FEATURE:
A Fascinating Chapter
Kate Bush and Japan, June 1978
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I sort of mentioned Japan in the…
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in Japan in June 1978
context of Kate Bush’s career in 1978 in a different feature. This is a really interesting part of Kate Bush’s career that does not get talked about much. For most artists, they are encouraged to reach as much of the world as possible, and one of the biggest goals is to ‘crack America’. For Kate Bush, I don’t think America was on her radar much. She would achieve recognition there by the time The Dreaming arrived in 1982 and, even though she recorded an alternative video for her debut single, Wuthering Heights, for America, when it came to her first album, The Kick Inside, I think America was further away in her mind than a country like Japan. It is interesting thinking about the countries Bush’s singles were released in – in the sense of her releasing specific songs especially for certain countries. On The Kick Inside, Strange Phenomena was released for Brazil, whereas Moving, and Them Heavy People were released in February and May respectively for the Japanese market alone. I am not sure why Japan was a country of target for Bush and EMI right from the start. Lionheart’s Symphony in Blue was released in Japan and Canada only, whereas she would market more for the U.S., Europe and Australia after 1978 – Them Heavy People reached number-three on the Japanese charts, whilst Moving was a popular single. Maybe popularity waned in Japan after The Kick Inside, or Bush’s experiences in the country meant that she was reluctant to release singles and promote there more after 1978.
I feel that it was a bit odd that Japan was selected as a big market right away. I think the country was more receptive to Bush’s music early on compared to America, and there are influences of the East on the album cover for The Kick Inside – that said, my favourite cover for The Kick Inside is the Japanese edition (featuring an iconic photo shot by English photographer, Gered Mankowitz). Maybe the more spiritual and soothing nature of Moving was more receptive and resonant to a Japanese audience, as America was experiencing Punk and a lot of heavier sounds in 1978; Them Heavy People, also, has a quirkiness and sound that I feel is more suited to a Japanese market – one that is a little more broad-minded when it comes to music and the odder side of the coin. I love Bush’s experiences in Japan, as it must have been unusual stepping foot in the country. To be fair, she seems to have adopted some Japanese culture for The Kick Inside – as some promotional photos show her in a kimono -, and I think the country took her to heart quickly. The language barrier was a bit of an issue. Whereas translation was not a problem in the U.S. and other English-speaking nations, Bush would have found it trickier navigating Japan – she did visit Australia and New Zealand in 1978, but I think her Japanese trip is much more illuminating.
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in 1978
Bush would engage in advertising in 1994 for Fruitopia – a fruit drink range launched by Coca-Cola – and she composed a series of short instrumental pieces for various-flavoured drinks. Strangely, Bush recorded a television commercial for Seiko while she was in Japan in 1978. A few print ads, featuring Kate wearing Seiko watches, were also produced. The television commercial featured a sample from her song, Them Heavy People, which was released as a single in Japan at the time. She also performed this song during a few Japanese television programmes during her visit in Japan. Maybe the decision for her to advertise was more directed by EMI’s hand, but Bush would not use her music for advertising in the same way after that Seiko advert. I am going to repeat myself a bit as, when I looked at her time in Japan earlier in the year, I quoted from a website that dedicated a page to a wonderfully different experience for Bush. Travel and promoting far afield was something she came to dislike early on, and I am not sure how comfortable Bush would have been in Japan and immersing herself fully. It is wonderful that the country bonded with singles like Them Heavy People, and it is interesting to think how her singles would have fared in Japan if she released promotional singles there after Lionheart. The six-month whirlwind of touring that she undertook to promote The Kick Inside must have been gruelling!
Bush was being shuttled between various countries and T.V. shows where she was performing live and talking about her album – those who feel Bush did not perform live much need to remember how many times she performed live when promoting her singles and albums! Kate Bush’s trip to Japan in June 1978 was an extraordinary one. I am quote from the excellent Dreams of Orgonon, who talk about it:
“On the 18th of June, 1978, Kate Bush performed “Moving” to an audience of 11,000 people at the Nippon Budokan for the 7th Tokyo Music Festival. This is just the number of people watching who were present, however. About 33 million people watched Bush on TV, a staggeringly large number. Japan and its huge physical music market had its eyes on Bush, and she was suitably terrified. For all that the lead track status of “Moving” makes it a fitting opening number for a performance, Bush is visibly terrified while singing this song, her voice wavering as a band she’s never met before coming to Japan played her music”.
About a year after Bush and her band were performing modest gigs in pubs around London prior to The Kick Inside being released, she was performing to a massive audience on a grand stage! I am not sure whether Bush was fully aware how many people would see that performance, but even though she brought her extravaganza, The Tour of Life, to the world in 1979, the thought of repeating such an immense and nerve-wracking experience would have held little appeal!
There is this odd clash between Bush respecting Japanese culture and engaging with traditions – she attended a Shinto shrine when she was there -, and the slightly misleading and irrelevant (to most) oriental influence of The Kick Inside’s cover. Bush would have been keen to indulge in Japanese rituals and the scene and accommodate her hosts. As Songs of Orgonon write, Bush “slightly flubs her one English TV interview discussing Japan when she refers to Japanese people as “not saying how they feel.” It’s a cryptic moment and some of the messages it sends aren’t great”. It is a shame that the videos we have of Bush in Japan are pretty poor in quality and we cannot really get a sense of the atmosphere and look of her performances. It would have been great to have some rare footage out there to show Bush away from performance; her in Japan and visiting various sites. I suppose she would have been going through the motions to an extent and she was out of her comfort zone, but I am fascinated by the ‘Japanese chapter’ and the trip she made there. One thing I knew about Bush is that she had a love for The Beatles – I mean, most artists do! I think she cited Magical Mystery Tour as her favourite album of theirs and, when performing with the KT Bush Band in 1977, The Beatles’ Come Together was played. Maybe as a way of familiarising herself to Japanese audiences in 1978, she did play Beatles tracks - as you can hear from this vinyl release.
Even though she did perform covers of Beatles songs well, perhaps something was lost in translation to an extent:
“In addition, Bush performs a surprising amount of Beatles songs. As a solo act, she sings “She’s Leaving Home” and “The Long and Winding Road.” As part of an ensemble, Bush performs “Let It Be.” The results are mediocre at best: Bush whoops the relatively silent “She’s Leaving Home,” runs into the basic problem of nobody ever having made “The Long and Winding Road” work exacerbated by saccharine orchestral accompaniment, and across three takes of “Let It Be” struggles to maneuver her way into the song (we’ll deal with another version in the Tour of Life post, and her final recording of “Let It Be” is too big for this blog post). Perhaps the most notable common element of these songs is their writer, Paul McCartney (John Lennon wrote the chorus of “She’s Leaving Home,” but the bulk of the song is McCartney’s). McCartney is certainly the poppiest of the Beatles —Harrison and Lennon would never have penned something like “Let It Be.” A number of his songs can be described as feelgood (this is the man who would write “Ebony and Ivory,” you understand). This suggests Bush likes a certain degree of pop in her music, with emotional characters and sweeping melodrama. She’s long staked her flag in the ground as a Sgt. Pepper stan. This explosion of pop showmanship can be considered a Beatles tribute, Bush’s dabbling in Marianne Faithfull waters for a day”.
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush featured in a Japanese magazine in 1978
Maybe her Japanese trip of 1978 was influential when it came to the way Bush approached live performances and the studio going forward. The Tour of Life was performed in Europe, but she did not undertake any big promotional jaunts to Japan after 1978. Indeed, she kept closer to home when performing live and, after 1979, she retreated more into the studio and undertook fewer promotional activities and T.V. performances. Though she did perform on T.V. (most of this involved U.K. promotion), when she did perform for T.V. shows further afield, I don’t think she ever came to love the experience. One feels sad that entire albums of hers were never brought to the stage – such as the marvellous The Dreaming of 1982 -, and one cannot blame her Japanese sojourn for that omission. I think there was an eagerness from EMI to push Bush as far as possible on her debut album, in the sense that they wanted her to impact and penetrate as many nations as possible. There was great faith in her music and popularity, but I wonder how much planning went into the itinerary and readying Bush for various different countries and cultures. Bush threw herself into every promotional junket, and I feel like the Japanese trip was a lost opportunity. Only a few months after The Kick Inside came out, she was charged with promoting it there!
Such a huge and influential nation, I think she would have felt more comfortable and would have hit harder if there was more planning and discussion. In any case, I think it is a really fascinating aspect of 1978. I might turn my attentions to Australia and her promotional activity there, as it seems like she had a better time and was more at ease. Despite some flawed moments, advertising a watch brand and a hugely intimidating live performance, there are some positives. Bush would have definitely got some benefits and pleasures from exploring Japan – even if her time there was limited -, and she released two successful singles there and would have introduced her music to a lot of new fans. Also, that performance at the Nippon Budokan was a huge leap from her KT Bush Band duties, the appearances on T.V. shows like Top of the Pops and a properly big musical audience. As The Tour of Life was more rehearsed and she was in the company of band members and trusted friends, it was a smoother experience, yet she had an early lesson in handling nerves and delivering her music to a big (if uninitiated and slightly muted) audience. Kate Bush’s moving (pardon the pun!) experience in Japan would have opened her eyes and, negatively or positively, impacted future decisions and her career in general. Even though it is a small part of her early-career story, I think Bush’s Japan odyssey is…
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in Japan in June 1978
A very important one.