FEATURE:
Let's Exchange the Experience
Why It Is Time to Put Together a Modern-Day Kate Bush Zine or Fan Club to Mark Her 2022 Success
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THAT top line…
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in her hotel room in Tokyo in June 1978/PHOTO CREDIT: Koh Hasebe/Shinko Music/Getty Images
is a lyric from Kate Bush’s Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God). One of her best-known songs, it has become more known and quoted because the track was featured in Netflix’s Stranger Things. Not that Bush was in the wilderness at all, but there has definitely been this refocusing and (long-overdue) new attention her way. I am not sure what the result of all this is. Of course, Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God) topped charts and has still been hanging around. It is a song that has this immediate power and has created ripples and echoes. I think that the song and the album it is from, Hounds of Love, will get new respect ahead of the anniversary (of Hounds of Love) on 16th September. I have talked about how there should be a Kate Bush convention or something to mark her popularity. I can’t remember when I put a feature out, but I think I have mooted the possibility that there could be a new fan club. Tantalisingly, the creators of the Kate Bush fanzine HomeGround suggested we may see it resurrected. It celebrated forty years in 2022 and, having collated fan letters, drawings, Bush news and everything else for decades, it came to a sad end around the time of the release of 50 Words for Snow in 2011 – the following year I think it closed its doors. Maybe it was a case of everything going digital. There is a great Kate Bush official website and a news website that keeps us abreast of all the latest happenings. As you can appreciate, the site has been a lot busier this year than most years!
Social media is a great way to share Kate Bush news, views, and conversation. It is such a wide-ranging and scattershot thing, you are always going to miss out on a great fan, piece of joy or something that you would get in a fanzine or fan club. Maybe, especially now with the cost of living and everything going on, printing a fanzine, or having anything old-skool might be too expensive or difficult. Considering the number of fans who would join, sending out fanzines and goodies for fans could cost a pretty penny! It makes me think there should be a digital hub. One that would act as both a fan club and a fanzine in one. You could register and there would be regular videos and podcasts. Fans getting together to discuss her work. The Kate Bush News website has its own podcast, but there could be conventions, events and a whole library of archives and features. 2022 is a year when this is something that could really work. Not only is it a house and haven for existing Kate Bush fans to share their thoughts, get together and continue the spirit of HomeGround. A new generation are discovering her music. They can express their love through TikTok or Twitter. But bringing that to a website or Kate Bush museum would be awesome. Maybe a separate page or tab with daily TikTok videos or stuff would work.
I would like to see a whole menu where new stuff is uploaded. It could combine news, Bush videos, fan memories, podcasts, articles, and a whole host more. A digital fanzine, nothing really like this exists right now. Conventions do happen, and you get some smaller events that gather fans together. Maybe having a bigger one in London on Bush’s sixty-fifth birthday (next 30th July) would be a nice idea. With so many different smaller websites and conventions, joining them together means we all have a single place where we could communicate and commune. I have been thinking about album discussions, a portal where fans could upload their own articles; a tab where all Kate Bush-related books can be. 2022 has taken her music to new heights and an even wider audience. Her fanbase unites those who were following her before her debut album in 1978, through to new followers who have come on board very recently. It is sad there is not a fanzine or club like we had years ago. Not one that is well-known and regular. A physical resurrection may not be best and possible now, but we could do something online. This year has not been a good one (and it seems to get worse by the week!), and one of the bright spots has been this resurgence and fresh success for Kate Bush. Proving she is an icon and can touch multiple generations and lives, a reward and community based off of that would give sanctuary and connection at a difficult time. There is a definitely desire and opportunity to…
JOIN the fans together.