FEATURE:
“There Really Is a Lot in Vegetables!”
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush at East Wickham Farm appearing on an edition of Delia Smith’s Cookery Course in 1980/PHOTO CREDIT: BBC
When Kate Bush Met Delia Smith
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I allude to and featured…
this interview when I discussed Kate Bush and her vegetarianism back in 2020. One reason why I was compelled to explore her vegetarianism is because, very early in her career, she spoke with the iconic Delia Smith. I want to reintroduce (reheat?) this incredible meeting. This is going to be a fairly short feature, but there are a few reasons as to why I wanted to return to this interview. It happens a lot more now but, back in 1980 (when the interview was broadcast), you wouldn’t often have got big artists specifically talking about things not related to music and promotion. Not least their diet and cooking. It seems rather ordinary now but, at a time in her career when she was being interviewed by so many different people around the world and was in this whirlwind of record, promotion, and everything else that comes with the industry, this seems like a pleasant and much-needed departure. For the Delia Smith's Cookery Course show, Kate Bush was relaxed and spoke passionately and personally about something important to her. Before carrying on, the Kate Bush Encyclopedia provide a little more details about the programme, and what Bush spoke to Smith about:
“A series of TV programmes, accompanied by 3 volumes of books, in which Delia Smith describes all sorts of cooking. In an episode broadcast on 29 February 1980 she was joined by Kate Bush in an item filmed at East Wickham Farm. In it, she describes the task of cooking rice ('You just add it to salt water, really'), adding Marmite to vegetables and discussing the benefits of leaving apple skins in a Waldorf Salad and explaining how to eat seeds. Kate makes a touching case for vegetarianism, concluding: 'I hope people will think about it, because there really is a lot in vegetables!”.
Although the broadcast was in 1980, the visit to Bush’s East Wickham Farm home seems to have taken place in 1979. It looks like the weather was quite pleasant, so I am thinking that it was maybe around the summer. In any case, I wanted to expand a bit more on this and the 1979 tour Bush undertook. Without repeating too much of what I published in 2020, it is interesting that Bush dedicated herself to vegetarianism as a child and spoke about it. Many might not consider it but, when it comes to her health and outlook on life, vegetarianism is important. Bush’s outlook when it comes to people is very positive and curious, but she also cares deeply about the planet and environment. Someone who loves the natural world and has this huge appreciation for animals, it is no surprise that she would want to speak with Delia Smith. I think that the show showed a side of Bush many did not know about. Still portrayed by the media as a sex symbol or someone who was kooky and weird, this added something to the perception about. Emerging more as a serious artist with that wider conscientiousness, it is clear that this was a very serious young woman who was not as easily defined the media made out. I do love the interview with Delia Smith. In that idyllic and calm setting, Bush not only widened the conversation on vegetarianism - big musicians like Paul McCartney was a vegetarian by that point, but there were not too many -, but she also showed different sides and elements of her personality. It almost revealed more than a standard interview!
One of the interview highlights of Kate Bush’s career, I have been thinking about her time with Delia Smith. In 1979, probably shortly after Bush returned from tour, she was discussing a diet and lifestyle that no doubt contributed to her amazing performances through The Tour of Life. There is a documentary around that tour where the menu and food was actually discussed. I love how Bush was very dedicated when it comes to her vegetarianism. I think that one reason why she was such a compelling dancer and performer is because of that. Given her thew good health and nutrients needed, I do often wonder whether her career and tour would have been the same if she was not a vegetarian. In any case, I love the Delia Smith chat, as it stands out as this moment where Kate Bush literally said how there is a lot in vegetables. Her compassion is infectious. As I said, 1979 and 1980 was a time in her career when there was very little rest and Bush was still below what many critics considered to be her best. After two studio albums and a tour, she was working on a third album. Taking some time out to do a rather unconventional interview that perhaps meant more to her than any other recent one, this is such a fascinating and unique part of Bush’s career. Always such a compelling and arresting interviewee, let’s hope that we…
HEAR from her again soon.