FEATURE:
Kate Bush’s The Red Shoes at Thirty
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in 1993/PHOTO CREDIT: John Stoddart
Ranking Its Five Exceptional Singles
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THIS 2nd November…
marks thirty years since Kate Bush released The Red Shoes. Her seventh studio album, it was her last before a twelve-year hiatus. I think it remains one of her most underrated. Few people place it high in their list of favourite Kate Bush albums. I think that there is a lot to recommend when it comes to this album. I will do one or two other features ahead of the thirtieth anniversary – maybe looking at 1993 and the events around The Red Shoes’ release – but, today, I am going to feature the single released from the album. Including international-only releases, five were released in total. They are all very different songs. I will rank each of the songs, drop a bit of information in about the singles, in addition to where they charted and any new reviews/articles about them. I have changed my mind recently regarding the top-two singles, so that will be a surprise to some! I think that there are other tracks on The Red Shoes that could have been singles. Lily is one of those great ‘what ifs’. That seems a natural single! I also feel like The Song of Solomon could have been an interesting single internationally. Before getting to the singles – and I will turn to the Kate Bush Encyclopedia for information regarding all of them -, here is a bit about Bush’s under-appreciated album:
“Seventh album by Kate Bush, released by EMI Records on 2 November 1993. The album was written, composed and produced by Kate.
The album was inspired by the 1948 film of the same name by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. The film in turn was inspired by the fairy tale of the same name by Hans Christian Andersen. It concerns a dancer, possessed by her art, who cannot take off the eponymous shoes and find peace. Bush had suggested she would tour for the album and deliberately aimed for a "live band" feel, with less of the studio trickery that had typified her last three albums (which would be difficult to recreate on stage). However, the tour never happened in the end. A few months after the release of the album, Bush did release The Line, The Cross and the Curve, a movie incorporating six tracks from the album.
Most notably, The Red Shoes featured many more high-profile cameo appearances than her previous efforts. Comedian Lenny Henry provided guest vocals on Why Should I Love You, a track that also featured significant contributions from Prince. And So Is Love features guitar work by Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck. Gary Brooker (from the band Procol Harum) appears on two tracks as well.
The album was recorded digitally, and Bush has since expressed regrets about the results of this, which is why she revisited seven of the songs using analogue tape for her 2011 album Director's Cut”.
Below are the five great singles released from The Red Shoes. I really like them all, though there are some that stand out as being especially great – and didn’t get the chart love that they deserved! It will be interesting to see how many people react to the thirtieth anniversary of The Red Shoes. A remarkable album with only a couple of weak spots, here are the five singles that I think still…
STAND the test of time.
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FIVE: And So Is Love
Release Date: 7th November, 1994
B-Sides: Rubberband Girl (U.S. Mix)/Eat the Music (U.S. Mix)
Label: EMI
Release Territory: International
Chart Position: 26 (U.K.)
Background:
“Song written by Kate Bush. Originally released on her seventh album The Red Shoes. Also released as a single by EMI Records in the UK on 7 November 1994.
Formats
'And So Is Love' was released in the UK as a picture disc 7" single with a large poster and as two CD-singles: one in a regular small case and one in a big case with three 5" x 5" card prints.
All formats feature the lead track and the U.S. mix of Rubberband Girl. The two CD-singles also featured the U.S. mix of Eat The Music.
Versions
There are two versions of 'And So Is Love': the album version from 1993, and the version from Bush's album Director's Cut in 2011, on which the key lyric 'But now we see that life is sad' is changed to 'But now we see that life is sweet'” – Kate Bush Encyclopedia
Players:
Stuart Elliott - drums
John Giblin - bass
Eric Clapton - guitar
Gary Brooker – Hammond organ
FOUR: Moments of Pleasure
Release Date: 15th November, 1993
B-Sides: Moments of Pleasure (instrumental)/Home for Christmas/Show a Little Devotion/December Will Be Magic Again/Experiment IV
Label: EMI
Release Territory: International
Chart Position: 26 (U.K.)
Background:
“I think the problem is that during [the recording of] that album there were a lot of unhappy things going on in my life, but when the songs were written none of that had really happened yet. I think a lot of people presume that particularly that song was written after my mother had died for instance, which wasn't so at all. There's a line in there that mentions a phrase that she used to say, 'every old sock meets an old shoe', and when I recorded it and played it to her she just thought it was hilarious! She couldn't stop laughing, she just thought it was so funny that I'd put it into this song. So I don't see it as a sad song. I think there's a sort of reflective quality, but I guess I think of it more as a celebration of life. (Interview with Ken Bruce, BBC Radio 2, 9 May 2011)
I wasn't really quite sure how "Moments of Pleasure" was going to come together, so I just sat down and tried to play it again-- I hadn't played it for about 20 years. I immediately wanted to get a sense of the fact that it was more of a narrative now than the original version; getting rid of the chorus sections somehow made it more of a narrative than a straightforward song. (Ryan Dombai, 'Kate Bush: The elusive art-rock originator on her time-travelling new LP, Director's Cut'. Pitchfork, May 16, 2011)” – Kate Bush Encyclopedia
Reaction:
“In his review of the song, Ben Thompson from The Independent remarked, "A smile and a tear from the Welling siren." Chris Roberts from Melody Maker said, "'Moments of Pleasure' is The Big Literary Effort, Kate at her very tremble-inducing, vocal-range-like-the-Pyrenees best." Alan Jones from Music Week gave the song four out of five and named it Pick of the Week, writing, "Beautiful and traditional Bush fare with expansive orchestrations, poignant vocals and off-her-trolley lyrics. As subtle as "Rubberband Girl" was direct, and probably as big a hit." Terry Staunton from NME commented, "Her personal exorcisms reach new heights on "Moments of Pleasure", a deceptively simple ballad with a swooping chorus and a coda where she namechecks the people who've been important to her over years. It's a song that may baffle the world at large, but it wasn't written for us; Kate's just decided to share it” – Wikipedia
Players:
Kate Bush – Piano
THREE: The Red Shoes
Release Date: 5th April, 1994
B-Sides:You Want Alchemy/Shoedance (The Red Shoes dance mix)/Running Up That Hill" (12-inch mix)/The Big Sky (special single mix)/This Woman's Work/Cloudbusting (video mix)
Label: EMI
Release Territory: International
Chart Position: 21 (U.K.)
Background:
“Song written by Kate Bush. Originally released on her seventh album The Red Shoes. Also released as a single by EMI Records in the UK on 4 April 1994. Lead track of the movie The Line, The Cross and the Curve, which was presented on film festival at the time of the single's release” – Kate Bush Encyclopedia
Reaction:
“Chris Roberts from Melody Maker said, "'The Red Shoes' meets its jigging ambition and sticks a flag on top, making her dance till her legs fall off." Another editor, Peter Paphides, commented, "Only as a grown-up will I be able to fully apprehend the texture and allegorical resonance of the themes dealt with in "The Red Shoes". Until then, I'll content myself with Tori Amos and Edie Brickell." Parry Gettelman from Orlando Sentinel wrote, "The mandola, the whistles and various curious instruments on the driving title track really recall the fever-dream quality of the 1948 ballet film The Red Shoes, the album's namesake” – Wikipedia
Players:
Kate Bush – lead and backing vocals, keyboards
Paddy Bush – mandola, tin whistle, musical bow, backing vocals
Del Palmer – Fairlight CMI programming
Danny McIntosh – guitar
Gaumont d'Olivera – bass guitar
Stuart Elliott – drums, percussion
Colin Lloyd Tucker – backing vocals
TWO: Rubberband Girl
Release Date: 6th September, 1993 (7th December, 1993 in the U.S.)
B-Side: Big Stripey Lie
Labels: EMI/Columbia (U.S.)
Release Territory: International
Chart Position: 12 (U.K.)
Background:
“I thought the original 'Rubberband' was... Well, it's a fun track. I was quite happy with the original, but I just wanted to do something really different. It is my least favourite track. I had considered taking it off to be honest. Because it didn't feel quite as interesting as the other tracks. But I thought, at the same time, it was just a bit of fun and it felt like a good thing to go out with. It's just a silly pop song really, I loved Danny Thompson's bass on that, and of course Danny (McIntosh)'s guitar. (Mojo (UK), 2011)” – Kate Bush Encyclopedia
Reaction:
“Alan Jones from Music Week gave the song four out of five and named it Pick of the Week, writing, "With Kate at the helm any single would be quirky but by her own otherwordly standards this is Ms. Bush at her most direct." He added, "It's a rhythmic, almost raunchy, workout with the occasional outburst of rock guitar, strange lyrics — "if I could twang like a rubberband, l'd be a rubberband girl" is as ordinary as it gets — and a weird vocal impression of said office accessory being stretched. It is also a very commercial rejoinder and will probably be Kate's first Top 10 solo hit since "Running Up That Hill" hit the spot eight years ago." Everett True of Melody Maker felt that the song is "a little too uptempo for my tastes" and noted that he prefers Bush when she is "all dreamy and mysterious". Despite this, he added, "It still has enough kookiness to draw me under, and she's still the only artist for whom the word 'kooky' isn't an insult."
Another editor, Chris Roberts, praised it as "a gorgeous, daft, groovy single with a bassline to shame Bootsy Collins". Terry Staunton from NME wrote, "Kate's self-doubt emerges right from the beginning on "Rubberband Girl", the relentless one-chord single where she wishes she could learn to give, learn to bounce back on her feet.” Parry Gettelman from Orlando Sentinel said that "Bush waxes positively perky as she struggles to forge a "Sledgehammer" out of a flimsy tune, dopey lyrics and bouncy dance-floor beat." Richard C. Walls from Rolling Stone noted the "pure pop" of "Rubberband Girl". Tom Doyle from Smash Hits also gave the song four out of five, saying that it's "a bit of a shock because she's gone all funky with Prince-ish drums all over the shop" – Wikipedia
Players:
Kate Bush – vocals, keyboards
Danny McIntosh – guitar
John Giblin – bass guitar
Stuart Elliott – drums, percussion
Nigel Hitchcock – tenor and baritone saxophones
Steve Sidwell – trumpet
Paul Spong – trumpet
Neil Sidwell – trombone
ONE: Eat the Music
Release Date: 7th September, 1993 (30th May, 1994 in Australia)
B-Sides: Eat the Music (12" Mix)/Big Stripey Lie/Candle in the Wind/You Want Alchemy/The Red Shoes Dance Mix
Label: Columbia (U.S.)
Release Territory: U.S.
Chart Position: 10 (US Alternative Airplay (Billboard)
Background:
“Song written by Kate Bush. It was originally released as the lead single for The Red Shoes in the USA on September 7, 1993, while everywhere else in the world Rubberband Girl was released. In the UK, a small handful of extremely rare 7" and promotional CD-singles were produced, but were recalled by EMI Records at the last minute. A commercial release followed in the Summer of 1994 in the Netherlands and Australia, along with a handful of other countries. The song's lyrics are about opening up in relationships to reveal who we really are inside” – Kate Bush Encyclopedia
Reaction:
“Chris Roberts from Melody Maker felt that the song was "misguided", "all ghastly, Lilt-supping, Notting Hill Carnival calypso". Terry Staunton from NME declared it as "a shopping list of exotic fruit, as if Kate is pulling Carmen Miranda's hat apart looking for metaphors for love.” Parry Gettelman from Orlando Sentinel wrote, "The bizarre fruit metaphors on "Eat the Music" are exceedingly pretentious, but the song has a lilting, African high-life feel” – Wikipedia
Players:
Kate Bush – vocals, keyboards
Paddy Bush – vocals
Stuart Elliott – drums, percussion
John Giblin – bass guitar
Justin Vali – valiha, kabosy, vocals
Nigel Hitchcock – tenor saxophone
Neil Sidwell – trombone
Steve Sidwell – trumpet
Paul Spong – trumpet