FEATURE:
Stepping Out, Off the Page
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush on the set of the video for Babooshka (1980)
Exploring More of Kate Bush’s Albums in Book Form
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I am wondering…
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush performing in Paris in 1979/PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images
what this year will provide in terms of new books about Kate Bush. There have been biographies about Bush. As I have written before, I am not sure whether there is much more room for anything in that sense. There are definitely ideas for Kate Bush books. An encyclopedia or a photobook. Something that looks at her career and genius from a new angle. I also would love to see more in the way of magazine articles. I suspect there will be a few published later in the year as some of her albums approach big anniversaries. I have waxed lyrical about how I am enjoying Leah Kardos’s new 33 1/3 book on Hounds of Love. I am pouring through the pages and getting so much inspiration. I am going to write a few features around that book. Some around The Ninth Wave and one or two on the album in general. I also love how that book explores her songs in analytical detail. Not just looking at the lyrics. Dissecting various bits of instrumentation, effects and musical observations. It not only gives us more depth about the songs and we see them in a whole new light. It also shows what an extraordinary producer Kate Bush is. How she brought all these sounds and tones together. So many people have written about Hounds of Love, though Leah Kardos’s new book give background to the album. The time period leading up to it. Perfect context and some real exploration of where Kate Bush was in her career and why Hounds of Love was so significant. We also get some writing about its impact and how it has influenced artists since.
I have covered this briefly in another feature. The Kate Bush albums that are available in book form. Laura Shenton wrote about The Kick Inside and The Dreaming. They are essentials if you are Kate Bush fans. That said, seven of her studio albums are not explored through books. There would still be scope to update ones about The Kick Inside and The Dreaming. I have been thinking about the 33 /13 series and how Kate Bush was long overdue representation in that series. It is amazing that Hounds of Love has been given this passionate and compelling love note. Something that is so analytical and deep. It made me hungry for more books in that series that are about Kate Bush albums. There are four that come to mind. I do think that The Kick Inside would be perfect for 33 1/3. That would join three other books. I would see Never for Ever, The Sensual World and Aerial as worthy of deeper inspection and investigation. The Kick Inside because there is all that background and history beforehand. A chance to go deep with the songs and all the layers of them. A bit about how the album has inspired and influenced. Why it remains so respected and acclaimed. Never for Ever is an underrated album but also a historic one. It went to number one and, with it, Kate Bush because the first ever album by a British female solo artist to top the U.K. album chart. That would provide a focal point. It is an album that so many people do not know about. As Bush would follow 1980’s Never for Ever with 1982’s The Dreaming, we can see how she was growing as a producer and songwriter. Some might say, as it is not as big as Hounds of Love, it would be very difficult to fill a book. I would disagree. Maybe not something in the 33 1/3 series. Though it does deserves its own book. The same can be said of The Sensual World.
Still underrated in my view, it followed Hounds of Love. Released in 1989, it saw a new musical direction. The first album Bush released in her thirties. New perspectives on people, life and love. So much rich conversation and possibilities. Some of her very best songs. Not only can the book approach the songs and go into detail. Like books written about other Kate Bush albums, there is also historical context. Looking at events happening around Bush or how her life was changing. I think that nobody would argue against the fact that 2005’s Aerial is the one album that would easily owe itself to a book. A double album, there are acres of possibilities. Maybe hard to cram all into a 33 1/3 book, though I think it could happen. Nothing to say that it will not happen in the future. I do hope that someone puts together a book around Aerial. It is such a magical album and one of Kate Bush’s very best. Not to exclude any other studio album, though there may be less appetite for something around 1993’s The Red Shoes or even 2011’s 50 Words for Snow. Maybe The Dreaming could well sit alongside Hounds of Love in the 33 1/3 series. As three of her albums only have been given special treatment – unless anyone else can think of another album that has been brought to life through a book? – there is definite scope. What the 33 1/3 Hounds of Love book shows is that there is definite appetite.
I don’t think I would write a good book. However, I do recognise that there would be demand if there were more books about Kate Bush’s albums. A revisit for The Kick Inside that could also nod to its follow-up, Lionheart (!978). A Never for Ever book could include a bit about The Dreaming, though that album could also be revisit. There would be fresh looks at The Sensual World and Aerial. I have been so engrossed in Leah Kardos’s Hounds of Love book. Authors such as Graeme Thomson have covered Hounds of Love in their writing, though there is still potential for that album to be expanded on once more. Especially The Ninth Wave. The most fascinating section, in my view, of the 33 1/3 book concerns The Ninth Wave. As such a fan of The Kick Inside, something could sit alongside Laura Shenton’s book. I would love a pocket-size book about The Kick Inside where we get all of this detail. So long as it did not repeat what Shenton has written. The absence of books about Kate Bush’s albums is glaring. Many people assuming Hounds of Love is her only worthy album. The very reason to write about her albums is to make people aware of them. It might be dangerous assuming that would create demand. I think that enough Kate Bush fans would buy books about her albums. There is a whole new generation that only knows her music on the surface. A good way to appreciate the albums and what they represent is to learn more about them. Sure, there are interviews and articles written about each of them. However, a more concentrated book that one could purchase for a good price that is not too long would definitely engage people. Never say never this year. Something might come this year. It would be a thrill to discover Kate Bush’s albums in a new way. A real dive. Stepping out...
OFF the page.