FEATURE:
Don't Salute Me I'm Only the Piano Player
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush performing at the Falkoner Teateret in Copenhagen, Denmark on The Tour of Life (or The Lionheart Tour) in April 1979/PHOTO CREDIT: Jorgen Angel
Kate Bush and the Lack of Piano Idols in Her Formative Years
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THIS is a subject…
IN THIS PHOTO: Elton John in 1975/PHOTO CREDIT: Terry O’Neill/Iconic Images
that I have alluded to in previous features. When I wrote about Kate Bush’s music pin-ups when she was a child, I did mention one particular artist who was an inspiration. That drew her to the piano. Think about aspiring artists and their childhood and teen years. These are the times when they are forming opinions about music and being compelled by various different sounds. Look at any legendary artist and you can trace their influences. Depending on the genre, you can usually find musical comfort. What happens when you are not a conventional artist and there are very few idols and those you can identify with? Thinking about Kate Bush, I have mentioned some of her music influences before. Whether that is Donavon, Roxy Music or Captain Beefheart, most of these artists were backed by guitars, bass and drums. Kate Bush’s music, or at least her earliest work, had the piano at the forefront. Apart from Classical music and very niche work, there were not many artists in the mainstream at least that Bush could find strength from. No familiar faces in that sense. It must have been quite isolating. Even though Bush learnt piano from her father and there was that connection, it was not like she could put on the T.V. and find many artists playing piano. Or at least using that as their primary influence. The same with the radio. Growing up in the 1960s and 1970s, most of the commercial music Bush would have heard was from artists where perhaps guitar was at the forefront. Elton John was a bit of a revelation. An artist who then and now is synonymous with piano, this must have been a revelation and lifeline for Bush. It is concerning how Elton John was almost unique in that sense. Someone very much inspired by the piano, there is no doubt his music was a big source of influence for Kate Bush starting out. Throughout her career.
Granted, Bush’s family first drew her to the piano. For many artists, they pick up an instrument because an artist they admire plays it. I think a lot of the music Bush was exposed to as a child would have been quite varied. There was Folk and Classical music. She would have discovered music through her brothers and some of the more experimental or unorthodox artists. Very few of them were piano-based. Without many out there giving her some sort of guidance, it almost fell to Elton John alone to propel and motivate her. At a point in Bush’s career, the piano was still very much in the mix but she adopted electronic technology and widened her palette. However, you only need to listen to an album like 50 Words for Snow – where Elton John appeared on Snowed in at Wheeler Street – to see this wonderful full circle moment. The final track on the album, Among Angels, is just Bush and the piano. I am trying to think of any other tracks of her where she is alone at the piano and we get such a naked and unadorned performance. I think that is significant. Earlier in her career, Bush was mixing the piano with a band by her side. There would be additional layers. Very few moments where the piano was out front and on its own. Even some of the best piano moments from The Kick Inside (her 1978 debut album), such as Wuthering Heights, James and the Cold Gun and The Kick Inside had other elements in the blend. However, Among Angels is a song where there is this clear and incredible intimacy. Bush and the piano. I often speculate what another album might sound like. I think it will feature piano heavily. Perhaps not quite as layered as Aerial (2005) or her earlier work. It made me think about modern music.
IN THIS PHOTO: Tori Amos in San Francisco for Keyboard magazine in 1992/PHOTO CREDIT: Jay Blakesberg
I think Kate Bush helped open the door for other artists. You can look at Tori Amos and similarities. Even though many compare Bush and Amos, they are their own artists. However, it is evident that Bush was influential to Tori Amos. Her first couple of albums – 1992’s Little Earthquakes and 1994’s Under the Pink – very much has piano at its heart. Tori Amos inspiring a whole generation of artists. I look around music today and there are not many artists who are synonymous with the piano. Not that many in the mainstream at least. I know artists such as Nils Frahm that spring to mind. However, think about a child or teen now who is thinking of taking up a career in music. If they love the piano, are there any artists succeeding and popular that they can aspire to be? I wonder what it is about the piano. Maybe people think it is a limited instrument when it comes to scope and impact. This cliché stereotype that it is quite a boring or Classic instrument that cannot be adapted and cross into multiple genres. That is not the case. Maybe Joni Mitchell was another musician that Bush could look up to but there were not many others. Today, I do worry that a potential innovator like Kate Bush might be demotivated or feel alone because of a lack of modern-day piano-based artists.
I know EMI’s Bob Mercer recommended Pink Floyd manager Steve O’Rourke to the family; paid for piano lessons so that she could refine her technique. I do love this recent feature from Prog, who explored and discuss The Kick Inside on its forty-seventh anniversary:
“Outside of the band, Kate had enrolled in dance classes in Covent Garden led by Lindsay Kemp, mime artist Adam Darius and jazz dancer Robin Kovac. Back in her flat, in the company of kittens Zoodle and Pye, she applied herself to improving her vocals and playing her piano.
“I’d get up in the morning, practise scales at my piano, go off dancing, and then in the evening I’d come back and play the piano all night,” she told VH1, recalling the remarkably hot summer of 1976. “I had all the windows open and I used to write until four in the morning. I got a letter of complaint from a neighbour who was basically saying, ‘Shut up!’ They got up at five to do shift work and my voice carried the length of the street”.
Kate Bush obviously has inspired so many artists. She will do for years to come. I think that her piano playing and how important that is when we discuss her music will give voice and strength to those who feel there are very few artists out there promulgating this wonderful instrument. How Bush in the 1970s and even 1980s would not have seen too many other artists whose primary instrument was the piano. I know Bush learned the violin as a child but it is the piano that spoke to her in a way nothing else did. We can thank Elton John, this little light in an ocean of guitars, drums and other instruments, for showing that you could be a major artist and play the piano (even though John’s songs bring in many other instruments). There are many things to admire about Kate Bush. One of them is the fact that she is undoubtably…
A piano icon.