FEATURE:
Kate Bush: The International Interviews
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in 1985/PHOTO CREDIT: Guido Harari
A Few of the Best and Rarest
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I saw an interview…
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush performs Babooshka on French T.V. in 1980
that Kate Bush took part in (below) that was conducted in France in 1990. I have covered some of her best interviews in my feature, The Kate Bush Interview Archive. Those are mainly print interviews – some were from the radio. I have been going down a YouTube wormhole with her interviews. One reason because of that is I have written quite a few features about her albums, The Dreaming, Hounds of Love and Never for Ever. They celebrate anniversaries on 13th, 16th, and 8th September respectively. I try to include interviews and promotional bits around the albums. Being a British artist who never really love traveling and especially hated flying, it is quite rare reading or seeing interviews that Bush gave to international media and press. She did not do too much in America, but she did do some promotion in 1985 around Hounds of Love. She was always professional and interesting. I am going to select four of my favourite international interviews (i.e., those either not conducted in the U.K. or not broadcast here). Rather than put them in a YouTube playlist, I will drop them into this feature so you can look at them individually. The reason why I wanted to choose this French interview is because of how relaxed Bush seems. She is very charming and patient. It must be strange talking about your work when the questions need to be translated. Bush does speak French, and she has released songs in that language. I like the interview because it is quite rare and one I was not aware of until recently.
I am going to Australia for the next interview. As I mentioned, Bush did do some promotion in the U.S. There was this mutual distance pre-1985. Bush was never interested in breaking the country and establishing a huge base there. Maybe not sold on the appeal or ideal that America is the dream and be all and end all, she wouldn’t have been keen flying there and back for gigs and promotion. Bush was offered a support slot on Fleetwood Mac’s 1979 tour. Showing how she wanted to navigate her own career – especially regarding live work -, she turned down that option. It would have seen her playing in America in a short support role. When Hounds of Love was a success in the U.S. and it was one of her first albums that was a commercial success – even if reviews were more mixed -, maybe it was a label decision for her to go there. Although there are great American interviews from 1985 such as this…and slightly less happy ones such as the Night Flight one (where the interview got stuff wrong and was close to making Bush snap), it does seem that her U.S. interviews in 1985 were largely good. I just like seeing Kate Bush in America. It is quite rare in itself. I wanted to highlight the WNBC's Live at Five with Sue Simmons clip. There are a couple of reasons why. Simmons does make some mistakes and errors, and Bush is always classy and patient with her responses. It also allows Bush the chance to talk about travel and why she has not come to America much since 1985.
Let’s go even further back in time to 1978. There is more than one Australian interview available online, but I especially love the one from 12th October on Countdown. It is a bit crazy and nutty, and we get a rare live performance of Hammer Horror. That song is taken from Lionheart (1978). By this point in 1978, Bush was nearing the end of a hugely busy year. She has put out two albums by this point (her debut, The Kick Inside, came out in February), and there was a tonne of travel and promotion. Not that Bush was used to flying to Australia, but she had been there before, so she was prepared for a flight there. Bush had quite a following in Australia. The Kick Inside went to number three. Lionheart went to twelve. More receptive and appreciative than a lot of countries in 1978, Australia definitely got her and loved her music. Even if the interview below is a little chaotic, I just love the fact it is less serious than many she was subjected to in 1978. Despite the fact Bush has always been a serious artist, many of the interviews (especially the ones here in the U.K. in the first few years) were quite stuffy. Maybe Bush favoured those taking her seriously, but she had a great sense of fun and comedy. The Countdown appearance in 1978 must have been quite scary! It being that far away just a month or so before she released her second studio album, it would have been exhausting for her. Bush was always such a good sport. In 1978 alone, she was taken all around the world and had to answer so many questions. It would have been especially draining going abroad to promote! She seems to be having a good time on Countdown.
The final interview is one of my absolute favourites. This is a case of it being an interview for another country, but the actual interview took place at Kate Bush’s parents’ home in Kent. Profiles in Rock was a weekly programme broadcast on CITY-TV in Canada. In December 1980, an episode was dedicated to Kate Bush. Presenter Doug Pringle conducted the interview, which was split up into small segments, with several of Bush’s music videos shown in between. If the U.S. did not really connect with Kate Bush until 1985, there was a bit more awareness from Canada. 1980’s Never for Ever has sold platinum there, and it charted at forty-four on the RPM (a music-based publication that featured song and album charts for Canada) Album Chart. There is easy and great chemistry between Bush and Pringle. The interview goes quite deep. Unlike the previous one I included, this one is more laid-back! It does get personal at times, but there are never moments when Bush is uncomfortable. She seems very at ease. Maybe being in home territory and in a familiar space meant that she was less guarded or anxious. Perhaps the absence of a studio audience and lots of crew was an advantage. I like the more intimate interviews like this. Canada was a great market for her. The Dreaming and Hounds of Love sold better in Canada than the U.S. She has been consistently popular in Canada, and you can understand why she gave one of her best early interviews for Profiles in Rock. I wanted to bring together a few international interviews, just to give you a flavour of the differences and varying styles between nations. Go onto YouTube and you can find others. But these are among my favourites. Although she preferred interviews close to home, it is nice seeing her in different nations, promoting her music there. It just goes, as was true then as it is now, Kate Bush is…
AN international treasure.