FEATURE:
The Clique Inside
A New Kate Bush Fan Club Community for 2021
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MAYBE I have nodded to this before…
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush performing Wuthering Heights on Top of the Pops in 1978
when I was discussing the books, HomeGround, and how that is a chronical of the Kate Bush fan club, HomeGround, that ran from 1982 to 2011. They would publish regular fanzines with articles, photos, poems and other bits and pieces from fans and the press. It was a great way to keep updated with everything Kate Bush and, sadly, it ended after all of that time. I guess there is the digital takeover so, in this age, something more traditional is always going to be threatened. We still have music magazines, but I wonder whether they will decline in years to come. You do not really get fanzines and fan clubs anymore; it is another one of those things that seems to have gone with the advent and growth of the Internet. I have speculated before but, as Kate Bush’s fan numbers continues to rise and there is this affection from all corners of the globe, why isn’t there a club or community that can draw us all together? I don’t think restarting the fanzine would be a bad idea because, as always, there is a demand for physical music – I think there is also a desire for the printed word. There is something more personal about a printed fanzine, and I like the fact that you can compile so many interesting things into this magazine or paper. Maybe it would be a bit old-skool, but I think there is this growing demand for Kate Bush and her work and there isn’t really a worldwide fan club.
I don’t know whether any conventions could take place as that used to happen years ago. Bush would occasionally attend, and it was a way for fans to come together and show their appreciation for a heroine. I would say that, since the 1980s and 1990s, the fanbase is broader and more devoted. One does not really get to connect with Kate Bush fans through the Internet. There are so many different tweets and posts daily and, aside from The Most Wuthering Heights Day Ever – where fans get together each year to recreate the video for Wuthering Heights (the U.S. version) -, there is not that much community en masse. Maybe there are smaller clubs here and there but, as we have felt disconnected and distant this year, I do think that something akin to the HomeGround fanzine would be great. It is wonderful seeing so much love for Bush and her music. I don’t think that will diminish, so how many would object to a fan club?! I reckon it would be a great way of not only getting fans together around the world on an annual basis, but it would provide a space for fans to share their memories and favourite Kate Bush music. I published a feature recently after MARINA announced a fanzine, MARINAZINE, and it got me thinking about how artists are trying to get closer to fans.
It is really difficult having a bond with fans when everything is digital. This move from MARINA seemed like the start of something bigger. Not to say that Kate Bush herself would spearhead a fanzine or fan club, but I do know how much she means to so many people so, rather than there being all this Internet love she may never see, a return to the older ways would be awesome! Not only could there be a fairly regular fanzine printed and sent – either every month or a few times a year -, but a great new fan club would be something more than retro throwback. It would give fans this community and, more than that, I think it would give people/fans a more physical and human connection with her work. I think 2021 will be a busy year regarding Kate Bush. Maybe not in terms of her releasing music, though many artists will cover her songs and there will be salutes from the media, in addition to a massive wave of affection from social media. This year was pretty eventful, as several magazines focused on Kate Bush – which goes to show that she is as popular now as ever. I would love for there to be this fan club that starts off small and has its own fanzine and, as it brings in more people and big names, it keeps growing and there is this wonderful thing that joins fans together! I shall leave it there, but I have been thinking about how artists are represented now in terms of fandom and how impersonal and disconnected it seems. I suppose that is the way things go with things moving more online, but that does not mean we have to ignore things of the past and rekindle the notion of fanzines and fan clubs. Maybe, as Kate Bush record label is called Fish People, a fan club/fanzine could be called the same/similar; a way to illustrate how there is an ocean of support and love…
FOR a musicians we all admire so much.