FEATURE:
Tom Doyle’s Running Up That Hill: 50 Visions of Kate Bush
IN THIS PHOTO: Noel Edmonds posing for a promotional photo for Multi-Coloured Swap Shop
Kate Bush on Multi-Coloured Swap Shop, 20th January, 1979
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THERE are a few T.V. appearances from Kate Bush…
that could be written about in detail. I love the time she was on The Kenny Everett Video Show in 1978. One of the most fascinating parts of Bush’s career is her interaction with young fans. Most people would assume adults were the only fans of Bush’s music in the early years. There were a lot of children and teens who loved her music and wanted to know more. This clip of her on Razzamataz discussing her track, Sat in Your Lap, in July 1981 is one of my favourite things. The album it is from, The Dreaming, was released in 1982. Perhaps an album not many of her young fans would have been able to digest or fully understand, it is fascinating seeing the way she interacted with the eager children who were in the studio for that interview. I always associate her interviews with adults and one-on-one. There were times when she had a bit of an audience. I am returning to Tom Doyle’s excellent new Kate Bush book, Running Up That Hill: 50 Visions of Kate Bush. He dedicates an entire chapter to Bush appearing on the fabulous Multi-Coloured Swap Shop. I shall share some of Doyle’s words soon. First, the Kate Bush Encyclopedia give us some details about a unique Kate Bush promotional experience:
“The show was hosted by Noel Edmonds and his associates were Keith Chegwin, John Craven and, from 1978, Maggie Philbin. Also featured was Posh Paws, a stuffed toy dinosaur. Edmonds once explained that his name was actually spelled 'Pohs Paws', because that is 'Swap Shop' backwards as suggested in the phone in by 5 year old Duncan Beck. The content of the programme included music, visits from celebrities, competitions, and cartoons. There was also coverage of news and issues relevant to children, presented by John Craven, building on his profile as the presenter of John Craven's Newsround.
The cornerstone, however, was the Swaporama element, hosted by Chegwin, who was very rarely in the studio. An outside broadcast unit would travel to different locations throughout the country where children could swap their belongings with others. This proved to be one of the most popular aspects of the show, often achieving gatherings of more than 2,000 children. Generally, the primary purpose of the BBC OB unit was to broadcast a sporting event at that Swaporama venue later that day. This allowed Swap Shop to use the same unit and save programming costs which would otherwise be prohibitive.
On 20 January 1979, Kate Bush was a guest in the programme. She was interviewed by Noel Edmonds and answered phoned in questions.
Swap Shop was a success, attracting substantial ratings not only among its target audience of children, but also students and parents. It ended in 1982, to allow the presenters to move on to other projects — notably Edmonds, who became one of the highest-profile TV presenters in the UK. It was replaced by a series of similar programmes, most notably Saturday Superstore, Going Live! and Live & Kicking.
The programme didn't survive in the BBC archive. Every edition of Swap Shop was recorded in full every week onto two 90-minute Quad tapes. These tapes were held by the BBC until the late 1980's, at which time the Deputy Head of Children's Television, Roy Thompson, allowed many of them to be wiped and sold to Australia as recycled stock. Although Quad tape was considered obsolete in the UK, Australia was still using it extensively at that time, and as the Swap Shop tapes had no physical splices in them, they were considered ideal for re-use. As a consequence, no archive of Swap Shop exists and subsequent archive reissues of in-studio appearances had to be taken from domestic video recordings that had survived in private hands”.
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in 1978/PHOTO CREDIT: Shutterstock
On 20th January, 1979 (prior to The Tour of Life and after the release of Lionheart, a couple of months before she released Wow), Bush was willing to answer the fan to young fans. They would call the famous 01 811 8055 number. I have dropped in what can be found on YouTube. It is a shame that there is not a better-quality version of her appearance. I am fascinated by Kate Bush’s interviews and feel they should be remastered and all available on a website as a series of videos. Organising them by year, her Multi-Coloured Swap Shop jaunt is wonderful! It is brilliant that Tom Doyle spends a chapter transcribing the interview for his book. Clearly, it is an experience and moment of Kate Bush history that means a lot to him. It is certainly one of my favourite Kate Bush T.V. moments. Released the year before, Noel Edmonds launched in and asked Bush about her debut single, Wuthering Heights. Bush confirmed how she always wanted to be a singer and how great it is to finally being able to do that. Even early in 1979, Edmonds put it to Bush that she was dubbed the ‘voice of 1978’. Her explanation is that people associate her with one song. Maybe the unusualness of the song led people to highlight Bush in this way. Rather than silly questions being asked, it was quite a serious interview - though there was a lot of fun had.
Before Bush picked up the phone to callers, Noel Edmonds discussed him working with Bush on Top of the Pops. He was there for her second performance on the series. It was not without issues and problems, as there were plastic orchids. The fear being they would all go up in flames! Less than a year after being thrust into the T.V. limelight, Bush was recalling performance nerves and technical problems that she experienced at such a huge time. By the time she was on Multi-Coloured Swap Shop, she had released two studio albums and had an international tour at the back of her mind. Rather than quote all the calls Bush took for Multi-Coloured Swap Shop, there are a few questions that caught my eye and ear. David Lang wanted to know what The Man with the Child in His Eyes is all about. From her debut album, The Kick Inside, it was the second and final single released in the U.K. (the first being Wuthering Heights). Quite a mature question from such a young fan! Bush explained – which got laughs from the crew – that men are grown-up children. She felt that this man (the hero) of the song “can communicate with a young girl because he is on the same level”. If an adult journalist had asked about The Man with the Child in His Eyes, I think they might have had a different reaction to the answer! A child asking Bush the same question is different. Bush never talks down to the children. She gives them her full attention and respect.
Aside from a question from a child who asked Bush what she’d be doing if she weren’t an artist (Bush, half-jokingly, suggested she’d work at Woolworths!), Sarah Tooley got the opportunity to ask Bush a couple of questions. Tooley asked which of Bush’s records was her favourite. Bush said it was Oh England My Lionheart (from Lionheart). Comically, the young girl gave a befuddled ‘oh’…perhaps not expecting Bush to choose a song like that! Even if Bush since distanced herself from that song, it was clear she chose that song as it was from her latest album. Maybe Bush felt on the spot too, but I am quite surprised she chose that particular number! Before wrapping up, there was a question a bit earlier that was interested. Monique Vinson asked where Bush got her clothes from. She explained from antique shops, as she bought them for the songs she sung and preferred older clothes. Perhaps less expensive and in a less public space than high street outlets, that was something I was not aware of! At the end of the interview, Bush posed a question for the listeners so they could win a bundle of prizes, including a bomber jacket from New Zealand and some shorts from Italy! Quite an international and unusual range of goodies, I wonder if they were specifically aimed at children or more for their parents?! Noel Edmonds asked Bush whether she was going to bring her skills and passion into a tour. Bush said things were sort of in air and that she would like to. Edmonds, knowing Bush was a dancer, asked if she would like to do that on tour. She was not sure whether she could leap into the air and sing and combine dance and singing in the way she wanted.
That is interesting, as it would be a short time after that interview when Bush was planning The Tour of Life. In fact, she probably already started to plant things by the time she appeared on Multi-Coloured Swap Shop! Bush read out the competition winner from the question asked in the previous week’s Multi-Coloured Swap Shop. Sadly, as Tom Doyle notes in his chapter, we never got to know who won the Bush bundle of prizes – lost as it is in the mists of time! I’d like to think whoever it was still has the items and preserves them. It is a shame that such a fun, interesting and important T.V. appearance from Kate Bush is not really available in a good form. Bush had a hectic 1978 and did a load of interviews, There were not many that were fun or had that playful vibe. After releasing Lionheart in November 1978, at the start of 1979, she was looking ahead to a third album (Never for Ever) and that all-important sole tour. I can see why Doyle dedicated a whole chapter to this one interview, as it was so much more than that! A rare opportunity to see Bush on kids T.V. and fielding questions via phone, it is sort of a one-off! It is special because it stands out from the tsunami of interviews and appearances Bush made through 1978. 1979 is a year when she was on tour and, although there were interviews, most of her time was dedicated to The Tour of Life and recording Never for Ever. Looking back at the video and seeing Bush smiling answering the phone to young fans during an edition of Multi-Coloured Swap Shop in January 1979 is…
A very interesting and fun T.V. slice of gold.