FEATURE:
First We Take Berlin…
IN THIS PHOTO: A 1985 image of Kate Bush in an on-set promotional photo for Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God) with dancer Michael Hervieu
An Idea for My 1,000th Kate Bush Feature
_________
THIS is my 954th Kate Bush feature…
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in Holland during spring 1978
so it is not long until I will publish the 1,000th. Although in the grand scheme of things it is not important, I think it would be good to mark the occasion somehow. As the feature will be published in June, that month marks fifty years since Kate Bush stepped into AIR Studios to record three songs. Two of these songs made their way unedited/unchanged onto her debut album, 1978’s The Kick Inside. One of the songs, The Saxophone Song, was called Berlin when Bush recorded it in 1975. Of course, one of the three tracks was the astonishing The Man with the Child in His Eyes. In 1975, AIR Studios was based in Oxford Street. If you stand by Oxford Circus tube station and look at a building with Nike Town written on it, look up to the fourth floor and that is where AIR Studios used to be. I imagine Kate Bush excitedly and nervously hopping off a bus and walking up the stairs to AIR Studios ready to record. There were some quality session musicians booked to play with her (including Alan Parker and Barry De Souza). Recollections from some who played with Kate Bush that day – including saxophonist Alan Skidmore – are blank as to what it was like. At the time it must have seemed like any other session. Bush was a month or so shy of her seventeenth birthday when she recorded at AIR Studios in June 1975. Engineer Geoff Emerick has clearer recollections of the day. As Graeme Thomson writes in his book, Under the Ivy: The Life and Music of Kate Bush, Emerick was blown away. Bush being this breath of fresh air. This sweet girl walked in and said she was thirsty so was brought some water. There was a bit of small talk before producer Andrew Powell met her and recording began. Two three-hour sessions commenced where three songs were recorded. Un updated version of Maybe – which is an overlooked gem -, together with Berlin and The Man with the Child in His Eyes. Even if the later song was recorded in June 1975, it can be traced back to 1973 or earlier.
Some of the poetry that Bush wrote whilst at St. Joseph’s making their way into her music. The Man with the Child in His Eyes had a basic version recorded back in 1973. Bush was backed by players from the London Symphony Orchestra whilst at AIR Studios in 1975. I love to imagine Kate Bush make her first professional recordings in June 1975. I am not sure if Bush was driven to the studios. If she got a bus then she would have gone from Welling maybe up to Greenwich. Maybe then getting the Tube from North Greenwich to Bond Street and then walking from there. Perhaps there was a drive of seventy minutes or so down the A2. She must have had so many conflicting emotions as she made her way there and back. The feeling of anxiety and nervousness but this excitement of going into London. Some of her earliest exposure to the city. The noise and pollution must have been different to what she experienced at East Wickham Farm. However, stepping into AIR Studios – with three other leading record producers, Ron Richards, John Burgess and Peter Sullivan, George Martin established Associated Independent Recordings and opened AIR Studios in 1970 – must have been a thrill! A part of Kate Bush history was captured back in June 1975. I wonder whether anyone will mark that fiftieth anniversary very soon. Maybe there will be some magazine articles, though I am not sure how many people are aware that Bush recorded at AIR Studios in June 1975. It was a historic and seismic moment in my view. The very first professional recordings recorded nearly fifty years ago. It deserves some celebration and commemoration!
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in 1978/PHOTO CREDIT: Gered Mankwoitz
I want to focus on June 1975 for my 1,000th Kate Bush feature. I am not sure whether I should record a podcast and invite people to discuss that important moment. Whether that would engross and intrigue people. Maybe use that as a jumping off point and then talking about Kate Bush more widely. I do know that I can go beyond that and celebrate Kate Bush’s legacy and impact. It is amazing to think that nearly fifty years ago, Kate Bush stepped into AIR Studios as a teenager and that would be the start of a professional recording career that continues to this day. I do want to do something special. This year is one where some special anniversaries are occurring. Hounds of Love is forty in September. There are so many possibilities to explore. My budget is not huge, so I am conscious of spending quite a bit of money on a podcast. Finchley Production Studios offers competitive prices. Even so, for a ninety-minute podcast filming and a decent editing option, the cost would be about £500. As I do not generate any revenue from my website, it would be a loss of £500. It might be worth it for the thrill of recording a podcast and getting to mark a fiftieth anniversary and chat about Kate Bush. However, it will be quite a financial hit! However, I don’t really want to do an ordinary blog feature. For the 1,000th, I do want to go all out and honour Kate Bush. I am conscious about cost and whether I can crowd-fund for a podcast. That might seem a bit unethical. I will have a think. I am conscious there are a couple of huge anniversaries coming up that should be highlighted. Fifty years since Bush stepped into AIR Studios to record songs that would appear on her debut album. Forty years since Hounds of Love was released. I am looking forward to my 1,000th Kate Bush feature. I want to honour this artist that is so important to me. Whether a podcast or something filmed, I am determined to show sufficient love and respect to an artist that has…
CHANGED my life.