FEATURE:
Kate Bush: The Tour of Life
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in Abbey Road Studios whilst working on Never for Ever (1980)
Life at Abbey Road Studios
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WHEN it comes to studios…
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in Abbey Road’s Studio Two in 1982/PHOTO CREDIT: Steve Rapport
Kate Bush worked in during her career, I think each contributed in their own meaningful way. AIR was important for her debut album, 1978’s The Kick Inside. A professional studio that was a stable and pleasant environment for that album, Bush found herself at various different studios through her career. People will have their favourites. Perhaps the very best and happiest environment was provided by the home-built studio at East Wickham Farm. Bespoke and the hub for some of her very best work, it is a shame that this studio no longer is being used. In terms of its stature, Abbey Road Studios is at the top. Kate Bush would have wanted to record there from when she was a child. Listening to The Beatles and one day seeing herself being in the same spaces that they were a less than a decade previously. In terms of what Abbey Road provided in terms of technology and space, it was this essential source of inspiration and motivation (which I mentioned in the previous feature about the studios in 2022). One of the biggest issues would have been the cost of recording there. I know Bush would have spent even more time there were it more affordable. EMI aware that her being there for a while was costing them a lot. I think it was one reason why Bush built her own studio and did not have to worry about high bills and being more constrained in terms of time. Perhaps not able to experiment as much as she would have liked. However, in so many ways, Abbey Road ws a dream come true. Despite the fact Kate Bush used home studios from 1985’s Hounds of Love more and more, she still recorded out of Abbey Road. For Aerial and 50 Words for Snow (her most recent album), orchestral sessions were recorded there. Utilising its acoustics, space and atmosphere to enrich her songs. Abbey Road Studios used for most of her albums. Even if it was mostly I suspect for orchestration, it was essential and almost a second home to Kate Bush. She used the studios for The Red Shoes, Hounds of Love, The Dreaming, and Never for Ever.
That final album, her third, was the first where Bush was co-producer. Perhaps a conscious decision by her to get to Abbey Road, Bush knew that she had the sort of technology at her fingertips at this legendary studio. The history and legacy that it had. I am not sure what truly ignited Bush’s love of Abbey Road Studios. She co-produced Never for Ever with Jon Kelly. He has experience there. He worked there for several years with Geoff Emerick. Bush was very excited to have control over her album. She knew that this was in her control now, but there were also risks. Every time something worked out it made her feel so much braver. There were other inspirations alongside Abbey Road Studios. When she started demoing material at Studio Two at Abbey Road in January 1980, Bush appeared on two Peter Gabriel tracks, Games Without Frontiers and No Self Control. What struck her most, and what she started to adopt in her music, was the way Gabriel used drum machine and electronic samplers to create sounds. Bush, mainly relying on piano, drums and also the Fairlight CMI, had her mind opened. Abbey Road also assisted Bush as a songwriter. She was used to having songs all formed and ready to record when working at AIR Studios in London and France for her first two albums. From January 1980 for five months, Bush was now writing and demoing in the studio. At a charge of £90 an hour, it was a luxury that would have made EMI nervous. Over £100,000 in studio bills was wracked up for Never for Ever! However, as it went to number one and is one of her best albums, Abbey Road contributed so much to her music. Opened her imagination and affected everything she did afterwards.
Bush wanted to make Never for Ever a more experimental and open album. She made sure there was more space for musicians and new ideas. Her brother Paddy invaluable when it came to providing so many unusual and interesting instrumental touches. It was not a case of Bush there at Abbey Road and being very focused without much time for relaxation. She appreciated where she was and how lucky she was to be recording at the legendary studio space. She also ensured her musicians were made comfortable. Bush filled the studio with plants and flowers. There was plenty of tea on hand and she also held chair-spinning competitions! There were late-night laughs involving chocolates and alcohol (some of it stolen). Imagining Kate Bush in Abbey Road Studios is one of my favourite things! Songs like December Will Be Magic Again recorded there. The video for Sat in Your Lap – from 1982’s The Dreaming – shot in Abbey Road’s Studio Two (where Bush also had her first taste of directing). I think that the size and gravitas of Abbey Road Studios meant Bush could finally connect her music to something more visual and cinematic. Bush had always wanted her music to be this audio-visual combination that was seamless and spectacular. This was achieved once she was at Abbey Road. Thinking bigger and being inside this iconic studio for months. Even if it was expensive and not ideal to be at for long periods of time, she kept coming back. Although too the studios were used more in a diminished capacity from Hounds of Love onwards, the fact that it was home to these incredible orchestration sessions shows Bush always kept Abbey Road in her heart. She contributed to Mary McCartney’s (daughter of Paul) 2022 documentary, If These Walls Could Sing. Bush recalled her excitement being there. She also mentioned how there was never any decorating or changes made to the walls and studios in case the acoustics were affected! I would love to know exactly what was recorded at Abbey Road for Bush’s albums. To the best of my knowledge, seven of her ten studio albums were either partly recorded there or there were orchestral sessions there. The Kick Inside, Lionheart and Director’s Cut to my mind the only three albums that had no connection to Abbey Road Studios – though there might be a chance something from Director’s Cut was recorded or engineered there.
I am going to wrap things up soon. Before that, this article talks about Abbey Road Studios and Kate Bush recording there. Many people do not understand just how much of her music was made there. It is a hugely important part of her career and legacy:
“Kate worked at Abbey Road Studios on the albums Never For Ever, The Dreaming, and Hounds Of Love in Studio 2, and the orchestral parts for the albums The Sensual World and The Red Shoes. On 17 June 1981, the music video for the song Sat In Your Lap was recorded in the cavernous Studio 1, a huge space about half an acre in size. On 12 November 1981, Kate attended a 50th anniversary party for the studio, and cut the birthday cake alongside singer Helen Shapiro. In March 1986, she recorded a performance of the song Under The Ivy for the 100th broadcast of The Tube.
Kate about Abbey Road Studios
Being on your own in Studio 2 is a fascinating experience. I felt like there were at least ten other people there with me… I think it’s a combination of all the people who have performed there over the years and their combined creativity. (Brian Southall, Abbey Road, 2002. ISBN 978-0711991118)”.
I almost forgot that Kate Bush delivered the one and only performance of Under the Ivy at Abbey Road Studios. Her finest B-side’s (the B-side to Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God) only outing happened at a very special space for her. From 1980 to 2011, Kate Bush has spent some very important time at Abbey Road Studios. I wonder whether she will work there on a new album. Even if she records most of her material at her home studio, one cannot bet against Abbey Road Studios featuring. Bush was also recently spotted visiting Damon Albarn’s Studio 13 on Latimer Road, London. Whether she was scoping out the space to record in or she is going to feature on a future Gorillaz track, I am not too sure. I do think we will see more of Kate Bush at Abbey Road Studios. Somewhere that was a big leap and this dream come true in 1980, she is in a position where can afford to spend a lot of time there. In fact, she could record an entire album there without much issue! It would be wonderful if she performed live there too. When it comes to Kate Bush and the iconic Abbey Road Studios, it is…
A marriage made in Heaven.