FEATURE:
Heavy People and Helpful Friends
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush promoting The Kick Inside in Holland on 4th April, 1978
Why Kate Bush’s 1978 Must Rival The Beatles’ 1967 in Terms of Workload
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I might have covered this before…
IN THIS PHOTO: The Beatles in 1967
but it is amazing thinking what Kate Bush achieved in 1978. As we are at the start of a new year, I wanted to think back forty-seven years. On 20th January, 1978, Kate Bush released her debut single, Wuthering Heights. Things did not begin there. Even before the single came out, Bush was pretty busy. I am going to drop in a timeline of her activities in 1978. I think back to The Beatles. A band Kate Bush adored, I think she especially loved their output in 1967. A year when they released Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and Magical Mystery Tour, it was a year where they released albums, singles and a film. That film, Magical Mystery Tour, would have been packed into their schedule. The quartet had an amazingly busy 1967! Maybe 1964 was more hectic and strange for The Beatles. In terms of relentless touring and output. However, I think that 1967 is their busiest year. Two albums and a film together with the usual promotional circuit. Spending weeks in the studio creating some of their finest work. The band were starting to fray in 1967. By 1968, it was clear they were pulling apart. One can say that it was nobody’s fault. It was this non-stop touring and promoting. The band being in close quarters for years. I can only imagine how The Beatles got through 1967. You can read more about the band’s activity from 1967. I know that Kate Bush, consciously or not, followed The Beatles’ example and ethos. When it came to spending time in the studio and pushing technology to the limits. Influenced by their music and their experimental nature, you could tell that she admired their prolificacy and workmate. Perhaps not the extremes of touring. How they dedicated so much time in the studio and stopped touring after 1966. Maybe that was a reason Bush only did one tour. She looked at a band like The Beatles and could see the downsides of touring. Too much time away from the studio. The strain it had on relationships. Even though she was flying solo for the most part, she still had musicians and crew around her.
It was only natural there would be certain demands around Kate Bush in 1978. She released The Kick Inside in February. The success of Wuthering Heights changed everything. In terms of the countries she visited. That alone was exhausting. Visiting, the U.S., Australia and Europe, she was pulled back and forth. In an age where artists had no Internet or convenient way to promote their music, travel a big part of promotion. Appearing in magazines and T.V. shows around the world. However, few artists had such a hectic and busy time as Kate Bush (with only one album out). Wuthering Heights reached number one. There were so many T.V. appearances to promote the song. Multiple slots on Top of the Pops. Promotion in nations such as Germany and Ireland. A tonne of print and radio interviews. A second studio album, Lionheart, released in the November. Bush writing and recording more or less whilst she was still promoting The Kick Inside! Even though The Beatles’ path and lives were different to that of Kate Bush, I compare their 1967 to Kate Bush’s 1978. Different projects on the go. Barely a time to rest. Whereas The Beatles ended 1967 more fractured than before and knew that they were heading in different directions, Kate Bush was just starting out. No albums were released in 1979. Instead, she knew that she could not have another year like 1978. Two albums where she wasn’t producing and did not feel in control of her music. Too much promotion and travel! The Tour of Life did involve travel but it was a way for Bush to regain some control and do a project that was more in her vision. The last bits of Lionheart promotion were finished. Just think about all the different photos taken of Kate Bush in 1978. Becoming one of the most photographed and seen artists in the world.
I am not sure whether there was a big conversation between Kate Bush and EMI at the end of 1978. They probably would have asked for a third studio album or more singles. Even though they also wanted her to tour, it would have been more profitable for them to have her release an album. If she had another year like 1978 then I think Bush would have had to step away. It would have done a lot of damage. Granted, she did fit a lot in to 1979. Beyond The Tour of Life, there were photoshoots and music released. Wow was released in March 1979. She began recording for her third studio album, Never for Ever. However, one feels 1979 was a happier one. She co-produced that album with Jon Kelly and made sure her tour had her visions and concepts at the fore. Still a teenager when 1978 begun, she grew up in public incredible fast. Whilst many loved Wuthering Heights, there were many who did not. Kate Bush parodied and ridiculed. I shall come back to The Beatles at the end. Let’s take a look at Kate Bush’s 1978 and the key events. Thanks to Gaffaweb for their tireless chronicling of Kate Bush’s career. All the events, interviews and bits of news:
“January 1978
At a three-day sales conference for EMI International delegates, Kate sings live [song or songs unidentified], and Bob Mercer predicts that she will be one of the major talents of the future.
January 20, 1978
Wuthering Heights is finally released. Kate does her first live radio interview on Tony Myatt's Late Show.
Airplay for the single rapidly builds on British commercial radio, on Radio Luxemburg, and on BBC Radio 1.
February 7, 1978
Wuthering Heights enters the "official" BMRB chart at number 42.
That declaration from EMI at the start of 1978. Predicting that Kate Bush would be a massive success! Wuthering Heights came out, reached number one and already set her on that path. January, February and March 1978 were about Wuthering Heights climbing the chart and the impact that this had. It was a really intense period. Whilst Kate Bush would have been excited to see her debut single do so well, she could not have predicted how her life would change and the demands put upon her. Someone whose aim was to make an album and not be famous, there was this tussle and conflict between her dream and the realities of being a popular artist.
February and March 1978 were possibly the two busiest months of that year. Her debut album released and Wuthering Heights reaching number one. The explosion and instant success of that single and a debut album that was the recipient of huge critical acclaim, Still nineteen, this success and chart glory naturally was met with a demand for her to travel and perform live:
February 9, 1978
Kate makes her first-ever television appearance in a disused tram depot in West Germany, for the famous Bio's Bahnhof on WDR-TV. She sings Kite live, backed effectively by the KT Bush Band, and Wuthering Heights to a backing tape. The backdrop, which is supposed to represent the Yorkshire moors, includes a volcano. Following her performance the host, Dr. Alfred Biolek, carries on an entirely one-sided onstage conversation with Kate--in German.
February 14, 1978
The single moves up to number 27. Having cracked the magic "top forty", the gates open and Kate appears on...
February 16, 1978
Top of the Pops. She performs in high heels and slacks. Kate says later, "It was like watching myself die...a bloody awful performance."
February 17, 1978
Kate's first album, The Kick Inside, is released, and a huge promotional campaign is unleashed.
February 21, 1978
The single moves up to number 13.
February 25, 1978
Kate performs live on BBC TV's Saturday Nights at the Mill, singing Moving and Them Heavy People and giving a brief interview. She also appears on the programme Magpie.
The first major interviews appear in the music press, and Kate is the subject of intense media attention. She begins preparing for a live tour, projected for mid-year.
February 28, 1978
The single moves up to number 5. Kate is said to be the most photographed woman in the U.K.
March 2, 1978
The Keith ("Keef") MacMillan-directed video for Wuthering Heights is shown on Top of the Pops. It is the second video for the song. The first, made by Rockflix in an [unidentified] outdoor setting, is rejected for British promotional use, although it is used in other territories.
March 7, 1978
Wuthering Heights is number 1 on the British singles chart, displacing Abba. The press turn it into a nationalistic celebration. EMI celebrate with a champagne reception for Kate, and dinner in Paris. She celebrates by buying a 7,000-Pound Steinway piano. The single celebrates by going silver in the U.K. (250,000 sales).
The single remains at number 1 for four weeks.
March 16, 1978
On the same evening as her second "number 1" appearance on Top of the Pops, Kate is interviewed on the BBC TV current-affairs programme, Tonight.
Mickie Most asks Kate to appear in the pilot edition of his new pop-rock television programme Revolver. She is introduced by Peter Cook and sings Them Heavy People (which EMI want to release as the follow-up single) live. The programme is screened on May 20, 1978. [This is not the performance included in the video compilation The Single File.]
March 25, 1978
Kate starts a four-day promotional trip to Eire, appearing on the top show in the Irish ratings, The Late Late Show.
[The Kick Inside is released in the U.S.A., unchanged except for an inappropriate U.S.- and Canada-only front-cover design, not authorized by Kate. This is sometimes known as the "mirror" cover. To this day the cover continues to be used by Harvest, EMI's distributor for Kate's recordings in Canada, but it was discontinued in the U.S. in July 1978 when Kate's contract was transferred to the newly launched EMI-America label.]
The album's reception in the U.S. is somewhat quieter than in Europe and England. [To put it mildly!] Capitol-EMI wait for FM radio-play to determine a likely single.
April and May were pretty intense too. Now that Wuthering Heights was a sensation, Bush was promoting relentlessly! Her album was a success too, yet you feel EMI were looking to album two already. It would not be long until Bush was dispatched to France to record Lionheart. So much promotion in 1978. How could she possibly concentrate and focus on new material at the same time as promoting her debut album?! It was a mad time:
April 4, 1978
Wuthering Heights moves down to number 3. The Kick Inside reaches its chart peak at number 3.
Kate is off to Europe to promote single and album in the Netherlands, West Germany (a second time) and France. In The Netherlands, Kate makes a 25-minute promotional film of six tracks [Peter inexplicably writes "seven", though only six tracks were filmed] at De Efteling is in Kaatsheuvel, a gothic horror theme-park. Her visit is commemorated by a new gravestone. She performs on the Voor De Vuist Weg television programme. In Germany Kate appears on the television programmes Scene '78 and Top Pop, performing Wuthering Heights on both shows. Other guests on the former programme include Dr. Feelgood and The Boomtown Rats.
During this month Kate also makes a brief trip to the United States for promotional purposes, arriving back in the U.K. by April 21st.
Tour plans are put back to the end of the year.
May, 1978
Kate makes her first promotional trip to the U.S.A. and Canada (although she gives no performances and makes no U.S. television appearances), and then takes a short holiday. [This must be the same trip which is mentioned immediately above, for April. The U.S.-made interview album Self Portrait may have been cut during this trip.]
Wuthering Heights goes gold in the U.K. (500,000 sales). Kate presents the disk to Tony Myatt. For four years it hangs in the foyer of Capitol Radio's London base.
The fact that there were tour plans for 1978. No time or space to do that in a year when she was promoting her debut album around the world. In the U.S. and Canada in May, Kate Bush headed to Japan in June. It was a brutal start to the summer! Full marks for Bush’s professionalism throughout that year. You get the impression her enthusiasm was starting to wane by June. She would have wanted to work on a tour or spend proper time writing new music. Instead, Bush was this international success whose wellbeing was probably not at the forefront.
EMI allow Kate to have her way over the choice of the follow-up single in the U.K. It is to be The Man With the Child in His Eyes, which Kate had always wanted to be a single, as she felt it showcased her real songwriting talent. It is less of a novelty, and more of a standard. Dave Gilmour (executive producer on the track, which actually dates from the June, 1975 demo-sessions) is also pleased. In Japan, the U.S. and elsewhere the follow-up later in the year will be EMI's first choice, Them Heavy People.
May 28, 1978
The second single is released in the U.K. Airplay and sales are very good.
June, 1978
Kate goes to Japan to participate in the 7th Tokyo Song Festival. On June 18 she performs Moving (which is the debut single in Japan) live before an audience of 11,000 at the Nippon Budokan. The television audience is nearer 35 million. The single is boosted on its way to number 1 in the Japanese chart. Kate wins the Silver Prize jointly with American group The Emotions [!].
During her visit, on June 23, Kate performs abridged versions of two Beatles songs, The Long and Winding Road and She's Leaving Home, on the Japanese television programme Sound in S, taped at Tokyo's TBS G Studio.
Also during her visit to Japan Kate makes her only television advertisement, and her only endorsement for a commercial product--a spot for Seiko watches.
On her return to Britain Kate has under four weeks to get material together for her second album. She does not like being under such pressure. In the time available, three new songs are written, and a number of old ones are revamped. These songs, making up the basic material for Lionheart, are demoed in a studio designed by Paddy Bush and built out of the royalties from Wuthering Heights.
From that strange whirlwind trip to Japan where she was hocking watches and performing in front of thousands, Bush was given that impossibly short deadline. Artists today would not be given a month to write and album’s worth of material! EMI should have given Bush until 1979 to write new material. She wrote those three new songs but had to rely on revisiting her archives. Something she did for The Kick Inside, the hope would have been for a fresh start. Lionheart could have been this big step and new sound. Instead, there is an awkward tangle. Some new musical and lyrical touches but many similarities with The Kick Inside.
July 1978
Kate is the best selling female albums artist in the U.K. for the first quarter of 1978. Wuthering Heights has been number 1 in the Netherlands, Belgium, New Zealand (five weeks), and Australia; and "top-ten" in Germany, France, Brazil, Argentina, South Africa, Denmark, Sweden and Finland.
July 4, 1978
The Man With the Child in His Eyes reaches its chart peak in the U.K. at number 6.
The Kick Inside is re-released in the U.S.A. on a new label--EMI-America [and with a different but equally inappropriate cover, now sometimes referred to as the "country-western" or "Tammy Wynette" cover.] Wuthering Heights is finally released as a single in the U.S. There are some good notices, but Kate is considered by radio programmers to be "too bizarre" for the American market.
July 7, 1978
Kate travels to Superbear Studios in Nice, France to record her second album. She had had good reports of this studio from Dave Gilmour, who recorded his first solo album there. The recording is a much-needed break for Kate. In the sunshine and the mountain air she recovers from almost six months of solid promotion, and pursues her real vocation, making music.
August, 1978
It takes ten weeks at Superbear to record twelve tracks, of which ten are used for the new album. [These two unreleased tracks have never been identified.] Kate has definite aims for this album. She sees her first album as having affected the senses. Lionheart is to be aimed at the guts. In this she comes into some conflict with Andrew Powell, who is again acting as producer. She is allowed more of her own way in the studio, and after applying some pressure, she is able to bring the KT Bush Band in to play on some of the tracks. Kate is credited as assistant producer, but Lionheart is the end of the road for the Bush-Powell partnership
That tension in the studio. Bush’s band playing on a few tracks but Andrew Powell’s players performing on most of the tracks. It was a very stressful and upsetting time for such a new artist. I think one of those two new tracks was Never For Ever. The title song for her third studio album that was never included. I would love to know what that other track was. The Kick Inside had thirteen tracks and Bush had so many song choices. Things were more rushed and difficult for Lionheart. Going through the autumn, there was this crossover between The Kick inside and Lionheart. No real break or distinction between the albums!
September 5, 1978
Kate debuts one of the tracks from Lionheart on a U.K. children's television programme, Ask Aspel. She later explains that she wanted to sing In the Warm Room, but felt that it was too risque for a children's show. She sings Kashka From Baghdad, a song about two gay lovers, instead.
As the album takes longer than expected, Kate is recalled to London by EMI to do some prior promotion. At her own request, Kate is interviewed by a diverse collection of publications ranging from The Sun, to Vegetarian and Vogue (the last featuring Kate in photographs by David Bailey).
October 11, 1978
From completing the final mix of the album, Kate is straight on a plane for Australia, where she is to preside with that month's teen pop sensation Leif Garrett over the Tenth annual TV Week King of Pop Awards before a live audience of 1,000 in a circus tent, and a television audience of two million on the Nine Network.
The next day Kate also performs live on the television programme Countdown, debuting the routine for Hammer Horror, devised in her hotel room. Hammer Horror is planned as the first single from the new album.
October 17, 1978
Kate moves on to New Zealand, specifically Christchurch, for a television special. There she again performs Hammer Horror.
The live tour is put back to February 1979.
November, 1978
Julie Covington, who has known Kate and her family for many years, releases an album including her own cover version of The Kick Inside.
Kate promotes Lionheart in the Netherlands, German and France [although I have no record of any television appearances dating from the trip].
Even before Lionheart is released, Bush is sent over to Australia to promote it! It was a case of EMI doing whatever they could to ensure that her music stayed in people’s mind. The impact that this had. If Bush was hoping for a quieter end to the year then she was not afforded one! Her diary was pretty full until December. With her second album released on 10th November, 1978, Bush knew she could not relax or find any time for reflection. She did have a busy final two months of the year.
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in 1978/PHOTO CREDIT: Gered Mankowitz
November 7, 1978
Hammer Horror enters the British singles chart at the unexpectedly low place of number 73. [Contrary to usual record-company theory, saturation of the market place with new, rushed product nearly immediately after the success of a debut album is more often than not a poor business move, and usually does as much damage as good to the artist's budding popularity. The commercially mediocre sales of Lionheart should not have surprised anyone.]
Lionheart has its international launch at the 14th-century Ammersoyen Castel, two hours' drive from Amsterdam. 120 guests, from EMI Europe, Canada and the UK, and including disk jockeys Tony Myatt and Kenny Everett, as well as Dr. and Mrs. Bush, attend the reception. After dinner, in the grounds of the castle, Leo Bouderwijas, the President of the Association of Dutch Phonographical Industries, presents Kate with the prestigious Edison Award for the best single of 1978. Kate is also presented with a platinum disc for sales of the album in Holland.
November 8, 1978
Kate flies back to the U.K. for a private buffet at The Venue for the presentation of the Melody Maker 1978 Poll Awards. In the first year of her public career Kate has been voted Best Female Vocalist and Brightest Hope of 1978.
November 10, 1978
The international release of Lionheart.
November 17, 1978
Kate performs Don't Push Your Foot on the Heartbrake on The Leo Sayer Show, on BBC TV. She is off on a personal appearance tour of British record shops.
November 21, 1978
Hammer Horror reaches its chart peak, number 44. Lionheart enters the album chart at number 36.
December, 1978
Kate is off to promote in the U.S.A. for the release there of The Man With the Child in His Eyes.
Kate Bush promoting The Kick Inside and Lionheart at the same time. Though her U.S. T.V. debut (and sole appearance on U.S. T.V.) was big, you get the impression it was all a bit too much. Barely rested after coming back from Australia, Bush was put on a plane again! It was such an intense and scary year. Bush had not had any experience of this level of promotion and travel. I am not sure whether she had another year as big and busy as 1978.
December 9, 1978
Most importantly, she performs two songs on the U.S. NBC-TV programme, Saturday Night Live. [This is the only live entertainment programme on U.S. television, and is the most influential programme for the pop music market, as well the most important American showcase for "alternative" music. Kate performs The Man With the Child in His Eyes, seated on a piano, to the accompaniment of veteran rock keyboardist Paul Shaffer; and Them Heavy People, in a raincoat and Fedora hat. Nothing remotely like it has ever been seen on American television before.]
She is invited by Eric Idle, who is host of that edition; and she is visited by Mick Jagger. Paul Simon drops in to watch her performance.
Kate does press and radio promotion and moves on to Canada for more of the same. She is known to have made no other North American television appearances during this trip, however.
Back in England the Kate Bush Club, the official fan club, is formed”.
It is nice that the Kate Bush Club was formed at the end of the year. From, in January, EMI proclaiming that Kate Bush would be a big success to her fan club being set up in the December, so much was covered. Traveling to the U.S., Australia, Japan and Europe. Releasing several singles and two albums. Countless chats and interviews. T.V. exposure and chart success. Some new songs written, though not as many as she would have liked! Who knows what Kate Bush was thinking during Christmas 1978. She had a lot to reflect on and be happy with. She must have feared another year of travel and promotion. However, in 1979, things did change. Her tour was the big event. Even if there was a lot of travel, it was around the U.K. and Europe. Bush able to perform her music using her own concepts. Not chatting to journalists or appearing on T.V. shows. Bush would have busy years after 1978, though I don’t think any matches the effort and time she spent traveling in her first professional year.
People say how busy The Beatles were. I think 1967 was a good example. The fact that there were two albums out and a film. Singles and lots of interviews. Whilst they stopped touring the year before and wanted to spend more time in the studio, Bush started touring the year after 1978 and also wanted to spend more time in the studio. The band had support and each other to fall back on, but there was also that inter-band fraying and the tension of four artists spending so much time together. For Bush, she had to shoulder so much of the energy and burden. Rather than crumble or retire or suffer any huge setbacks, instead she made some decisions. She knew she did not want to work with another producer. Well, not Andrew Powell! She needed to be more in charge of her music. Not wanting to have so little time to create another album, The Tour of Life was a way of creating this gap. She was eager to get back into the studio when the tour was over. Forty-seven years ago, EMI heralded this exciting young artist. From there, this was this insane trip around the world. It is almost impossible to believe how much she was asked to do in 1978. I think of The Beatles. Maybe their 1964. But 1967 was one where they had this superhuman push! If The Beatles’ relationships and career did take a hit after 1967. For Bush, there were positives that came after 1978 closed. Her first tour. A new album being started. Some big changes in terms of who she had in the studio and how her music would be produced and directed. When Kate Bush woke up on 1st January, 1979 she would begin…
THE next (exciting) phase of her career.