FEATURE:
Why Should I Love You?
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush shot by Gered Mankowitz
The Accessible, Private and Otherworldly: The Many Sides of Kate Bush
___________
THIS is a bit of a grab bag feature…
PHOTO CREDIT: Rex
inspired by a couple of recent Kate Bush-related bits of news. An album I was not even aware of, I WANNA BE KATE: The Songs of Kate Bush, will be released on 22nd September. I am not sure whether it was available on vinyl when it came out in 1998, but one can order it on vinyl now! Here is some more information:
“In 1998, a group of brilliant Chicago indie artists/bands recorded 17 Kate Bush songs for the world's first official Kate Bush tribute album. Now, this classic Chicago-indie tribute album has been gorgeously remastered by 3-time Grammy-nominated producer Liam Davis - breathing new life, shine and spirit into these timeless, interesting and hugely enjoyable covers. The addition of 7 NEW songs ensures that every one of Kate's majestic, beloved and iconic albums are represented among our 24 tracks. Deep cuts, big hits, and even the humble b-side or two are here. We have been awed and inspired over and over again and all the songs have been made with love and gratitude for Kate Bush and her genius. EAT THE MUSIC! Mmmm...yes!”.
I think there are different sides to Kate Bush that makes her so fascinating and endlessly curious. The fact that there is this re-release shows that there is continuing affection and demand. Whilst it may not be a new Kate Bush album, it does prove that there are artists out there who love her music and have given some of her best songs their own spin!
I wonder whether there will ever be another compilation of Kate Bush covers, as there have been quite a few in the past couple of decades or so. Whereas there is this genius level of creativity and otherworldliness that makes Bush seem divine and untouchable, there is a tag that follows her around a lot: the reclusive one. Earlier this week (on 16th), a few features came out to celebrate Hounds of Love’s thirty-fifth anniversary. It was great to see people come together to praise and explore an album that ranks alongside the very best of all time. I like the feature Grammy wrote, and they mentioned how, by 1985, people assumed Bush was hidden away and would not release any music again:
“Bush had to fight tooth and nail to launch Hounds of Love with "Running Up That Hill" instead of the much-preferred "Cloudbusting." However, she did make a rare concession to her label. The battle of the sexes had originally been titled "A Deal with God" before EMI bosses convinced the singer that its religious connotations would scare off the bible belt. It was the first of several signs that Bush wanted as many people to hear the fruits of her labor as possible.
Indeed, Bush has since garnered a reputation for being so reclusive she makes Howard Hughes look like a social butterfly. But in the fall of 1985 you couldn’t turn on late-night cable TV without hearing her softly spoken English tones answering a variety of inane questions about her anything-but-inane career: she has to work overtime to hide her disdain during this particularly awkward interview on USA Network’s Night Flight.
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush at Tower Records in 1985
There were also several radio appearances and, even more remarkably, a signing session at Greenwich Village’s Tower Records store. Yet it was Bush’s embracing of the music video that truly helped her connect with U.S. audiences beyond the fringes of the art-rock scene”.
I have sort of hinted at this in previous features, but Kate Bush is an ordinary and very relatable person (even though a video I saw of her making tea years back made me smile due to its eccentricity) - albeit one with supreme talent and original brilliance! I think the ‘reclusive’ tag has dogged her since the earliest years, and Bush just wanted to make music and live a normal life. Maybe the press feel that a musician cannot live normally and needs to be seen – whether that is at big events, lots of touring or making the news. As Bush only toured once (on 1979’s The Tour of Life) and only returned to the stage for a large-scale production in 2014 (for Before the Dawn), there is always this thing that she is a reclusive and does not want to be seen! The truth is that she is an albums artist, and she spends most of her time recording and creating as opposed to performing. It is strange that musicians like Bush were being written off and labelled because she did not release an album in a few years. Hounds of Love arrived after 1982’s The Dreaming, and it does not seem like such a huge gap when you compare that to today’s scene!
Bush never shunned fans, and she did do promotion in the U.S. for Hounds of Love. That was an album that really broke her there – even though The Dreaming was her first big step into American hearts -, and the signings in the U.S. shows that she was not this reclusive artist that wanted to hide away. It is that accessible nature that many love her for, as she always wants to show the fans her appreciation, and she did that right through her career. Fan conventions began in 1980, and though she did not attend all of them, she did go to a few, and was more than happy to chat to fans and be seen! That’s what makes it strange that Bush has this reputation as almost being ghost-like in her lack of public appearances. I think she was much more visible than many artists today, who can do a lot of promotion and work online. Factor out the live music aspect, and Bush has given the world plenty. Since 2011’s 50 Words for Snow, she has not said too much, but one assumes that there is music brewing and she is focusing on her next step. Since 1978, Bush has been all over the world and conducted so many interviews. She has been to her album signings and there have been live performances and various events through the years. From singing alongside Rowan Atkinson at 1986’s Comic Relief, to Bush promoting Hounds of Love at the London Planetarium in 1985, I think we can dispel the notion that she is reclusive!
Kate Bush is private, for sure, and she is not someone who welcomes in glossy magazines or is keen to have her personal life shared. Since the start of her career, I think some people saw her as a commodity, and I wonder whether her label, EMI, were always interested in what she wanted and how she was projected, as opposed trying to get as much music out there and sending her all over the world. Like many Pop artists, Bush’s private and love life were speculated and raised in interviews. One reason why she was a little reluctant to be too outgoing and ‘typical’ was this constant desire for the press to know her business and ask about her private stuff! In an interview with Hot Press in 1985, Bush was asked about how she is marketed and why she kept her relationship with Del Palmer secret for so many years:
“As somebody who is involved in making records, you are also involved in creating a product and to an extent, Kate Bush becomes a commodity. How do you feel about that?
"Yes, that is something that does scare me. If you want to make records, videos, you have got to have money, and to get that money you have to have albums that are relatively successful. You have to promote them. And that's where I feel the commodity side comes in, because as soon as the personality seeps into it rather than the work, you're making that person vulnerable to the public. I don't like that. I'd much rather work on albums, videos, and explore films and that, without having to promote them. I find it difficult, I feel false. It's very against what I feel is right.
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush with Del Palmer
"I think sometimes the work speaks much better than the person does. I certainly feel mine does. Because I can spend a lot of time trying to say something, and I don't feel that I am good enough at what I am doing now to really warrant doing it, other than for selling my work. And I think sometimes it can go against the work: the personality can almost taint it."
You successfully declined to discuss your relationship with Del [Del Palmer, Kate's demo engineer and bass player.] publicly for seven years. Why was that?
"Well, I don't feel our relationship is anything to do with anyone other than us."
But on the other hand, it was made public knowledge through the Daily Mirror.
"Yes. There was a launch of the album, and it was really a decision, whether we didn't go together or whether we'd go together and just behave normally. And we thought it was silly not to go together-- so we went together. And everyone wanted photographs of the two of us. It was quite a shock for both of us--It's been a long time since there's been that many cameras going off for me. And I don't think Del had experienced anything quite like that before. So it's not that it all suddenly came out in the open. There was a launch and he was there. But they loved it!"
Does it create any tension that you are the one who is the bigger earner? Obviously you have the greater income. It's a reversal of the conventional pattern.
"It's not really that unusual now. Del's very involved in the work. He seems to really enjoy the music, so we actually work together. I don't think he minds".
Despite the fact Bush was asked about her personal relationships and people probed her quite a bit through her career, she has always been the epitome of forthcoming, warm and compliant. It would take too long to scan the interview archives to give examples, but Bush has always given great interviews and willingly talked about her music - and not completely close off when someone asks about her family or private life. Again, it comes back to accessibility and Bush not wanting to be a diva or seeming too precious! If one does some digging, they will see plenty of examples of Kate Bush displaying enormous humour and playfulness; a legendary hospitality and kindness that meant, invariably, so many interviewers were speechless. So many artists tend to have the one side: either they are quite distant and cautious regarding interviews and public appearances, or they are more open and warmer. Not to pour scorn on artists who are a bit colder, but it is rare to see an artist that is grounded and accessible, but one who can remain private and put out music that is almost superhuman and supernatural in its range and skill!
IN THIS PHOTO: A young Kate Bush captured by her brother, John Carder Bush (from the book, Kate Inside the Rainbow)
I am not suggesting the main reason Kate Bush is idolised by fans and musicians alike is because she has this contrast of the super-normal and ultra-rare, but it is intriguing that she has sustained such a high level of love and popularity by leading a career very different to other major artists. The hectic first few years she experienced in her career drastically affected her, in that she wanted to record and have more say in terms of her work and movements – whilst she liked seeing the fans and her tour, it was a bit exhausting for her! Rather than Bush being reclusive, she is actually very normal. I think that is what shocks people the most: How can a superstar and icon remain normal and yet be seen as this goddess of music?! It is a balance few artists have achieved, but I think Bush’s approach is so refreshing and it has definitely influenced other artists. There is a level of promotion everyone needs to undertake, but having that necessary time to create, having some autonomy and say of their career and being able to switch off and have a normal home life is something that Bush has achieved. Perhaps having a very balanced, sensible, and comfortable upbringing is a reason why many huge artists find it hard to remain planted, but Bush did grow up in a very loving, artistic and happy house. I think she wants that for herself and her family, so courting the media and touring the world does not hold much appeal and necessity.
I want to finish up on why there is so much love for her albums, why a covers album is being reissued, and why, every day, there is such a wave of affection for her work and her in general. She is a confirmed icon, and her impact on culture and the music world is enormous! Inspiring artists from all corners and areas of the musical map, so many can relate to Kate Bush as a human, but they are flabbergasted when it comes to her music and how different it is to the image – or projected image – we have of her. Through her music, Bush has assumed so many different personas and guises and, like David Bowie, I think there is this public/musical Kate Bush that is always-inventive and often flamboyant, and then a more private and quieter public figure who just wants to live their life in their own way. That is refreshing, and I think many people are guided by Kate Bush as a person as an artist. I shall leave things there, but I wanted to approach Bush as someone who has been mislabelled as overly-private and reclusive, and actually is one of the most relatable, accessible and normal artists there has ever been. Her legacy is built on so many different foundations and layers, but the phenomenal Kate Bush has these very different sides that, combined, makes this incredible icon who has inspired so many people. Kate Bush is someone who always leaves me…
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush during the filming of the video for There Goes a Tenner (1982) from The Dreaming
IN such awe.