FEATURE:
Strange Phenomenon
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in 1980
Is Kate Bush One of the Most Original Artists Ever?
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I am going back…
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in 1978
to The Kick Inside briefly. Kate Bush’s 1978 debut album, I still marvel at how different it was to anything that came before. When you think about the female artists who proceeded her, were any talking about their body, sexuality and desires like Kate Bush? The lyrical content on that album stretching well beyond the commercial and ordinary. For a teenager, it was remarkably mature and extraordinary! No sense of timidity or staying close to what was out there. An individual artist who was astonishing from the very start. I posed the question as to whether Kate Bush is among the most original artists ever. Look around music now and there are few who can match her brilliance. In terms of how they change and evolve between albums. I have talked about The Kick Inside before and its lyrics. Not informed by anything in the charts or what was popular, there are few more original and distinct debut singles as Wuthering Heights. Not many artists taking from literature – or a T.V. adaptation of a novel – for their debut single. The whole album is fascinating. One of the most female albums ever released, the rest of Kate Bush’s career has been marked by these albums filled with characters, scenes and emotions that no other artist could write about or convey. I don’t think she gets talked about in terms of an influence on modern artists. We all know some of the big names who cite her as an influence but, for the most part, these artists did so a while ago. Look at many of the artists – especially women – coming through and at the forefront now. Whether consciously or not, you know that they owe something to Kate Bush. Whether that is the way they have this independence and take control of their career or something about their songwriting which has elements of Kate Bush. Whether that is talking about desire and passion similar to her or taking from literature and film. Building a cast of characters into their work. You look around the modern scene and you can tell of those artists who are similar to Kate Bush though they have not explicitly discussed her influence on them – but you feel like they should!
Just the way Kate Bush conducted her career. In addition to being an original. Bush was also very determined to produce her own music and do so at her own pace. That was almost unheard of for artists in the 1970s and 1980s. Especially women. Many signed to labels were either guided pretty heavily and did have not have much independence or those who were happy being a commercial artist and kept producing the same sort of music. Like The Kick Inside and Lionheart, Bush could have made the remainder of her albums piano-based and similar. Never for Ever (1980) introduced the Fairlight CMI. The Dreaming (1982) found her songs at their most dense and dark. Plenty of beauty and character. Bush producing and throwing herself into every moment. The Ninth Wave, the conceptual suite on the second side of Hounds of Love, being about a woman at sea hoping to be rescued. How many other artists would dedicated half of their album to a concept as opposed to the entire album – or just not bother at all?! Kate Bush going in a different direction after that. The cultures and sounds she mixed. Instruments and sounds from around the world. Bulgarian voices on The Sensual World. Baila touches on The Red Shoes. Bush never wanting to repeat herself. The breadth and scope of her music is extraordinary. This original brilliance also extends to her aesthetic and fashion. An under-discussed fashion icon, she was mixing casual and girl-next-door fashions with extraordinary and extravagant attire. All very distinctly her. Again, look at the women in music who have followed and you know they look up to Kate Bush. This was not forced either. Bush not trying to be attention-grabbing or do anything she was not comfortable with.
Some might say Bush became more conventional or lost some of her spark through The Sensual World and The Red Shoes. That late-1980s and 1990s output not as original or unconventional (in a good way). Aerial, though, was this return to the sounds that only our Kate Bush could produce. I think about the artists compared to Kate Bush. Despite the fact there are some similarities, I don’t think one could easily compare an artist with her. There are a lot of brilliant and innovative musicians around today. However, when I compare their albums and see how their careers have shifted, nothing quite impresses me as much when compared to Kate Bush. Not to suggest Bush wildly swings for the hell of it just to be different or unpredictable. Every album she has produced has been a natural evolution. That combination of her remarkable vocal range, lyrics that are unlikely anyone else’s and this incredible personality. I wanted to write about this but cannot see many other articles that argue this. It is subjective saying that an artist is the most original ever. There are a number of different factors to consider. One could argue that The Beatles or Taylor Swift are the most original. Or David Bowie. For me, there are aspects of Kate Bush that, when blended together, create this artist that has not been matched. The way Bush cannot be defined or categorised. Music videos almost like short films.
Theatrical and visually arresting, Bush’s music videos have definitely inspired generations of artists. Kate Bush has set records and broken barriers. She has maintained control of her music and has had this new resurgence. At the age of sixty-six, Bush is standing out from those around her. Someone who has raided funds for charity for decades and is this incredible thoughtful and generous person, she is also down to Earth and relatable. Despite this phenomenal talent, Kate Bush has never had an ego or fallen into the traps many other huge artists have. Blending mythology, fantasy, the gothic and passions of the heart, Bush’s music has taken influence from Africa, Ireland, Bulgaria, Australia and far beyond. Writing her own material and producing most of her albums, Kate Bush has kept relevant and distinct without having to duplicate or do what went before. There is more to be said on the subject but, as few have written about it, I wanted to raise it. Again, ‘original’ is hard to precisely define when it comes to music. One cannot deny Kate Bush is distinct and like nobody else. An artist who stands on her own. However, one who has inspired so many others artists through the years. I would love to hear other people’s thoughts on this. From the incredibly unconventional and original debut album in 1978 to 2011’s 50 Words for Snow – her most recent album -, the innovator and genius keeps doing something new and fascinating that is both incomparable to other albums yet accessible and endlessly listenable. It is clear that, when it comes to Kate Bush, there isn’t…
ANYONE like her.