FEATURE:
The Kate Bush Interview Archive
1984: Women of Rock
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I wanted to head back to 1984…
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush at Tyne Tees studios in 1981. Bush and Lyn Spencer with the Razzmatazz guests
for this part of The Kate Bush Interview Archive, as it was the year before Hounds of Love was released. With the ongoing chart success of Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God) and the records she is breaking in 2022, it is interesting looking back before that song was released. Profiled By Women in Rock, this was an artist who was on the cusp of releasing her most successful album to date. I think that the years 1983 and 1984 were really intriguing, as Bush was recording Hounds of Love, but people didn’t really have an idea what was to come and how important this album would be. I have selected some exerts from the Women in Rock interview:
“Success initially greeted Kate Bush back in 1978, when she scored an immediate hit with her classic debut single Wuthering Heights. Over the next two years she became established as one of Britain's most creative musical forces, and by 1980 had enjoyed three consecutive chart-topping albums, besides proving herself a totally compelling live attraction. [Actually, the only one of those albums to "top" the charts was Never For Ever.]
Yet since then Kate seems to have almost vanished from the limelight, and when she released her fourth studio LP The Dreaming last year, it met with mixed response from both critics and fans. The record revealed diverse influences, including Irish and Australian tribal themes, and many felt that Kate had stepped out of her depth by endeavouring to be too "arty".
To tell the truth, when I first heard The Dreaming I was sadly unimpressed, having always been an admirer of her work, but more recently I've found myself getting into it. Now I'd rate it as the most inspiring Kate Bush offering to date.
"Quite a few people have found that it's grown on them after a while," she tells me. "It was certainly different from the things I'd done before, and the overall sound was more layered. THere's a lot of things you pick up on gradually. I find that an attractive quality, and on the whole, I was very pleased with the record."
Kate Bush originally started writing songs more than a decade ago, and was "discovered" when one of her early demo tapes found its way into the hand of Pink Floyd's Dave Gilmour. The guitarist was so impressed by the girl's potential that he invited her to do some more recording at London's Air Studios. Among the tunes she subsequently put down there were The Man With the Child in His Eyes and The Saxophone Song, both of which were later to surface on her first album.
When she was sixteen, with Gilmour's assistance Kate secured a deal with EMI Records. However, instead of rushing to release product, she decided to complete her schooling and continue writing more material. [Most accounts credit the decision to delay Kate's debut to EMI executives; also, Kate did not complete her schooling, exactly; she returned only briefly at the beginning of what would have been her final year of secondary school, in order to take "mock-A" level examinations.] Before long she was attending dance and mime classes, and had also begun to start gigging in her local Lewisham area with an outfit called The KT Bush Band.
By the middle of 1977 Kate was hard at work in the studios recording her debut LP, and in early 1978 Wuthering Heights emerged and shot straight up the charts. Music listeners were stunned by this nineteen-year-old lass's originality. The album The Kick Inside spawned another hit in The Man With the Child in His Eyes, and it seemed that Kate could do little wrong in the eyes of the public.
Her second platter, Lionheart, was issued towards the end of 1978, and it received rave reviews. Wow and Hammer Horror were the hit singles this time around. At this juncture Kate had resumed dance lessons and was preparing for her first major tour.
She took to the road in Europe and the UK in the spring of '79, playing a two-and-a-half-hour set every night. The exhausting show incorporated clever dance routines together with elaborate stage designs, and featured songs from both of Kate's albums. I attended one of her performances at London's Hammersmith Odeon, and was quite stunned by her complete professionalism.
A four-track EP from the Hammersmith dates was subsequently released in a neat gatefold sleeve, and contained a superb rendition of the tune James and the Cold Gun from the first album (what a scorching guitar solo!), along with live versions of Them Heavy People, Don't Push Your Foot on the Heartbrake, and L'Amour Looks Something Like You.
A videocassette, filmed at Hammersmith, has also been made available, and since its release it's remained a regular fixture in the Top Ten video charts.
Following the completion of her inaugural tour Kate took a well-earned break before starting work on her third album, Never For Ever, which came out in the autumn of 1980. The LP entered the UK charts at number one, and gave birth to three highly successful singles: Breathing, Babooshka and Army Dreamers.
At the end of 1980 Kate had come up with the seasonal December Will Be Magic Again, but it wasn't until the following summer that her fans were treated to fresh vinyl output in the form of the Sat In Your Lap single. (Heavy metal fans may be interested to know that ex-Rainbow and -Wild Horses bassist Jimmy Bain plays on this tune.) An album was expected to follow shortly afterwards, but this was not to be. In fact, it was a whole year before The Dreaming finally emerged.
However, as she explained in her record-company biog., Kate had not been idle during the two-year gap between albums. "Following the release of Never For Ever in September '80 I spent the rest of the year promoting the album," she explained. "After Christmas I had a short break and then started writing songs for The Dreaming.
"I wanted a big catalogue to choose from, so every evening I'd write a different song, using a piano, rhythm machines and synthesiser. The whole songwriting process was very spontaneous, and I ended up with about twenty songs, from which I chose ten for the album. I spent more time than ever trying to get the lyrics just right."
Due to the nature of the material, Kate had decided to produce the record herself, but evidently this added to the delay. She states: "I used a lot of different studios to get the songs sounding just how I wanted them to, and I spent weeks putting different textures onto these tracks."
After The Dreaming had been released, I was hoping for news of a tour from Kate, but alas no live dates have materialised. Her last live appearances were back in 1979 and I asked why she hadn't performed on stage since then.
"The main reason I haven't been able to do any gigs has been due to the time factor," Kate replies. "After the last tour, which basically revolved around the first two records, I didn't want to go back out until I had another two albums' worth of material. Never For Ever was the first of those, and then there was The Dreaming, but that took so much longer than I'd anticipated that I couldn't do a tour.
"And so now I'm doing another record, otherwise there would have been a two-year gap between albums, which is really much too long. [As it turned out, the gap grew to three full years before Hounds of Love was released.] Maybe if I'd managed to finish The Dreaming quicker, then I'd have done a tour. I wanted to, but the situation just didn't allow it."
Kate's comments on her four albums.
The Kick Inside: "That was a very important LP--it was my first, and was very successful, with the single (Wuthering Heights) on it. I think it was basically responsible for everything that's happened to me in the last five years.
"I was very young at the time, and listening back I think I sound young and fresh. I'm still very affectionate toward it. It was something I'd been waiting years to do, and I think there were some good songs on it-- The Kick Inside and Moving are probably my favourites."
Lionheart: "Looking back, I don't really think that Lionheart actually expressed the true phase I was in at the time, whereas all the others have. While the first LP consisted of material I'd written up to that point, I found that the time pressures prevented me from writing more fresh material for the second one.
"In fact, I only wrote three new songs-- Symphony in Blue, Fullhouse and Coffee Homeground-- and if you know that, then you can tell the difference in style. Basically, this album could have been a lot better."
Never For Ever: "For me, this was the first LP I'd made that I could sit back and listen to and really appreciate. I'm especially close to Never For Ever. It was the first step I'd taken in really controlling the sounds and being pleased with what was coming back.
"I was far more involved with the overall production, and so I had a lot more freedom and control, which was very rewarding. Favourite tracks? I guess I'd have to say Breathing and The Infant Kiss."
The Dreaming: "Again I'm very fond of this, because it's my latest, and because it represents total control, owing to the fact that I produced it by myself. It's the hardest thing I've ever done--it was even harder than touring! The whole experience was very worrying, very frightening, but at the same time very rewarding.
"It took a long time to do, but I think there are some very intense songs, and the ones I like best of all are Night of the Swallow, Houdini and Get Out [of My House]. All in all, I was very proud of this record".
After the release of The Dreaming in 1982, there was this critical reaction which wavered between curious and a little unsure. Bush was keeping busy in the couple of years after but, as she did not release a new album until 1985, more and more people asked if this was the end. As The Dreaming was quite mad, experimental and different to her first three albums, there were some who wondered whether Bush was ending her career. As wise minds knew, she was merely entering a new phase and announced herself as a producer and unique artist with a stunning set of songs that are still misunderstood to this day. Although the album has gained more following, some still seem reluctant to listen to it. The interview above is really interesting. It is clear Bush was looking ahead and, in 1984, entering a new phase and about to release her most acclaimed album. I may do a few more editions of The Kate Bush Interview Archive, as each one provides new insight and depth. It must have been crazy for her around 1984, as she was making Hounds of Love, but she also had to keep quiet about it. Where some felt she may be at the end of her career, Bush knew that this album that was forming would take it to new heights! As one of its key singles, Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God), tops charts and continues to reach new ears, I wanted to focus on an interview that was released the year before…
THAT stunning masterpiece.