopMatturns in a knockout perforchoice is yours / Hit or miss, ters highlighted the track from the mance that finds her using what’s mine is yours» - is album, and said : her middle and higher vocal delivered in a murmur that 18 www.kylie-world.com
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register to indelibly sketch lian number one single since her a seductive tale of adult ro- 1988 track « Got to Be Certain », and it remained at the top spot for mance and connection ». 5 weeks. It stayed inside the top • I only found one negative review 10 for nine weeks, and eventual(but there were probably others ly spent a total of 25 weeks in the I guess) coming from Craig Fitz- top 100. It was Australia’s best-selsimons, editor of Hot Press; he ling song of the year; criticized the « boring » production, saying « Confide In Me » is • UK : It peaked at #2 on the UK exactly what you would expect; a singles charts, and never managed boring, nothingy post-Stock Aiken to reach number one, Wet Wet Waterman piece of dance fluff Wet’s song « Love is All Around » enlivened only by Kylie’s breathy didn’t want to let go of the first exhortations to « Stick or twist / place. The week after, it dropped The choice is yours / Hit or miss / at the fourth place, and WhigWhat’s mine is yours »... field’s « Saturday Night » became number one. However the single was certified silver by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) for shipments of 200,000 units, and sold 183,000 units by March 2014;
lie’s only charting single in the US during the 1990s. • And apparently, German and Dutch people didn’t like the song much: it only peaked respectively at number 40 and 38 in their singles charts.
• Turkey : The song was a real success over there and it hit the top spot of the charts! • Finland : It peaked at number 3 ; • France : And the song was a success in France Lovers (it’s rare enough to note it!). It peaked at number 10 and stayed in the charts for 18 weeks;
CHARTS « Confide In Me » was a big commercial success and went on to become Kylie’s biggest-selling single of the nineties (which is great but it was still only 1994…). • Australia : It debuted at #31 on the singles chart and went straight to number one the following week, marking one of the highest jumps for a single in Australian chart history. It became Kylie’s first Austra-
• New Zealand : It debuted and peaked at number 12, and it was her first charting single there since « Step Back In Time ». It stayed four non-consecutive weeks inside the Top 20 and stayed in the charts for 9 weeks overall ; • Ireland : It failed to enter the top 10, and peaked at number 12 ;
COVERS OF THE SONG Because it’s such a legendary song, « Confide In Me » has been sampled and covered by many different artists and used in several media since its release. Here are some of them. • In 2000, Croatian rock band Analena covered the single and their version was used as a b-side to their single « Arhythmetics »;
• In 2002, British Rock Band The Sisters Of Mercy recorded a cover • Switzerland and Belgium : It version for their covers’ album « The peaked at number 20 ; Good, The Bad & The Ugly » ; • US : The single « only » peaked at 39 on the US Billboard Dance Club Songs chart, but it stayed in there for 6 weeks and became Ky19 www.kylie-world.com
• Also in 2002, a cover version by Australian artist Ben Lee appeared on his extended play « The Dirty Little Secrets » ; Isa, October 2K19
Focus • Confide In Me • In 2006, another cover was added to Angtoria’s album « God Has a Plan for Us All », while British singer, songwriter and producer Nerina Pallot recorded her version as a b-side for her single « Sophia »;
tually do. I have, like, seven songs ready ». And in a chat with Vogue several months later, he proclaimed his love for « cheesy pop songs » and said that he owns a copy of « The Best Of Kylie Minogue »;
• In 2010, Aston, an Australian classical music group from Sydney • In 2014, Australian artist Missy did a totally orchestral version of Higgins recorded it for her fourth the song. Kylie heard it and then studio album « Oz » (2014); tweeted them about it saying she loved it. • British duo Hurts covered the song too (and has since been a regular inclusion on their gig setlists) and Australian band The Cat Empire performed a live version of the song during one of their concerts;
« We decided to make the video in L.A. because Paul Boyd the director is there and it meant it was a shorter flight for me from Australia. It’s a very futuristic and a little like pop art, but a bit more minimalist than that. It’s a nice change from all the black and white that’s been around lately ». Paul Boyd is a Scottish music video, commercial and feature film director. Among the first famous people he worked with were the band INXS, Lenny Kravitz, Seal and Kylie. Since then he has worked with a very impressive number of stars such as Des’ree, the Backstreet Boys, The Cult, Jamiroquai, Sting, Bryan Adams, Goo Goo Dolls, Céline Dion, Tina Turner and Inna, and the list goes on and on… The singer he has worked with the most is Shania Twain.
The clip is a brilliantly innovative pop art influenced and a colourful cartoon-meets-sex phonelines video. It is in complete and baffling contrast to the song. It features six different Kylies who are basically meant to be six adverts / help lines trying to get the audience to confide their problems to each character. It presents Kylie as we’ve never seen her before, • Tame Impala, an Australian psy- • Also in 2018, the band The Su- sinister yet cuddly, looking dangechedelic music band (led by perjesus re-released their album rous and then smiling with all her multi-instrumentalist Kevin Par- « Sumo » for its 20th anniversary teeth - what a contrast! The video ker, who writes, records, per- and it contains extra tracks, one of is a commentary on the phenomeforms, and produces the music) them being a cover of « Confide In non of therapy culture and myriad also covered the song once, when Me ». telephone hotlines. It was the first they stopped at an OZ radio statime that critics and media referred tion. In a 2012 interview with Pitto Kylie as « Indie Kylie » (an image THE VIDEO chfork, when Kevin was asked if he that later progressed through the wanted to work with other artists, The accompanying video was work of her 1997 album « Imposhe said : directed by Paul Boyd and filmed sible Princess »). « I’ve got a whole album wai- in Los Angeles, California, during William Baker (Lalala book): ting for Kylie Minogue. That July 1994. sounds like a joke, but I ac• In 2007, the single was performed on the Australia Broadway show « Priscilla, Queen of the Desert » ; • In 2018, a cover of the song was used throughout the marketing for the Foxtel miniseries « Picnic at Hanging Rock » ;
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wanna die…). « The video for « Confide In Me » presents Kylie as a kaleidoscope of female stereotypes that at first suggest her to be a plastic commodity. This notion is overturned by a lyrical content that reveals, contrarily, a multi-dimensio- • Top left : The army-esque Peace nal character who actually and Love sign symbolises warfare. A serious Kylie arrives dressed in a empowers ». camouflage outfit (unfortunately we only see seconds of this Kylie in the video) and her hair tied in a strict bun.
The video opens with a silver hand print on a black background with a title underneath saying « Touch the screen ». Can we just say that the video is really ahead of its time? Here we are 25 years later and we touch screens every day, so Paul and Kylie sort of predicted it before anyone! Actually, on Twitter in June 2017, a fan who tweeted about the video said « @KylieMinogue basically inventing the touch screen technology that was yet to come » and Kylie replied « Haha. Amazing. #IfOnly ». Then the screen hovers to the right, and that’s when six screens are divided into different backgrounds and where the six « stereotypes » of Kylie arrive one after the other, each of them representing a social « behaviour ». Here is what the backgrounds look like at the beginning, before the Kylies arrive.
• Bottom left : The blood splatter symbolises murder/crime. In this one Kylie is a (really scary) femme fatale, wearing a leather jumpsuit. This particular Kylie seems to come straight out of a Halloween movie. I wouldn’t confide this Kylie anything… • Top center : The rainbow background symbolises inequalities. A cute Kylie appears in a little blue dress. I guess we can say today that the rainbow probably represents the LGBT community.
• Top right : The scattered pills background symbolises drug use and / or abuse. In this one, Kylie arrives walking in a strange way, maybe implying that she’s on drugs. This time her hair looks like it has never ever been brushed and she looks like she just got up, except that she’s wearing a clove necklace (and I wouldn’t advise you sleep with one unless you 21 www.kylie-world.com
• Bottom center : A Love Heart sweet background symbolises love and relationships. Kylie appears once again as a super cute Kylie (actually she looks like a kid with her hair in pigtails and her big smile when she arrives), this time dressed in a simple red dress.
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Focus • Confide In Me • Bottom right : The egg background symbolises… Well, this one got many people confused, but most think it relates to obesity (but honestly I would have put something else than an egg to represent this, like a cupcake or cookies for example? But well I’m not a video director so no one asked me my opinion), and here Kylie is wearing a yellow fake fur cropped jacket with fluorescent orange hotpants.
During the entire video, several title screens appear that feature seductive phrases, again like if it was a TV advert for a phone line: « Call me », « Call now », « Satisfaction guaranteed », « Need a friend? » and a fake phone number for the audience to call; some title screens are written in different languages including French, German, Italian and Spanish (this is a clever move because the whole wide world feels Kylie is talking to them).
over a million times, so I’ll just stick to some of them. • August 25th, 1994 Kylie performed the song live for the very first time on Top Of The Pops (UK). In November, she performed « Confide In Me » and « Put Yourself In My Place » on the Australian TV show Hey, Hey, It’s Saturday. • December 1994, Kylie sings « Confide In Me » and « Put Yourself In My Place » at the Prince Harry Trust Rock Gala in London.
The video ends with all six Kylies walking off their sets only once the music has totally stopped, with the fake phone number at the bottom of the video (I’ve always wondered how many people have actually tried calling!). As the first verse starts, each individual Kylie clone sings the track in their respective areas. Then we see a bit of each Kylie singing here and there. Sometimes she’s smiling so much (as cute Kylie) that you can tell it is fake and she looks nearly dangerous (and crazy). The video may seem a bit too optimistic compared to the lyrics but that’s the whole point. There is something utterly dark and creepy underneath the video’s colourful and cheerful façade. Kylie’s basically more or less a psychopath luring people in to confide their secrets in her, which works because she looks so innocent.
• In 1997, she performed the song live again on the TV show Live MTV - Some Kind Of Kylie. • The first time Kylie performed the song during a tour was during her 1998 « Intimate & Live Tour », and since then she has basically Bence Illés from Pop-Cultured never stopped singing it during said « The music videos accom- tours (except for her « Kiss Me panying the 1994 album were Ky- Once Tour »). lie’s most colourful and provocative videos to date ». The video was placed third in the vote for « Best Video » at the 1994 Smash Hits Poll Winners Party.
LIVE, TV and TOUR PERFORMANCES
I mean look at her here (too cute)
• My personal fave is the « FeI usually go into a lot of detail ver Tour » performance of the when I talk about the live and TV song during the Streetstyle secperformances of the singles I’m tion. Kylie is dressed as a police focusing on, but as you know, this woman embodying the state and particular single was performed what we can understand from the 22 www.kylie-world.com
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dance routine is that she is telling the bandit to submit to the power of the state and confide everything in order to become a docile subject. • At the London stop of Hurts’s « Happiness Tour », on 4 November 2011, Kylie joined them to perform the song. • Kylie also sang the song during the « Kylie Christmas » concert series in 2016, as a duet with musician John Grant. Steve Anderson wrote on Twitter that it was the first time Kylie performed the song with the original arrangement. • More recently, the song was included on the « Golden Tour » as an acoustic guitar-driven version which was described as « brooding » and « yearning » by some critics. It’s my second fave performance. The song was also part of the Kylie Summer 2019 tour setlist.
INTERVIEW EXCERPTS FROM THAT TIME « I didn’t really know what I was doing when I left PWL ». « I’m not worried about making a comeback. We’ve taken our time with the album obviously, so I think it’ll be great ».
« I’ve had my bad days. I panicked at first and thought « This is it, I’m washed up » but now I realise that I had to happen for me to move on. It’s been a major upheaval leaving Stock Aitken & Waterman because I had a lot of success with them, similar to when I left Neighbours. People told me I was crazy because it’s a number one show but I thought about it for six months and I felt it was the right thing to do ». « First I had blinkers on, then they were taken off and someone spun me around, then I had 180 degrees view and now I can see all the rest as well. It’s so exciting ». « Yes I’m more mature than I was, but aren’t most people? I’m growing up, I’ll be different next year, I’ll be different in 5 years from now, and I feel like I’m at the beginning of a new adventure ».
« I’ve loved going to work and feeling a part of it, rather than just dragging myself to my studio and saying « Alright, OK ». It’s nice to be involved and to have respect and have fun ».
« It’s not as calculated as people would like to think, it just happened that we took a year and a half to put the album together we took our time so we could get it right. It gave me a break, it gave the public a rest from me ».
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« My new album is a different sounding album, it’s not different to anything you’ve ever ever heard before, it’s not something too outrageous but at least it’s different to what people would expect of me. I don’t even like describing it, I’d rather let people listen to it and make of it what they will ». « I’ve more or less left America to fate. If it works, it works and I’m meant to deal with it and I’ll find a way of coping with that and if it doesn’t it doesn’t, I’ll be off to the States for my next holiday ». « When my contract was up for renewal, it just seemed like it was time to move on and we had undeniable success with each other but I think we’d done the best we could working with each other. They were on such a roll and I’m glad to have been part of that, they did so well, but now’s a different time. We knew we could either follow along the same line that I’d been travelling and do a pop album which would be the safe route or we could do something different and try everything and see what comes up ». « If I parallel my private life with my career there’s a reason for all of those changes, I was the girl next door, then I was rebelling, then I was vamping it up, it’s all what I was feeling at the time so I can relate to it, I can be a little bit embarrassed about it, but that’s part of growing up ». Isa, October 2K19
Focus • Confide In Me • In 2013, the album « Kylie Minogue » was reissued with a bonus disc of 14 additional mixes, mainly remixes, which contained the French version of « Confide In Me ». • According to Steve Anderson, the club mix of the song took three times as long to complete than the original record: « We did have a habit on going a bit of a journey with those, plus the luxury of having the artist around to resing bits of the song ».
« I have so many characters lurking in my body it’s frighte- • As the song is nearly 6-minutes’ long, a radio edit was made which ning ». is one minute shorter. « In the UK the press have some fascination for always • Kylie shot the video of the single hovering on the negative just before working on the action side of things, which is unfor- film « Street Fighter ». tunate ».
DID YOU KNOW? / MISCELLANEOUS
« Her distinct style makes for a playful photoshoot. Also we always get so much done. I love how she encourages movement and freedom; letting your character shine through, or letting you have fun playing a character ».
PROMOTION
• « Confide in Me » appears on numerous Greatest Hits compilation albums of Kylie, including the titular compilation album (2001), « Ultimate Kylie » (2004), « The Best of Kylie Minogue » (2012) and « Step Back In Time: The Definitive Collection » (2019). Some compilations, such as « Ultimate Kylie » and « The Best of Kylie Minogue » (2012) feature altered versions of the single, whilst the Phillip Damien Mix has appeared on her remix album « Essential Mixes » (2010).
• The pictures used for the physical releases of the single were taken by Ellen von Unwerth. Talking about Ellen Kylie has said :
• The b-side tracks to the single on the physical supports are the Saint Etienne cover « Nothing Can Stop Us » and a recording of the Prefab Sprout song « If You Don’t Love Me », which Kylie sings simply accompanied by Steve Anderson playing the piano. The song was recorded in just one take! • The yellow fake fur cropped jacket and orange lycra hotpants and the camouflage shorts and matching button-up jacket (designer: La Obra) were donated to the Arts Centre of Melbourne for the Kylie Exhibition. 24 www.kylie-world.com
• Promotion for the new single was a little strange, basically Kylie’s face was everywhere with a date, but no one knew what was going to happen. As William Baker said it in the Lalala book : « There was a tremendous buzz before the release of « Confide In Me », and deConstruction’s marketing division tantalized fans with a series of posters positioned everywhere from bus shelters to tube stations. Pete Hadfield and Co clearly intended to fulfil their promise to re-engineer the image of Kylie Minogue. The girl on the poster was virtually unrecognizable. Her hair in an afro of tightly curled ringlets, a grainy black-and-white Kylie peaked through a Venetian Isa, October 2K19
blind. There were no words on the poster, just a date written in simple Helvetica type indicating the launch date of the regenerated Minogue ». When I say Kylie’s face was everywhere, it would indeed be more true to say Kylie’s « new » face. The promo pictures for « Confide In Me » (and the ones used for the physical supports), taken by Ellen von Unwerth, saw an almost unrecognizable Kylie sporting rag curls in an arty black and white shot that looked as if it had been ripped straight out of a style mag. Indeed, her appearance in this first official deConstruction promo photoshoot was both remarkable and curious. The naivety of her previous looks had totally vanished; she had come back with a much cooler yes more sophisticated and confident look.
try it, so Charlie and I prepared it the night before and I arrived in the morning with a head full of rags ».
• Talking about this photoshoot, as you probably know, a few days before the release of « Confide In Me », 500 copies of a Promo Book called « Kylie Minogue 1994 » (careful, this is not « The Kylie Bible ») were produced by deConstruction and published to be given to radio stations and just media in general. It is basically a portfolio of those new photos by Ellen von Unwerth and also some by Katerina Jebb. William Baker had styled Kylie for Katerina Jebb’s photos (it was the first time ever he styled her) and it was shot in Kylie’s and Kat’s apartment. It was very low-fi. Kylie remembers it was funny to put posters of her above the bed (cover pic of the book) that had been all shot by famous photographers when Kat and her were now shooting with one light that they lugged around along with a bag of clothes that Will had provided.
« A girlfriend of mine, Charlie Fenn, learnt how to put hair in rag curls from her grandmother. We tried it one night and it looked great. When it came to the shoot with Ellen Von unwerth I suggested we
It’s one of the rarest pieces of Kylie memorabilia, and it included a letter from DeConstruction that accompanied the book when it was distributed. The letter was dated August 16th, 1994 and stated « Please find a copy of Kylie’s photographic book enclosed. Only 500 copies of the book have been produced to commemorate 25 www.kylie-world.com
the release of « Confide In Me » on August 29th, 1994. The album « Kylie Minogue is released on September 19th ».
Focus • Confide In Me
lyrics I stand in the distance I view from afar Should I offer some assistance? Should it matter who you are?
Confide in me Confide in me Confide in me Confide in me
We all get hurt by love And we all have our cross to bear But in the name of understanding now Our problems should be shared
Stick or twist, the choice is yours Hit or miss, what’s mine is yours Stick or twist, the choice is yours Hit or miss, what’s mine is yours
Confide in me Confide in me
We all get hurt by love And we all have our cross to bear But in the name of understanding now Our problems should be shared
I can keep a secret And throw away the key But sometimes to release it Is to set our children free
Confide in me Confide in me Confide in me Confide in me Confide in me Confide in me Confide in me Confide in me
We all get hurt by love And we all have our cross to bear But in the name of understanding now Our problems should be shared
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RELEASE INFORMATION (PHYSICAL & DIGITAL) (per tracklist)
The front covers (Depending on the edition)
The back covers
Tracklist : • « Confide In Me » - Master Mix • « Confide In Me » - Big Brothers Mix • « Confide In Me » - The Truth Mix Tracklist applicable to the UK CD1 and UK 12” vinyl & to the US 12” vinyl 1.
UK CD1 - Front Cover
US 12” Vinyl 1 – Front Cover
US 12” Vinyl 1 - Vinyl
Tracklist : • « Confide In Me » - Master Mix • « Nothing Can Stop Us » - 7’’ Version • « If You Don’t Love Me » Tracklist applicable to the UK CD2 and to the Australian CD1 & Cassette 1.
UK CD2 - Front Cover
OZ CD1 - Picture Disc
OZ Cassette Covers
Tracklist : • « Confide In Me » - Radio Edit • « Confide In Me » - Master Mix • « Confide In Me » - The Truth Mix • « Where Has The Love Gone? » - Fire Island Mix Tracklist applicable to the US CD and US 12” vinyl n°2. 27 www.kylie-world.com
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Focus • Confide In Me Tracklist : • « Confide In Me » - Radio Edit • « Confide In Me » - The Truth Mix Tracklist applicable to the UK Cassette, the German CD2, the French & the EU CDs.
UK Cassette
German CD2
French CD
Tracklist : • « Confide In Me » - Master Mix • « Confide In Me » - Big Brothers Mix • « Confide In Me » - The Truth Mix • « Where Has The Love Gone? » - Fire Island Mix • « Where Has The Love Gone? » - Roach Motel Mix Tracklist applicable to the Australian CD2 and Cassette 2.
OZ CD2 - Front Cover (remixes CD)
OZ CD2 - Picture Disc
OZ Cassette 2
Tracklist : • « Confide In Me » - Radio Edit • « Where Has The Love Gone? » - Fire Island 12” Mix Tracklist applicable to the US Cassette.
Tracklist : • « Confide In Me » - Radio Edit • « Confide In Me » - Master Mix • « Confide In Me » - Big Brothers Mix • « Confide In Me » - The Truth Mix Tracklist applicable to the German CD2 and South African CD. 28 www.kylie-world.com
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SOME PROMOTIONAL SUPPORTS
CD Promo n°1 - UK • « Confide In Me » -Radio Edit • « Confide In Me » - Master Mix • « Confide In Me » - The Truth Mix • « If You Don’t Love Me »
CD Promo n°2 - UK • « Confide In Me » - Master Mix • « Confide In Me » - Big Brothers Mix • « Confide In Me » - The Truth Mix • « Where Has The Love Gone? » - Fire Island Mix • « Where Has The Love Gone? » - Roach Motel Mix
OZ – Promo 12” vinyl
US – Promo 12” Vinyl n°1
CDr, Maxi-Single, Promo « Confide In Me » 2004 Seductive Remixes • « Confide In Me » - Tomer G Radio Remake • « Confide In Me » - Tomer G Club Remake • « Confide In Me » - Optimus Remix • « Confide In Me » - Optimus Dub Remix • « Confide In Me » - Master Mix Issued exclusively in Israel under licence to promote the release of Kylie’s « Greatest Hits 87-97 » on Jive/BMG in late 2003.
2004 UK RE-RELEASE UK Promo 12” vinyl Limited Edition re-release to coincide with the 10th anniversary of the original release of « Confide In Me » in 2004.
Tracklist : • « Confide In Me » - Master Mix • « Confide In Me » - The Truth Mix • « Confide In Me » - Big Brothers Mix
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exclusive interview with TOVE LO her album, her collaboration with kylie, her tour... Thanks to my job, I had the chance to interview Tove Lo who came to visit us at my radio. I’m super happy to be able to share this meeting with you, you’ll find out more about the creation of her album « Sunshine Kitty » and of course about her collaboration with Kylie.
Your album is named « Sunshine Kitty », and on the meeting up with him and getting a tattoo of the kitty. cover we can see a little cat. Did you have the idea of the little cat before knowing the name of the al- You have five collaborations on this album, how did you work on the songs ? Did you make the songs bum or after ? I had the title and the idea that I wanted to add something first and then asked yourself « Can I have a collabomore visual because I had the symbol for the « Lady Wood » ration on this song and this one ? ». Or did you know era and I like to sort of have something visual to connect first the collaborations you wanted to do and then that is like a symbol or a stamp on things for the diffe- you were just like meeting the people or matching rent... I like to call them eras more than campaigns. Cam- the correct songs with the correct people ? paigns make me feel like I’m a product (laughs). I wanted to do something with... You know I’ve talked about the lynx so much being my spirit animal because « Lo » means lynx and it’s been my nickname since I was a kid. So yeah having that sort of lynx cat, you know the Nordic Wild Cats as my spirit animal, I wanted to create like a different dimension character. I think once I had the name and then knowing that I wanted to do something different visually, I had been thinking a lot about incorporating the lynx then kind of all fell into place.
Did you draw the cat or did you ask someone to do it ? No. I worked really closely with my creative director and he found this Australian tattoo artist whose name is Harley and he just had this style that we wanted. He made things that are like cute but still grungy, you know « gritty pretty » as the song. And we were just looking at his stuff like both Charlie my creative director and me thought it was a perfect match and we just reached out to him : « would you be down to doing this ». And he was very excited and has been killing it. You have a lot of tattoos, are you gonna get it tattooed ? Oh yeah. Actually when I go to Australia tomorrow I’ll be
I think it’s been different for every song. You know with Jack Jones there was obviously like a collaboration ‘cause we wrote the song together in a room and we both have it on our albums which is pretty awesome. And yeah then I think other than that it’s just been...
I feel we can hear the universe of each artist. Even if they are your songs we can find out the universe of every artist. So yeah that’s kind of what I felt for « Equally Lost ». It was like : « Ah I need another voice on this ». And then Doja Cat came to my mind because I’ve been listening to her a bunch and thought her voice and her vibe would be pretty perfect on that song and I think she did like the perfect addition. With « Are U Gonna Tell Her? » me and Ludwig my producer had been on this, listening to a lot of Brazilian funkers and so that was like definitely in the back of his mind when he made the track and when we wrote the top line. Jacob the other co-writer came up with the boom boom boom and then we just reached out to M.C. Zach and he like killed it with his verse. I think that makes the whole song (laughs). And then yeah with obviously Kylie Minogue. Oh and Alma ! Yeah we had a lot of features on this album. Alma is you know... She’s a great friend of
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best and she loved it and was like : « Just let me do my thing to it » and then she just killed it and added all this... You know Kylie things! And she wrote some really great new melodies. So she also worked on it ? Did she change lyrics or something ? She didn’t change lyrics but she added like... Some vocal stuff in the beat that she added like the « Yeah yeah » and then her breath like « Aaaah ». And she also did the outro melody which was like : « Wish it wasn’t real, girl, you know how I feel »... So she wrote these parts. It’s funny I feel like she just knows how to give it that extra percent. Other than that she loved the song which made me feel very proud as a writer. It’s like « Oh she didn’t want to change me! ».
She writes a lot of songs now, especially on the last album she wrote the entire opus, would you like to write a song with her ? Oh my God definitely! I’d love to ! I mean for sure I’m hoping that’s where this goes. Definitely. mine and I wanted someone who’s openly gay to sing this song because I felt like it needs to be authentic too and you have to be able to relate to the lyrics. I sent her the song and I was like, you know, « Do you relate to this, do you feel like you can sing this ? » and she was just like « Oh my god I relate to it so much, I’m in! ». So it was very like you know a text conversation and done. Kylie Minogue was a bit more of a long game. She tweeted me when I released « Lady Wood ». She replied to a picture that I posted where it’s me holding my book of my song lyrics that I write by hand and she just said : « Oh she’s a pen and paper girl, yes ». And I was like : « Oh my God I can’t believe you even know who I am ». And then we randomly both played this charity event for amFAR in Hong Kong and I just asked if I could meet her because, you know, that would be just an amazing thing in my life to get to say hi to her. And my team asked her team and she said yes. So I got to go to her dressing room and we just kind of hung out and talked and she was so charming and charismatic and lovely and when I left she just said: « Oh you know it would be fun to make music together sometime ». And so I kept that in the back of my mind and when I was writing for this record it was kind of like : « Okay when I have a song where I feel like I can hear her voice on it and I feel like, you know, it’s like this, I can send her »...
Did you think from the beginning that you wanted her on your album ? I did. But I also didn’t want to try to think about it. When you try to write something for someone it doesn’t really... It was more like I’m going to write and I’ll see. I mean I knew that I was gonna send her something but it had to be the right song. And then I sent it and hoped for the
For every fan, when we found out you were collaborating with Kylie it was a massive « boom » in the pop industry, we were like : « What the fuck is happening ? ». We know that you didn’t record the song together because you were both always at different places and same for music video. Can we expect any live performance together soon ? Oh my God I hope so. I mean if we’re ever in the same town even if it is in the same country I’ll make my way over because I think it would just be such an amazing... For me it would be just such a memory. So fingers crossed we can make that happen.
Do you have any favorite song from her ? Yes many! This kind of changes depending on what mood I’m in but my top three today is « Can’t Get You Out Of My Head », « Spinning Around » and « Slow ». That video is amazing.
Do you have any dream collaboration with someone you haven’t worked with yet ? Yes, Sia is the big one. Having The Weeknd would be really cool. Who else ? There are so many. I’d love to work with Lorde again as well if get a chance. Billie Eilish !
In your song « Jacques » there is a bit of French. Do you know any french words ? Je m’appelle Tove ! Ça va ?
You are talking about a French guy so was it obvious for you to add some french lyrics in the song ? It’s a story about a French guy. So I felt like I wanted to add some French elements and I used to spend a lot of time in France when I was younger, my cousin lived in Paris. I
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Exclusive Interview • Tove Lo would visit her a lot and I used to be able to speak a little French. I feel like I’ve lost a lot of it but I think if I spent a little bit more time here it will come back quickly. I feel like I can order my meal and I can be polite but then outside of that as soon as there’s a long conversation going I’m kind of like : « ahhhhh je ne comprends pas ! ».
There are some pictures of you on the little booklet of your album which are taken with an analogic camera I think, why did you choose to do that ? Yeah I just love that. It’s just the style that I’m just way more into. And I think it’s like the « gritty pretty » thing that I feel very much defines what I want to do. It’s feminine but it has some edge and grunge to it. There’s something about those real photos that gives you something different.
Before the release of your album you actually released a few songs... Why did you choose to do that ? Was it to show people what the album was going to be like? Yeah, it was kind of a new stuff instead of keeping everything so secret and under wraps. I kind of wanted to try do something different this time. I was gonna do it different. The same way I don’t like routine in my life, I don’t want things that I put out and how I do things to feel like a routine.
Is there something you haven’t done yet that you really want to do in music in general ? I really want to write the whole soundtrack to a big movie. Yeah I think it would be really fun.
You’re going to be on stage next year, is the little cat gonna be on stage too ?
on stage, never. But now when we’ve been rehearsing I like : « Oh yeah. That song from « Queen of the clouds » that we didn’t play for the first three ! ». You know like : « Wait a second, what is it, what is it ? ». Since I wrote them all I remember them quite quickly.
I don’t know if I’m going to invite her yet. She’s pretty crazy ! We’ll see in some capacities maybe. We’ll see. March 14th Paris !
Is acoustic versions something you really like about your songs ? You know what ? I used to hate doing acoustic. I would be
If we haven’t seen you on stage yet what can we like no, I would like bring my whole band into every radio expect from the show? Do you have some ideas thing and be like no we don’t have the full setup and it was just the most frustrating thing cause it is not the enalready ? We actually starting to rehearse putting the headline show together which is, you know, it’s gonna be quite long because I have four albums to try and cover material from. But it’s gonna be like an emotional dance party. And I think the newest element is that at the end of the set I’m gonna take requests and we’ll do some acoustic versions or whatever song the audience wants to hear which I’ve never done before, so, I mean, my band have a lot of songs !
Just some advice, you need to check all the lyrics of every song because sometimes you can have songs that you forgot about ! Yeah ! But it’s weird because I feel like I never forget lyrics
vironment for us ! Now I realize the reasons why you do those kind of radio things : you have meet and greet and you have a small audience to make it intimate. And I think maybe I was a little bit nervous about being that intimate but now I find it really fun and different because usually when I play shows now it’s so full on. We have a lot of production and it’s big crowds which is amazing but then it’s really fun to get to do these small broken down versions as well. So I want to incorporate that into the shows, you get both the really big intense moments and also the more intimate ones. Thank you so much. Thank you.
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KYLIE AND JENIFER the unexpected duet This was a (massive) surprise for many us, especially in France: Kylie Minogue put her voice on a track in collaboration with French singer Jenifer, on a production made by DJ Bob Sinclar. If the song ranked first in France, the opinions of French people are very mixed on this track. We’re gonna explain you why, and we will also give you our opinion!
I
t must be admitted, we heard about this a little by accident. While I was looking on social media post ideas at my job, I discovered a news I wasn’t expecting at all: Jenifer is collaborating with Kylie. I read twice, I rubbed my eyes, but nothing changed, it was still true. This collaboration is the single that launched the re-issue of Jenifer’s album « Nouvelle Page ». If I really liked Jenifer (yes I cried at the age of 8 when she was in the final of the Star Academy and I must admit it, hers was the first album I bought - sorry Kylie), I was skeptical about the result of this duet. The track was due to be out at midnight, but was already available abroad, which allowed us to listen to a small excerpt before hearing the full version. Not knowing what to expect (even if I was expecting the worst), I listened to the thirty seconds available several times to be sure. The chorus is catchy, but I was a little hallucinated at the fact that they took a sample of « Can’t Get You Out Of My Head » with the « La La La ». At work, my colleague actually said : « Oh it’s a sample, what’s the original song? Who is it from? »... If all of Jenifer’s fans are wondering that too, we are in trouble.
buy the same song at the same time, it will go up the charts. This is not based on the number of total sales. So, we can never really say if the track is successful (except if it stays several days in the charts of course) because we don’t know how many people bought it. I was happy, however, to see that a Kylie track was at the top of the rankings in my country, although I would have preferred if it was actually a song of hers to be honest. Obviously, Jenifer shared the track everywhere on social media, with the caption: « There are artists who make us dream... So just imagine when they agree to share a song with you... ». Kylie, meanwhile, did not spread too much about the song, she simply retweeted it adding some heart emojis to Jenifer. Well, let’s not lie, I doubt this is Kylie’s favourite collaboration seeing how much she promoted it (even though Jenifer is very nice!). So at this point, you are probably wondering why and how this unexpected duet happened? I took out my magnifying glass and tried to investigate the subject:
For those who’ve never heard of Jenifer - so basically all our foreign friends (we can’t blame you) - she won a singing competition on a TV show called Star Academy in 2002. She became one of France’s favourite singers and is now also an actress in movies and TV series. Many wondered if Kylie would be singing her own part on the track or if it was just a sample... We got our answer in at midnight when we listened to the full track: this is a real collaboration, with Kylie singing in French in the second verse. We are not going to lie, the chorus is effective and the track gives good energy. However, we can’t help but wonder who wrote these lyrics for Kylie? Seriously, if you are from another country, you don’t understand it much and honestly, it’s best not to. But the French people attach a lot of importance to the lyrics in songs, and I wonder if someone translated in English to Kylie what she was going to sing... With her accent, some words change in some sentences which in the end are not very clear and it’s really complicated to understand the meaning. You may be thinking that I’m bitter but I couldn’t get over the fact that I just don’t understand the meaning of the lyrics - at all - that Kylie sings so if someone can explain to me the part where she goes : « we fly over our spaces too low from the ceiling » I am listening to you. I mean, seriously? I think it’s a shame to have her sing some lyrics that even french people don’t get… The track nevertheless ranked at the top of charts on iTunes the day of its release (to my surprise) but let’s not forget that these rankings just work according to the sales made on the moment. If you are 150 to
The singer at the Star Académy
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Jenifer now
Focus • Kylie and Jenifer : the duet it a coincidence? I don’t think so. All these reasons make us think that this collaboration, beyond the actual artistic work, has also been made to help Kylie to have more success in France and to have some exposure before the release of « The Golden Tour » DVD and the reissue of her best-of « Step Back In Time », which in itself, is a good idea. Some words from Kylie to Jenifer for her single (in French)
• Many international artists make duets with French singers who are really huge. Here in France we got a duet between Sting and Gims (a French rapper). Who would have imagined one day that Sting, yes STING who was in the Police band one day would do a duet with Gims (who is huuuge here but oh well). No one ? Well it’s the same for Kylie and Jenifer. The advantage is that Jenifer’s audience is quite young so it’s a different target for Kylie. We just hope that it will be beneficial and that these same young people know that « La La La » is a sample from Kylie’s biggest success. Not like my colleague… • The track is completely in French, so perfect for French radios stations and could be more broadcast. In FM radio, we work with « quotas ». The audiovisual authorities require us to broadcast at least 60% of French music and a quota track tends to be more played because yes, it is not always easy to find good French songs. The fact that Kylie sings in French helps the track to be broadcast and allows our favourite Australian to be playlisted on French radios. • Business is business : Jenifer is signed under TF1 Musique and the person at the head of this label at the moment is the former promo director of Parlophone... She is adorable and has always had a very good contact with Kylie (she managed a very big part of her career under Parlophone, until « The Abbey Road Sessions ») and coordinated all the promo of our Australian here in France. Kylie has always appreciated her and has always trusted her. You see what I mean ? • An important highlight : This is perhaps also one of the reasons why Kylie and her management were convinced it was a good idea to do this duet, the highlight it offers to Kylie here in France. Indeed, TF1 has always been supported by NRJ and vice versa, thanks to the NRJ Music Awards. Kylie has won an award and Jenifer well... she wins pretty much every year. Currently, the track is playlisted on NRJ a few times a week. Jenifer has made some promo and talked about Kylie, she has already sung the song on a TV set and TF1 recently devoted a report on Kylie in a TV show called 50 minutes Inside. Is
At the moment, only a lyrics video was released, on which we see neither Jenifer nor Kylie, but to emphasize Kylie’s part in the chorus « La La La » the vid reminds me a little of her « X » period (I don’t know if it was done on purpose, but it’s cool to find her universe). As for a possible official video... It is actually complicated to know if the two singers will be able to find the time to film one... Jenifer gave an interview to NRJ (what a surprise lol) where she talked about this reissue and her duet with Kylie:
« This is a collaboration I had been hoping for, for a long time. Kylie Minogue is a pop icon and an artist I listened to a lot, and who I am still fond of. When I thought about the reissue of the album, I wanted to have new songs and that song sounded like a duet. And Kylie popped up in mind. So I asked her and it was done quite spontaneously. She sang on her side because she was traveling with her world tour. It was really done with the heart, it’s not a simple marketing story. It was a crazy dream that I had and thanks to a team I was able to succeed. It’s a story about nice people, who wanted to do it at the same time ». As to whether she is still in contact with Kylie, Jenifer replied:
« We send ourselves little hearts, we really like emojis. But I stammer a bit in English, she also does in French. We are very happy. In fact she knew some of my songs including those of « Paradise Secret » album which, let’s face it, didn’t work very well in France, but she knew them! So, basically, we were both sending each other video messages via a very good friend that we have in common ». Now that we have given you our opinion on this song, we would be delighted to know yours! Don’t hesitate to tweet us or send us a private message telling us what you think! And if you understand the meaning of Kylie’s lyrics, please tell us too !
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Reg Watson, the soap opera pioneer and creator of Neighbours passed away Sad news this month. The death of Reg Watson, the soap opera pioneer and creator of Neighbours, was announced at the age of 93. We decided to pay tribute to him by devoting him a little focus, so that you learn more about him and his career.
R
eg Watson, whose real name is Reginald James Watson, was born on August 27th in Australia, Maryborough, Queensland. He grew up on a farm producing sugar, and began his career as an actor at the age of 16, first in a radio (as an actor then as a presenter) before moving to England in 1955. From 1948 to 1953 he also played, wrote and directed plays for the Brisbane Theater. He was hired fairly quickly by ATV and in 1956, he joined Ned Sherrin and Noele Gordon in Birmingham to define the ATV Midlands bases where he was at the head of entertainement (comedies, variety shows, game shows, quiz shows). He created a lot of programs to broadcast and his first success was a show called Lunchbox, a daily live show. It aired from 1956 to 1964 with more than 3,000 shows and its presenter, Noele Gordon, became a regional celebrity. In 1959, as a producer for the ITV company, Reg Watson explained to his boss, Lew Grade, how impressed he was with the daily series he had seen in the United States, where he had been sent to study television techniques before the Reg Watson with the actress Noele Gordon © ITV
opening films of the British channel. Unfortunately, Lee Grade trusted him only five years later, in 1964: Watson created Crossroads the first British soap opera. Broadcast five days a week, it is a contender of Coronation Street, a popular series that began in 1960. Hazel Adair and Peter Ling chose to tell the story of two sisters, Meg Richardson, owner of a motel, and Kitty Jarvis, who had a newsstand in a fictional village, Kings Oak, on the outskirts of Birmingham. The drama was called at the beginning The Midland Road, but Reg Watson hated that name. He decided to hold a competition in local newspapers to allow readers to suggest alternatives. In the end, the proposals did not convince him and he chose the name Crossroads himself, before auditioning many actors. In the end, he chose Noele Gordon for the role of Meg, who was a local star since she had presented Lunchbox and who already had a career as an actress. « She was a personality, uncrowned queen of the Midlands », he said. The series began broadcasting on November 2st, 1964, first in the Midlands, before being broadcast throughout the UK and was a hit. Peaks of up to 15 million people have been recorded, despite criticism from people in the television community who lambasted it for wooden acting, wobbly sets and unbelievable storylines. One of his last actions in this series before his return to Australia in 1974 was to stage a car accident that paralyzes Sandy. Not wanting the character to feel sorry for herself, he has planned a positive scenario, where Sandy (the daughter of Meg), in a wheelchair, helps to manage the motel with her mom taking care of her. Thanks to these episodes, the problems faced by people with disabilities were highlighted and because of the interest, Watson managed to convince ATV to donate £ 10,000 to set up a service to give carers a break. « Crossroads Care » (now « Carers Trust ») is launched and now operates nationally. Returning to Australia again with the desire to provide viewers with comforting stories, Watson created a new program for Grundy Television, which was to become his most successful soap opera. This is of course Neighbours. He confused his writers when he said he didn’t want the main characters (from the Robinson, Clarke and Ramsay families) to swear, smoke, drink excessively, use drugs or commit acts of violence. His wish was to have a family program, which could be watched by everyone. Watson said he was influenced by Coronation Street when he created this soap opera about family life, this time at
Ramsay Street in the fictional Erinsborough suburb of Melbourne. Neighbours was launched in Australia on Channel 7 on March 18th, 1985 but after 6 months and 171 episodes, the program stopped being broadcast. The soap opera was then aired on the channel Channel 10 in January 1986, with many new features with the addition of young characters, including Charlene Mitchell (Kylie of course!), Mike Young (Guy Pearce) or Scott Robinson (Jason Donovan). This allowed the soap opera to return to teen success and the BBC began airing it in Britain by this time. Neighbours has become the oldest television soap opera in history and stills going on !
Other successes have marked Reg Watson’s career, including The Restless Years, Prisoner (1979), Taurus Rising (1981), Sons and Daughters (1981), Waterloo Station (1983), Starting Out (1983), Possession (1985), and even Richmond Hill (1988). The Young Doctors, Prisoner, Sons and Daughters and Richmond Hill, which were also broadcast in England. Reg Watson retired in 1992. He was named a member of the Order of Australia in 2010. He died on October 8th from a short illness. Many actors with whom he had previously collaborated paid tribute to him on social media, including a message on the account of the series Neighbours written by Jason Herbison who works on the soap opera: « Everyone at Neighbours is sad to hear of the passing of our creator, Reg Watson. He was a pioneer of drama, prolific in his output and by all accounts a lovely person to work with. His legacy lives on in Ramsay Street to this day ». Kylie said : « What a legacy Reg Watson leaves. For me, and millions of others, Neighbours impacted our lives. My thoughts and best wishes to his family and friends ».
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News • October 2019
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kylie REFILMs the SLOW music video !
hat was our surprise when we saw these photos! As the track comes to celebrate its 16 years and the music video marked Kylie’s career (and the memory of the fans) we discovered recent photos of the singer lying on the floor in a skin-tight blue dress similar to the one she wore in the original music video, surrounded by dancers... Wait what? Is Kylie filming the « Slow » music video again? Well, it looks like it! She was seen with a team of photographers and film crews in Sydney’s suburb of Coogee. Of course, we all want to know if Kylie is going to offer us a 2019 version of the video (let’s note that she hasn’t changed one bit in 16 years by the way and it’s pretty impressive!) or if this shoot will be exploited in a promotional way. Indeed, we recently discovered that the Australian travel agency wanted to redo a whole campaign of communication around their country to attract new travelers, and that Kylie was part of the promo plan with other famous people such as actor Chris Hemsworth and Paul Hogan. This campaign would span over three years, let’s see if Kylie appears with the remake of « Slow », or if she is just preparing a Christmas suprise for us!
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n late September, Kylie posted pictures of her on her social media where she was seen visiting a museum, the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy. If we initially thought that she was on vacation with her boyfriend Paul, we quickly realized that the singer was there for an event, because she had sung at a private wedding the day before! If we don’t have the complete setlist, we do know that Kylie interpreted, as usual, her greatest hits, accompanied by some dancers for the occasion. And the funny thing is that the actress Nicole Kidman (with whom Kylie finally had a picture taken after so many years of waiting that some people had wondered if the two were in fact the same person) was also in the Italian city and visited the same museum! Fortunately we are now sure that they are two different people, otherwise we could have believed it was a plot...
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a reissue of Kylie’s best-of
ctually, we could have copied the title of a magazine: « Did It Again: BMG « improved » the Kylie hits set you bought three months ago » but oh well... You’ve just literally finished to pay back your loan for the 6,000 versions of the « Step Back In Time » best-of that they are already releasing a reissue with tracks like « Into The Blue », « Chocolate », « Did It Again », « I Was Gonna Cancel » and a megamix of Kylie’s hits. See you on November 22nd for this new edition!
A WEDDING IN florence
Auction White label test pressing
n October 5th, 2019, Omega Auctions, one of the top auction houses worldwide for music memorabilia and vinyl records, sold the white label test pressing of Kylie’s 2019 compilation double LP « Step Back In Time - The Definitive Collection », unplayed and coming directly from the label. The price of the vinyl was estimated between £40 and £60, but it was sold for £500! Just to give you an idea, if we compare this price with the other white label test pressings of double LPs sold that day, the highest bid for Lenny Kravitz’s « Raise Vibration » was £50, Boy George and Culture Club’s « Life » went for £100 and The Cranberries’ « In the End » for £220.
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robbie williams xmas album
t the beginning of the month, Robbie Williams announced that he would soon be releasing his very first Christmas album, and of course, all Kylie fans freaked out because they thought that the unreleased duet that they recorded back in 2016 would be on there (it would be a great Christmas present for us all). But sorry Lovers, the song « Disco Symphony », that Kylie said was very good, will not be on Robbie’s Christmas album. But since we’re talking about it, we can tell you that the album will be called « The Christmas Present », that there will be multiple physical supports (Standard CD, Deluxe CD, Green and Red Cassettes, Double Vinyl, special bundles….) and also that it will contain several songs of Robbie featuring other artists such as Jamie Cullum, Helene Fischer, Rod Stewart, Bryan Adams and Tyson Fury). Of course, the album will contain classic Christmas songs that were also on Kylie’s Christmas albums: « Winter Wonderland », « Let It Snow » and « Santa Baby ». Robbie’s album will be released on November 22nd, 2019, on the same day as Kylie’s expanded version of her « Step Back In Time - The Definitive Collection » album.
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KYLIE in perth
k, so this is a totally useless news, we know. But on October 10th, Kylie Minogue was seen in Perth, in a beautiful jumpsuit, arriving at a private hotel via a helicopter. And if I’ve decided to talk about this, I have to admit it was just to share a photo of Kylie with you, look at her in that jumpsuit, it’s sooo beautiful. I let you admire.
LUKE eVANS debut album
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ome time ago, we found out that Welsh actor Luke Evans, who is a big friend of Kylie’s, was going to release a debut album, containing covers of famous songs, called « At Last ». He dropped a teaser of his upcoming LP sharing a brief taste of his cover version of Pat Benatar‘s 1983 hit « Love Is A Battlefield » in a video. The album is described as an « eclectic collection of modern and classic songs, personally curated by Evans to highlight and complement his unique delivery and vocal style ». It will feature his version of U2’s « With Or Without You » and Cher’s « If I Could Turn Back Time ». Anyway, earlier on in the year, there was a rumor that Kylie was to duet with Luke on his debut album. We’ve seen the tracklist of the album on internet but we didn’t find Kylie’s name anywhere. We can only pray that the duet is in there somewhere, but that they just forgot to write Kylie’s name on it (or maybe they did it on purpose to make it a surprise, but we doubt it…). By the way, the album will also be released on November 22nd (on the same day as Robie Williams’ album and Kylie’s reedition of her latest Greatest Hits). 1. Love Is A Battlefield 2. The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face 3. If I Could Turn Back Time 4. Changing 5. With Or Without You 6. I’m Kissing You 7. Show Me Heaven 8. At Last 9. Always Remember Us This Way 10. Say You Love Me 11. Faith’s Song 12. Bring Him Home
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kylie on the cover of my weekly special
nfo: For anyone colleting magazines where Kylie appears on the cover, know that she is the covergirl of the magazine My Weekly Special « Dazzling Christmas », November issue. You can order it now and we will tell you more in the next edition of Kylie Times!
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News • October 2019
Every UK Number 1 single by Australian acts
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ones and I has become the first Australian act to reach number 1 on the UK’s Official Singles Chart in over five years. Since the chart’s launch in 1952, 32 songs by Australian acts have peaked at number 1, and of course Kylie is in the list.
the « GOLDEN TOUR » DVD is coming !
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INALLYYYYY !!!!! It’s official, Kylie has announced the release of the DVD of her « Golden Tour », more than a year after it finished, at least in Europe. The live DVD of the concert will be released on December 6th (what a great gift for Christmas) and will include as usual 2 live CDs of the performance. You can also find a bonus with the DVD called « We Are Golden ». Two excerpts are already online on the internet to give you an idea of what the show will look like : « Lost Without You » and the intro, « Golden ». If you have not ordered it yet, know that two versions are available: • The album version, for 10£, with a booklet that contains photos of the tour and a particularly nice design for the CDs and the box set. • And the deluxe version for 15£, which is accompanied by a small booklet, a bit like we had for the deluxe version of the album - however, note that the latter has now sold out (so we hope you were quick to order yours!) We can not wait to discover that! tv appearances
Kylie will make an appearance on the Graham Norton show on November 22nd, the day of the release of the reissue of her bestof!
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KYLIE and THE VACCINES « LAZY » is available !
s we all knew already, Kylie teamed up with English indie rock band The Vaccines to record a song called « Lazy » for the « A Shaun The Sheep Movie: Farmaggedon » soundtrack. Well it was released on October 18th and it contains an impressive 29 songs in total. Mike Wass from Idolator gave his opinion on this unexpected duet and it’s really positive! « Well, I didn’t see this coming! Kylie lands on the « A Shaun The Sheep Movie: Farmaggedon » soundtrack (out now) with a groovy, surf-rock anthem. Let me explain. « Lazy » is a collaboration with UK indie favorites The Vaccines and it finds the pop icon embracing the band’s retro sound. This all might sound a little confusing, but « Lazy » is an irresistible earworm that ranks up alongside « The Real Thing » and « The Magic Roundabout » as one of the Aussie hitmaker’s best soundtrack songs ». « I might’ve got a little lazy there with all those tired attitudes », Justin Young of The Vaccines croons over a whirr of guitars. « I’ll see you later, sayonara, you’re just like all the other dudes », Kylie replies. That takes us to the catchy chorus. « I know I’ve never said it and don’t let me forget it », they harmonize. « Think we should be together, to you and me forever ».
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Isa and Laeti, October 2K19
Kylie wrote a xmas song for saara aalto
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n October 13th, 2019, Saara Aalto, was on Dan Wootton’s talkRADIO show, and announced that Kylie had written a Christmas song especially for her just before singing it live. In case you have no idea who Saara Aalto is (I’d personally never heard of her), she is a Finnish singer and songwriter. In 2012, she came second in the first season of The Voice of Finland. In 2016, she finished as the runner-up in the 13th series of The X Factor UK, and in 2018, she represented Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest. She qualified for the grand final and finished in 25th place. The festive track that Kylie wrote for her is called « Every Christmas Day » and Saara said it would feature on her EP « Fairytale » and that it was amazing and « very very catchy ». Saara told Dan that Kylie and her had met on the X Factor UK. She added « We sang together and she was so nice. I’ve been working with her producer and that’s how it happened ». The festive mini album will be released on November 29th.
an award for « GOLDEN » at the UK Music Video Awards
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e talked about it some time ago in the Kylie Times: our Australian was nominated for the UK Music Video Awards with her « Golden Tour » in the category « Best Live Concert »... And we have good news for you: Kylie won the prize! Congratulations to Kylie’s team and especially Rob Sinclair (creative director of the show with Kylie) for all the work they did on the « Golden Tour » !
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re-opening of the louis vuitton store
n October 23rd, Kylie went to the re-opening of the Louis Vuitton store in London. This is one of the first public appearances that the singer did in quite a long time, and we were delighted to see her in a pretty blue dress signed by the brand. Located on Bond Street, this store had its facade decorated for the re-opening by architect Peter Marino. After making a public appearance, Kylie returned backstage to change her outfit, before performing in front of a public composed of artists only for the afterparty, from Isabelle Huppert to Noel Gallagher and his wife, and the model Doutzen Kroes. Dressed once again by the brand, Kylie performed (at least) « Can’t Get You Out Of My Head », and her track was placed on the aftermovie of the event, published on social networks.
News • October 2019
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women in vogue THE EXHIBITION
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n October 11th was the opening night of the National Portrait Gallery’s Women In Vogue Exhibition in Canberra. This exhibition - presented in collaboration with Vogue Australia magazine - showcases 60 years of the magazine’s archives together with a special tribute to some remarkable Australian women who have featured in its pages, and includes iconic portraits of Cate Blanchett, Nicole Kidman, Elle Macpherson, Margot Robbie, Miranda Tapsell and of course, Kylie Minogue, among others. Rare examples of archived magazines will be on show, from the early decades of publication through to bold photographs of women of the 21st century. The exhibition is split into 3 segments: • Looking back, featuring images from the 1960s and 1970s • Looking out, a visual representation of the second wave of feminism • Looking forward, depicting the faces currently shaping the country.
some news in the merchandising !
ylie Minogue collaborated with Luxury Watch designers, Bamford London, to create this limited edition timepiece. The Mayfair Sport from Bamford London’s signature Mayfair collection is the perfect backdrop to showcase the artwork from Kylie’s recent number 1 album, « Step Back in Time ». The fun style and reliable characteristics of the Mayfair Sport, including being water-resistant to 10ATM, make it the perfect companion wherever you may be. The watch case has a steel core coated in a high impact polymer and comes on a rubber strap with a unique wicker way function on the underside. Kylie chose to announce this project the day before the time change on social media: « As the clocks changed and we step back in time, today is the perfect day to announce that I have partnered with the fabulous designers at @bamfordwatchdepartment to create a very limited edition #stepbackintime inspired watch!». Only 300 copies were made, and the watches come with a poster signed by Kylie of 70x70cm. The price of the item is... £ 450, which probably explains why it is still not sold out...
Vogue Australia editor-in-chief Edwina McCann says: « Vogue has photographed politicians, princesses, role models, champions, truth-tellers, storytellers, change-makers and tastemakers, all of whom you will discover in this exhibition ». If you live in Australia (or plan to go there on holiday soon), know that you can vote for your favourite Vogue Australia cover on www.portrait.gov.au/images-vogue. php, to win a Golden Ticket giving free entry for you and a friend to all National Portrait Gallery exhibitions, plus 10% off purchases at the café and bookstore for a whole year! Entries close on 24 November 2019. For information, if you want to book your ticket, know that anyone under 18 can enter for free and that it’s 12 AUD for an adult ticket (less than £7!).
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a comic book on kylie
n the occasion of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the team from TidalWave Production, an independent Vancouver-based comics and graphic novels production studio, has released a special edition dedicated to Kylie. The colorful experiences of the singer come alive as we follow the ups and downs of the star. From her beginnings in Neighbours to her love stories to bravery in her battle with breast cancer, the comic tells Kylie’s life. If you want to buy it, you can go on Amazon and / or you can download the book or order it in physical version!
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THE MASKED SINGER
s you may know, since September 2019, Dannii Minogue was a judge at the show called « The Masked Singer » in Australia, alongside Lindsay Lohan, Dave Hughes and Jackie ‘O’ Henderson. The Masked Singer is a reality TV singing competition show where celebrities are dressed up and where the judges have to guess who they are before they are finally unveiled. Recently, a robot turned up on the stage of the show and triumphed with a re-worked version of « Can’t Get You Out Of My Head ». The song was given a fresh spin by the show’s music director, who made the arrangement a little darker, and a little more heavy on the strings and it worked like a charm. The robot was accompanied by dancers who were all decked out in red futuristic / Handmaid’s Tale visors. Even the dance moves were reminiscent of Kylie’s choreography, fitting in very nicely with the robot’s whole aesthetic. Describing Kylie’s choreography in this song’s video, Dannii and Jackie explained that « it was like a robot ». Dannii’s mouth dropped within the first few beats of the intro, and said « that’s my sister! ». Even though the robot has a very deep voice and is much taller than Kylie, it didn’t stop some members of the panel guessing that Kylie herself was behind the mask. « Maybe it is Kylie Minogue? » the presenter said, to which the Robot pointed his little robot butt to the audience (what a cliché!). The song choice excited both Jackie and Dannii who were more than keen to explain the song and it’s importance to Australian pop culture history to Lindsay. « What a trip that would be if it was actually your sister », added Lindsay. However, the TV show finished last week, and we can confirm that the Robot was not Kylie. It was Cody Simpson who is an Australian singer-songwriter, actor and model. Oh, and by the way he won the competition and « The Masked Singer » is over ! We know for sure that the series has been renewed for season 2, just imagine if Kylie did go there this time, it would be great !
HAPPY BIRTHDAAAAAAAAY dannii !
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n October 20th, it was Dannii’s Minogue’s 48th birthday and of course, that day Kylie wished her younger sister a happy birthday and posted pics of them together on Instagram. Contrary to what the press said for a long time (what wouldn’t the press do to sell…), the sisters have never been rivals. On the contrary they have always spoken highly of one another in interviews and are very close. Alongside four pictures (two of them together when they were children and two of them as adults), Kylie also wrote a text: « Happy, HAPPY birthday to my lil sis @Danniiminogue… My mind floods with so many memories - from making fun and games out of nothing when we were little, our connecting wardrobes when we were teens, all the hours you put in to work at such a young age and you, me and our brother Brendan all being so fortunate to have our family and each other. I could go on and on!!! In short, I love you and I’m so proud of you Mama!!! Happy Birthday! ». 43 www.kylie-world.com
Michael Griffiths sings songs for Kylie
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irst a quick presentation: Michael Griffiths graduated from the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA) with a bachelor in music theatre in 1999 and has a diploma in music composition. He won the Helpmann Award for Best Cabaret Performer in 2016 for his Cole Porter tribute, Cole and was nominated for a Green Room Award for « Best Supporting Actor » for his performance as Bob Crewe in Jersey Boys. He has also appeared in « Priscilla Queen of the Desert », « We Will Rock You » and « Shout ! ». Michael’s one-man-cabaret, « Michael Griffiths: Songs by Kylie », pays a loving and lyrical 60-minute homage to the pop princess. It hit Sydney’s Hayes Theatre at Potts Point on October 24th and finished on the evening of October 27th. On the promo poster of this show, Michael pays homage to Kylie’s infamous « hair hat » on the cover of her debut album, « Kylie ». This show - which explores her career from « Neighbours », through her Stock Aiitken Waterman years, and to her rebirth as the ultimate dance diva- has previously played the UK to critical acclaim. Scotland’s Deadline News, had stated: « Griffiths’ gay homage to a gay icon is loving and heartfelt, championing her personal battles and victories as much as her singing success. And, just like the pop princess herself, this show is small but perfectly formed ». The reviews for the show in Australia were also very good and all got five stars ! « Performed with more enthusiasm than I thought possible… Kylie would be proud » Broadway World UK « One infectious tune after another…Tailor made for one of Australia’s most prodigious cabaret talents » - The Advertiser « Michael Griffiths: Songs by Kylie is a sensational step back in time » - Deadline News Before this show Michael has been Madonna, Annie Lennox and Cole Porter, and everyone loved the shows! Check out his official YouTube page if you wanna know and see more Lovers. Isa and Laeti, October 2K19
Kylie in the press • October
What does it mean to trademark a name? BBC.CO.UK
Beyoncé is trying to get her daughter Blue Ivy’s name trademarked. A trademark usually helps give legal protection to a product or an idea, so other people can’t just copy it. A trademark can be a name, word, phrase, symbol design or picture. In Beyoncé’s case, she wants Blue Ivy’s name to be protected. But she’s in battle with a wedding planner whose company is also called Blue Ivy. The owner, Wendy Morales, is trying to block Beyoncé’s application and it looks like the case is heading to court - because neither side will budge! The popstar isn’t the only one to try and trademark something…
After lots of conversations between their lawyers Kylie Jenner has withdrawn her application! Taylor Swift Celebrities try and trademark all sorts of things, Taylor Swift trademarked phrases from her album, « 1989 ». The album sold two million copies in its first week, and some songs were hugely popular. Taylor knew it was a big deal, so trademarked some of the phrases from the more popular songs. They included « party like it’s 1989 » and « cause we never go out of style ».
Kylie Minogue and Kylie Jenner Liverpool Football Club Kylie Minogue and Kylie Jenner came to a bit of a disagreement about trademarks and their names. Liverpool FC tried to trademark the word « LiverKylie Jenner wanted to trademark her first name, pool ». because that’s what her business is called, « KYLIE ». The club wanted to trademark the word on its proBut Kylie Minogue blocked it. She said it would da- ducts, so that fans didn’t end up buying fake ones. mage her own brand, and she already owns several They sent their application to the Intellectual ProKylie related trademarks. perty Office, but they rejected it.
Stars like Kylie, Ariana Grande and Cheryl charge fans up to £1k to meet them EXCLUSIVE: Fans desperate to meeT idols like Christina Aguilera and Shawn Mendes have to shell out hundreds for VIP packages which have attracted criticism. MIRROR.CO.UK
Music fans are paying through the nose for a meet and greet with their heroes as stars charge up to a grand for access backstage. Pop legend Kylie Minogue charged fans an eye-watering £965 at her Café de Paris shows in London this year. The price included a photo op. Meanwhile singer Ariana Grande charges £609 for a photo, a soundcheck dance party and Q&A session with her dancers, pre-show lounge access, a poster, gift and commemorative laminate access card. You can press the flesh with ex-Girls Aloud singer Cheryl Cole for £350.
Fellow Brit Rita Ora’s VIP package included a standing ticket for her show, early entry, meeting and individual photo – all for a more modest £170.75. American Idol winner Carrie Underwood – who marketed her own VIP package for her UK « Cry Pretty » tour this year – charged £288.70 for a top price ticket, photo, gifts and signed print. Canadian Shawn Mendes’s top 2019 UK tour VIP package included meeting him and getting a signed guitar for £450.
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See veteran actor and singer David Hasselhoff, 67, feel ripped off ? ». on his European tour can meet the Hoff himself for an extra £264. Musicians are entitled to be as commercial about Peter Andre – whose hit Mysterious Girl was 23 their business as sport. Artists no longer make signifiyears ago – charged £143 for a meeting and soun- cant money from selling music so they have to adapt. dcheck access before a gig in Australia in February. « It comes down to how you price it. If I go into But Happy Mondays fans only need to stump up a room and there are 200 fans there and I get £20.65 on top of the £27.50 entry fee to meet former 30 seconds, with a quick selfie I’m going to feel lead singer Shaun Ryder in Hull next month. ripped off. If it’s done right it doesn’t need to be overtly commercial and it can be a really beautiThe Sunday Mirror told last week how Ariana ful experience ». Grande disappointed fans by cancelling future meet and greet sessions on her latest tour. The singer – whose Manchester Arena concert in Broadcaster Paul Gambaccini said the phenomeMay 2017 was attacked by a suicide terrorist, killing non began in the US adding: 22 people – offered refunds after saying PTSD and « It’s become a serious source of income for a panic attacks had forced her to pull out. Her spokescertain kind of actor and athlete, so I’m not surman said: prised pop musicians have joined the party ». « Ariana has gone on record on social media and told fans why she decided to cancel these meet The 1975 frontman Matty Healy said earlier this and greets – there is a lot of consideration beyear : fore cancellations are issued. That said there is a lot of added value with high ticket prices, pre« Who came up with paid meet and greets? Did mium ticket, soundcheck access, special backsthey think, « Surely there must be something tage party plus meet and greet, and limited edielse we can monetise... Oh! Human connection merch bundled on ». tion!! They’ll eat it up ! » ». Gary Cohen of management firm ATC called some charges « extortionate ». But he added:
Meet your fans or don’t. Don’t only meet them if you’re getting paid. Honestly, what are you doing?
« If you’re a Liverpool fan watching the game with Kenny Dalglish in the lounge, would you
Jason Donovan : you never forget a woman like kylie Minogue THETIMES.CO.UK
Everytime I see him my first question is: « So, have you listened to the tape? ». « The tape? What tape? Oh, the tape », he says when we meet this time. « No I haven’t. I haven’t had the stomach to face that just yet ». When Donovan was at the height of his fame in 1993 he made a tape. He had become a star in the Australian soap 45 www.kylie-world.com
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Kylie in the press • October Neighbours, fallen for his co-star Kylie Minogue and had a series of pop hits. However, Donovan was unhappy. He wanted to be taken seriously as a rock star like his heroes Michael Hutchence and Kurt Cobain from Nirvana. And so one night he recorded himself making the sort of angular, tortured rock that he felt best expressed who he really was. He cringes at the thought of listening to it again, but remembers it well. « The best song on it is called 2033 and it’s a kind of sci-fi drug-punk epic. It’s just a wall of sound with a lot of other stuff thrown at it. It’s about as far from « Any Dream Will Do » [the hit song from the West End musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat in which he starred in the early 1990s] as you could get. I don’t think many people would believe the guy on that tape is the same as the one here ». « Here » is the west London café round the corner from where he lives, and I find Donovan sitting outside, smiling to himself, eyes closed to the sun, oblivious to the nudges of passers-by. He is 51, but doesn’t look much older than 40. But that’s because « here » is also the plateau of calm and composure he has reached.
unexpectedly emotional. « I’m not trying to be cool about it whatsoever. I had some wonderful times with Kylie. You never forget a woman like that. And it got me reassessing a lot of other stuff from the past ». Earlier that summer Donovan had turned 50. He thought about adding a chapter to his autobiography and leaving it at that. Then he had the idea of writing a one-man show and calling it Jason Donovan’s Amazing Midlife Crisis. He’d take pride in his cheesy hits. He’d revisit past glories wearing a blond mullet wig. This year it played to more than 120 venues, telling his story from first meeting Minogue on a late-1970s Australian airport drama called Skyways (they were 11 years old) to reuniting and falling in love as teenagers on screen and off in Neighbours. Minogue left Donovan for the INXS frontman Hutchence, which is part of the reason Donovan began dabbling with drugs (it was Hutchence who came to Donovan’s assistance when he famously overdosed at Kate Moss’s 21st birthday party in Los Angeles in 1995).
The show also explored how his new girlfriend (now wife) Angela Malloch took him in hand and told him to clean up or move on because she was pre« I had a special moment with Kylie [Minogue] gnant with their first child Jemma. « The beginning of last summer and that really helped me realise that my new life », he says, nodding approvingly. « Having nostalgia is not always cheesy, it’s not always to be a family saved me ». dismissed », he says. In the summer of 2018 Donovan was drinking rosé in his back garden one Sunday afIt’s striking how his heroes fared less well. Cobain, ternoon. Then he remembered Minogue was headli- Hutchence and George Michael are dead, something ning a huge show at Hyde Park barely two miles away astonishing to Donovan now. « I met George in 1989 and he texted her a good-luck message. She texted in the changing room of a London gym. We were both him back: « Come down ». Donovan immediately cy- huge stars, but George was somehow achieving what cled over. I wanted — making his way from teen pin-up to being an adult sex symbol. When his solo album « Faith » « Going backstage I realised how much I still cared », came out, I was blown away — and envious. But, you he says. « I saw Rick Astley [the 1980s pop star and a know, I’ve learnt that you look at the whole life of a support act that day] and I thought, « I bet he’s singing person. He was a fantastic talent, but in the end he my bit of « Especially For You » with Kylie [Donovan’s was as troubled as anyone. I’ve come to accept that I number-one duet with her in 1988] and I wasn’t very was never George or Kurt Cobain. Accepting who you happy about it » ». It turned out Astley was there to are and what you have is a big part of finding hapdo his own hit, « Never Gonna Give You Up ». Mi- piness ». nogue invited Donovan to go on stage and get with her. « I really wasn’t sure », he says. « I’d had a glass His oldest child Jemma is 19 years old — Donovan of wine ». But it didn’t matter. Donovan walked out also has an 18-year-old son, Zac, and a daughter Molon the Hyde Park stage and the crowd erupted. He ly, aged eight — and this year she began appearing in picked her up like a bride and span her round and Neighbours. « I shed a tear when I found out she got then when Minogue pointed at him and sang, « You the part », Donovan says. were in my heart / My love never changed », it was 46 www.kylie-world.com
Laeti, October 2K19
These days he is clearly enjoying life. « Getting the He and the family spend most weekends at their midlife crisis off my chest has been very good for me ». house in Oxfordshire. There is good food and fine wines. However, he never listened to the tape and he has never done real therapy because he says he never Still, there is a strict regimen to follow if you want to felt any pain. This seems incredible because his one- hit 50 and still look like the hunk Scott Robinson. Doman show hinted that the break-up of his parents novan gets up early and drinks lemon and water and when he was five years old contributed to later un- eats an apple. Then he runs or cycles, heads to a gym happiness — he was largely brought up by his father and does a 15-minute stretching routine. He steams and estranged from his mother, who remarried wit- and might have a proper breakfast of scrambled eggs hin a year and had three more children, one of whom on sourdough « I was always healthy even when I later played Sky Mangel in Neighbours. Both parents was on my knees. I used to go for a swim and a steam are alive. Surely resolving the past might involve re- before my next binge », he says ruefully with a laugh. conciling with his mum? « That is not a decision I can make alone. It’s a two-way street and you’d have to Last year he got into trouble for saying that he ask her », he says. « All I will say is that I feel very would rather his children took drugs with him preloved and fulfilled ». sent than alone. « I don’t advocate taking drugs. It’s never cool. But I don’t want to say I didn’t enjoy it Against all odds, that fulfilment comes from re- myself because that would be lying. But nothing puts visiting the songs and stage roles that once contri- kids off illicit substances more than their dad saying, buted to his unhappiness. This year alone he has « Show me what you’ve got and let’s have a discusperformed in the London production of Joseph (as sion about it » ». Pharaoh), completed the lengthy Midlife Crisis tour, co-produced the UK revival of the stage show PrisWhen they’re in Oxfordshire Donovan mows the cilla, Queen of the Desert (Donovan was in the ori- lawn. Sometimes he thinks about rooting around in ginal West End production) and he’s now perfor- the attic for that old tape, but some things, he says, ming as part of the « 80s Invasion Tour » with Sister are best left alone. « Drugs make you the most inteSledge, Five Star and the like. This year he’ll travel to resting guy in the room for five minutes », he says. his home city of Melbourne to appear in the musical « But then you get older and you realise life is a lot Chicago before returning to the UK for a greatest-hits longer and deeper than a momentary high ». tour next year. « What can I say? I love my work and I love to live well. There are substantial overheads ».
Hatchie Talks Opening For Kylie Minogue, Mosh Pits, New Music B-SIDES.TV
The debut album by Hatchie, titled « Keepsake », was released in June earlier this year and the Brisbane-bred musician otherwise known as Harriette Pilbeam garnered positive critical reviews and has a growing fanbase. Expanding the dream-pop sounds Hatchie created on her EP « Sugar & Spice », she pushes into jagged guitar riffs and woozy rhythms combined with industrial-pop. Hatchie noted that naming the album « Keepsake » was appropriate since it 47 www.kylie-world.com
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Kylie in the press • October serves as a document of a particularly kinetic moment in her life. « I’m not much of a nostalgic person when it comes to memories, but I do have a tendency to hold on to certain things, like tickets from the first time I went someplace on holiday ». says Hatchie in reflecting on the album’s title.
lier this year. « There were things that I didn’t think could happen ». said Hatchie. When supporting Minogue Hatchie added : « She’s so professional. She’s been doing this for thirty years or so. She’s one of the top performers we’ve toured with ».
« It made sense to me to call the record that, at a time when I’m going to probably end up with a lot of keepsakes-and in a way, this whole album is almost like a keepsake in itself ».
After a brief tour with Girlpool and Kitten, Hatchie returned to San Francisco for the third time and this time headlining at Cafe Du Nord. B-Sides spoke to her about winning the local Australian Levi’s competition, collaborating with boyfriend Joe Prior to going solo, Hatchie played in two other Agius, the Chicago moshpit at one of her recent bands Babaganouj (2011) and Go Violets (2014). She shows and more. Check out the full interview on has had a great 2019, having opened for Death Cab their website ! For Cutie and her childhood idol Kylie Minogue ear-
Pete Waterman: « Megan McKenna can « absolutely » be the next Kylie Minogue after The X Factor: Celebrity » METRO.CO.UK
According to Metro, Megan McKenna is hoping « Absolutely, she’s brilliant, she’s fantastic ». that iconic music producer Pete Waterman will help her become the next Kylie Minogue following an apMegan has previously auditioned for The X Factor pearance on The X Factor: Celebrity. The pair made several times, but she said : an appearance on Good Morning Britain on Tuesday « the pressure is crazy ». after the premiere of Simon Cowell’s revamped singing competition which will see the likes of a Love and she felt : Island supergroup go up against Martin Bashir. « the comments were quite harsh but there is big competition ». Pete Waterman has been called on by the music mogul to help out for the show after his huge success Megan has been a country singer in the making for in the 1980s as part of Stock, Aitken and Waterman a few years now, knocking music icon Dolly Parton off who launched the careers of the likes of Kylie Mi- the top of the iTunes country charts with her debut nogue and Rick Astley. When asked if Megan can be album « Story Of Me », and opening the main stage the next Kylie, Pete told Piers Morgan and Susanna for Michael Bublé at British Summer Time in Hyde Reid: Park in 2019. 48 www.kylie-world.com
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Kylie Minogue - October, 23rd 2019 - Louis Vuitton Re-Opening - London Dress : Louis Vuitton 49 www.kylie-world.com
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Kylie Minogue - October 23rd, 2019 - Louis Vuitton Re-Opening - London Dress : Louis Vuitton 50 www.kylie-world.com
© Louis Vuitton
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Kylie Minogue - October 29th, 2019 - London Dress : David Koma 51 www.kylie-world.com
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Meanwhile, on social media... • October 2019
FACTS
FACTS
LIFESTYLE
FACTS
FACTS
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LIFESTYLE When I’m singing the french sentence of « Your Disco Needs You » from Kylie’s song.
LIFESTYLE
LIFESTYLE
FACTS I’ve just listened to Jenifer/ Kylie Minogue’s duet and this is my reaction.
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Kylie Reactions • October
Me when I think I’m super sexy when I’m actually dead drunk
Also me when I think I’m super sexy when I’m actually dead drunk
Me trying to recover from the hangover on the next day
The way my kids look at me when I tell them it’s time to go to bed
Me getting serious when the kids take aaaaaages to go to bed
Also me once my kids (finally) sleep
Me trying to remember if I turned the oven off before leaving the house
Me trying out a new deodorant
54 www.kylie-world.com
Isa, October 2K19
Me running late to go to a party
Me (very naturally) trying to get eye contact with my crush
Me when I heard about the Kylie/Jenifer duet for the first time
Also me when I first heard the lyrics of the song
And me today, still trying to figure them out
Me, when I hear rumors about myself that just came out of nowhere
When I’m having a bad hair day
My face when someone I don’t like is talking to me 55 www.kylie-world.com
Isa, October 2K19
The Kylie Times is made by Kylie World Website : www.kylie-world.com Founder : Laetitia Berry Editorial : Laetitia Berry and Isabelle Marin Design : Laetitia Berry Translations : Laetitia Berry and Isabelle Marin Website : www.kylie-world.com Email : contact@kylie-world.com SPECIAL THANKS TO : A&P Management Tove Lo and her team Isa for her help
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