FEATURE:
Kate Bush’s Wuthering Heights at Forty-Five
Will There Be a 2023 Revival and ‘Big Moment’ for the Iconic Debut Single?
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I will do more…
PHOTO CREDIT: Gered Mankowitz
anniversary features about Kate Bush’s debut single, Wuthering Heights, which turns forty-five on 20th January. In February, her debut album, The Kick Inside, has the same anniversary. It is a busy couple of months, so I was keen to explore one of the most startling and original debut singles ever. There is something I wonder about the song. Before then, here is some information about Bush’s 1978 debut single from the Kate Bush Encyclopedia:
“Originally, record company EMI's Bob Mercer had chosen another track, James And The Cold Gun as the lead single, but Kate Bush was determined that ‘Wuthering Heights’ would be her first release. She won out eventually in a surprising show of determination for a young musician against a major record company, and this would not be the only time she took a stand against them to control her career.
The release date for the single was initially scheduled to be 4 November 1977. However, Bush was unhappy with the picture being used for the single's cover and insisted it be replaced. Some copies of the single had already been sent out to radio stations, but EMI relented and put back the single's launch until the New Year. Ultimately, this proved to be a wise choice, as the earlier release would have had to compete with Wings' latest release, ‘Mull of Kintyre’, which became the biggest-selling single in UK history up to this point in December 1977.
‘Wuthering Heights’ was finally released on 20 January 1978, was immediately playlisted by Capital Radio and entered their chart at no. 39 on 27 January. It crept into the national Top 50 in week ending 11 February at No.42. The following week it rose to No.27 and Bush made her first appearance on Top of the Pops ("It was like watching myself die", recalls Bush), The song was finally added to Radio One's playlist the following week and became one of the most played records on radio. When the song reached number 1, it was the first UK number 1 written and performed by a female artist.
When I first read Wuthering Heights I thought the story was so strong. This young girl in an era when the female role was so inferior and she was coming out with this passionate, heavy stuff. Great subject matter for a song.
I loved writing it. It was a real challenge to precis the whole mood of a book into such a short piece of prose. Also when I was a child I was always called Cathy not Kate and I just found myself able to relate to her as a character. It's so important to put yourself in the role of the person in a song. There's no half measures. When I sing that song I am Cathy.
(Her face collapses back into smiles.) Gosh I sound so intense. Wuthering Heights is so important to me. It had to be the single. To me it was the only one. I had to fight off a few other people's opinions but in the end they agreed with me. I was amazed at the response though, truly overwhelmed.
Kate’s Fairy Tale, Record Mirror (UK), February 1978”.
I was thrilled that Bush’s Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God) got to number one last year and has enjoyed this success. Bush has very much been back in the spotlight, and I do hope that there is a lot more Kate Bush love this year. Who knows what will be offered up. Stranger Things helped get the Hounds of Love song to number one. I have raised this before, but will Wuthering Heights provide another ‘Kate Bush moment’. Other T.V. shows are using older songs in incredible scenes, partly to give the artist credit and new exposure, but also to be original and fresh. The Netflix series, Wednesday, used The Cramps’ Goo Goo Muck in a scene involving Jenna Ortega as the titular character. I do not want every Kate Bush hit used in shows, but Wuthering Heights is a song I think needs revival and new purpose. It does not necessarily require the track on a big American series, but Wuthering Heights is so vivid and extraordinary, it would be remarkable if it gained new life. The original videos are great. The ‘white dress’ version and the ‘red dress’ version are appropriately spellbinding, but I have always imagined the song scoring something beguiling. Whether it is a gothic scene similar to the one from Wednesday or a dream sequence, my wish is Wuthering Heights gets picked up and makes it onto the small or big screen.
I feel there is a tendency for producers and filmmakers to go for something from Hounds of Love, as that is the most popular and recognisable album. Maybe the singles are more commercial and accessible, so they are flexible and better suit themselves to the screen. The amazing production (by Bush) definitely sounds less dated than the production of Wuthering Heights by Andrew Powell. Even so, I do fear that Wuthering Heights get a bit overlooked in terms of radio plays and any wider exposure. That said, it is the second-most-streamed Bush song on Spotify. I wonder whether a lot of the new generation who are discovering her work are aware of Wuthering Heights or have spent time with it. In future anniversary features, I will explore other sides to Wuthering Heights, including its huge importance and legacy. A song that is incomparable and has this power and beauty, it is definitely primed for spotlighting on the screen. Maybe Kate Bush has not been solely responsible for this phenomenon of classic songs working their way onto modern series, but she has definitely lit a fuse. More will definitely come about this year. Seeing Wuthering Heights scoring a big scene would get the song to new people and prove what an important release it is. Forty-five years after its release, I have not heard anything like it. I know that there will be new perspectives and articles written about the single very soon. Forty-five years later, Kate Bush’s number one debut single remains…
ONE of her greatest moments.