FEATURE:
The Charmers Under Me
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in 1980
Compiling and Considering Kate Bush’s Influences and Musical Heroes
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I have nodded to this before….
IN THIS PHOTO: David Bowie in 1973/PHOTO CREDIT: Masayoshi Sukita
but I have been thinking how a playlist does exist of Kate Bush’s influence. Both artists Bush grew up listening to, those she was name-checking in interviews through her career and collaborations through her career. Including cover versions and albums other than her own she appeared on. My mind casts back to a very young Kate Bush. Catherine actually. When she was a girl and young teen. Maybe not adorning the walls of her 1960s/1970s bedroom wall at East Wickham Farm with Pop stars of the day, there would have been a few posters I am sure. In an artistic household, there would have been more books and albums than posters and anything other teenagers would have had. As a girl, Bush was listening to her parents’ music and anything her brothers were introducing her to. Unknown or under the radar artists that were all important building blocks. Songs that Bush would have enjoyed but were not necessarily important in terms of her own music. The sonic and instrumental elements would definitely have inspired her yet, lyrically, it is hard really to think of other artists who Bush might have channelled. Maybe musical heroes like Elton John and David Bowie. Bush was at the final Ziggy Stardust gig at the Hammersmith Odeon on 3rd July, 1973. That gig was twenty-seven days before her fifteenth birthday. There was something in that performance and the gravity of the night that compelled Bush. That drove her to the stage six years later for The Tour of Life. Not only that, but David Bowie’s different personas and being able to keep the music non-personal yet compelling would have spoken to her. She would have imbibed a lot of poetry from her brother Jay. Folk music and Irish sounds. Bowie was a big draw for her. The theatrical nature of his work and his incredible stagecraft. Elton John, perhaps her biggest idol – who she duetted with for 2011’s 50 Words for Snow – fostered her love and exploration of the piano. Again, a wonderful stage performer, he and David Bowie charted different musical courses. Maybe John showed that a successful Pop artist could play piano. An instrument not necessarily in fashion or spotlighted in the 1970s, Bush was listening to Elton John from the 1960s. At a period in music when bands and guitars were probably more prominent.
Bush was also listening to artists like Roy Harper, Captain Beefheart and The Beatles. Think about her brief stint with the KT Bush Band in 1977. Just before she was ready to step into AIR studios to begin recording The Kick Inside from July 1977, Bush was in a band that toured pubs and clubs mostly around London. A chance to provide stage experience and also help with her performance skills, which would be utilised in her music videos, it was a chance for punters to hear some of the songs and artists who were important to Bush. One song, Nutbush City Limits (there was talk of renaming it Kate Bush City Limits, but this was quickly abandoned!), was part of the set. A 1973 song by Ike & Tina Turner, it seems that this year was important to Bush. Bowie’s retirement from the stage – which was obviously not true – and music speaking to her in a big way when she was fourteen and fifteen. The Beatles’ Come Together was also played. Released on 1969’s Abbey Road, it was one of the earlier influences that appeared in the set of the KT Bush Band. One song that I was not aware that was part of their set was by Steely Dan. Called Brooklyn (Owes the Charmer Under Me), it was their debut studio album, Can’t Buy a Thrill. That album was released in 1972. That time period (a year or so) once more making an impact. Elton John released two of his best albums in 1973 – including Don't Shoot Me I'm Only the Piano Player -, though he was not worked into her live sets as far as I know. However, it is clear that he was a big inspiration.
There are interviews, especially early ones, where Bush discussed her influences. In fact, whilst researching, I have found a playlist of Kate Bush’s influences. Pink Floyd and Nick Drake sitting alongside Peter Gabriel and Roxy Music. Frank Zappa and Devo are other artists that spoke to Bush when she was younger. Not too many female influences. Although some might cite Joni Mitchell, I am not sure whether Bush was listening to Blue (1971) or Ladies of the Canyon (1970). I do think that we need a compilation or more playlists where there is a wide spread of Kate Bush’s musical influences. This feature from March highlighted an interview from 1980, where Bush spend some time talking about albums that mean a lot to her. The Beatles featuring. She covered several of their songs at various moments in her early career. Albums like 1967’s Magical Mystery Tour and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Bush revealed some more of her favourite albums. The Eagles’ One of These Nights was in there. That album was released in 1975 (when Bush was sixteen). Pink Floyd’s The Wall and Steely Dan’s Gaucho was also discussed. I will end with a playlist of songs from ger favourite albums, some she covered with the KT Bush Band, plus some other artists and albums that have influenced her.
“Another personal choice is The Eagles’ One of These Nights. “I played it to death when studying with Lindsay Kemp, and it reminds me of him,” she said, honouring the teacher who taught her to dance. When she received her first record label advance, she spent some of it in classes with Kemp, a famed modern dance teacher who also instructed David Bowie. Clearly feeling a kind of kinship with the artist, she also picks out his own Young Americans.
One of her choices also reminds her of even earlier years as it soundtracked her childhood home. Bush picked A.L. Lloyd and Eran MacColl’s Blow Boys Blow, writing, “I was brought up with this album.” The fact that Bush was raised on a diet of shanties and traditional folk makes so much sense when considering tracks like ‘Jig Of Life’.
There are a fair few left-field yet traditional or cultural sounds on Bush’s list. She also chooses albums from The TV National Iranian Chamber Orchestra and German double bass player Eberhard Weber. Showing exactly where her interest in global sounds comes from, her eclectic musical engagement came to fruition across her records.
But she also loves the big names. She picked out Stevie Wonder’s The Secret Life Of Plants as a more soulful choice, deeming it a “modern symphony”. The Beatles naturally make an appearance as she picked out Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. Her reasoning is simple as she stated, “It’s an album of excellent songs.” Somewhat bridging the gap between her classic rock tastes and her more unusual choices, she discussed her love for Frank Zappa and Captain Beefheart, the resident weird guys of the 1960s and ‘70s. As both artists pushed the sounds of the era to wilder places than their peers, the two figures make total sense as firm favourites of Bush’s.
Kate Bush’s favourite albums of all time:
Frank Zappa – Over-Nite Sensation
A.L. Lloyd and Eran MacColl – Blow Boys Blow
The Eagles – One of These Nights
David Bowie – Young Americans
The Beatles – Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
Eberhard Weber – Fluid Rustle
Captain Beefheart – Blue Jeans and Moonbeams
Stevie Wonder – The Secret Life of Plants
Pink Floyd – The Wall
The TV National Iranian Chamber Orchestra – Treasures of the Baroque Era”.
I would love to have heard Bush sing songs from albums like Gaucho. Maybe Glamour Profession. It seems like One of These Nights’ title track would be perfect for her. A Bush rendition of The Wall’s Mother. Perhaps something from Captain Beefheart. I have a dim memory that Bush might have sung some David Bowie at some point. Maybe Young Americans?! Even though she did cover a fair few of The Beatles’ songs, I would have love to hear her take on Magical Mystery Tour’s I Am the Walrus or Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’s Fixing a Hole. She did cover She’s Leaving Home when visiting Japan in 1978. Also, there is this other side. Artists Bush worked with who she was a fan of. The Trio Bulgarka (who appeared on 1989’s The Sensual World and 1993’s The Red Shoes), Peter Gabriel (she featured on three of his songs), Roy Harper (he appeared on her Breathing; she retuned the favour for 1980’s The Unknown Soldier), Big Country and Elton John (she covered Rocket Man (I Think It's Going To Be A Long, Long Time) for a tribute album to Elton John and Bernie Taupin in the 1990s). Backtracking to Kate Bush and Steely Dan. She did actually mention Peg (from 1977’s Aja) as a standout of theirs. I keep thinking about all these artists and how, from the 1960s through to the 1980s, they made an impression on Kate Bush. Those childhood and teenage loves. Artists she was discovering and loving when she was making her own music. You can bring it up to date and artists she has mentioned in later interviews. Gorillaz in 2005. Elton John and Leon Russell in 2011. I might do another feature of the artists influenced by Kate Bush. Updating a feature I wrote a while ago. I would love to know if there are other artists who were important to Bush that I have not mentioned. I have included many (though not all) in…
A comprehensive mixtape.