FEATURE: Kate Bush’s Purple Reign: Prince and Our Queen

FEATURE:

 

 

Kate Bush’s Purple Reign

IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in 1993

 

Prince and Our Queen

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THIS is the second feature…

IN THIS PHOTO: Prince in 1993/PHOTO CREDIT: Lynn Goldsmith

in a row where I am taking from Tom Doyle’s brilliant book, Running Up That Hill: 50 Visions of Kate Bush. There is a section that caught my eye. Maybe some Kate Bush fans do not realise Kate Bush and Prince worked together. Bush was featured on Prince’s 1996 album, Emancipation. That was a rare occasion where Bush featured on another artist’s album. She had done earlier in her career. Featuring alongside the likes of Peter Gabriel, Big Country, Roy Harper and Go West. However, by the 1990s, it was quite rare for Bush to feature on any other artists’ work. Her and Prince had a kinship. Even though they were collaborating remotely and did not see each other often, there were similarities between them. In terms of how they worked and this idea they were both slightly reclusive and strange. Press perceptions round Prince and Kate Bush. However, when they did work together for Kate Bush’s 1993 album, The Red Shoes, the result was not brilliant. I have spotlighted Why Should I Love You? before. I have also mentioned how, when Prince and Madonna worked together for her 1989 album, Like a Prayer, the song they collaborated on was underwhelming. That was Love Song. The two briefly dated in the 1980s and they had a complex relationship. However, there was a more straightforward relationship between Prince and Kate Bush. What could have been a wonderful and harmonious collaboration – think Bush and Peter Gabriel’s duet, Don’t Give Up – instead was an overloaded and messy. On 21st April, it will be nine years since Prince died. Only fifty-seven, Kate Bush was among those who paid tribute. When promoting the live album of Before the Dawn in 2016, she talked to Matt Everitt and shared her memories of Prince. It was a huge loss for the music world.

It is great that he and Kate Bush worked together. Although separated by technology, the two did get to share some recording space together. Tom Doyle argues how the two don’t seem to have much in common on paper. Prince was this showman who was not averse to publicity and loved the stage. He was fine with fame. Bush, someone who was more private and never wanted to be famous seemed to be an opposite. However, the two shared common ground then it came to the record studio. Both wanted control over their music. Bush got that in 1982 when she produced The Dreaming. Prince found it earlier when 1978’s For You came out (two months after Bush’s debut, The Kick Inside). Both were both in 1958. Prince born seven weeks after Kate Bush. These musical prodigies, there was this connection. Think about their work in the 1980s. Prince’s When Doves Cry has no bassline and the bass Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God). Both have vocal choirs and LinnDrum beats. Idiosyncratic synth lines and brilliantly deployed and stacked vocals. When Doves Cry arrived in 1984. A year later, Bush released Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God). It was not until 1990 that the two met in person. She was there for one of his dates during his Nude Tour. It was a more stripped-back (no pun intended) tour compared to the Lovesexy Tour of 1988 and 1989. Bush said how Prince was the most extraordinary and innovative live performer she had seen. Prince told his engineer Michael Koppelman that Bush was his favourite woman. Prince and Bush met backstage. The idea of them working together was floated. After Prince returned to the U.S. after the Nude Tour completed, he and Kate Bush spoke on the phone. Bush had this song – Why Should I Love You? – that she felt would benefit from having Prince’s vocals on backing. Listen to the demo of Why Should I Love You? and it sound vastly different to what would appear on 1993’s The Red Shoes. What is on the album is a reduced and cutdown version of what Prince sent back to Bush. The seven-minute-long version (which leaked online) that Bush intended for The Red Shoes had some similarities with tracks like When Doves Cry. Understandable why it might appeal to Prince.

Rather than Prince adding his vocal and it being this long and interesting song that could end The Red Shoes, Prince took it apart. He “tore it apart, rebuilding it entirely”. As Tom Doyle notes, Prince looped “a four-bar section from the chorus of the song, he engulfed it with an avalanche of ideas, filling up two 24-track tape reels, adding new drums, playing guitar, bass, keyboards and, almost as an afterthought, singing the actual vocal hook”. Michael Koppelman had to point out to Prince that he had sung a part wrong. The line, “of all the people in the world” he had recorded “all of the people in the world”. This possible dream collaboration had gone slightly awry! Prince rather confidently said he and Bush spoke about it and she was okay with him changing the words. Koppelman arrived at the studio one day to find Prince cutting up his vocal takes and sampling them to rearrange the words. Perhaps Prince realising he had made a mistake but not admitting it! The master tapes were sent back to Kate Bush and nothing was changed. She called the studio in the U.S. and was informed Prince was working on the track. A month after that, Prince’s tapes arrived at East Wickham Farm. Del Palmer (Kate Bush’s engineer and former boyfriend) told Sound on Sound how Prince had covered forty-eight tracks with everything you could imagine Not a complete disaster, he and Bush went over the song time and time again to get it into shape. Puzzling what to do with it, the version on The Red Shoes is closer to Prince’s overloaded version than Kate Bush’s more retrained original. It is one of those what-if moments. If Prince has reigned it in. If Bush had not asked him to feature and released her version. Their relationship working on that track was remote. They never met and instead would send each other stuff. Pre-Internet (or it was in its infancy), this was tapes mainly sent in the post. A bit of a letdown, it was perhaps impossible to meld these two incredible artists satisfactorily.

Listen to Bush’s backing vocals for My Computer on 1996’s Emancipation. A song that examined online relationships – Bush was ahead of the curve and sung similarly about technology’s grip for 1989’s Deeper Understanding -, you can barely detect Bush’s voice. For two artists that admired one another so much, it is a shame there is not a good, clear and clean example of the two in harmony. One can blame Prince for letting his ego take control. However, maybe he was not able to work with another artist and hone things in. Similarly, when Bush has worked with other artists since, she has called the shots and not allowed anyone else to control its direction and sound too heavily. When Prince died in 2016, she commended his artistry and control he has over his output. I can picture the two meeting in 1990 when Bush went to see him perform during the Nude Tour at Wembley Arena. I can imagine they were both quite nervous. Bush admired Prince so that opportunity to work with him was a must. Even if the final result was not as she’d imagine, she can at least she had Prince on one of her studio albums! I often wonder too if they would collaborate again if Prince were still with us. You can imagine they would be nodding to each other. It is such a tragedy that Prince died. As Prince died on 21st April, 2016, I wanted to use this feature to talk about the time he and Kate Bush met. Working together first on Why Should I Love You? Bush featuring on his My Computer. It is credit to Kate Bush that Why Should I Love You? was not one of the songs she reworked for 2011’s Director’s Cut. That album saw Bush reapproach songs from 1989’s The Sensual World and The Red Shoes. Maybe she considered Why Should I Love You? but wanted to honour Prince and not change it. It was clear then as it is now that Prince has a very…

DEAR place her heart.

FEATURE: Kate Bush: The Tour of Life: The Q Awards, 2001

FEATURE:

 

 

Kate Bush: The Tour of Life

IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush at the Q Awards on 29th October, 2001/PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images 

The Q Awards, 2001

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I have written about this before…

but I wanted to come back to a pretty big and important event from Kate Bush’s career. After The Red Shoes came out in 1993, there was a period when Kate Bush was out of the public eye. There was the odd single release and thing here and there but, for the first time in her career, there was a very long gap where we did not know if another album would come. Of course, Bush did release a double album in 2005. Aerial was released that year but she wrote some of the album way before then. However, in 2001, there was not really any expectation Kate Bush would bring us new music. The longest gap she left between albums to that point was between The Sensual World in 1989 and The Red Shoes in 1993 (there was also a four-year gap between Hounds of Love in 1985 and The Sensual World). We have had a longer gap since. Bush has not yet followed up on 2011’s 50 Words for Snow. However, there have been interviews with her since. She gave us her Before the Dawn residency in 2014. Bush’s most recent interview was near the end of last year. However, it was quite unexpected that we would hear from her in 2001. Not to repeat too much of what I have said before. However, I did want to mention a 2001 appearance at the Q Awards and an interview around that. It had been about seven years since Bush was last seen in public. Since 1994, things had been pretty quiet. It is amazing that journalists might struggle to recognise Bush after that time. It is like if Paul McCartney went away for seven years, you would still be able to recognise him after that time. The truth was Bush had not changed radically. She was still the same distinct and engaging person she was in the 1990s. However, now, there was a fresh energy and impetus. She became a mother in 1998 and was enjoying caring for her son, Bertie. There must have been some hesitation around appearing in public and doing any interviews after such a long time away.

However, it was journalist John Aizelwood that was tasked with interviewing Bush in a challenging year. In September 2001, there were the terrorist attacks in the U.S. Less than two months later, the Q Awards took place. It was a very strange atmosphere. Perhaps not as rowdy and charged as years previous, I guess there was a feeling of sombreness and  fear in the year. Kate Bush must have felt affected by what happened in the U.S. so might not have been quite in the mood to do an interview of speak positively. In spite of the time period, she did give her time to Q and John Aizelwood. The journalist was worried he would not recognise Bush. However, he did instantly. She was dressed down in jacket and trousers. This expectation that she would be in something eye-catching and starry. A woman now in forties, not much has altered. Bush noted Aizelwood and waved him over. They were at Harrods. She ordered a pot of tea and they sat down to chat. It was an interesting time for her. The year previous, in 2000, Peter Gabriel let slip that Bush had a child. This set the press in a frenzy. Maybe she felt she needed to do some press and speak after the sort of hysteria from the tabloids. This feeling that Bush had hidden a child away and this was scandalous. She had also been tipped to win a Q award, so she used the occasion to do her first press interview since 1994. John Aizelwood noted how Bush seemed keen to do the interview and it was not forced. Four years almost to the date until she released a new album, this was an occasion for Bush to buy herself a bit of time. EMI would have been excited for her to do the interview too. Aizelwood briefly met Kate Bush’s husband Danny McIntosh and son Bertie. They went off to shop. Bush told Aizelwood that she didn’t always want children but she looks at her son and knows that magic exists. She gave birth to him. Clearly, this was a very different artist to the one who was giving interviews in 1993 and 1994.

IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush and John Lydon

One of the points that came out of the interview is how Bush was drained following The Red Shoes. The batteries had run out and she needed “to restimulate”. Sending time watching bad sitcoms and quiz shows, she wanted to be in a position where there were no demands. She saw friends occasionally but she was flat and needed time away. I am paraphrasing from a chapter in Tom Doyle’s Running Up That Hill: 50 Visions of Kate Bush book. He dedicated a chapter to 2001 and that interview/award appearance. Aizelwood was told that Bush lived in a flat in central London. She told him where but asked she did not print it. She had gone to see films and shows but kept life pretty undramatic. It was not too long until family and motherhood was on her mind. Aizelwood did get out of Bush that she was working on a studio album. Comparing her to director Stanley Kubrick – who died in 1999 -, she said how she adored him and how he had creative control. When pressed about the album and when it will arrive, Bush did not give too much away. It would be four years until she released Aerial so it was quite a gamble revealing that information and there being such a long period until anything arrived. Bush said she didn’t want to discuss something that was not finished. I am a tad confused as to when the Q Awards took place in 2001. I thought it was November but, as Tom Doyle writes, Bush arrived early at the Park Lane Hotel ahead of the award ceremony on 29th October, 2001. Our of practice being in front of photographers, rather than the mandatory and somewhat outdated red carpet process – where artists and actors pose for the cameras and give short interviews to everyone – Bush rushed down and inside. That is what every one of us would do but, as there was expectation she would chat, she was booed by the assembled press and crowd.

Bush was worried that the public were booing her. John Aizelwood reassured her they did not but she was already deflated. This special occasion did not get off to the best of starts! It was a busy and existing year for music. Musicians including Liam Gallagher, Damon Albarn, Cher, members of Manic Street Preachers and Radiohead were all at the ceremony. Word got round that Kate Bush was there. It must have been this moment of joy for them but also a feeling they might be upstaged! Maybe impetus that they should be on their best behaviour too! One might expect everyone there to be fawning and invade her privacy. The only artist who maybe crossed that line was Elvis Costello, who walked over to her table and gave her his phone number in the hope he would collaborate with her – to this date they never have. Fanboying over Kate Bush, she must have been taken back by all this interest! Considering her previous album came out in 1993 and it did not get a great reception, it just showed how loved and relevant she was – even when she was not releasing music. Her musical peers were pleased to see her. Midge Ure presented the Classic Songwriter Award to Kate Bush. Recalling the first time he met her, when Bush’s name was read out, everyone in the room for on their feet applauding this moment. I love how Bush’s first words were “Ooh, I’ve just come (cum)”. This was a line from The Fast Show. Bush always a fan of comedy. Not what anyone would expect from her, it perhaps took away some understandable nerves! Once the rapture died and Bush chatted to Donavon, she was whisked upstairs where she had her photo taken with John Lydon. A fan of each other’s work, when Lydon collected his Inspiration Award, he declared how much he loved Kate Bush and her music. Quite a magic and strange evening at the Park Lane Hotel! Lydon was interviewed after he left the stage. He was not happy how artists were clearly indebted to her – he was not kind about Tori Amos –, and he said how Bush was a true original. Not someone abiding by slavish rules.

Like Elvis Costello, Lydon was rendered someone quiet and spellbound by Bush. The same man who arrived at the ceremony in a horse-drawn rag and bone cart and was very much as punk as you’d expect was now polite and well-mannered! Unlike Elvis Costello, John Lydon was not trying to get Bush to work with him. Instead, it was two friends sharing a moment together. Nigel Godrich (the Beck/Radiohead producer was at the helm for the latter’s 2000 album Kid A and 2001’s Amnesiac) was also trying to creatively hook up with Kate Bush. Noting how as a teenager he identified with her music, I guess he wanted to produce or mix her next album. Bush was doing things on her own and, though touched, would never invite or satisfy these unsolicited requests. Before John Aizelwood said goodbye to Kate Bush, she revealed her proudest achievement of 2001 was quitting smoking. Something she did for her son I am guessing, Bush also confessed the last record she purchased was Bob the Builder’s Can We Fix It? Bush said she and a few people were going for drinks. She did not say where. Aizewlood concluded how things spiralled out of control. First badly and then really well. She was very happy there and there was ample proof that she was loved. Maybe that night spurred her creative process and expanded her ambitions regarding Aerial. That people were genuinely excited about what was coming next. Aerial did arrive in November 2005. Perhaps those who attended the Q Awards in 2001 felt Bush was just about to release new music. There would be a wait. However, when Aerial did arrive, we could understand why it took quite a while to come to light. I think about the 2001 award appearance and wonder if there will be an occasion soon where Bush gets an award and shows up. You would hope that the BRITs would have made an award for her. I think that the NME Awards should make some space for her. Any excuse to honour Kate Bush! It would be worth it to have a repeat of the 2001 Q Awards and…

THAT wonderful night.

FEATURE: International Women’s Day 2025: Inspiring Change and Togetherness in the Music Industry

FEATURE:

 

 

International Women’s Day 2025

PHOTO CREDIT: KoolShooters/Pexels

Inspiring Change and Togetherness in the Music Industry

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AS 8th March…

IN THIS PHOTO: Sabrina Carpenter/PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images

is International Women’s Day, I want to put out the third and final feature to mark that. In music terms, there is no denying that the music industry is now being dominated by women. In terms of the best music being made. Not in terms of those in power and those with the most control. Think about the most acclaimed artists and best albums. Women are ruling and getting the most attention. They are also sweeping award ceremonies. The GRAMMYs was defined by female brilliance. So too was the recent BRITs. Charli xcx among the big winners. Even if the awards were slightly skewed towards men, it was women who shone brightest and won biggest. There is still not true equality in terms of this sense of achievement, boundary-breaking brilliance. I think the reverberations from the GRAMMYs and BRITs – and other award ceremonies – should compel some form of change and moves towards parity. When we look around, there are still fewer opportunities for women. Most professional producers are men. In terms of the songwriters appearing on the Billboard Top 100 and radio playlists. Most are men. Last year saw female journalists, artists and those in the industry talk about misogyny and discrimination. The rise in sexual assault. Radio playlists still have this male bias. Journalists writing about the male bias on Spotify. Huge festivals and smaller ones still struggling to book women and make them headliners. It is very much their issue and not because of a lack of options and visibility. Boardrooms and studios male-heavy and getting worse because of lay-offs and cuts. Across music, there is this gap between the quality of music and what women are bringing and the way they are represented and rewarded. In spite of award blitz and chart success together with huge reviews and sell-out tours, I think this International Women’s Day should be a chance for the industry to reflect and commit to change. When I see award ceremonies like the BRITs, GRAMMYs or something like that, there are few occasions when men speak about women in music and their excellence. Solidarity and showing their feminism. Very few interviews where men in music are talking about women. Both in terms of how things need to improve whilst saluting their power.

The enormous creative weight women are creating and the value they generate. Although there is not female solidary across all genres, we are seeing a lot of togetherness and support. Women in the industry connecting and there being this sisterhood. That is not to say men are not doing enough. In terms of collaboration and men in music giving props and shout outs to women, things are better than they used to be. However, it is quite telling that at virtually no televised or big event do you see anything in the way of true support from men. There is no viable and substantial feminist movement or agenda from men. Few using their platform to talk about women in studios, those on stage and the incredible songwriters and artists who are dominating. Look at wider society and when you search for the best feminist writers, books and thinkers, virtually all of them are women. In fact, I think all of them are. In terms of men writing about a feminist movement or tackling gender equality, virtually none. Maybe zero in history who have written about feminism and the need for men to be involved. This hugely one-sided thing. Of course, there are male journalists who write about women and spotlight female artists. However, when it comes to writing about issues around equality, gender, discrimination and abuse for instance, again almost everything is written by women. The importance of discussing these things and the pleasure of raising women and showing support should be expected and mandatory. As I have written before, there is no positive male movement. No movement too that integrates men into the feminist movement. Into the next or new wave. No male voices or pens contributing. Music is the most brilliant, universal thing that brings us together. A common language. I am not saying women are in dire need and they are accusing men of lacking empathy or support. I just look around and see women killing it and there being very little from men in terms of seeing this and showing their solidarity and also calling the industry out for its failings.

PHOTO CREDIT: Pixabay/Pexels

Sexism is still rife throughout music. It is not a thing that ended in the 1990s or has necessarily died away. As recently as last year reports were published regarding male bias and ongoing discrimination. I do love it when men in music – whether artists, journalists or someone else – champion women or talk about the wave of female dominance. It does not happen often but it is clear that there is at least this recognition. However, it seems foundational. When it comes to those fighting for equality. Highlighting systemic and endemic issues and also coming out as feminists – or if that word seems unappealing or outdated to some, then a modern substitute -, then there is this problem. Now more than ever there seems to be this need for unity and more from men in music. It is frankly depressing that you can go to any search engine and look for men writing about feminism or tackling subjects around gender and equality. Prominent voices are women’s. In terms of column inches and soundbites, far too few men contributing and doing what is required. One might say that music is an equal playing field and there is no need for it. Women would find it somehow insulting and ingenuine if men were more proactive. I look at all the female excellence, this solidarity and impact – from innovative artists, those slaying on the red carpet; the awesome collaborations, world-class albums and year-defining singles, plus those in every corner of the industry whose voices are so vital – and something is missing. I do think that there needs to be change. Coming off the back of the BRITs – where Jade, The Last Dinner Party, Charli xcx and Billie Eilish were among the winners -, there were some male journalists shouting out the winners (I think CLASH’s feed commentary was from Robin Murray). It got me thinking about music’s queens. How important they are and how we need to see greater moves towards equality and solidarity. An important subject to raise…

ON International Women’s Day.

FEATURE: Spotlight: Sunday (1994)

FEATURE:

 

 

Spotlight

PHOTO CREDIT: @bypip

Sunday (1994)

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IT is great that…

the brilliant Sunday (1994) will be playing in the U.K. in May. Their debut tour is one that you will want to be a part of. An acclaimed band that are being tipped as one that will help define the sound of 2025, I am going to get to some interviews with the trio that consists of Paige Turner, Lee Newell, and drummer ‘X’. I am new to their music so it has been interesting learning more about them. The British/American group have a sound I think will take them very far. There are a good range of interviews out there. Some are from 2024. One or two from this year. I am going to head back to last year for the first two. Even if the trio are being tipped as ones to watch this year, they were very much on the rise last year. On the radar of many people. Their debut tour – which starts on 26th April – will bring their music to new people. I want to start off with an interview from DIY. Last year, they spoke with the creative centre of Sunday (1994): Paige Turner and Lee Newell:

“What are your earliest musical memories?

Lee: I remember being carted about in the backseat of my dad’s shabby white Citroën BX. It was back in the early 1700s, so we’d be listening on cassette. He’d play The Prodigy, Skunk Anansie, The Smiths, Nirvana, Pet Shop Boys and everything in-between. I was an only child to teenage parents, so I got a very contemporary musical education. The backseats were right next to the speakers; it sounded tinny and harsh, and I absolutely loved it.

Paige: Being in a Jazz club on a weeknight with my parents and grandparents watching my grandfather play a set. It always seemed to end so late that I never wanted to get up for school the next day. My first songwriting experience was on my grandparents’ couch with my brother and an acoustic guitar. I was so nervous to try and write, but I remember being so proud and then my mom forced us to perform it at a family dinner. It was awful.

You come from Slough and California - two backgrounds that seem on the surface to be very different. What were these places like to grow up? What would you say is the common thread that creatively ties you two together?

Lee: I found it extremely difficult. It was a very violent place to grow up, and as exciting as exposed brick. As soon as I stepped outside the haven of home, I was a nervous wreck. It felt like I was stolen from another world and left to decay on a planet that did not breathe the same air as me. When I found other people that felt the same I would cling on to them, and they’re still my best friends to this day. It was the same when I first met Paige - I couldn’t spend a minute away from her. It was like we were part of the same cosmos.

Paige: The suburbs of California were quiet and mundane; smoking weed in the Costco parking lot wasn’t exactly Camden Town. I was trying to escape to gigs and festivals every chance I had, dreaming that I could be the singer of one of those bands I was seeing. When I met Lee my whole world opened up; I haven’t been bored since.

There’s a real sense of nostalgia to your output; does this stem from a yearning for a particular time/place, or from a more general escapist desire?

Lee: We get that a lot! Although I have to say, it isn’t intentional. Lyrically, the songs are about significant moments of our lives, so perhaps the nostalgia stems from there. Sonically, we just write from a place of instinct - I just throw my guitar around the room until it makes a noise we like. Then we record it”.

I would urge anyone new to Sunday (1994) to read other interviews and listen to all of their music. This is a group that very much have their own sound. One that is being taken to heart by people around the world. Let’s move to another 2024 interview. This one is from The Line of Best Fit. I am so excited about Sunday (1994). Even if they are quite fresh to me, I can instantly tell they are here for the long-run:

“Creatively, Paige Turner and Lee Newell are two sides of the same coin; one complimenting the other and finding space for each others’ ideas at any given moment; listening to their music there’s a kindred chemistry. So it would be hard to believe that they grew up on opposite sides of the world, one in LA, the other in Slough.

Newell, hailing from England – and previously the vocalist in reviled indie band Viva Brother – was raised on “whatever my dad was listening to," he tells me. "He was very young, so I had quite a contemporary sort of musical upbringing in terms of a parent's point of view. So I was listening to Prodigy, The Clash, REM, and then, like, Britpop stuff, Oasis and Blur and all that Suede.”

Turner however leant on the likes of jazz through her grandfather. “I don't listen to too much jazz, but some of that influence definitely I would take into my vocal approach. My dad loved classic rock, Led Zeppelin, and Steely Dan. I mean, The Beatles, obviously.”

Locations and upbringings aside, their pursuit of music and willingness to share it is what enabled them to find common ground and expand as artists. The pair met backstage while Newell was touring as part Brooklyn synth group Love Life and supporting The Neighbourhood. It was the ultimate meet-cute for musicians. Becoming friends first, he tells me they “haven't really left each other's side since, truthfully.”

Since forming as a group – along with an enigmatic drummer known simply as "X" – they’ve released a self-titled debut EP and are now gearing up for the deluxe edition, with the first single being “TV Car Chase”. Given that introductions only happen once (and they say first impressions count) they tell me just why the deluxe EP is so important, for both the fans and for themselves. “So we'd released six songs before, and the first one we put out was ‘Tired Boy’, which is a similar pacing to ‘TV Car Chase’. So it felt like a reintroduction,” Newell tells me.

Turner agrees on the sentiment: “The other two songs that are on the deluxe that are coming out, are maybe like, a different side to us. So we didn't want to scare people and make people think, ‘oh shit, they've already changed.’ I mean it doesn't sound too different from what we put out. We just wanted to ease back into the release.”

What reaffirms the pair's confidence in their music is that they aren’t ready to stray away from it to shock listeners, with Newell explaining, “We tend to sort of go for more mid paced, slower songs, because I feel like you can get the message across easier lyrically, at least.”

Such mid-paced tracks are becoming a signature for the group, making it clear that lyrical content is as important as all the other elements that make up the DNA of Sunday (1994). Their process is usually organic and much like many musicians, it’s a coping mechanism, a time of reflection and in this case, survival as Turner tells me. “I went on antidepressants, and I was still very in a very dark place while we were writing the song," she says. "And if anything, these three songs on the deluxe were kind of the thing that got me through that period. I was feeling so terrible. But I would be like, ‘no, let's just sit down and write a song’, because it was the only thing that distracted me from what was going on in my mind”.

Sunday (1994)’s eponymous debut album came out last year. It is a remarkable and affecting listen I think. I will end with a review of that album. Before getting there, the final interview I want to source from is DORK. Published in January, their feature charts the progress of the band. One that has had this long gestation and evolution process. Countless demos and a decade before they were really fully in bloom:

“In a world where artists are expected to have it all figured out as teenagers and know not only their creative identity, but how to cope with the pressures of presenting it, it’s more refreshing to see people who have taken their time in figuring it out. It then becomes more fulfilling for them, of course, but also richer for the listener – the artists know more about who they are and what they can do.

“After going through a lot of heartbreak within any field, if at the end of it you still want to keep going, that says a lot,” Lee affirms. “I don’t think suffering for your art is a pre-requisite, but I don’t think it hurts. You find out who you really are when you struggle. We’re figuring out who we are now.”

That journey of exploration and discovery is documented on the EP, and emotions run high, but not always in the way you’d expect. Take ‘Blonde’, a tale about watching your man leave you for a younger, prettier model – rather than being angry at her ex or bitter towards the new woman, feelings are internalised and self-directed as Paige fulfils a fantasy in her mind.

She recounts, “When you’re young and experiencing something like that, you can’t help but think: what’s wrong with me? Why do they want someone else? There must be something wrong with me. That’s a trait we both have in common; we both constantly think everybody hates us.”

PHOTO CREDIT: Nick Espinal

‘The Loneliness Of The Flight Home’ puts Paige in Lee’s mind as he pens his sorrows during a particularly dreary journey to the UK, and this magical fusion of minds shows off the band’s transatlantic appeal. It also highlights the main draw of Sunday (1994): the infatuated, complex couple at the centre of it all.

“Paige is so much better at articulating how I feel than I am,” Lee praises. “We’ve unlocked another level to our relationship, and I feel like I learn more about Paige through our music. It’s been fascinating and I feel super lucky to be able to do this together.”

There are some complexities to this, as Paige recognises. “I feel bad for other people who come into working with us because we have to try hard to make it not be just us two against everybody else. It’s an interesting dynamic.”

It’s good that the duo are used to spending time together because there’s plenty more of that to come – after selling out their debut live shows in the UK and the US, they are lined up to hit the big stages in support of girl in red. On top of all that, and recently expanding their EP with a deluxe rerelease, they are now formulating new music to expand their world.

While they try to ignore overthinking any outside opinions and stick to the fundamentals (“if we both like it, then that’s it”), Paige and Lee are both bolstered by the support they have been shown. “The main way our new music has been coloured is that we feel more confident,” Lee says. “Everything feels a little more technicolour, just more of what it already is.” Meanwhile, Paige is ready to let loose: “I’m not as nervous to say anything that’s out of left field; the fans have shown us that they get it. Time to say some weird shit”.

I am going to end with this review for Sunday (1994). A wonderful album. I am not sure whether the group have plans for an E.P. this year or another album. It will be interesting to see what comes next. The recent single, Doomsday, is one of the best of the year so far I feel. Go and check out this remarkable trio:

“Forgive me while I wallow in the melancholic wonderland that is Sunday (1994)’s debut EP, a melodic treatise that conjures such cool 1990s-era bands as Curve, Garbage and the Sundays. In fact, I’d argue that the six songs—which include their debut single “Tired Boy” and its addictive followup, “Stained Glass Window”—are tuneful portals to another time. When I close my eyes, it feels like I’m back in the living room of our first apartment, where Diane and I spent many nights enjoying the random mixes created by our Sony 5-CD player. (We each picked two discs and agreed on one.) The EP would have fit in with whatever we paired it with, from the bands mentioned above to Shawn Colvin to the alt.country gems we enjoyed at the time.

Yet, as much as a throwback as these songs are, they simultaneously sound fresh and new. The latest single, “Blonde,” is a good example. Paige Turner’s pouty vocals wrap around wistful lyrics that find her longing to be like her old beau’s imagined new girlfriend, while Lee Newell’s emotive guitar wrings slo-mo reverberations from minor notes. There’s more going on than just that, however, from (Racer) X’s steady drums to the handclaps to the profane shout-out that follows the mention of Chatsworth.

The other new songs—“Mascara,” “Our Troubles” and “The Loneliness of the Long Flight Home”—fall into the same mood-inducing mode. Theirs is an analogue sound in a digital age, if that makes sense. Newell and Turner are self-professed cinephiles and, now that I’ve heard the EP in full several times, it’s safe to say that though Sunday (1994) create 35mm-lensed music, wide in scope, they approach their songs with a noir-ish sensibility, filling them with many shadows and just a little light”.

I will finish off now. There are a lot of artists coming through at the moment you need to connect with. Among the most interesting and worthy are Sunday (1994). I would be intrigued to hear what they sound like live. I can imagine that they are a pretty popular and arresting proposition. That might be something I can find our for myself when they come to the U.K. in May. In the meantime, listen to the incredible music…

FROM Sunday (1994).

___________

Follow Sunday (1994)

Official:

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FEATURE: The Digital Mixtape: That’s What’s Up: Linda Perry at Sixty

FEATURE:

 

 

The Digital Mixtape

PHOTO CREDIT: Don Hardy

That’s What’s Up: Linda Perry at Sixty

_________

IF many might…

only recognise Linda Perry as the lead of the band 4 Non Blondes (whose most famous song is What’s Up? of March 1993), others acknowledge her as one of the most important and acclaimed songwriters ever. Someone who has written songs that we all know and love. The playlist at the end of this feature combines many of those tracks. Linda Perry turns sixty on 15th April. Perry was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2015. It is only right that I salute her ahead of her birthday. Before getting to that playlist, it is worth bringing in some biography:

“Linda Perry, as lead singer and main songwriter for 4 Non Blondes, wrote the group’s international 1993 hit “What’s Up?” prior to establishing herself as a major songwriter and producer. Her writer/producer credits including such hits as Pink’s “Get The Party Started” and Christina Aguilera’s “Beautiful," both chart-toppers.

Born April 15, 1965 in Springfield, Mass., Perry pursued her interest in music while a teenager in San Diego, then moved to San Francisco in 1986, where she sang original songs and played guitar on the streets, having written her first song by age 15. She joined 4 Non Blondes in 1989 and became its lead singer and chief songwriter. Disappointed with its polished pop sound, she subsequently left to pursue a solo career, commencing with her 1995 solo debut album In Flight, and resulting in her successful songwriting/producing activities.
In 2000, Perry wrote and produced eight tracks for Pink’s Grammy-nominated album M!ssundaztood—including the Grammy-nominated “Get the Party Started.” The following year she wrote "Beautiful," which was nominated for a Grammy for Song of the Year and won Aguilera the Best Female Pop Vocal Performance Grammy--and "Cruz," both of which appeared on Christina Aguilera's hit album Stripped.

Since then her name can be found on compositions and recordings by numerous artists including Jewel, Britney Spears, Courtney Love, Gwen Stefani, Alicia Keys, Celine Dion, Blaque, Sugababes, Lillix, Robbie Williams, Melissa Etheridge, Sierra Swan, Solange Knowles, Gavin Rossdale, Juliette and the Licks, Lisa Marie Presley, Fischerspooner, Unwritten Law, L.P., Kelly Osbourne, James Blunt, Cheap Trick, Ben Jelen, Enrique Iglesias, Giusy Ferreri, Faith Hill, Gina Gershon, the Dixie Chicks, Vanessa Carlton, Kelis, Ziggy Marley, Skin, The Format, Goapele, The Section Quartet, Adam Lambert, KT Tunstall, Little Fish, and her band Deep Dark Robot, with which she toured in 2011.

Also in 2011, Perry, who has launched the labels Rockstar Records and Custard Records, began publishing acoustic cover songs that she recorded at the piano with her iPhone, and in 2014, she appeared in the VH1 reality television show Make or Break: The Linda Perry Project, in which she worked with young musicians.

Perry has won two ASCAP awards for her songwriting. Among her other noteworthy compositions are Alicia Keys’ “Superwoman,” Gwen Stefani’s “What You Waiting For?” and “Wonderful Life,” Courtney Love’s “Letter To God,” Christina Aguilera’s “Hurt” and “Candyman,” Kelly Osbourne’s “One Word,” Celine Dion’s “My Love” and James Blunt’s “No Bravery.”

In other activities, Perry works closely with several organizations to promote charity, freedom of expression, individuality and acceptance. These include the Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Center, and the Art of Elysium, which encourages working actors, artists, and musicians to volunteer their time to creative enrichment programs for children battling serious medical conditions, and named her its Visionary Recipient of 2014”.

On 15th April, the music world will wish a very happy sixtieth birthday to Linda Perry. I hope that radio stations use the day as an opportunity to play songs written by Perry. The vast range of her talent is impressive. I am going to end things there. A genius songwriter who I hope writes a lot more songs yet. The tracks I have included in the mixtape are a combination of songs she either wrote solo or collaborated with other songwriters on. It goes to show that there are few other songwriters…

AS talented as her.

FEATURE: Remakes and Sequels: Kate Bush’s Director’s Cut at Fourteen

FEATURE:

 

 

Remakes and Sequels

Kate Bush’s Director’s Cut at Fourteen

_________

THIS time around…

when speaking about Kate Bush, I want to look ahead to the fourteenth anniversary of her ninth studio album, Director’s Cut. I take issue with people who say this is not a studio album because it is a one (an album) where Bush reworked and re-recorded older songs. Calling it a remix album rather than a studio one is incorrect. Director’s Cut is a new work and a new album. The first of two she would release in 2011. The second, 50 Words for Snow, arrived that November. Not much has been written about Director’s Cut. A few reviews and the odd piece but, largely, it is ignored and overlooked. Seen often as one of the less worthy albums of hers. If you look at album ranking features Director’s Cut often comes eighth, ninth or tenth. Granted, it is not in my top five Kate Bush albums, though I look fondly on Director’s Cut and would not write it off or see it as significant. Definitely part of the cannon. Director’s Cut revisits songs from 1989’s The Sensual World and 1993’s The Red Shoes. The songs were remixed and restructured, three of which were re-recorded completely. All of the lead vocals on Director’s Cut were recorded new, as were some of the backing vocals. The drum tracks were reconceived and re-recorded (Steve Gadd on percussion). Released on 16th May, 2011 through her Fish People label, this is unique in Kate Bush’s discography. The one and only time she has reapproached songs that first appeared on other studio albums. Rather than seeing this as remixing old tracks and this not being a studio offering, it very much should be seen as a completely new work. I think that her choice of tracks to explore are interesting. I have said before how some inclusions – such as Rubberband Girl (originally on The Red Shoes), Deeper Understanding (originally off of The Sensual World) and even Flower of the Mountain (originally titled The Sensual World) – are maybe odd and songs you might expect to feature, those such as Why Should I Love You? (The Red Shoes) and Love and Anger (The Sensual World) are not included.

It is interesting to learn why Kate Bush decided to embark on the album that would become Director’s Cut. Almost six years after she released the magnificent double album, Aerial, her mind was maybe thinking back. Before embarking on an album of all original material, there was this sense of some of her older work needing to be reassessed and re-recorded. I can appreciate there are stresses and some unhappy memories associated with The Red Shoes. In retrospect, the album does not sound as warm and rich as it could have been. Perhaps too much machinery and technology at her hands when she produced The Sensual World. Wanting to strip these albums back and ensuring that only essential layers and sounds remain. Not only can we see these older songs in a brand new light. I know people were compelled to look back at the albums the songs are from. I am repeating things I have said before though, when thinking of Director’s Cut, we need some context. In this 2011 feature from The Guardian, there is some useful detail and background:

"I think of this as a new album," Bush said. Though some of the 11 tracks were first issued more than 20 years ago, all have new lead vocals, new drums, and substantially reworked instrumentation. Three of the songs, including This Woman's Work, have been completely re-recorded. "For some time I have felt that I wanted to revisit tracks from these two albums and that they could benefit from having new life breathed into them," Bush explained. "Now these songs have another layer of work woven into their fabric."

The Sensual World is perhaps the most changed of these tracks – it has not even retained its original title. Now called Flower of the Mountain, the original lyrics have been replaced by a passage from James Joyce's 1922 novel. "Originally when I wrote the song The Sensual World I had used text from the end of Ulysses," Bush said. "When I asked for permission to use the text I was refused, which was disappointing. I then wrote my own lyrics for the song, although I felt that the original idea had been more interesting. Well, I'm not James Joyce am I? When I came to work on this project I thought I would ask for permission again and this time they said yes ... I am delighted that I have had the chance to fulfill the original concept”.

Prior to coming to some reviews, I want to bring in part of an interview from 2011. Interview Magazine asked some interesting questions I wanted to highlight. There were not that many interviews conducted around the release of Director’s Cut. It is a shame. A certain level of apathy from the press. Maybe Kate Bush wanted fewer interviews around this album as she knew she would be releasing another one shortly afterwards. In retrospect, the level of exposure and attention paid to Directors Cut was underwhelming. I think people should explore this album as many unfairly criticise it:

“Bush’s most recent album, Director’s Cut (Fish People/EMI), offers reinterpretations of 11 of her previously released songs, with new vocal performances and instrumentation. “Flower of The Mountain” (originally released under the title “The Sensual World”) is typical of Bush’s expansive musicality. A time-traveling ode to sensual surrender, the song draws on Arabic melodies to create a primal, ancient atmosphere. “Song of Solomon” is a slow, bouncing, bass-heavy blues groove, stretched out and slowed down as if played in zero gravity. “Lily” is a mad vision of fear, fire, funk, and biblical name-dropping. The content of the songs is equally diverse; on “Deeper Understanding,” she even offers a futuristic high-concept R&B ode to the addictive false solace of the Internet. But the finest and most startling moments on Director’s Cut are the simplest and most stark: “Moments of Pleasure” is a painful meditation for voice and piano, and the aching melancholy of “Never Be Mine” should literally come with a warning—it will stop you in your tracks.

Despite all the 52-year-old Bush’s successes, she has chosen to lead a very private life. She has only toured once and has generally been reticent about giving interviews. But when I spoke with her by phone from her home outside of London, she was gracious, easy-going, and anything but reclusive.

DIMITRI EHRLICH: I thought we’d begin with talking about Director’s Cut. Let’s talk about “The Sensual World” [off 1989’s The Sensual World]. I know that when you first recorded that song, you had originally wanted to use some text from James Joyce’s Ulysses, which is always a favorite on pop radio here in America.

KATE BUSH: [laughs] Yes.

EHRLICH: But the Joyce estate refused permission, and now, 22 years later you finally got the okay.

BUSH: Yes, originally, as you say, I wanted to use part of the text, and approached for permission, and was refused. I was a bit disappointed, but it was completely their prerogative—they were being very protective to the work, which I think is a good thing. So I had to sort of go off and write my own lyrics, which . . . They were okay, but it always felt like a bit of a compromise really. It was nowhere near as interesting as the original idea. When I started to work on this project, I thought it was worth a shot just asking again, because they could only say no. But to my absolute delight—and surprise—they agreed.

EHRLICH: Looking at your lyrics to “Song of Solomon,” I found it interesting how you juxtaposed sexuality with spirituality. What inspired that?

BUSH: Well, it was quite an interesting process for me to go back and re-sing these songs because, for all kinds of reasons, they’re not the songs I would write now. I can’t really remember what my thought process was when I wrote that one originally. I just thought it was one of those songs that could benefit from a revisit. That was just one of the songs that popped into my head. I didn’t really take a great deal of time choosing the list of songs, I just kind of wrote down the first things that came into my head.

EHRLICH: It’s funny. I’d think revisiting those songs would almost be like looking at old photographs or reading old love letters from a long time ago, because as a songwriter, the emotions that you’re tapping into are the most primal, raw, and immediate ones. Was it strange to step into the emotional clothing you had worn 20 years ago and see how it fit and wonder, Who is this person?

BUSH: Yeah, it was. At first, it was quite difficult, and, at a couple of points, I nearly gave up the whole process. I found that by just slightly lowering the key of most of the songs, suddenly it kind of gave me a way in, because my voice is just lower now. So that helped me to step back into it. And although they were old songs, it all started to feel very much like a new process and, in a lot of ways, ended up feeling like I was just making a new album—it’s just that the material was already written. When I listen to it now, it feels like a new record to me.

EHRLICH: Why did you decide to re-record existing material rather than do something new, or just release the old versions remixed, or whatever?

BUSH: Well, I really didn’t see it as a substitute for a greatest hits package, but it was something I’d wanted to do for a few years. I guess I just kind of felt like there were songs on those two albums [The Sensual World and The Red Shoes (1993)] that were quite interesting but that they could really benefit from having new life breathed into them. I don’t really listen to my old stuff, but on occasion, I would either hear a track on the radio or a friend might play me one, and there was generally a bit of an edgy sound to it, which was mainly due to the digital equipment that we were using, which was state of the art at the time—and I think everyone felt pressured to be working that way. But I still remain a huge fan of analog. So there were elements of the production that I felt were either a little bit dated or a bit cluttered. So what I wanted to do was empty them out and let the songs breathe more.

EHRLICH: Your music has always been defiantly different than American pop. Do you have a love-hate relationship with classic American pop? Do you just find it boring, or is there something about it that you secretly enjoy as a guilty pleasure?

BUSH: [laughs] What a thing to say! No, I mean, god, some of the best pop music ever has come out of the States. Some of that Motown stuff is some of the best songs ever written. It’s not that I don’t like American pop; I’m a huge admirer of it, but I think my roots came from a very English and Irish base. Is it all sort of totally non-American sounding, do you think?

EHRLICH: In a good way. Your music is very original—especially the lyrical structure. It doesn’t have the kind of obvious rhyme structure and subject matter.

BUSH: Oh, well, thank you. I think with some of the rhyme structures that might be connected to the fact that I do sing in an English as opposed to an American accent, which a lot of English singers have done.

EHRLICH: I went to Oxford for a period while I was in college, and we used to say America and Britain are two cultures separated by a common language.

BUSH: I think it’s a very interesting observation. I think I was just lucky to be brought up in a very musical family. My two older brothers were, and still are, very musical and very creative, and music was a big part of my life from a very young age, so it is quite natural for me to become involved in music in the way that I did.

EHRLICH: What were your early lyrics about when you began exploring composition?

BUSH: Initially, I used to just play hymns that I knew.

EHRLICH: Interesting that your music is so adventurous, melodically, because hymns tend to be very simple, so it’s interesting that you came from such a grounded place.

Bush: Well, I just sort of used to tinker around, and then I moved on to the piano. My father was always playing the piano. He played all kinds of music—Gershwin, all kinds of stuff. He was really a hugely encouraging force to me when I was little. I used to write loads of songs when I was really young, and he was always there to listen to them for me. And it was a really wonderful thing that he did because he made me feel that they had some worth, even when they didn’t really. And he was always very honest with me. He’d say if he didn’t think perhaps one song wasthat good, or he liked that one. What was greatwas that he’d give me that time, and would always come and listen when we’d written something. So, you know, he was fantastic because he gave me the sense that he believed in me.

Ehrlich: Your lyrics often seem highly personal, but some of your earlier songs drew on more cinematic source material, like old crime films for “There Goes a Tenner,” the British horror movie The Innocents [1961] for “The Infant Kiss,” and even The Shining [1980] for “Get Out of My House.” How do these sorts of influences make their way into your work? Is it a conscious thing, or does it just happen?

BUSH: Well, “Get Out of My House” was more to do with the book than the film, just to say that. But whatever is going on in your life when you’re writing has to somehow seep into your work. And maybe if my songs feel personal, that’s very nice. I like that. I take that as a great compliment. But there are very few that really have any sort of autobiographical content. I guess that you could say that “Moments of Pleasure” has some autobiographical content, probably out of all the songs I’ve written. But I think what is great is that if anything that I do is interesting to somebody else, then I really don’t think it matters at all what I had originally intended. If people like the song, or they can draw some feeling from it, then I’m really happy about that. Quite often, lyrics get misunderstood—and I never mind that either. I guess what all artists want is for their work to touch someone or for it to bethought provoking”.

I will wrap up soon. However, before doing so, it is worth getting some critical perspective. First up is NRP and their words. It was hugely exciting and unexpected when Kate Bush announced Director’s Cut. Since 2011, Bush has reissued albums and looked back. It was quite rare back in 2011. Not many occasions when she spent time and effort re-engaging with previous work. You know she must care deeply about The Sensual World and The Red Shoes but felt that something was missing. A new opportunity to record the songs so that you can feel and hear what was perhaps missing first time around:

“Bush is best known for her canonized 1985 album Hounds of Love. It's tempting to call that record a turning point in pop: It's as weird as it is catchy, as intelligent as it is danceable. And it's only gotten better with age.

Four years after Hounds of Love, Bush released The Sensual World, on which the uncompromising singer did something out of character: She compromised. The album's title track was conceived as a distilled version of Molly Bloom's soliloquy from James Joyce's Ulysses. (If you're like me and just couldn't make it to the end of Ulysses, you may remember the passage from Sally Kellerman's impassioned reading in the Rodney Dangerfield movie Back to School.) When Bush approached the Joyce estate about using actual passages from the book, the estate declined, leaving Bush to paraphrase the text as best she could. (So Dangerfield got the thumbs up, and Bush didn't? Who says the man didn't get any respect?)

In the eyes of fans, The Sensual World hardly suffered from the limitation, but "good enough" never sat right with Bush. So, more than 20 years later, she asked again — and this time got the answer she was looking for.

The opportunity to remake the song motivated Bush to tinker with other entries in her discography. The result is Director's Cut, a collection of 11 revamped songs that made their first appearances on The Sensual World and 1993's The Red Shoes. With new words and vocals, "The Sensual World" has been re-christened "Flower of the Mountain." Bush re-recorded all of her vocals and the drums, but left most of the other instrumentation untouched, including Eric Clapton's guitar in "And So Is Love." (Okay, so she's made a few mistakes here and there.)

For those familiar only with Hounds of Love, Director's Cut is bound to open eyes. It's less energetic, hardly danceable, and it at times resembles the work of Bush's duet partner Peter Gabriel. But give the songs time. Let Bush's songwriting sink in. Just like her, you'll find yourself wanting to return to them”

The second and final review is going to come from Pitchfork. I have found a few very positive reviews. Many tend to be the sort of three-star middling ones that hint at positives but also feel that there is something futile about Director’s Cut. Many preferring the original versions. I feel that Director’s Cut allows us to get this wonderful perspective on songs that have new gravity and meaning with a lower and older voice singing them. Especially tracks like This Woman’s Work and Moments of Pleasure:

“Director's Cut transforms songs from 1989's The Sensual World and 1993's The Red Shoes. Sometimes crucial elements (rhythm tracks, vocals) are re-recorded. Some aspects (like certain guest performances) are left unchanged. Occasionally an entire song gets a note-by-note remake. It's a major and unexpected reinvention of familiar and very time-bound material, not quite "new" and also not quite what fans have been playing for years now. The very different mix of Director's Cut changes not just the sound but the emotional kick inside many of these songs. What was once the work of a shy woman who came to roaring life on record is now just as often subdued, reflective, inward-looking. It's worthy of standing as its own entry in Bush's discography, without necessarily replacing the albums it draws from.

At the time of its release, The Sensual World seemed both up to date and not of its time. The glossy studio-obsessive production sounded definitely of its moment, fitting for the era of booming drums and reverb-soaked pop trifles from bands like Fine Young Cannibals and INXS. But the songs, and Bush's performances, were stark reminders that she actually came out of the same tradition that gave us the operatic vocals of prog rock, the jazz-tinged complexity of the Canterbury psychedelic scene, the unashamed theatricality that led to Peter Gabriel dressing up like a giant daffodil. It made for a strange hybrid, the smoothness of the Big 80s meets the complexity and expressionism of the prog 70s. Much of the record's tension came from wrapping shiny pop accessibility around songs that might burst into emotionally raw strangeness at any time. Bush played to the moment, but couldn't be contained by it.

By the time of The Red Shoes-- with its prog structures, guest-star guitar heroics, world music touches, all given another dose of pop polish-- Bush's music was too ornate to fit in with the stripped-down "realness" of alt-rock. It was also still too defiantly individual to sit alongside the work of her 70s and 80s peers, many of whom had moved into comfortable, profitable, and bland MOR singer-songwriter territory. Her moment hadn't so much passed-- though it'd be hard to point out anyone else making music that sounded like this at the time-- as she'd become a genre-of-one. The fussed-over textures and genteel folk touches of adult contemporary peeled back mid-song to reveal naked eroticism, rage, joy, Bush's voice spluttering out wordless weirdness or leaping into ecstatic ululations.

What Bush has done on Director's Cut, put simply, is to strip the 80s from these songs. (That goes for the Red Shoes material, too, even though the album was released in the 90s.) The gigantic drums and digital polish, what both dated the music instantly and gave it that stark contrast between accessibility and the deeply personal, have been replaced with less showy rhythm tracks, and a warmer, more intimate atmosphere. On the original "The Sensual World", the elements drawn from Celtic folk felt like striking intrusions in an all-digital world. Renamed "Flower of the Mountain" here, those rustic elements no longer feel quite so out of place, whether you found the original an intriguing hybrid or an awkward merger of old and new. The songs still don't have the feel of a band playing together, but they have a new unity, even the synthetic elements part of a lovingly handcrafted sound. "The Red Shoes", another Celtic-inflected standout, with one of Bush's wildest performances, gains a new intensity precisely because the instruments no longer feel so sterile”.

I do love the tone and feel of Director’s Cut. When critics rank the album as bottom or last, they always say that these new versions will never replace the original. That was never the aim. Rather than seeing it as Kate Bush covering her own songs, you need to see Director’s Cut as fresh work. A series of eleven new tracks. As a body of work, they hang together. Granted, I would replace maybe three of the tracks and bring in three that I feel would work better. I think I mentioned before how the tracklisting is unusually out of balance. Bush was obviously going to open with Flower of the Mountain as that was sport of the whole reason for Director’s Cut. However, it is very middle-heavy. Ending with Rubberband Girl seems odd as I feel that This Woman’s Work would have been a perfect closer. However, these niggles aside, we should show more respect for Director’s Cut. Released on 16th May, 2011, Bush’s ninth studio album cleared the path for 50 Words for Snow. As nobody else will write about Director’s Cut ahead of its fourteenth anniversary, I felt that it at least deserved…

THIS recognition.

FEATURE: Spotlight: Revisited: Antony Szmierek

FEATURE:

 

 

Spotlight: Revisited

PHOTO CREDIT: Charlie Cummings

Antony Szmierek

_________

ONE of the most remarkable…

PHOTO CREDIT: Ed Miles for DIY

and distinct artists of his generation, this Spotlight: Revisited is all about the one and only Antony Szmierek. I featured Szmierek not too long ago and I have also interviewed him. This was before his debut album, Service Station at the End of the Universe, was released. That came out on Friday (28th February). I would urge everyone to buy the album. Antony Szmierek is also on tour at the moment and is performing across the U.K. I think that his debut album is going to be in the mix when it comes to the Mercury Prize shortlist later this year. I am going to predict the artists who will be included in a month or two – an early temperature check. Now, I want to focus on an artist who is so original and compelling. This incredible poet that mixes incredible scenes with intoxicating sonic palettes. I love how he delivers his lines and what gravitas he brings to his songs. Prior to getting to a couple of reviews for Service Station at the End of the Universe, there are a couple of recent interviews that are worth addressing. I am so pleased Antony Szmierek is getting press attention and being given the opportunity to speak about his music. I want to start out with this new interview from DIY. Spotlighting a witty and must-hear voice in music, they explore Szmierek’s starry debut album. One that takes us through the cosmos:

“While the idea of his debut finally being shared with the world might yet feel abstract, it is, in fact, just a few short weeks until his ambitious but brilliant first full-length hits the shelves. Named as a nod to Douglas Adams’ Restaurant At The End Of The Universe – the sequel to British sci-fi classic The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy, and a constant source of inspiration for Antony – it’s an album that personifies his approach as a musician, digging deep to find the beauty and joy in life’s mundanity, all while casting it through an otherworldly lens.

“I read it when I was like 11 or 12, on a caravan holiday in Wales. I was so taken by it,” he explains, on how Hitchhiker’s Guide… would become both his entry point to science fiction, and a building block for his own writing. “It’s so funny thinking back on it as a narrative point of origin. [I’m] nowhere near the level of Douglas Adams, but when you know that that’s when I started trying to write my own stuff, you can kind of see it… The first page of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, and that bit at the beginning, the way it’s grand – talking about the dissolution of the universe, [asking] ‘are we real or are we not?’ – but in a really comedic way, almost with this sardonic, British, wry humour? I think that’s just what all of the songs are!” he laughs. “Even now that I try not to write like that, it must just be a concrete block at the bottom of the wall that I can’t get rid of. Reading that was big.”

A far cry from the slick, showy takes on the genre in American culture, it’s actually the likes of Doctor Who and ‘90s cult comedy show Red Dwarf (“Imagine me meeting fucking Craig Charles when all this was first going on!”) that he cites as real inspirations. “All that stuff where it looks like you could push a wall down and it’s not real,” he grins. “The stuff that’s actually quite shit; that kitsch nature of it, and the sort of underdog thing that we have as British people – not quite the gloss of Americans. It seems to just naturally tie in with where I was brought up and this underdog nature of being from the North. I think it says a lot about British life; it’s like we’re always reaching for something that’s slightly bigger than ourselves and we never quite get there, then we laugh about it.”

While the backdrop to the record is, as its title offers, an intergalactic service station dotted with the kind of evocative details that would give The Jetsons a run for their money (take the self-titled opener’s “mid life crisis convertible star cruiser” or the kid riding a “coin operated meteorite”), the album’s heart is still very much about its cast. Built from his idea of the record “being an anthology, with these characters coming in and out”, each track acts as a detailed but universal vignette of life and love, doubt and loss, that just happens to take place in a galaxy far, far away.

“I think you don’t want it to be elitist,” Antony notes, on his candid approach to lyricism, that comes partly inspired by his own musical heroes – and fellow Northerners – Jarvis Cocker and Alex Turner. “I’ve got out of the habit of wanting to say clever words and trying to make it all seem grandiose, or that I’m dead smart because I know all these big words and everything. You’re trying to distil huge concepts that are probably quite wanky, but in a way where everyone can get on board. That’s teaching, I guess,” he nods. “I think I wouldn’t have been immune to doing that if I’d done this earlier on. [When you’re younger] you’re slightly more insecure, and a bit like, ‘this song needs to be clever or it needs to feel like I’m well-read’,” he adds, nodding to the positives of being in your mid-30s. “I think if you step away from that, you’re gonna make better stuff. I’m not averse to throwing in a huge word every now and again, but I’ll still talk about Twixes.”

It’s true that with Antony, what you see is seemingly what you get, which – in a way – makes the album’s focus on its fictional cast all the more intriguing. Dig a little deeper, though, and you will eventually find the narrator’s voice replaced by his own. “The record’s really sincere,” he says, “and that was something I was really, really trying to do. ‘Sincerity Overdrive’ was one of the first titles for it. [See what we did there? – Ed] That was literally the mission statement, a working title almost.

“But then I was like, how can it be this ‘sincerity overdrive’ record if I haven’t said anything?” he says, emphasis on himself. “It isn’t sincere if you’re doing it through characters. I realised I needed to be there,” he nods to the two tracks that are taken from his own personal perspective, “as that would wrap it up; if I admit these things about myself, then I’ve done it. No one will think about it this deeply, but it had to be within the confines of this narrative. I thought it was quite funny – that dry humour of breaking the fourth wall – just suddenly being like, ‘Oh, this one’s me now, I’m also here with all of these people”.

Antony Szmierek’s path is fascinating. A respected and brilliant teacher, he is now this incredible songwriter who is wowing revery audience he plays to. Szmierek has said before how was nervous to play before crowds but, unlike being a teacher, everyone who comes to see him play are there willingly! There is no sense of anyone being at his gigs who does not want to pay attention or participate. DORK spoke with Antony Szmierek last month. It is a brilliant interview I would advise people to read in full. An artist whose songs are filled with profound meaning and connection, the Manchester music resurgence is very much continuing with phenomenal artists like Antony Szmierek:

“The live show is where Antony Szmierek, both as a person and as a musical entity, really sparks into life, blending together rave-inspired hooks with a determination to deal with the big questions. Both of these ideas are placed at the centre of his upcoming debut album, ‘Service Station At The End Of The Universe’, due out in February 2025.

“I definitely wanted it to be more informed by the live show. I wanted to bring the audience with me because there’s always something different in every show that makes it all worth it. It also meant that I could really make those euphoric moments of people being together shine brighter because there’s a lot of sadness on the record, so it was important to bring in some hopeful energy.”

‘Service Station At The End Of The Universe’ transforms a motorway services on Antony’s fantasy motorway, Andromeda Southbound, from a place where dreams go to die into a study of social complexity, following the lives of the different characters that pass through on their way to a yoga class, a wedding, or back home to the one they love.

Introducing characters that in part represent Antony’s beloved North West upbringing, such as “the Patron Saint of Withington” in ‘Rafters’, but also illuminate parts of Antony’s own personality and questions that he himself deals with on a daily basis. Whether it’s accusations of being a class traitor in ‘Yoga Teacher’ or trying to cope with overthinking and existentialism in ‘The Great Pyramid of Stockport’, Antony’s whole self is poured into every aspect of the record, making it as genuine and believable as it could be.

Drawing on his eternal love for ‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy’, one that ignited Antony’s passion for language, as well as local landmarks that have become key pillars of his life thus far, every picture is painted with nuance, style, and an observational accuracy that even the most experienced novelists struggle to recreate.

Pulling different literary ideas to the edges of their existence and rewinding threads to fit his huge new universe allowed Antony to create more lyrical layers than is possible on singles and EPs and underscores his immense writing talent.

“I guess in a way writing it was a lot like teaching,” Antony posits, “there’s something for the five kids in the class who really want to listen and pick up hidden meaning, but that doesn’t mean that there isn’t also something for people who just want really fun tunes with a good hook. I sort of take on this role of almost an omniscient narrator but also become the characters, it all winds together in the end.”

PHOTO CREDIT: Patrick Gunning

This ethos is at the heart of almost every track on the record, taking a seemingly everyday object or idea and elevating it into something with a profound and often existential meaning. The most obvious example of that comes from single ‘The Great Pyramid of Stockport’, which sees Antony take a local landmark and draw threads to the Pyramids of Giza, using two structures built centuries apart to explore legacy in a world that values speed and innovation.

“I was really surprised that nobody had written a song about it before; I was certain that Blossoms were gonna mention it on their album! On the surface, it just sounds like a song about this insurance company’s office in Stockport, but there’s a lot on there about getting older and time never stopping. There’s also a line about me cancelling plans because nothing feels real and I’m in tears in my bedroom, which sounds mad to have in a song about a big blue pyramid. I basically use observations as a way of projecting quite a complex idea, so the Stockport Pyramid actually ends up representing the question: ‘What’s the point in any of this?’”

Taking his cues from goth giants The Cure, Antony tried to be as sneaky as possible with his introspection, peppering super vulnerable lines into songs that you can only pick up on after a few listens. In this way, the album is able to bring together complex trauma responses and deep-rooted existential anxiety without ever getting weighed down by heavy topics.

PHOTO CREDIT: Patrick Gunning

“I definitely consider the album to have a Side A and Side B, and it is a spiral; everyone’s meeting at this service station before they go off and do whatever it is they do to make this meaningless existence worthwhile, like falling in love or going to a yoga lesson, and then it’s like ‘fuck, what if none of this means anything?’”

This hitman-like style of hiding his vulnerabilities comes to a head in ‘Restless Leg Syndrome’, a stream of consciousness that acts as the end of the album’s spiral, representing rock bottom before the album bounces back to peace, love, and joy. It’s fair to say that it’s the song on the album that is likely to become a fan favourite thanks to its brave open-heartedness, but also the one that Antony struggles with the most.

“I just worry it’s a bit much,” Antony states, “I’m proud of it, and I’m glad it’s on the record, but it’s the only one where I didn’t hide any lyrics, and it’s a bit scary. We’ve had to play it back to management, and the label and stuff, and people seem to like it, but I have to cover my ears and look away. I’m dreading playing it live the first time because I can’t get through it without crying at the moment.”

He continues: “I still wanted the record to be optimism bottled, though, and that’s why it ends on ‘Angie’s Wedding’. I guess it’s an allegory for heaven, it’s not elitist, everyone can go, it’s a celebration. I just needed to resolve it and say, ‘It’s all going to be ok in the end’, instead of ending on ‘Restless Leg Syndrome’ or ‘Crashing Up’, which is about getting older and having eczema; what a nightmare life is!”

Sonically, the record is as rooted in Antony’s personal and local past as the lyrical subject matter, clearly marked by Forton Service Station’s Pennine Tower adorning the album cover. Initially, though, re-establishing these close ties to the historically well-documented Manchester music scene was something that Antony pushed back against.

“I looked away from Manchester at first because I was trying to subvert my own expectations and second-guess what might come later, but it reached a point where I was like, ‘Nobody knows who you are yet; you’ve got to stick to who you are and what you do”.

I am going to end with a couple of positive reviews for Service Station at the End of the Universe. I am starting out with NME’s take on one of the best debut album I have heard in years. This arresting Pop poet might have been relatively unknown a couple of years ago. Now, Antony Szmierek is being tipped as a name to watch closely:

“For Szmierek, an author, poet, former high school English teacher and now full-time songwriter, ‘Service Station…’ is comfortably his most complete work to date. Showcasing the mastery with which he can envision a fully-fledged concept, he populates the record’s service station with a colourful cast of characters. Among them are bride-to-be Angie in the title track, the “patron saint of Withington” chatting up “a pound shop Geri Horner” in ‘Rafters’, and the hitchhiker travelling in search of some escapism (“You’re a galaxy / Take me away”).

Zooming in and out from this focal point, the record treads the line between fact and fiction, nodding to Douglas Adams’ The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy and posing existential questions of what ancient Egyptians might accomplish in present-day Greater Manchester on ‘The Great Pyramid Of Stockport’ (“The possibilities are endless.”). Meanwhile, ‘Yoga Teacher’ makes for a woozy, calming highlight, doing exactly what it’s supposed to say on the tin (“Breathe in, release”). It also briefly explores Szmierek’s tendency to overthink, something he explores further on ‘Restless Leg Syndrome’, where his more calculated poetry spirals into momentary overdrive.

In amongst the zingers and vivid picture-painting, the record excels in its forays into mild electroclash (‘Big Light’) and house (‘Rafters’, ‘Take Me There’), unlocking another dimension to the rave-led element Szmierek has teased in the past. Here, his distinct monotone is at no risk of becoming a gimmick, when lyrics that plenty of post-punk bands would dream of penning are backed up by chameleonic, club-tastic soundscapes. ‘Service Station At The End Of The Universe’ isn’t the mark of an artist finding his sound, but a confident, authentic trailblazer who knows his craft inside out”.

I am going to end with a review from DIY. In a five-star assessment, they proclaimed an album that sounds British and local but also has this universal appeal. Quite appropriate when you consider the album’s title! I do think that this is an album that is going to be ranked alongside the very best of this year. If you have not heard Antony Szmierek then do go and follow him:

“To understand Antony Szmierek look no further than the title of his 2023 EP, ‘Poems To Dance To’, an apt depiction of the ex-English teacher’s rising blend of rhythmic spoken word and dancefloor ready production laying the backdrop for musings ranging from personal relationships to obscure places, and a poignant balance of fantasy and heavy realism. The sci-fi inspired title, a nod to Antony’s childhood favourite ‘A Hitchhiker’s Guide to The Galaxy’ that also spurned his breakthrough track, lays the path for references to home city landmarks, from the looming Stockport pyramid to the North West’s right-of-passage pub crawl, the Didsbury Dozen. It’s indicative of his outlook on his surroundings, an ever-blurred line between the tangible and the intangible, and one that will draw inevitable and not unjustified comparisons to the work of Mike Skinner. It’s prominent in the interlude’s respite found in the service station, a transient place that provides much needed consistency to the protagonist. His understanding of place grounds the otherwise lofty musings, not least the stunning stream of consciousness rising out of highlight ‘Restless Leg Syndrome’. It’s this stark contrast between the emotive and the physical that underpins much of his writing, mirrored further in the record’s pairing of poetry and inherently British genres ranging from acid house to garage and beyond. ‘Service Station…’ glides through this constant push and pull, a timeless portrayal of both the physical and emotional connection to people and place; fundamentally British yet beautifully universal”.

I would also recommend people see Antony Szmierek live if they can. Someone who is going to have a very long career, it has been a pleasure revisiting his music. He has been championed by the likes of BBC Radio 6 Music. Lauren Laverne is a particularly ardent and passionate fan of his work. I hope I can interview him again soon. Someone who is burning bright right now, this awesome songwriter deserves…

EVERY success.

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Follow Antony Szmierek

PHOTO CREDIT: Patrick Gunning

Official:

https://www.antonyszmierek.co.uk/

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/antonyszmierek/

Twitter:

https://x.com/antonyszmierek

TikTok:

https://www.tiktok.com/@szmierek

Spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/artist/1odn2oz1bEsGWugQ8W3zhn?si=3hN9v5NfQIOukFOsEdBGIg

YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-VwXR6M4HD4Wo1UpTBi4SA

FEATURE: It Looks Lightest Before the Dawn: The Famous Names Who Attended Kate Bush’s 2014 Residency

FEATURE:

 

 

It Looks Lightest Before the Dawn

PHOTO CREDIT: Ken McKay/Rex 

The Famous Names Who Attended Kate Bush’s 2014 Residency

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BACK on 24th March, 2014…

Kate Bush provided her fans with a real treat. She announced that she would be on the stage at London’s Eventim Apollo for her Before the Dawn residency. Performing twenty-two sold-out dates between 26th August and 1st October, this was one of the most unexpected announcement of Kate Bush’s career. Look around now and there are a whole host of high-profile names that are Kate Bush fans. From artists to those in the media and beyond, there are some incredible and acclaimed people that cite Bush as an influence. There is renewed interest in her now considering the popularity and attention her music has garnered in the past few years. Back in 2014, one would imagine that the residency dates would be populated by regular fans. Of course, they are the majority of her fanbase and they travelled from around the world to see her. There is no hierarchy when it comes to her following. I have just published a feature marking forty-six years of The Tour of Life. Bush’s only tour, that happened in 1979. There might have been some big names in attendance at a few of the dates though, for the most part, they were your average, loyal and loving fans. Fast forward thirty-five years and the demographic had widened and expanded. Especially on that first date of 26th August, 2014, there were some huge names to show their love for Kate Bush. I will do some anniversary features for Before the Dawn closer to August. For this feature, I want to talk about the array of incredible names that paid tribute to Kate Bush back in 2014 for this stage triumph.

As Graeme Thomson notes in his biography, Under the Ivy: The Life and Music of Kate Bush, the side effect of the success and brilliance of Before the Dawn and Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God) being featured on Stranger Things n 2022, was how many constituencies she speaks to. World of comedy, literature, screen and queer discourse. We can look at the sphere of music and representatives who were there. Among the people who had this rare opportunity to show their support of Kate Bush was Lily Alen, PJ Harvey, Florence Welch, Anna Calvi, Grace Jones, Kylie Minogue, Annie Lennox, Adele and Alison Goldfrapp. In years since, artists like St Vincent, Olivia Rodrigo, Lana Del Rey, Lorde and Joanna Newsom have talked about Kate Bush or highlighted her as an influence. There is this whole other feature about just how far and wide her influence extends. All these different disciplines and corners of the map. Big Boi remains one of Kate Bush’s biggest fans. An event like Before the Dawn brought together such an array of artists. Representatives from Pet Shop Boys, Orbital, Prefab Sprout, Suede and Killing Joke were there. I believe Paul McCartney, Elton John,  David Gilmour and Peter Gabriel were in attendance. Decades-lasting artists that knew how hard it was to remain active and relevant after so many years. It was this glorious outpouring of love from music’s alumni. Artists who could identify with Kate Bush. Some she had worked with and called friends. Others whom she had never met but wanted to express their gratitude and fandom.

IN THIS PHOTO: Paul McCartney/PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images

Outside of music, there were plenty of other big names in attendance. The world of film and theatre was well represented. Ian McKellen, Keira Knightley, Miranda Richardson, Jude Law, Gemma Arterton and Rachel Weisz. Directors Steve McQueen, Danny Boyle and Paul Greengrass. No doubt influenced by her music. Something they bring to their films. I wonder if we will see Bush’s music appear in future films from these directors. Throw into the mix the likes of Terry Jones, Tim McInnerney, Terry Gilliam, Noel Fielding, Dawn French, Frank Skinner, Jo Brand Lenny Henry. Those from the world of fashion were there. Stella McCartney and Kate Moss were at the concerts. Authors such as Jeanette Winterson, David Mitchell and Phillip Pulman were there. Winterson wrote about Kate Bush in an article praising her talent. Micthell wrote an introduction for Kate Bush’s lyrics book, How to Be Invisible (he also wrote some of Before the Dawn alongside Kate Bush). Although some rumoured megastars such as David Bowie and Madonna (and Prince) did not go to Before the Dawn, it is no surprising seeing the faces that went. Regular fans are brilliant and valuable, though celebrities and high-profile names how just how far her influence has spread. Its real impact. These names that saw Bush were not doing it to be seen or fashionable. They recognise that there was no Kate Bush before Kate Bush. That her catalogue goes deep and transcends boundaries, genres and time periods. The openness of her expression and singularity of her vision (thanks to Graeme Thomson for his words). David Bowie, Stanley Kubrick and Björk come to mind as comparisons. Individuals and mavericks. Futuristic and fearless. Those that mix humour, dark imagination and humour. Björk was among those who was at Before the Dawn. So too were Lauren Laverne and a galaxy of respected names from across the arts. Standing delighted and raptured with other fans.

After 2022, when Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God) was propelled back into public consciousness, there was once again this widespread outpouring of collective love. However, Before the Dawn offered something else. A physical base. This location where fans from so many different countries were stood close to some well-known fans. I have written before about the celebrities who were at Before the Dawn. Instead, here, it is worth noting why they were there. I guess a few were there because it was a big ticket and they were not huge fans. However, it was this shared salute that moves me. How authors, film actors, directors, musicians and writers alike joined together to see Kate Bush perform. Not only to see her perform. Because they are influenced by her. Because her music has made an impact on their life. Different generations all affected by Kate Bush in different ways. In August 2014, the BBC broadcast a documentary about Kate Bush to coincide with Before the Dawn. Some famous fans who were at Before the Dawn contributed (including Elton John, Big Boi and David Gilmour), alongside Tori Amos and St Vincent. I do wonder whether another live event might be announced in years to come. Kate Bush has not ruled it out entirely. Just think about who might be in attendance. Since 2014, a whole new generation of artists count Kate Bush as an influence. Rather than she Before the Dawn as a final live chapter, it might be the middle of a trilogy. One that started in 1979 and might end shortly. One of the most important aspect of Before the Dawn was seeing just how far Bush’s music had spread. Kate Bush might have been nervous when she stepped onto the stage for that first night of the residence on 26th August, 2014. However, alongside her ordinary and loving fans was this wave of high-profile and acclaimed people who were so keen to pay respect to this incredible artist. In 2014, during a very special run of concerts, the Evetim Apollo in Hammersmith was…  

IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush during the filming of the video for And Dream of Sheep; a song that is part of her suite, The Ninth Wave/PHOTO CREDIT: Trevor Leighton

FILLED with love.

FEATURE: It All Led Up to This… Kate Bush’s The Tour of Life at Forty-Six

FEATURE:

 

 

It All Led Up to This…

IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush performs Wuthering Heights during The Tour of Life in 1979

Kate Bush’s The Tour of Life at Forty-Six

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BEFORE getting down to things…

PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images

people will call the tour different things. Originally called the Kate Bush Tour or Lionheart Tour, it was later renamed Tour of Life. I call it The Tour of Life, as I include the ‘The’. Everyone will have their own name or preference. In any case, there are some facts which are irrefutable. The Tour of Life had its warm-up gig on 2nd April, 1979 at Arts Centre, Poole and it ended on 14th May, 1979 in the Hammersmith Odeon. The set consisted of twenty-four songs. Tracks mostly taken from her first two albums, 1978’s The Kick Inside and Lionheart. A couple of new tracks, Egypt and Violin, would appear on Bush’s third studio album, Never for Ever. I am going to move on in a minute. First, the Kate Bush Encyclopedia provide some information when it comes to the rehearsals, the band and also an unexpected tragedy that occurred at the end of the warm-up gig in Poole:

“Rehearsals

The tour was to become not only a concert, but also incorporating dance, poetry, mime, burlesque, magic and theatre. The dance element was co-ordinated by Bush in conjunction with Anthony Van Laast – who later choreographed the Mamma Mia! movie and several West End smashes – and two young dancers, Stewart Avon Arnold and Gary Hurst. They held morning rehearsals for the tour at The Place in Euston, after which Bush spent afternoons in Greenwich drilling her band. Off stage, she was calling the shots on everything from the set design to the programme art.

Band

The band playing with Kate Bush on stage consisted of Preston Heyman (drums), Paddy Bush (mandolin. various strange instruments and vocal harmonies), Del Palmer (bass), Brian Bath (electric guitar, acoustic mandolin and vocal harmonies), Kevin McAlea (piano, keyboards, saxophone, 12 string guitar), Ben Barson (synthesizer and acoustic guitar), Al Murphy (electric guitar and whistles) and backing vocalists Liz Pearson and Glenys Groves.

Tragedy

The tour started on April 2 with a tragedy. The highly experienced lighting director Bill Duffield fell through an open panel high on the lighting gallery. He would die of his injuries a week later. Despite this, the tour still went on. A fundraising benefit concert was added to the schedule, taking place on 12 May 1979 to raise money for Bill’s family and featured Peter Gabriel and Steve Harley, for whom Duffield had also worked”.

 IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush pictured in Liverpool shortly before her The Tour of Life date at the city’s Empire Theatre on 3rd April, 1979

Even though 1979 was the year after Kate Bush released two studio albums, there seemed to be a longer history. Everything leading up to this. When Bush was playing in pubs and clubs in and around London in 1977 with the KT Bush Band. Even before then. Perhaps seeing David Bowie perform his final gig as Ziggy Stardust in 1973. There was something in Kate Bush from when she was a child and teenager. That desire to express her music in a huge and ambitious way. One of the reasons why I love The Tour of Life is that there was some unhappiness around her first two albums. At least a feeling that she was being guided rather than leading things herself. 1979 was mostly dedicated to this tour and her working on a third studio album. One she would co-produce. There are not that many features dedicated to The Tour of Life. It is good to get other people’s perspectives about this incredible event. Even though Bush put a lot of her own money into it and it actually lost money, the experience was a magical one. A chance for fans around the U.K. and Europe to see Bush on stage delivering this groundbreaking show. I have said before how the invention of the wireless head mic was a revelation. One that impacted live performance ever since. I am going to pop in some words from Dreams of Orgonon about The Tour of Life:

“Rather than feeding on nostalgia (a hard feat for a recent artist to pull off), Bush used her existing work as a diving board for her live shows. For all the strengths of The Kick Inside and Lionheart as albums, the live versions of a few of their songs are superior: the revamped band bring the songs a power the original recordings sometimes lacked. “Coffee Homeground” sounds tighter, and even the unimpeachable “Wuthering Heights” improves slightly when Alan Murphy improvises bits of the track’s guitar solo. There are plenty of odd musical choices throughout the shows: there’s an electronica-inflected rendition of Satie’s Gymnopedies leading into “Feel It,” and “James and the Cold Gun” becomes the 10-minute prog jam its album counterpart was itching to be. This doesn’t suggest that Bush has been constrained by the studio — in fact, it’s likely she works better outside of the traditional rock band format. But in many ways she’s liberated by her chance to do musical theater, showing off what her songs look like and pushing some aspects of their sound a bit further.

In theory Bush was doing the Lionheart Tour, as it was her most recent album. Yet in practice, it was equally the Kick Inside Tour. All the songs from both albums were performed barring “Oh To Be In Love” (perhaps justifiably — it’s the Bush album track which most feels like a holdover from the Phoenix years), plus a couple of new songs called “Violin” and “Egypt,” the latter of which we’ll return to next week. It’s a well-organized setlist, as Kick and Lionheart are both preoccupied with the sort of adolescent world-storming the tour is. Bush’s concert setlists show off this interplay of albums well: Act One is constructed around the lighter songs of The Kick Inside like “Them Heavy People” and “L’Amour Looks Something Like You” with the two new songs, while Act Two centers the anxiety-ridden bulk of Lionheart plus “Strange Phenomena,” and Act Three provides the show with a theatrical climax of “Coffee Homeground” and “Kite” before the encore of “Oh England My Lionheart,” and finally “Wuthering Heights.” Setlists can be unruly things: while touring for albums, you’ll want to intersperse the newer material with the hits. Bush keeps this in mind while also remembering she’s doing a stage show with act breaks and thematic resonances. It’s a strong act, one that’s bolstered by its setlist.

The artistic precision of the concert belies what occurred behind the scenes. Bush was exhausted by the shows and the preparation for them, with her essentially all-day rehearsal schedule giving her little-to-no time off. The scale of the shows and the extensive travel involved (Bush is famously afraid of traveling by plane) are likely a contributing factor to Bush’s decision to never tour again. A likely further cause is the tragic first night of the tour. During a warm-up concert at Poole, lighting director Bill Duffield fell through an open panel around the stage and landed on a concrete floor 17 feet below. After a week on life support, Duffield died. It was a traumatic moment for everyone involved in the tour, and gave the group pause about whether to continue. When they inevitably did, it was as much as because of the effort put into the shows as it was for Bill himself.

IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush performing at the Falkoner Teateret in Copenhagen, Denmark during The Tour of Life in April 1979/PHOTO CREDIT: Jorgen Angel

Bush didn’t forget Duffield, keeping tabs as she did on everyone she worked with. The first date of the final London stretch of the tour was a benefit concert for Duffield’s family. The night saw a drastic departure from Bush’s other concerts in many respects: the setlist was significantly different, as Bush wasn’t the only singer performing that night. Two other artists who’d worked with Duffield were present: Steve Harley and Peter Gabriel. Bush had previously worked with established names (e.g. Geoff Emerick), but appearing onstage with established British rock stars was a step forward for her. Harley had scored a #1 single with his glam band Cockney Rebel in 1975 when they released “Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me),” and didn’t fall out of the albums charts for the next few years. While in 1979 he was hardly the big name he had previously been, with his attempt to go solo beginning with a critically savaged and commercially disappointing album, he had hardly been forgotten by listeners of British pop. Peter Gabriel, however, was at the top of his game. Unlike Harley, Gabriel was confidently traversing through the early years of his post-Genesis career, with the first two of a quartet of self-titled albums under his belt, both of which had made the top 10, and a major solo tour under his belt. The classic “Solsbury Hill” had climbed to #13, and Gabriel was good to go. At the Duffield concert he performed the effervescent “I Don’t Remember,” a wild ballad of the kind of formalist mountain-climbing and despair Gabriel had made his bread and butter while in Genesis. A wailing Kate Bush joins him on backing vocals, and sounds like her larynx is about to combust under the weight of the song’s Frippertonics. Much easier on Bush is a traditional cover of “Let It Be,” a song she’d sung before but still hadn’t made her way into (this would change — wait until this blog hits the late Eighties). Conversely, Gabriel seems to struggle with the song, as Paul McCartney’s gentler songwriting chafed with the new modes of composition he’d been exploring on his own albums and tour. A duo was established, however: Bush and Gabriel would sing together again.

It was a wild time for Bush. “It’s like I’m seeing God, man!” she said enthusiastically. When she’s onstage in a black-and-gold bodysuit and blasting her bandmates with a golden, it’s easy to believe she made that comment while looking in a mirror. It takes a shot of the divine (or perhaps a deal with it?) to stage a tour of this magnitude and success while dealing with such severe drama behind the scenes? It’s no wonder Bush stayed in the studio after this, recording closer to home all the time until she set up a studio in her backyard. Even when she finally returned to the stage thirty-five years later, she made sure her venue was in nearby London. 1979 was a different time. A Labour government was feasible, and Kate Bush was regularly on TV. She plays things close to the chest now, never retiring from music but often looking infuriatingly close to it. In a way, she retired in 1979. Kate Bush the media sensation was a spectacle of the Seventies. She cordoned herself off afterwards, becoming Kate Bush the Artist. Next week we’ll look at Never for Ever, the first post-tour Kate Bush album where she unleashes a flood of ideas into the world. What does one do after the Tour of Life? In Bush’s words: “everything”.

In 2020, Prog wrote about The Tour of Life. I have said how everything led up to The Tour of Life. It was a chance for Kate Bush to asset some independence and create a project very much in her own vision. It was a big undertaking. Throwing so much into it, Bush’s reputation was on the line:

“But in many other respects, the tour was utterly grounded in reality. The singer spent six months beforehand working herself to the bone as she attempted to forge a brand new model of what a live show could be, then another two months doing the same as she took it around Britain and Europe. And it was hit by tragedy when lighting engineer Bill Duffield was killed in an accident after a warm-up show, his death almost bringing the whole juggernaut to a halt before it had even started.

But all that was in the future when the idea for the tour was conceived. Ironically, Bush herself was the first to admit that there was no need for her to do it. “There’s no pressure,” she said in 1979. “But I do feel that I owe people a chance to see me in the flesh. It’s the only opportunity they have without media obstruction.”

“Kate was never at ease in the public eye,” says Brian Southall, who was Artist Development at Bush’s label, EMI, and had worked with the singer since she was signed. “Whether that was performing on Top Of The Pops or doing interviews. She was very reserved, very wary, I think by nature shy. So this spotlight on her was new.”

The singer was fully aware that anything she did would have to raise the bar on everything that came before. But even then, she was trying to manage expectations – not least her own. “If you look at it, it’s my reputation,” she said 1979. “And yes, I hope that it’ll be something special.”

EMI were unsure what the show would involve, so the costs were reportedly split between the label and Bush herself. In return, they got an artist who threw everything into her biggest endeavour so far.

“She was very determined about how her music was presented and performed – that was pretty obvious from her first album,” says Southall. “So no one saw any reason to step in and stop it. The rock’n’roll story was that you put singles out, you put albums out, you went on Top Of The Pops, you toured. But she wasn’t prepared to do the conventional thing.”

In fact no one realised just how unconventional it would be – with its choreography, dancers, props, multiple costume changes, poetry and in-house magician, there was no precedent with which it could be compared.

Rehearsals began in late 1978. Bush had already trained with experimental dancer/mime artist Lindsay Kemp, one-time mentor of David Bowie. But this tour would entail a new level of aptitude entirely, and the stamina to simultaneously dance and sing for more than two hours every night.

Dance teacher Anthony Van Laast was brought in from the London School Of Contemporary Dance to choreograph the shows and help hone Bush’s abilities. Van Laast brought with him two protégés, dancers Stewart Avon Arnold and Gary Hurst. Van Laast put the singer through the equivalent of boot camp at The Place studio in Euston, working with her for two hours each morning. Bush’s own input was crucial to the developing routines.

“Kate knew what she wanted, she had very specific ideas,” says Stewart Avon Arnold today. “What she wanted was in her head, and she wanted people around her who could help her put it into movement. She had so many hats on at that point – artistic, creative, musical.”

If the mornings were for the dance aspect of the slowly coalescing show, then the afternoons were for the music. As soon as she was done with Van Laast, Bush would make the eight mile journey to Wood Wharf Studio in Greenwich, south London, where she would meet up with a band that included Del Palmer, guitarists Brian Bath and Alan Murphy and her multi-instrumentalist brother, Paddy Bush. Also present was her other brother, John Carder Bush, who would perform poetry (and whose wife would provide vegetarian food for the tour). It was hard work for everyone involved and as the show neared, Bush would work 14 hours a day, six days a week”.

Rather than repeat what I wrote in previous anniversary features, the angle I want to bring in here is that balance between the risk and gamble Bush took and how necessary The Tour of Life was. As a popular artist, she was expected to tour. However, it was the sheer scale of the production that was unexpected. Not just an ordinary Pop tour. Despite some flawed moments and some mixed reviews, there was a lot of ecstasy and celebration for The Tour of Life. I think it gave Kate Bush the confidence to record a third studio album more ambitious than her first two. It also remains this oddity: Bush’s one and only tour.

PHOTO CREDIT: Rex

On 2nd April, it will be forty-six years since the first performance. In terms of the risks, there was a lot on the line. Kate Bush’s reputation. She said that and must have been terrified. The fatigue and hassle of travelling. Going in cars, buses and planes to various destinations. Not having much time to rehearse when she was in various towns and cities. There was also the sense of expectation. Bush’s expectation and that of critics. The need to blow everyone away and prove herself. Also, the financial burden. Bush and the label both putting money in. Expectations EMI had in terms of its profitability and success. There was also how Bush would follow it. Whether she would tour again. Fans hungry to see her play. The upsides outweighed the risks. The realisation of an ambition. The huge critical acclaim. The energy and skills Bush took from The Tour of Life to producing and writing her next album. The legacy The Tour of Life has. A female artist merging theatre, mine, poetry and music. That headless mic invention. Going beyond the boundaries of a traditional Pop concert. That has impacted artists today. I have also said how there needs to be a 4K/HD version of The Tour of Life. A special that has the 1979 Nationwide documentary and then a set from The Tour of Life afterwards. We are still talking about the tour all these years later. Whether the Lionheart Tour, Kate Bush Tour or The Tour of Life, it is a spectacle that fans of Kate Bush adore. I would have loved to have been at one of the shows! Bush has spoken about it in years since and recalls how she really enjoyed the experience. I think it is a part of her career that deserves more attention. On 2nd April, when Kate Bush walked onto the stage at Arts Centre, Poole, that the first steps of this incredible tour would…

GO down in music history.

FEATURE: International Women’s Day 2025: Queens That Opened My Eyes to the Power of Music

FEATURE:

 

 

International Women’s Day 2025

Queens That Opened My Eyes to the Power of Music

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IN the second feature…

IN THIS PHOTO: Björk in 1995/PHOTO CREDIT: Corbis

ahead of International Women’s Day on 8th March, I wanted to talk about the queens of music that expanded my horizons. I grew up in the 1990s when the music industry was hugely dominated by men. There was a definite bias towards them. A toxicity in the press and a misogyny that must have been incredibly hard. This rolled into the 2000s. The way so many young women were projected in the media. Over-sexualised. I was probably too young to realise how bad it was for women. Although a lot of my music tastes were male artists and bands, it was women in music that truly opened my eyes to its power and possibility. I have said before how Madonna was one of the first artists I really fell for and admired. I heard her music all through my childhood and loved her albums of the 1980s. However, when Ray of Light arrived in 1998, it awoke something in me. I had not really bonded with Electronic or Dance music. Ray of Light not only confirmed the fact Madonna was peerless. It also compelled me to delve into genres I had not really investigated before The fact Madonna kept reinventing herself. Ray of Light scored some of my best moments at high school. Some really happy times. It is obvious how much of an impression Kate Bush made on me. If Madonna and artists like Björk arrest my senses because of their music diversity and how incredibly strong individual and original they were, Kate Bush opened the senses. Albums like The Kick Inside and Hounds of Love revealed this artist with a singular voice. Even as a teenager I knew how rare it was for a female artist to produce her own album. Something not encouraged in the 1990s perhaps. Or not common. Bush’s incredible work in the 1980s no doubt inspired so many women coming through a decade later. Although I was very into Britpop, I found that a lot of incredible women releasing amazing work were perhaps not giving the same amount of oxygen and respect. Jagged Little Pill by Alanis Morissette was an album that was so different to anything from the Britpop crowd.

Artists like Alanis Morissette and bands like Republica, Sleeper and Elastica definitely provided something fresh and exciting. One of the biggest music loves of my teenage years was R&B and girl groups. I was never a huge fan of the Pop mainstream and found a lot of commercial Pop uninspiring. Groups such as TLC, En Vogue, Spice Girls and All Saints were fond loves of mine. The chemistry in the groups and their incredible dynamics. The fact they could have this Pop core but there was grit, swagger, passion and elements of R&B and so many other genres in the mix. Because of this, I explored R&B an Soul. Going off in different directions. Phenomenal artists like Lauryn Hill. Making me not only more connected with music and the emotions expressed. Compelled by wider and important issues. Not to say male artists were insignificant or not discussing important things. However, a lot of the Hip-Hop and Rap queens of the 1990s and 2000s made me a lot more conscientious and politically-minded. I am not sure exactly when it happened. I had been into groups like Public Enemy and N.W.A. However, there was something amazing and empowering women in the genes that spoke to me more. Whitney Houston, Amy Winehouse, Gwen Stefani and so many other women whose music and phenomenal talent changed me in different ways. The Pop music of Kylie Minogue in my childhood was addictive. Albums like Light Years (2000) and Fever (2001) helped me through some tough times when I started out at university. I think back at my musical education through the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. So much admiration to incredible women. Releasing music in an industry that didn’t always have their best interests at heart. The sort of barriers and obstacles in front of them.

Looking around the music scene of the past decade or so, things have changed but not improved enough. Year in and year out, women are producing the finest music. There are too many names to mention, but this domination hopefully will see bigger strides towards equality. Less discrimination. You only have to look around and see Pop icons like Charli xcx and Billie Elish. Taylor Swift setting recordings and inspiring so many other women. Maybe I cannot articulate it as well as I should. Women changed how I looked at music. Their music still with me now. As I look at the new wave of artists coming through, there is so much to be excited about. I think about the future and how it is different to when I grew up. There are more platforms and opportunities for women. Even though festivals and radio playlists are not equal and need to shift, media attitudes have changed. Not as toxic and sexist as past decades, I want to show my love and respect to queens past and present who have impacted me. On International Women’s Day, I will be listening to playlists of songs from women who were instrumental and important in my childhood. Those who followed me through adulthood and are slaying today. From the artists who led me to new genres, scored wonderful memories, got me through tough times and showed me a whole world of possibilities, it is only right I salute the women who…

CHANGED my life.

FEATURE: International Women’s Day 2025: The Best Singles and Songs from the Best Albums By Women This Year

FEATURE:

 

 

International Women’s Day 2025

IN THIS PHOTO: Victoria Canal/PHOTO CREDIT: Martina Matencio/Rolling Stone UK

The Best Singles and Songs from the Best Albums By Women This Year

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FOR my first feature…

IN THIS PHOTO: FKA Twigs

around International Woman’s Day 2025 (which takes place on 8th March), I thought it would be a good opportunity to compile a playlist of songs from terrific albums this year. The very best singles. Saluting some amazing queens across different genres, it will go to show what an incredible contribution women are adding to the modern music scene. Without doubt producing the best music of our time, I do hope this year is one where we will start to see more of a move towards gender parity across all areas of music. How there will be greater recognition of women’s rights and quality. That there is greater action taken with regards the rise of sexual assault and abuse. That an overdue music #MeToo movement arises or takes some shape. That, above all, women feel truly safe and valued. I don’t think this is the case at the moment. This year is quite new, though we have already seen some truly astonishing albums and singles from amazing women. Before getting to the mixtape, this feature from the United Nations talks about the themes and objectives of this International Women‘s Day:

“On 8 March 2025, join us to celebrate International Women’s Day under the theme, “For ALL women and girls: Rights. Equality. Empowerment.”

This year’s theme calls for action that can unlock equal rights, power and opportunities for all and a feminist future where no one is left behind. Central to this vision is empowering the next generation—youth, particularly young women and adolescent girls—as catalysts for lasting change.

Besides, the year 2025 is a pivotal moment as it marks the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. This document is the most progressive and widely endorsed blueprint for women’s and girls’ rights worldwide that transformed the women’s rights agenda in terms of legal protection, access to services, youth engagement, and change in social norms, stereotypes and ideas stuck in the past.

Engage media, corporate leaders, governments, community leaders, civil society and youth, and others with influence to take action in your communities. Ask leaders to take action and invest in promoting women’s rights and gender equality. Share International Women’s Day stories and messages on digital platforms, using the hashtag #ForAllWomenAndGirls to spark dialogue and inspire action”.

In the next feature around International Women’s Day, I will talk more about the need for parity and improvement through the industry but also salute some of the brilliant women who are truly inspiring. For now, I have assembled a collection of songs from sisters in music who have crafted gold this year. It does underline and emphasise my point that women in music are…

IN THIS PHOTO: Doechii

RULING and in charge.

FEATURE: Generation Alpha: Feminism’s Next Wave, A Need for Hope and a Positive Men’s Movement

FEATURE:

 

 

Generation Alpha

PHOTO CREDIT: Thaís Sarmento/Pexels

Feminism’s Next Wave, A Need for Hope and a Positive Men’s Movement

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IF you…

 IN THIS PHOTO: Caitlin Moran/PHOTO CREDIT: Jay Brooks/The Guardian

forward to the 1:56:35 section of the video embedded below, you will see The Trouble Club’s Ellie Newton talking with Caitlin Moran. You can see her preparing for the interview. That would have been quite intimidating. One of the biggest and best guests The Trouble Club has hosted, Moran was speaking from Manchester Central Exchange Auditorium on Saturday, 15th February. I was not able to get there myself, though I did watch it online. A lot struck me. I am going to include another interview with Caitlin Moran and also a bit about her most recent book, What About Men?, from 2023. It was subjected to some harsh reviews, but also some really nice ones. You can buy it here:

“3. It makes peace in the gender war

Moran’s honesty and humility offers us a model of how to transcend the culture wars without avoiding the difficult conversations. Her book suggests that men and women can bring the best out of each other by celebrating our differences. Moran shows us that we don’t live a zero-sum game:  in order for women to win men don’t have to lose and vice-a-versa. She offers a vision of a different way for men and women to relate to each other. As a firm believer in the power, possibility and pursuit of peace whether in the Russia-Ukraine war or the politically-driven culture war or the subtleties of gender war, I sincerely appreciated her efforts.

4. It celebrates good masculinity

Moran believes our society will be happier and healthier if men and women find ways to celebrate and appreciate one another.  It was this line in her book that struck me as a vital perspective:

“There should be no shame in being a man. Being made to feel shame for how you are born is something every other progressive movement is trying to remove and trying to impose it on the one group that didn't until recently feel shame; straight white men, benefits no one.”

5. It is hopeful

It’s been a long time since I have read something about gender which was as full of hope as this book is. Sadly, many books in this field are written in a bid to fight one’s corner, including those coming from the church. Moran’s posture offers us a much-needed challenge. If an outspoken feminist, who claims to have only stepped inside a church once in her life, (apparently for Rev Richard Coles’ last service in his parish) has no fear of showing support to men and their rights, or of promoting a Christian sexual ethic of commitment before sex, or of seeking to find a peaceful resolution to the gender wars, how much more should Christians be willing to do the same?

My one and only issue with the book was when it tended to lapse into stereotypes. Being the sort of man who doesn’t like to fix things (I wish I did and I could), and who doesn’t find it hard to express emotions (have I overshared already?) and who does care about my appearance (check out my latest charity shop find!) I sometimes felt a little misunderstood. Or even worse, unintentionally pigeonholed as not really being Caitlin’s idea of what a man is. This is one of the biggest challenges of anyone writing about gender, how to do so without either reinforcing stereotypes or ignoring genuine difference”.

Caitlin Moran is known best for writing about women and her perspectives. Celebrated books like 2011’s How to Be a Woman and 2020’s More Than a Woman. Cailtin Moran noted, when speaking for The Trouble Club, how there were no books out there about positive masculinity or one that tried to create this positive men’s movement. No men were writing about it so she thought that she could. However, from liberal and right-wing men alike, they attacked her because they felt like she was trying to tell them (men) they were not in touch with their emotions. Jokingly calling the book a waste of f*cking time, there was this frustration I felt. How a book with really good intentions that wanted to create conversations and changes, instead, led to criticism and abuse online. Moran said how she had to deactivate – or take herself off – Twitter/X for a month. She told Ellie Newton how there is a rise in extreme violence and abuse from men. How the majority of the prison population are men. The majority of the homeless population. How also the leading cause of death for men under fifty is suicide. There is a rise in right-wing attitudes, incels and men looking to vile and poisonous influencers like Andrew Tate and Jordan Peterson. With women becoming perhaps more liberal, Moran asked whether we will have marriages a decade from now if men and women are moving in different directions politically and ideologically. How there is not a positive men’s movement. One that addresses issues and worrying trends and discusses it. How there is this sense of progression and interactions that can help to tackle this rise in violence and abuse from men but also address the high suicide rates and what can be done. A lot of work to be done, it seems extraordinary that no positive men’s movement exists in 2025! No wonder Caitlin Moran felt she could and should write a book like What About Men? Too bad the people she was writing it for felt it was an excuse to vilify her!

PHOTO CREDIT: Anh Nguyen/Pexels

I look around society now and observe when moving through London how much low-level aggression and toxicity there is from men. Always a sense of danger and violence. How insanely scary it must be for women. Margaret Atwood’s quote of “Men are afraid women will laugh at them, women are afraid men will kill them” still sounds so relevant today. With this move to the right and young men especially being mobilised by incels and misogynists, there is a definite desire for collective action. Men talking to other men about changes and addressing something hugely troubling. What resonates with me too was what Caitlin Moran was saying about women. How she learned – when discussing her daughter’s eating disorder and severe mental health issues – to listen and not constantly try to fix things. How women come to men with a problem or crisis and men try to ‘fix’ it, rather than listen. I think that discipline that many women naturally possess is a reason why perhaps men are far less receptive of a positive men’s movement or engaging in feminism in a productive and useful way. That may seem all-encompassing but Moran left the audience with something wonderful. She has shelved (for now) a planned book and instead wanted to get out a series of love letters in book form. At such a dark and violent time, there is a need for serotonin and hope. She quoted Nick Cave who said, “hope is optimism with a broken heart”. At a time when it is hard to be optimistic, can we offer each other hope? I think the book is going to be How to Be Hopeful, though it might just have been her thinking of a placeholder. I will end with the main reason for this feature. The reason Moran wrote What About Men? is, as she explores in this feature (with regards to male problems and issues), “no sense of these all being folded in together, under the subject “How things needs to change for boys, and men” in the way they have in feminism”.

In 2020, when revisiting How to Be a Woman, Caitlin Moran noted how she looks back at the book and realises some of the things that she got wrong. Some women in the audience up in Manchester on 15th February thanked Moran for that book and what it meant to them. However, in her thirties when it was written, Moran is just shy of being fifty now. She sees it with different eyes. She did in 2020:

“In the decade since writing that book, the world has come to look very different. Now, happily, feminism makes constant, worldwide news. Beyoncé makes albums that feature Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie explaining what a feminist is. Dior does shows with the word “FEMINIST” emblazoned over the catwalk. Topshop sells “This is what a feminist looks like” T-shirts. #timesup, #MeToo, the Bechdel test, emotional labour, slut-shaming, free-bleeding, the pay gap, gaslighting, intersectionality, trans rights – it’s a fertile age for feminist consciousness-raising and lexical expansion. Whatever aspect of feminism you are most interested in, you can go online and find thousands, if not millions, of others who feel just like you. 

Social media has reminded us of the most intriguing yet exhilarating fact about feminism: there is no feminist bible. Feminism isn’t a science. It’s just an idea; a completely freelance, voluntary, crowd-sourced and brilliant idea, in which women and, yes, sometimes men, go about identifying, then trying to solve the problems of girls and women. And, one of the things I feel we sometimes forget , celebrating their brilliance. Although it might occasionally feel like it, being a woman isn’t just a set of difficult questions. The female population of the Earth is also a set of answers. It’s a billion seeds of potential. It is a field of blossom, just waiting.

Once every few years, as an act of self-lacerating nostalgia for my younger self, I reread How To Be A Woman and marvel not over what I got right, but what I got wrong. I was in my early 30s, had two small kids, and was convinced that, in a small way, I knew everything. I figured that the most difficult part of parenting was over; after all, I’d had two human beings bobsled out of my vagina. It couldn’t get worse, right? Hahaha – oh, how I underestimated the teenage years. Potty training is a mere bagatelle compared to negotiating a 15-year-old accusing you of “slut-shaming” her when you suggest a backless dress might not work for school and that she should, perhaps, consider a cardie, instead. And if your family has to help a child with a serious illness – in our case, a four-year eating disorder – it is something that will, over and over, have you absolutely on your knees, believing this might not be something you can deal with, after all. That, despite all your feminism, you are useless to your daughters”.

It is difficult to say which wave of feminism has just passed. Maybe the fourth and fifth have happened. Caitlin Moran said that the fourth has passed. Some articles like this argue a fifth wave of feminism is loosely defined, confused or might not have happened. What are its objectives and what does it stand for? This article states how a fifth wave might be about embracing male tenderness and trying to reverse or at least counteract a lot of the toxicity that has been bubbling up. This article dates back to 2019 (others are a little newer) and writes how “The fifth wave looks more like the second wave, and so we recognize it as “feminism,” whereas the fourth wave—which avoided the vocabulary of “opposition” and “fighting” in favor of identificatory feelings and personal stories—didn’t feel like a noticeable shift, even though it radically transformed the way women articulated their experiences”. Maybe now we are looking to a sixth wave. A lot has happened in the past few years that authors and feminists like Caitlin Moran are talking about. She wants a new wave to be about positivity, serotonin and joy. Women feeling safer; not being so-self-critical. Changes that everyone can do. There is no one fit for a feminist. The lexicon needs to be as broad as possible. Maybe the COVID-19 pandemic (which started just over five years ago) accelerated a fifth wave. Maybe a sixth has (or should be) accelerated by the new rise in male violence, sexual abuse, incels and the unflinching darkness we are seeing in the world.

PHOTO CREDIT: Ivan Samkov/Pexels

The fact that now more than ever men and women are shifting in opposite directions and it might be impossible for there to be common ground and any sense of harmony makes the next wave of feminism urgent yet challenging. Whether someone specific would herald that in or whether it would naturally bloom. One of the most notable and worrying aspects of writing about feminism is the lack of men who celebrate it and want to be part of it. I have not actually seen anyone online write about a positive men’s movement but, even more blatantly, I am not sure whether there has ever been an article from a male writer about feminism and a new movement - or reacting to the previous one. How and why men should play more of a part; discussing their role. Considering tens of millions of men around the world have access to the Internet, can it be the case that literally none of them have ever published a feature, thought-piece or Substack about men’s need to be a part of their conversation?! Positivity about feminism and celebration of the incredible and inspiration women in the world? I have done a cursory Google, though the vast majority – bar possibly a single/double-digit tally – of the pieces are by women. Men do not need to be ‘qualified’ to be a feminist or write about it. There is no entry exam! When Caitlin Moran was talking about all the great things we can do and how things are so hard for women, I wondered why men have not reacted to this with proactivity and incentive. Determined to make things better, to be a big part of the next wave of feminism and also construct and build a positive men’s movement that can run in conjunction with a sixth/next feminist movement. As a journalist in his forties, maybe my perspective and words are not as relevant or affecting as younger and older women who are calling for change, action and the manifesto/mandate for the next feminist movement.

IN THIS PHOTO: Michaela Coel/PHOTO CREDIT: Michael Loccisano/Getty Images

When looking out to the music industry for example, there are incredible and empowering women who are creating this sense of strength and togetherness. In terms of the effort from men – who I am not bashing but saying need to do more -, very few are boosting women, talking about the rise in violence and sexual abuse or using their platform to spotlight women and their brilliance. Not that zero men in music do that but the numbers are very low. When it comes to anything akin to a new feminist movement, you do not hear them talk about it or include anything in their songs. Maybe a harder task than if you are a journalist, though they can and should do a lot more. For last year’s International Women’s Day – 8th March – Glamour recognised brilliant modern-day feminists; so too did ELLE (including Michaela Coel, Angelina Jolie and Tarana Burke). In almost no features or articles do we see men listed. It seems staggering that there are pretty much no/few men raising their voices and showing their support. It is not the case that you can only be a meaningful feminist if you are a woman and have shared experiences of discrimination and inequality. Maybe men feel that they are not qualified or genuine. Not to focus purely on Caitlin Moran but, quoting from The Guardian article she wrote in 2020: “I feel I should croakingly remind everyone, once more, about the most crucial, brilliant, sometimes frustrating thing about feminism: it’s really not a science. It has no rules. It’s still just an idea, created by millions, over centuries, and it can only survive if the next generation feels able to kick ideas around, ask questions, make mistakes and reinvent the concept over and over, so we can build the next wave of feminism. And the next. And the next”. Caitlin Moran, when speaking with Ellie Newton, saying the next wave of feminism needs to be about joy and serotonin and hope – because we need that right now! I was so compelled by her words. How there needs to be a positive men’s movement but also, related, there need to be more men actively joining a new feminist movement and showing their solidarity and time. Not to boast but to dispel and trying to counteract the fact there is not only no progressive centrist men’s movement, but also show their (minor and lacking) support of women. On Saturday, 8th March, it is International Women’s Day. I have been thinking about Caitlin Moran’s recent talk, her books, wider discussions around a progressive men’s movement and when a new wave of feminism will rise - and what form it will take. I have been so motivated to do something, learn more and to do better myself. I really do think  change and progression can happen. That desire (with regards the next wave of feminism) for there to be joy, hope and optimism is a…

PHOTO CREDIT: RF._.studio/Pexels

WONDERFUL thing to hope for.

FEATURE: Kate Bush: The Tour of Life: In My Garden: Photographing the Young Prodigy

FEATURE:

 

 

Kate Bush: The Tour of Life

ALL PHOTO: John Carder Bush

In My Garden: Photographing the Young Prodigy

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I have recognised…

the importance of the Cathy book from John Carder Bush. Kate Bush’s brother published photos he took of his sister when she was a child. Originally published in 1986 in a limited run, there was a reprint in 2014. You can get it on Amazon, though it retails for a lot of money! It shows Kate Bush (or Cathy/Catherine as she would have been known) captured during her childhood. In the garden of East Wickham Farm and around the property. I would hope a new run would be published that is more affordable for fans as it is a treasure trove. These incredible black-and-white photos with accompanying text from John Carder Bush. It is great that we have these photos. It was only natural that John Carder Bush would photograph his sister. As a photographer, he saw an intriguing subject. However, did he know even then – in the 1960s – that she would be a star?! It seems like she was born to be this incredible talent. You can see her in the photos and you can tell she has this gravitas even then. Some special quality! He would continue to photograph his sister right up until 2011 for Director’s Cut (though I always thought he took images of her for 50 Words for Snow too). I wonder whether he will take promotional photos if Bush releases another album. Amazing to think they have had this collaboration that has lasted six decades or more. I think 1966 was the first year when we get shots of the young Catherine/Cathy. In interviews since, John Carder Bush recalled how willing his sister was. How she would cooperate. Sure, there are photos of her looking sad or grumpy, though this was natural for a child. She would always have the time, even if school work or something else demanded more of her precious time. I wanted to return to this part of her life because it was crucial in terms of her career.

The fact Bush was photographed heavily in 1978. After her debut, The Kick Inside, came out, she was already used to be photographed. The experience she got from posing for her brother in part prepared her for a professional career of being photographed. There was this protectiveness from her brother. Making sure that his sister was not being exploited or made to do anything too risqué or inadvisable. Sometimes it was the case a photographer would fool her into something overly-sexual or suggestive. However, it was expected John Carder Bush would be wary of photographers and what their objectives were. I think her brother’s photos are among the most natural and memorable. Getting the best from his sister. As Tom Doyle wrote in his book, Running Up That Hill: 50 Visions of Kate Bush, John Carder Bush has recalled how his sister was very quiet but not withdrawn. She was a sweet companion but needed to be pushed forward. Someone who was this extraordinary photographic subject. John Carder Bush was inspired by the pre-Raphaelite children’s book illustrators and the “pen-and-ink Peter Pan fantasias of Arthur Rackham”. John Carder Bush noted those Rackham’s Peter Pan illustrations has something menacing or dark in the background. Rather than capture something cutesy or innocent, her brother was trying to lure something odd and eerie from his shots. Bush wanted something sinister to come through. Tom Doyle writes how John Carder Bush shot his sister using a 35mm camera that allowed two shots for every frame. A thirty-six exposure roll would produce seventy-two shots. John Carder Bush was attracted to the camera as it was cheap. He said it diminished the “potential end quality”. Limited potential for blowing up these images. However, for such a cheap tool, the image quality was really strong! Taken when Kate Bush was aged between eight and twelve (around 1966-1970), these shots show her otherness and otherworldliness. Whether she was whirling or in a dancer’s arched-back pose with a poncho on, there was this incredible fascination. The hippie influences from her brothers (John and Paddy).

One particular standout shot sees her sat on the bonnet of a car with her head in her hands (above). A sort of sullen look but one that projects this incredible sense of star quality. Something radiating from that shot! There  are poses of her scruffy or impish. So many different sides to his sister. John Carder Bush said how he was not instantly aware of his sister’s innate musical gifts and ambitions. He was photographing her because he wanted to document her life. He said how his sister would come back from school but wouldn’t chat for hours about it. She has to be coxed to an extent. In 1986, five-hundred copies were printed and mail order-sold. He did not know there was this fixation and demand when he limited the run. John Carder Bush was annoyed that the books came from the printers in this tight yellow slipcase. It was too late to do anything, because some people could not take the book from its slipcase. That was rectified in 2014 for the new run I believe. When it was reissued in 2014, copies of the original were selling for over £1,000. It stunned him! Still amazed that people would want to see these photos. Tom Doyle notes how the collaboration lasted to 2011 for Director’s Cut, though I believe John Carder Bush also photographed her for 50 Words for Snow (but I may be mistaken). Like the Cathy photos, when John Carder Bush shot his sister for album covers – most notably for Hounds of Love in 1985 – it was always at one of their houses. Not a professional studio. He would just have to move all his kids’ toys out of the way first! There was this relaxed bond because they were so used to one another. You can feel her relaxed and trusting in these shots. There was no commercial pressure too. They could take their time shooting a cover and getting the mood right. The images would also not be sold or find their way into the tabloids because John Carder Bush would never do that. Being able to trust the photographer was so important.

When John Carder Bush spoke about Cathy and the reissue, he noted how nothing had changed. Sure, Bush was a lot older than when he first photographed her, but the eyes and smile were still the same. The most prominent focal points of a photo are the eyes and smile. When you get older, they are unchanged really. The eyes for sure but also the shape of your mouth. In many ways, you can feel similarities between those very early photos and the ones he shot in 2011. “As soon as I look through the lens, she’s back, through all the photos I’ve taken of her over the years”. I am also revisiting this subject because I hope that we a) get another run of Cathy and it is less limited and it retails for somewhere between £50-£100. B, I know that there will be other shots of Kate Bush from throughout the years that I hope will be published. Surely there is another book in him. John Carder Bush did produce the incredible KATE: Inside the Rainbow that was originally published in 2015 and then reprinted in 2021. I love that book and will source from it for future features. I also wanted to go back to Cathy and those incredible photos when Bush was a girl. I wonder if Kate Bush recalls those photos and what she was thinking at the time. It is no wonder fans want to see these photos. They are so evocative and stunning! Imagining what the atmosphere was like at East Wickham Farm. Being able to own a copy of Cathy and leaf through these wonderful pages. Let’s hope another run does come out at an affordable price. That would be good to see that…

ONE day soon.

FEATURE: Coral Rooms: The Homes of Kate Bush

FEATURE:

 

 

Coral Rooms

The Homes of Kate Bush

_________

I may do this for another feature…

IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush standing outside of her family home at East Wickham Farm, Welling (in the London borough of Bexley)

where I trace everywhere Kate Bush lived and worked in London. The studios she recorded out of. Where she took dance classes and did rehearsals for 1979’s The Tour of Life. Today, I want to look at Kate Bush’s homes. Rather than this being tabloid clickbait or invading her privacy, it is interesting to highlight as Bush recorded from home. The setting very important in terms of her albums. How she moved from London and but has not strayed too far from the city. The fact she can get to London quickly enough if she needs to. Of course, we need to start out with Bush’s childhood home: the idyllic East Wickham Farm. I am not aware of any Kate Bush tours but, if you wanted to chart her life and see where she lived, you would start out with East Wickham Farm. Such a Signiant part of her young life and career, I wonder whether Bush has gone back in years since. It must have been this restful paradise for her. So settled and beautiful. This feature from 2015 highlights the magnificent East Wickham Farm:

“The large farmhouse where Kate Bush was raised is almost impossible to see through impenetrable undergrowth and is situated in a surprisingly built-up area on Wickham Street, Welling, on the fringes of South-East London.

East Wickham Farm was the family home where Kate lived with her doctor father, mother and two older brothers, John and Paddy. Her inbuilt wonder and love of music and outpouring of songs, written when a schoolgirl, all began here, surrounded by her family.

Famously ‘discovered’ and encouraged by Dave Gilmour and signed to EMI as a songwriting prodigy, the teenage Kate Bush also formed the KT Bush Band with brother Paddy and three friends, playing South London pubs. The family’s secluded 350-year-old farmhouse home offered a base for an idyllic childhood and subsequently a secure and private environment for her work. Kate, who shares a birthday with Wuthering Heights author Emily Brontë, wrote her ‘version’ at East Wickham Farm.

The conversion of one of the barns into a 24-track studio in 1983 was significant. It gave Kate, who now had four Top 10 albums to her credit, a financial and creative independence to take as long as she wanted over future projects”.

London was important to Kate Bush. In terms of opportunities and recording facilities. She recorded out of AIR Studios, Oxford Street in 1977 and she would record at London studios for much of her career. She spent a lot of her young years there attending dance and mime classes. I did not know that Bush wrote Wuthering Heights away from East Wickham Farm. I always had it in my head that she was there until The Kick Inside was released in 1978 and she moved away. I know that she lived at 44 Wickham Road, Brockley. Situated in quite a quiet and nice part of South London, you can see the property on Google. I wonder how much the property has changed since Bush wrote there in 1977. To go to that property and look up and imagine Kate Bush looking out into the night on 5th March, 1977 and seeing a full moon. This song coming to her. This article from My London talks about that. How Bush did not move too from East Wickham Farm (about seven miles):

“It was a song inspired by the romantic novel of the same title by Emily Bronte and sung from the perspective of the character Catherine Earnshaw who is pleading to be let into Heathcliff's house and be with him.

Kate is believed to have penned the lyrics to the song in only a few hours and did so from her flat in South London.

Kate, who was born in Bexleyheath, never strayed too far from the south of the capital and when she was emerging as a groundbreaking talent she lived in a flat in Wickham Road in Brockley.

The flat Kate lived in was the middle flat of a three flat building and her two brothers were believed to have lived above and below her.

Kate credits her brothers for getting her into music in the first place and through them had her first live performance at the since closed Rose of Lee pub in Lewisham, as well as the Royal Albert in New Cross Road”.

It must have been quite convenient living in Brockley. It meant that Bush was situated not too far from family and she could get to the centre of the city easily. However, as she was dating Del Palmer in the 1970s and the two got serious, they did move out of London. Bush did come back to East Wickham Farm to record Hounds of Love. Bush and Palmer lived in a 17th-century farmhouse in Kent in the 1980s. The farmhouse was near Sevenoaks. Again, not too far from East Wickham Farm, I believe they moved out there in 1983. Bush had a quieter life and could garden and did not have the stress and smog of the city. 1983 was a year for recharge and rebuild. Setting down roots with Del Palmer and moving to a gorgeous property. I am not sure of the exact address, though it was a step up from the flat she had in Brockley. Bush requiring more space and a better environment to create work. I don’t think the London exile lasted too long. Again, not too far from East Wickham Farm (about four miles), Bush resided in Eltham from 1985. This article explains more:

“Bush lived in the Eltham, South East London property between 1985-2003 with the current owners placing it on the market for £3m, reports The Telegraph.

The current owner, Jackie O’Reilly, has paid homage to Bush with a wrought-iron gate at the entrance to the house which has the words ‘Wuthering Heights’ on it in reference to Bush’s 1978 single. “The house was already called that in the title deeds, so we decided to put that in as a homage to Kate,” said O’Reilly.

“I grew up in Eltham, and we always knew it as Kate Bush’s house, and caught odd glimpses of her,” O’Reilly said. “But she clearly valued her privacy. The house is surrounded by large trees, to keep out prying eyes.”

“Kate has long since moved out of the area, but we catch sight of her from time to time,” she added. “Her brother still lives next door, and there is a gate between the two gardens”.

IN THGIS PHOTO: Kate Bush’s former home in Eltham, London

I do love how there was this family connection. Bush living so close to her brothers and near her parents. She did not want to stray too far. That connection with London lasting until 2003. It was clear by then, when she already had a young son (Bertie would have been five or so in 2003), that she needed to relocate and perhaps get away from London. I hear that Bush still has a flat in London, somewhere around South Kensington or Chelsea. Maybe as a base or somewhere to stay if she needs to. However, since 2003, she has lived in larger properties not too far from Greater London. There might be a slight gap in my timeline. I know that Bush moved down to Devon in 2005. Whether she was living somewhere else from 2003-2005, there is this two-gap I am curious about that period. I wonder whether writers like Graeme Thomson or Tom Doyle would have more information about the years 2003-2005. It is crucial as 2005 was the year when Bush released her seventh studio album, Aerial. She would have wanted to move somewhere where there was less press intrusion. As her son was at school and he would have wanted to have a more settled life, it seemed like a good move. Located close to the sea, I think it was a tactical move. The inspiration she could have got from that setting. Though she was privy to ramblers and people walking past the property, I think there was more space and privacy for her there. However, as NME reported in 2014, the property was in danger of falling into the sea:

“Kate Bush‘s Devon cliff top home is in danger of falling into the sea, according to reports.

Council officials have warned the singer that she needs to invest in re-enforcements to prevent the five-bed property, which Bush bought in 2005 for £2.5 million, from toppling into the ocean.

In 2013, a landslip caused a section of the coast near Kingsbridge to fall into the sea. According to the Exeter Express And Echo, the home belonging to Bush’s neighbour is now inches away from the 88-foot drop and the singer’s own property is next in line.

“If you live there you can either accept it and let your house fall into the sea, or you can take action to prevent further damage, although that can cost hundreds of thousands,” said Devon County Council’s Steve Gardner.

“You can attach netting to the cliff face, or another option is spraying it with concrete, although these are very expensive and not something the council would pay for”.

IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush’s Devon mansion/PHOTO CREDIT: SWNS

After Aerial came out, it may have seemed like a sensible idea to move closer to London again. I hear interviews from 2005 where Bush was interviewed at home. I wonder whether that was in Devon or a property down in London perhaps. I can’t imagine journalists schlepping down to Devon. Doing a bit more digging, it seemed that Bush was based near Theale, Berkshire for a long period. She lived there with her husband Danny (or Dan) McIntosh until 2011. It might have been the case that she did promotion for Aerial there. Significant that she moved out in 2011. That was a year when Bush (remarkably) released two new albums – Director’s Cut (May) and 50 Words for Snow (November). I am fascinated by the properties Kate Bush has lived in. I can see why Bush wanted to move into a gorgeous Georgian mansion with Danny McIntosh. This feature from last year from The Standard spotlighted the property and how it has changed since Bush and McIntosh lived there:

“This house is full of my mess/ This house is full of mistakes/ This house is full of madness / This house is full of fight,” sang Kate Bush in “Get Out of My House”. Now, this house is for sale: the singer’s former Berkshire home has been listed with Strutt & Parker for £11.5 million.

Bush bought the Grade II-listed Georgian mansion in the mid-1990s when she was pregnant with her son, Bertie, and lived there with her husband, the guitarist Danny McIntosh, until 2011.

Located on the river Kennet, near the village of Theale, the property was built around 1800 as a miller’s house for the nearby water mill. Standing in 22.54 acres of grounds, Shenfield Mill, as it is known, offered Bush the privacy she was looking for. “I’m really quite a quiet, private person,” she said in an interview for her biography, written by Rob Jovanovic. “It’s quite a surprise to me to think I’m a famous person.”

IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush’s former recording studio has now been converted into a three-bedroom bungalow/PHOTO CREDIT: Strutt & Parker

After moving in, Bush converted two of the property’s outbuildings into a dance and recording studio. It was here that she wrote and recorded Aerial — her first album in 12 years when it was released in 2005 — and 50 Words for Snow. At the time, Bush said that she recorded birdsong from her garden at the house, which she reinterpreted in her voice and used in Aerial. The cover depicts the soundwave of a blackbird song.

“I’ve always been very lucky because I’ve got a lot of creative freedom when I’m working in the studio. The albums don’t cost a lot of money. It’s a very small process,” Bush told the BBC in 2011. “I’ve put a packet of bonemeal on my piano. It seems to be helping the blossoming of the songs.”

Bush sold the property to its current owners, Mike and Fran Taylor, in 2011. “Mike is a very keen fisherman,” says agent Tom Shuttleworth. “You’ve got the river Kennet and the Avon Canal, but when he saw the weir pool, he said: ‘I’ve got to have it.’”

The Taylors undertook a four-year renovation of the house and grounds, which included reroofing and repointing the Georgian property, refurbishing the windows – and almost doubling the house’s footprint by adding a glass extension. Measuring nearly 1,200 square feet, the glass-walled extension —or orangery— overlooks the garden and river, and is connected to the house via a glass link.

“The owners literally took the home back to brick internally,” says Shuttleworth. “It was a real labour of love.”

Now, the Georgian main house measures a total of 7,384 square feet with four bedrooms, the largest of which is almost 500 square feet alone. Bush’s former dance studio has been turned into a two-storey, self-contained cottage with two further bedrooms, while her recording studio is now a three-bedroom bungalow.

Outside, the couple reshaped the property’s gardens, reinstating the eroding riverbanks and creating a walled garden from the historic mill, which had been damaged by a fire in the late 1800s. “They enabled the water to flow through the mill once again, which helps the river Kennet to flow smoothly through the grounds,” says Shuttleworth. “What you’ve got now is a nice combination of order and nature”.

IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in 2005/PHOTO CREDIT: Trevor Leighton

Having moved from Sulhamstead in Berkshire, Bush now resides in Oxfordshire. Clifton Hampden Manor is a splendid and grand property in a quiet part of the world. Again, convenient enough to get down to London, Bush resides in a staggering property. I know that she will have recording facilities somewhere. That was the case when she lived near Theale. I can imagine there is a recording studio down the garden or in a separate building. Before finishing off, this article talks about Bush’s new life:

“Singer-songwriter Kate Bush ordinarily enjoys a very quiet life in South Oxfordshire. With her 1985 song Running Up That Hill topping charts this week thanks to its inclusion in the hit Netflix series Stranger Things, she has been thrust into the spotlight once again as a whole new generation enjoys the song - 37 years after its original release.

So will her Victorian manor house near Abingdon be the location of intense celebrations? Probably not...

Kate enjoys a low-key lifestyle in Oxfordshire and recently spoken about how she has swapped her dancing shoes for gardening gloves and can't get enough of getting her hands dirty with her new therapeutic hobby.

Kate Bush previously lived in Theale in west Berkshire, but purchased a large manor house in the south of the county where she moved in 2017 with her son Bertie McIntosh, who attended a private school in Oxford”.

Even though it almost common knowledge that we know where Bush lives, fans like me would never violate her privacy by sending her a letter. I guess some people do though, as she wants her privacy and she would be inundated, everything has to go through her management. Bush has remained in England for her whole life. I don’t think that will change. From London to Devon to Berkshire to Oxfordshire, these are all parts of the country that offered Kate Bush something new. I feel she may stay in Oxfordshire. When a new album does arrive, I guess journalists will be invited to Clifton Hampden Manor. Quite an extraordinary and overwhelming setting to conduct an interview! I think back to Bush’s early life when she moved out of East Wickham Farm and was in Brockley. Would she know what course her life would take and where she would end up?! I said I would do a feature about Kate Bush’s London and the areas she visited, worked in and frequented whether it was for her music or dance classes. That feature should be with you…

VERY soon.

FEATURE: Man We Was Lonely: McCartney at Fifty-Five

FEATURE:

 

 

Man We Was Lonely

McCartney at Fifty-Five

_________

THIS is a significant anniversary…

PHOTO CREDIT: Linda McCartney

as some say that Paul McCartney announcing the release of his first solo album was the reason The Beatles split up. I do not think that was the case. I feel the band broke up in 1970 because it had come to an end. Even if McCartney made an announcement in 1970 that he was not working with the group anymore, the breakup of the band was not formalised until 1974. On 17th April, 1970, McCartney was released. This brilliant album was recorded it in secrecy, with McCartney using basic home-recording equipment at his house in St John's Wood, London. There are contributions from his wife Linda but, for the most part, this was Paul McCartney performing on his own and recording to four-track. Very different to the sheen and polish of Beatles albums like Abbey Road (1969) and Let It Be (1970), this was something a lor more basic. There was some critical backlash in 1970 as they felt this album and McCartney had split up The Beatles. Ahead of the fifty-fifth anniversary of McCartney, I want to get to some praise. Give some background to the album. The album was a big commercial success. However, match that to the critical negativity and vilification Paul McCartney received, it is only in subsequent years that McCartney has been heralded by some. However, there are those who feel the album is ragged, underdeveloped and mediocre. I think that is short-sighted. It is sad that there are no retrospective features that herald the album and note its quality. Although Paul McCartney would release better albums, I think that his first eponymous album – McCartney II arrived in 1980; McCartney III in 2020 -, is a really important document. At a time when his band were breaking up, it is an insight into his mind and personal life. There are some incredible tracks on the album.

It seems that most reviews for the album come with a note of caution or disappointment. The fact that many might see it as responsible for killing The Beatles rather than judging it on its own merits. It was obviously important for Paul McCartney to release a solo album. Rather than it being this rushed release that confirmed he was no longer with the band, this is music he felt he could not release with The Beatles. I don’t think it is fair it got the criticism it did. I want to move to a review from the BBC from 2011:

“In 1970 Paul McCartney left The Beatles and set about sloughing off seven years’ worth of extravagant wardrobes and philosophies that no longer fitted or suited him, and embarked upon a solo career that would reveal ‘the real’ Thumbs Aloft. Obviously, being one of an equal partnership in the world’s biggest/most important rock/pop group meant that his aesthetic had been asserted plenty of times before, in most recent memory during the back-to-basics Let It Be sessions. But this time he was going to give us more than just a glimpse of the boy-next-door millionaire idol.

He played everything on this album. We were left in no doubt that his claim that Ringo wasn’t even the best drummer in The Beatles, while snide, wasn’t entirely rash. Everything about this album says, "This is organic – this is me freed from John’s pretension and artifice". McCartney’s homely, almost idiot-savant, gift for songwriting seemed to be undiminished now that he was on his own. Opening track The Lovely Linda, although barely more than a sketch, was written in order to try out a new 4-track. Macca was back to being the guy who couldn't make a cup of tea without it inspiring a top 40 hit. His creative wellspring had been topped up by spending more time with his kin. This was revealed by the design for the album, compiled from Linda’s (excellent) holiday snaps. The iconic image of cherries left on a seaside wall for birds to feed on has slowly usurped the actual cover art of Macca with cherubic baby Stella peeking out of the lining of his sheepskin.

This said, it hadn't been an entirely clean break. Some of the tunes were left over from the Fab Four endgame. Junk was originally written in the Maharishi’s camp and Teddy Boy was a Let It Be reject. But even some of the songs that seemed to have an exotic nature were deceptively domestic. Kreen-Akrore may well have been about rainforest tribesmen, but McCartney’s information came directly from a TV documentary he watched with his family. And, really, this is what this album is: written and recorded by a victor, someone who has successfully negotiated his retreat from being one of the most famous people on the face of the planet to blissful semi-retirement to the homestead. He would go on greater things – including McCartney II, released a decade later – but this debut album represents a necessary start to the most consistently pleasing solo career of all The Beatles”.

That review was published to coincide with the reissue of McCartney. If this album was released after Let It Be, I don’t think it would have received quite the same level of attack. Released a month before that album in 1970, it was perceived as McCartney breaking up the band. I will mark Let It Be at fifty-five closer to its anniversary in May. Before getting to a 1970 interview from Paul McCartney, I want to bring in a passage from The Paul McCartney Project:

“Released in 1970, a month before The Beatles’ swansong Let It Be, McCartney was Paul’s first solo album. Notable for the fact that he performed all instruments and vocals himself, aside from some backing vocals performed by Linda, it’s an album rich in experimentation, and the original home of ‘Maybe I’m Amazed’. “The McCartney album was good fun,” Paul remembers, “because I got a machine from EMI, only a four-track, and I just had it in my living room where I lived in London at the time. I’d just go in for the day like Monsieur Magritte. Go in and do a little bit of stuff and make something up, and knock off in the evenings. It was very interesting to do and it had a certain kind of rawness, because I was breaking loose after The Beatles, we all got a feeling of that, I think. During the Beatles period I’d said to John, ‘I think I should do an album called Paul McCartney Goes Too Far”. He said, ‘That’s a great idea man, you should do it.’ Of course, I never really did. It was just, Well, I’ll do it one day”.

The interview I want to bring in is from a press release for Apple Records in 1970. Published on 9th April, 1970, there are some interesting questions and exchanges. I wonder how Paul McCartney feels about the album fifty-five years later. It must have been such a strange and stressful time for him:

“Q: Why did you decide to make a solo album?

A: Because I got a Studer 4-track recording machine at home – practised on it (playing all instruments) – like the results and decided to make it into an album.

Q: Were you influenced by John’s adventures with the Plastic Ono Band, and Ringo’s solo LP?

A: Sort of, but not really.

Q: Are all the songs by Paul McCartney alone?

A: Yes sir.

Q: Will they be so credited: McCartney?

A: It’s a bit daft for them to be Lennon-McCartney-credited, so ‘McCartney’ it is.

Q: Did you enjoy working as a solo?

A: Very much. I only had me to ask for a decision, and I agreed with me. Remember Linda’s on it too, so it’s really a double act.

Q: What is Linda’s contribution?

A: Strictly speaking she harmonises, but of course it’s more than that because she is a shoulder to lean on, a second opinion, and a photographer of renown. More than all this, she believes in me – constantly.

Q: Where was the album recorded?

A: At home, at EMI (No. 2 studio) and at Morgan studios (Willesden!).

Q: What is your home equipment (in some detail)?

A: Studer 4-track machine. I only had, however, one mike, and, as Mr Pender, Mr Sweatham and others only managed to take six months or so (slight delay), I worked without VU meters or a mixer, which meant that everything had to be listened to first (for distortion, etc…) then recorded. So the answer – Studer, one mike and nerve.

Q: Why did you choose to work in the studios you chose?

A: They were available. EMI is technically good, and Morgan is cosy.

Q: The album was not known about until it was nearly completed. Was this deliberate?

A: Yes, because normally an album is old before it comes out. (aside) Witness ‘Get Back’.

Q: Why?

A: I’ve always wanted to buy a Beatles album like ‘people’ do and be as surprised as they must be. So this was the next best thing. Linda and I are the only two who will be sick of it by the release date. We love it really.

Q: Are you able to describe the texture or the feel of the theme of the album in a few words?

A: Home, Family, Love.

Q: How long did it take to complete – from when to when?

A: From just before (I think) Xmas, until now. The Lovely Linda was the first thing I recorded at home, and was originally to test the equipment. That was around Xmas.

Q: Assuming all the songs are new to the public, how new are they to you? Are they recent?

A: One was 1959 (‘Hot As Sun’), two from India (‘Junk’, ‘Teddy Boy’), and the rest are pretty recent. ‘Valentine Day’, ‘Momma Miss America’, and ‘OO you’ were ad-libbed on the spot.

Q: Which instruments have you played on the album?

A: Bass, drums, acoustic guitar, lead guitar, piano and organ-Mellotron, toy xylophone, bow and arrow.

Q: Have you played all these instruments on earlier recordings?

A: Yes – drums being the one that I would normally do.

Q: Why did you do all the instruments yourself?

A: I think I’m pretty good.

Q: Will Linda be heard on all future recordings?

A: Could be; we love singing together, and have plenty of opportunity for practice.

Q: Will Paul and Linda become a John and Yoko?

A: No, they will become a Paul and Linda.

Q: Are you pleased with your work?

A: Yes.

Q: Will the other Beatles receive the first copies?

A: Wait and see.

Q: What has recording alone taught you?

A: That to make your own decisions about what you do is easy and playing with yourself is difficult but satisfying”.

“Q: "Why did you decide to make a solo album?"

Paul: "Because I got a Studer four-track recording machine at home, practiced on it, liked the results, and decided to make an album."

Q: "Were you influenced by John's adventures with the Plastic Ono Band?"

Paul: "Sort of, but not really."

Q: "Are all songs by Paul McCartney alone?"

Paul: "Yes, sir."

Q: "Will they be so credited?"

Paul: "It's a bit daft for them to be Lennon/McCartney-credited, so 'McCartney' it is."

Q: "Did you enjoy working as a solo artist?"

Paul: "Very much, as I only had me to ask for a decision, and I generally agreed with myself! Remember, Linda's on it too, so it's really a double act."

Q: "What is Linda's contribution?"

Paul: "Strictly speaking, she harmonizes, but of course it's more than that, because she's a shoulder to lean on, a second opinion, and a photographer of renown. More than all this, she believes in me constantly."

Q: "Where was the album recorded?"

Paul: "At home, at EMI, and at Morgan Studios."

Q: "What is your home equipment - in some detail?"

Paul: "Studer four-track machine. I only had, however, one mike, and I worked without VU meters or a mixer, which meant that everything had to be listened to first for distortion, etc, then recorded. So the answer - Studer, one mike, and nerve."

Q: "Why did you choose to work in the studios you chose?"

Paul: "They were available. EMI is technically very good and Morgan is cozy."

Q: "The album was not known about until it was nearly completed. Was this deliberate?"

Paul: "Yes, because normally an album is old before it even comes out. Witness 'Let It Be.'"

Q: "Why?"

Paul: "I've always wanted to buy a Beatles album like people do and be as surprised as they must be. So this was the next best thing. Linda and I are the only two who will be sick of it by the release date. But we love it really."

Q: "Are you able to describe the texture or feel of the album?"

Paul: "Home, family, love."

Q: "How long did it take to complete?"

Paul: "From just before Christmas, until now. 'The Lovely Linda' was the first thing I recorded at home and was originally to test the equipment. That was around Christmas."

Q: "Assuming all the songs are new to the public, how new are they to you?"

Paul: "One was from 1959 - 'Hot As Sun.' Two are from India - 'Junk' and 'Teddy Boy.' and the rest are pretty recent. 'Valentine Day,' 'Momma Miss America' and 'Oo You' were ad-libbed on the spot."

Q: "Which instruments have you played on the record?"

Paul: "Bass, drums, acoustic guitar, lead guitar, piano, organ, mellotron, toy xylophone, bow and arrow."

Q: "Why did you play all the instruments yourself?"

Paul: "I think I'm pretty good."

Q: "Will Linda be heard on all future records?"

Paul: "Could be. We love singing together and have plenty of opportunity for practice."

Q: "Will Paul and Linda become a John and Yoko?"

Paul: "No, they will become a Paul and Linda."

Q: "What has recording alone taught you?"

Paul: "That to make your own decisions about what you do is easy, and playing with yourself is very difficult but satisfying."

Q: "Is it true that neither Allen Klein nor ABKCO have been nor will be in any way involved with the production, manufacturing, or promotion of this new album?"

Paul: "Not if I can help it."

Q: "Did you miss the other Beatles and George Martin? Was there a moment when you thought, 'I wish Ringo were here for this break?'"

Paul: "No!"

Q: "Assuming this is a very big hit album, will you do another?"

Paul: "Even if it isn't, I will continue to do what I want, when I want."

Q: "Are you planning a new album or single with the Beatles?"

Paul: "No."

Q: "Is this album a rest away from the Beatles or the start of a solo career?"

Paul: "Time will tell. Being a solo means it's 'the start of a solo career...' and not being done with the Beatles means it's just a rest. So it's both really."

Q: "Is your break with the Beatles temporary or permanent, due to personal differences or musical ones?"

Paul: "Personal differences, business differences, musical differences, but most of all because I have a better time with my family. Temporary or permanent? I don't really know."

Q: "Do you foresee a time when Lennon/McCartney becomes an active songwriting partnership again?"

Paul: "No."

Q: "What do you feel about John's peace efforts? The Plastic Ono Band? Giving back his MBE? Yoko's influence?"

Paul: "I love John and respect what he does, but it doesn't really give me any pleasure."

Q: "Were any of the songs on the album originally written with the Beatles in mind?"

Paul: "The older ones were. 'Junk' was intended for 'Abbey Road,' but something happened. 'Teddy Boy' was for 'Let It Be,' but something happened again."

Q: "Were you pleased with 'Abbey Road'? Was it musically restricting?"

Paul: "It was a good album... number one for a long time”.

I think I might wrap up with one more review. It is useful having those words from Paul McCartney about his first solo album. Released at a time when The Beatles were still together, it has never received the love it deserved because of the timing. Also based around the 2011 reissue, Consequence shared their thoughts on McCartney. If seen as inferior to work he would go on to make, I think few McCartney solo albums are as important as his debut:

“When The Beatles broke up in 1970, Paul McCartney certainly didn’t waste any time before launching his solo album McCartney. Wanting a distraction from the break-up of the band, McCartney decided to release McCartney three weeks before The Beatles’ last album Let it Be and only one week after he publicly announced his split from the band. The decision created an even greater rift between him and his former bandmates and angered a lot of loyal Beatles fans who thought McCartney should have delayed the release of his solo debut out of respect for them.

Despite the bad (or good, depending how you looked at it) timing, and even though McCartney produced many chart-topping all-time favorites, such as the timeless “Maybe I’m Amazed”, the album was universally panned by critics at the time. They found McCartney’s rock/pop effort to be lightweight, especially in comparison to John Lennon’s more “daring” solo project. Even Lennon and George Harrison didn’t have many kind words about it, Lennon especially noting the album’s “lack of quality.”  The public though, didn’t take long to warm up to it and 31 years later, McCartney, now a double-disc, will be winning over new fans with its sharp remastering and nostalgic journey through the many vibrant emotions on the album. McCartney started writing songs for it as early as 1969 and, though it doesn’t sound groundbreaking in this day and age, he ended up playing every single instrument on the album from the Mellotron to the “bow and arrow” (with backing vocals supplied by his wife Linda) and the entire LP was originally recorded in his house.

Mixed by the Abbey Road team who did the reissued Beatles catalog, and last year’s Band on the Run, the reissued McCartney probably sounds fresher than it did in 1970. All the favorites are still present but in a much sharper tone. The aforementioned and heartbreakingly sincere “Maybe I’m Amazed”, the bluesy rumble of “That Would Be Something” and the involving “Teddy Boy” are joined by a few new surprises. There are outtakes and demos like “Suicide” (a song he wrote when he was 14) and “Woman Kind”, an extra version of “Junk” that turns the song’s minimalism on its head by making it into a swaying instrumental version, “Don’t Cry” (another instrumental re-imagining, this one of “Oo You”), plus a range of live recordings done in Glasgow in 1979 .

McCartney might still sound “lightweight” to some, but it’s an album brimming with the emotional possibilities of love, the realism of depression, and the seductive cries of the unknown. McCartney was such a strong, driving part of The Beatles that it was impossible for his talent and progress to not come through on this album. Yes, the bonus tracks weren’t a necessary addition here, but there’s no denying that McCartney is a near-perfect presentation of the well-crafted rock/pop songs that he was (and still is) famous for, and the rare emotional sincerity that shines through. This album finally allowed McCartney to break free from the constraints that at least he felt was holding him back in the Beatles and gave him permission to explore his musical pathways. The result is retrospective and introspective at the same time. A look back – and a look into – the man he was”.

I am going to leave things there. On 17th April, it will be fifty-five years since the release of the brilliant McCartney. Neil Young is a fan of the album. He said as much when inducting Paul McCartney into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1999. McCartney himself had great fun making it and says it may have invented Indie music. That idea of knocking about and the D.I.Y. approach. Look at the artists since who have created homemade albums and you can trace that back to 1970’s McCartney. For that reason alone, we need to show it more love. With some beautiful and timeless songs, this album is worthy of celebration. I still think it sound amazing, inspiring and fresh….

IN 2025.

FEATURE: The Digital Mixtape: Some Golden B-Sides

FEATURE:

 

 

The Digital Mixtape

PHOTO CREDIT: Photo By: Kaboompics.com/Pexels

Some Golden B-Sides

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THOUGH I might have…

PHOTO CREDIT: Beyzaa Yurtkuran/Pexels

put out a playlist years back highlighting great B-sides, I wanted to revisit it. The reason is because the B-side is a thing of the past. We are sort of robbed of these kind of tracks. Maybe not deemed album or single-worthy, they would otherwise have been disposed of. Although artists do reissue albums with outtakes and unreleased songs, I do miss the B-side. When you would buy a C.D. single and there was this interesting B-side. On some occasions, the B-side was actually better than the A-side! We can all name some amazing B-sides. Maybe The Beatles’ Rain (the B-side of 1966’s Paperback Writer) is my favourite. There are some classic examples. I do long to see a day when we might get physical singles again and B-sides. For now, in digital form, I have compiled some of the very best B-sides from throughout the year. Many people consider B-sides to be irrelevant or weak tracks that were not good enough to go on albums. I argue that the examples below are…

PHOTO CREDIT: Pixabay/Pexels

STRONGER than that.

FEATURE: Don't Salute Me I'm Only the Piano Player: Kate Bush and the Lack of Piano Idols in Her Formative Years

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.

FEATURE: Pretty and Blue: Kate Bush: The Orchestral and Epic

FEATURE:

 

 

Pretty and Blue

IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in 1985/PHOTO CREDIT: Guido Harari

Kate Bush: The Orchestral and Epic

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I am sort of going to…

IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in a promotional photo for 2011’s 50 Words for Snow

briefly nod back to The Man with the Child in His Eyes from 1975. That song was recorded almost fifty years ago now. One of Kate Bush’s earliest professionally recorded songs, I think its beauty is heightened and defined by its strings. Bush recalling how nervous she was having an orchestra behind her. Even though those string parts were recorded at AIR Studios, London, I always associate Bush’s orchestral and epic moments with Abbey Road Studios. It does not need to be strings and an orchestra. Look at songs from Never for Ever (1980) and The Dreaming (1982). I think the history, grandeur and reputation of that studio enforced some of the most ambitious and big moments from those albums. Think about the rush and drama of Babooshka; the scale and epicness of Breathing (from Never for Ever). Hear The Dreaming and songs Sat in Your Lap, Houidini and Get Out of My House. Even though most of the tracks were not recorded out of Abbey Road Studios, I do think that the studios have this sort of pull that compelled Bush to think in a Classical sense. Maybe more akin to film or a production, I have often wondered what it would sound like if Kate Bush ever did another gig and was backed by an orchestra. Hearing some of these iconic songs paired with some wonderful strings. Houidini is another example of strings featuring and not being too overt. If there was a romance and sense of longing when it came to The Man with the Child in His Eyes and the orchestration, there is something darker when it comes to Houdini. With string arrangement by Dave Lawson and Andrew Powell (who produced Bush’s first two albums), there is something sweeping, sombre, haunted and also sensual. Maybe a slightly different palette to The Man with the Child in His Eyes.

If Houdini is exceptional because of Bush’s production and vocal performance, we get this new level with the orchestra. Seemingly more raw and gothic than ever before, this would perhaps inspire Bush to use orchestration in some of the best moments from albums such as Hounds of Love (1985) and Aerial (2005). I don’t think enough people have discussed the orchestration in some of Bush’s songs. I want to separate the orchestral and epic. There are plenty of these huge moments where strings were not involved. Bush was always ambitious but you can notice her songs becoming more cinematic and larger in terms of their scope and sound - especially from 1982 onwards. Before moving through her catalogue, it is worth noting that Cloudbusting, the Paradox Orchestra, and the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra have paid tribute to Kate Bush and her music. Back in 2018, the Gothenburg Symphony and guest artists Jennie Abrahamson and Malin Dahlström performed an unmissable concert. I will end with Kate Bush’s most recent studio album, 50 Words for Snow, and its use of orchestration and that Classic sound - in a different way to previous albums. How each album where strings and orchestra are involved is a bit different. In November, Kate Bush tribute act, Cloudbusting, will be performing with the West London Sinfonia. On 19th July, the Paradox Orchestra are presenting a groundbreaking adaptation of Kate Bush’s work for orchestra and live vocalists. There is this appreciation of her music and how there is a transition and translation. Pop and Art Rock songs now fusing with Classical elements. Bringing these epic embers and creating this beautiful fire. I do love how Abbey Road Studios has been used by Bush for years now for recording orchestral parts. You can really feel the studio and its sense of space and gravitas in those recordings.

It is appropriate that Cloudbusting are staging an orchestral tribute to Kate Bush. That song, from Hounds of Love, is a case of tasteful orchestration creating something stirring and romantic. That word (romantic) is one that is common to all songs of Bush’s featuring strings. Dave Lawson and Kate Bush arranged and produced The Medici String Sextet. If strings (whether real or electronic) are perfectly used on songs like Hounds of Love and Under Ice, it is when Bush uses The Medici String Sextet that we get the biggest rush. Her creating something truly cinematic. The best example is Hounds of Love’s penultimate track, Hello Earth. Bush was inspired by Neil Armstrong’s lunar epiphany. How he said that the “tiny pea” (Earth) was “pretty and blue”. This speck viewed from space, you get this sense of the heroine’s ghost looking down at the sea from above. The Ninth Wave is about a woman lost at sea after falling into the water. She needed to create something orchestral for a pivotal moment. On the song’s second verse, Bush is watching a storm break over America. Revelation from Bush as to how she ended up in the ocean. This emotional and big moment on Hounds of Love. Michael Kamen was drafted to arrange. Having worked on film scores, he brought some of that experience to Hello Earth. Moving the strings within and around the story, he approached it very much like scoring a movie scene. Also included were the Richard Hickox Singers. They were directed by Richard Hickox and arranged for voices by Michael Berkeley. The vocal section is inspired by a Georgian folk song called Zinzkaro (By the Spring). Bush commented on two black holes in the master tape arrangement for the song. When the drums drop out, there was this gap. Inspired by the male choir in Werner Herzog’s 1979 film, Nosferatu the Vampyre, and the soundtrack by Popol Vuh, Bush approached Herzog and Vuh’s Florian Fricke. On a couple of moments on Aerial, we hear the London Metropolitan Orchestra. They appear on Prologue. On 50 Words for Snow, there are orchestral arrangements by Jonathan Tunick (he conducted too). The orchestra sessions were recorded at Abbey Road Studios. From her first professional recordings to her most recent studio album, Bush has mixed the orchestral and epic. Whether recorded at Abbey Road Studios or elsewhere, I was intrigued to dissect and explore songs and albums where strings and orchestration play a big role. I maybe have missed some example. It was important to write about this as not many people have. Revelling in the moments where Kate Bush’s music was…

CINEMATIC and widescreen.

FEATURE: The Girl That’s Driving Me Mad: The Beatles' Ticket to Ride at Sixty

FEATURE:

 

 

The Girl That’s Driving Me Mad

The Beatles' Ticket to Ride at Sixty

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RECORDED on 15th February, 1965…

and released on 9th April, I want to look ahead to the sixtieth anniversary of The Beatles’ Ticket to Ride. The first single from their fifth studio album, Help!, it became The Beatles' seventh consecutive number one in the U.K. and their third consecutive number one hit (and eighth in total) in the U.S. Viewed as psychological deeper than anything the band released to that point. Ticket to Ride was primarily written by John Lennon but credited to Lennon-McCartney. One of The Beatles’ best-loved and acclaimed singles, I am going to come to some background about the song and usual information. I am going to start with some critical reaction to Ticket to Ride:

“In his contemporary review of the single, Derek Johnson of the NME admired the "depth of sound" and "tremendous drive" of the recording. Music critics Richie Unterberger of AllMusic and Ian MacDonald both feel that "Ticket to Ride" is an important milestone in the evolution of the musical style of the Beatles. Unterberger said, "the rhythm parts on 'Ticket to Ride' were harder and heavier than they had been on any previous Beatles outing, particularly in Ringo Starr's stormy stutters and rolls." MacDonald describes it as "psychologically deeper than anything the Beatles had recorded before ... extraordinary for its time – massive with chiming electric guitars, weighty rhythm, and rumbling floor tom-toms", and he views the production as a signal of the band's next major change of musical direction, with "Tomorrow Never Knows" in April 1966. MacDonald also comments that, while the Kinks' "See My Friends" has been identified as the inspiration for the Beatles' use of Indian instrumentation later in 1965, the subtle drone in "Ticket to Ride" could equally have influenced the Kinks when they recorded "See My Friends".

Writing for Mojo in 2002, musician and journalist Bob Stanley said the track was "where moptop Beatlemania ends and [the Beatles]' weightless, ageless legend begins". In his song review for Blender, Johnny Black similarly described it as a "watershed" recording and attributed its relatively poor US sales to the song's "weird soup of hypnotically chiming, droning guitars, stuttering drums and contrasting vocal textures that, in the context of the 1965 charts, was far ahead of its time". Neil McCormick of The Daily Telegraph sees a darker edge to Lennon's lyric writing during the Help! period and he cites "the drone of riffing, proto-heavy-rock song Ticket to Ride" as an example of the band's more sophisticated sound, and of how the album "contains some of their greatest early songs". Writing for Rough Guides, Chris Ingham similarly views the track as "magnificently brooding" and "the most intense music The Beatles had yet recorded". In his review of Help! for BBC Music, David Quantick includes "Ticket to Ride" among the album's "flashes of brilliance" and describes it as "the song that saw The Beatles take on The Kinks, the Stones and The Who at their own, more rocky game".

Prior to finishing off with a feature from Stereogum, I want to get to this interesting feature from the Beatles Bible. Although it has been disputed whether John Lennon wrote most of the song, it was an even split between him and Paul McCartney or McCartney deserves more credit, it is clear that this was a revelation and revolution from a band who had developed so quickly. One of their most accomplished songs to that point. It remains this masterpiece that hinted at what would follow. The Help! album was released in August 1965:

‘Ticket To Ride’ was the first song to be released from Help!, The Beatles’ fifth album. The band’s performance of the song, filmed on the ski slopes in Austria, was one of the highlights of the Help! film.

The song was written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, although the precise nature of their contributions has been disputed. In one of his final interviews, Lennon claimed it as mainly his work.

That was one of the earliest heavy-metal records made. Paul’s contribution was the way Ringo played the drums.

John Lennon
All We Are Saying, David Sheff

In his authorised biography, published in 1994, McCartney claimed ‘Ticket To Ride’ to have been a more collaborative effort.

We wrote the melody together; you can hear on the record, John’s taking the melody and I’m singing harmony with it. We’d often work those out as we wrote them. Because John sang it, you might have to give him 60 per cent of it. It was pretty much a work job that turned out quite well…

John just didn’t take the time to explain that we sat down together and worked on that song for a full three-hour songwriting session, and at the end of it all we had all the words, we had the harmonies, and we had all the little bits.

Paul McCartney
Many Years From Now, Barry Miles

McCartney also explained how he was particularly proud of the double-time coda in ‘Ticket To Ride’:

I think the interesting thing was a crazy ending: instead of ending like the previous verse, we changed the tempo. We picked up one of the lines, ‘My baby don’t care’, but completely altered the melody. We almost invented the idea of a new bit of a song on the fade-out with this song; it was something specially written for the fade-out, which was very effective but it was quite cheeky and we did a fast ending. It was quite radical at the time.

Paul McCartney
Many Years From Now, Barry Miles

The first Beatles single to be longer than three minutes, ‘Ticket To Ride’ was heralded by the music press upon its release as a departure from the group’s familiar territory. Certainly its unusual drum patterns and downbeat lyrics were a departure from The Beatles’ usual upbeat optimism.

‘Ticket To Ride’ was slightly a new sound at the time. It was pretty f*****g heavy for then, if you go and look in the charts for what other music people were making. You hear it now and it doesn’t sound too bad; but it’d make me cringe. If you give me the A track and I remix it, I’ll show you what it is really, but you can hear it there. It’s a heavy record and the drums are heavy too. That’s why I like it.

John Lennon, 1970
Anthology

The song’s meaning has been subject to a number of interpretations over the years. While ostensibly about a liberated girl choosing her own path in life, a pair of incidents in The Beatles’ past may have inspired the song in part.

McCartney’s cousin Bett and her husband Mike Robbins owned a pub on Union Street in Ryde, on the north coast of the Isle of Wight. In the early 1960s Lennon and McCartney hitch-hiked to stay with them, and several years later the journey inspired a pun on the phrase ‘ticket to Ryde’ in the song.

I remember talking about Ryde but it was John’s thing.

Paul McCartney
Many Years From Now, Barry Miles

McCartney was more forthcoming about the Ryde connection in his 2021 book The Lyrics: 1956 To The Present:

John and I always liked wordplay. So, the phrase ‘She’s got a ticket to ride’ of course referred to riding on a bus or train, but – if you really want to know – it also referred to Ryde on the Isle of Wight, where my cousin Betty and her husband Mike were running a pub. That’s what they did; they ran pubs. He ended up as an entertainment manager at a Butlin’s holiday resort. Betty and Mike were very showbiz. It was great fun to visit them, so John and I hitchhiked down to Ryde, and when we wrote the song we were referring to the memory of this trip. It’s very cute now to think of me and John in a little single bed, top and tail, and Betty and Mike coming to tuck us in.

Paul McCartney
The Lyrics: 1956 To The Present”

I am going to end with Stereogum. As part of their feature series that looks at iconic number one singles (in the U.S.), they shared their opinions on The Beatles’ Ticket to Ride in 2018. Although it only stayed at number one for a week in the U.S., it made a huge impact around the world:

“Of all the Beatles songs that made it to #1 in the US — and there were so, so many of them — “Ticket To Ride” is, for my money, the best. It’s the one where it suddenly became obvious, to anyone paying attention, that being world-dominating pop stars wasn’t enough for this band. It’s the moment it became obvious that they were going to use their position as world-dominating pop stars to bend and twist and pull the sounds on the radio, translating them into something new, something wild. It’s a transitional moment for the Beatles. And it’s the transitional moment where everything that was ever great about them — the melodic fire, the excitement, the wandering-spirit restlessness — came together into something beautiful.

John Lennon wrote most of “Ticket To Ride,” though Paul McCartney has taken credit for a decent chunk of it. And Lennon once called “Ticket To Ride” “one of the earliest heavy metal records made.” He was wrong, and he was wrong for interesting reasons. The real early heavy metal bands — including Vanilla Fudge, who released their cover of “Ticket To Ride” two years after the Beatles’ original came out — turned blues progressions into something leaden and overwhelming. That music was heavy because it dragged you down into its sodden, wrathful headspace. But what makes “Ticket To Ride” sing is its lightness — the way it’s always dancing away from you.

There are sounds on “Ticket To Ride” that had never made it anywhere near the top of the charts before. There’s George Harrison’s glistening Rickenbacher riff — a starry-eyed jangle that helped make the world safe for the Byrds and for the psychedelic folk-rock hordes that would follow. There’s the low-end drone of the bass, which foreshadowed the Beatles’ interest in Indian ragas. There’s Ringo Starr’s awkwardly perfect stop-start drumming, which sends electric shocks pulsing all through the song.

These things should’ve made brains explode when the Beatles suddenly brought them to the radio. Maybe they did; I wasn’t around to tell. But the Beatles didn’t hit #1 just by indulging their most experimental impulses. “Ticket To Ride” resonated the way it did because the band figured out how to plug these impulses into one hell of a pop song.

“Ticket To Ride” is a song about heartbreak. Lennon opens it up by wailing, “I think I’m gonna be sad / I think it’s todaaaaaay.” At the beginning of that line, he’s calm, sober, almost matter-of-fact. But by the time McCartney joins in on harmony, he’s wailing at the heavens. Throughout the song, Lennon tries to reconcile the idea that the girl is leaving, that there’s nothing he can do. And it sounds grown-up and mature, in ways that no previous Beatles song had done. Lennon is not singing about teenage heartbreak. There’s a line — “she said that living with me was bringing her down” — that suggests cohabitation. Lennon is contemplating an uncertain future, and the sounds that he’s bringing are adult, as well.

But they’re not too adult. As the song ends, the band lurches suddenly into a double-time rave-up — as if to prove that they can still supercharge your soul, or to mentally force themselves out of the song’s depression-fog. It sounds like the acid-rock wig-outs that would show up atop the charts soon enough, but it also sounds like a honky-tonk throwdown. (“Ticket To Ride” did, after all, appear on the same album where the Beatles covered Buck Owens.) “Ticket To Ride” was the first Beatles single that broke the three-minute mark — but it only broke it by 10 seconds. It’s a toe-dip, a dabble, in the waters of the infinite. It’s the sound of a band starting to bend pop music, not quite ready to break it yet. They’d break it soon enough. But on the songs where they did break it — at least on the ones that hit #1 — I don’t think they ever sounded quite this great”.

On 9th April, it will be sixty years since the release of Ticket to Ride. It is among my favourite Beatles songs. When ranking The Beatles’ single/songs. Ticket to Ride scores pretty well. I am going to end with a few articles where that is true.

I want to start with this feature from Rolling Stone. In 2020, they ranked The Beatles’ best one-hundred songs. Ticket to Ride came in seventeenth:

“Lennon once claimed that “Ticket to Ride” — the first track the Beatles recorded for the soundtrack to their second feature film, Help!, on February 15th, 1965 — was “one of the earliest heavy-metal records.”

“It was [a] slightly new sound at the time, because it was pretty fuckin’ heavy for then,” Lennon told Rolling Stone in 1970. “If you go and look in the charts for what other music people were making, and you hear it now, it doesn’t sound too bad. It’s all happening, it’s a heavy record. And the drums are heavy, too. That’s why I like it.”

After playing mostly acoustic guitar on A Hard Day’s Night and Beatles for Sale, Lennon had picked up his electric guitar for “Ticket to Ride.” A chiming 12-string riff kicks off the song with a jangly psychedelic flourish, and the guitars strut and crunch through the verses over Starr’s grinding groove. The sound was probably inspired by bands such as the Rolling Stones, the Who and the Kinks, who were all exploding out of Great Britain at the time. But the Beatles were still ahead of the competition.

“Ticket to Ride” was the first Beatles recording to break the three-minute mark, and Lennon packed the track with wild mood swings. His singing and lyrics teeter between ambivalence and despair in the verses. The bridge is a powerful double-time burst of indignation (“She oughta think right/She oughta do right/By me”). Another surprise came in the fade, an entirely different melody and rhythm with the repeated line “My baby don’t care,” sung by Lennon at the upper, stressed top of his range. “We almost invented the idea of a new bit of a song on the fade-out,” said McCartney, who also played the spiraling lead-guitar part in the coda. “It was quite radical at the time.”

The Beatles now saw making records as a goal in itself — rather than just a document of a song — and were changing their approach to recording as they got more comfortable with the possibilities of the studio. Instead of taping songs as they would play them live, picking the best take and then overdubbing harmonies or solos, the band now usually began with a rhythm track and slowly built an arrangement around it. Considering that, “Ticket to Ride” took almost no time to record: The entire track, including the overdubs, was finished in just over three hours. “It was pretty much a work job that turned out quite well,” said McCartney. “Ticket to Ride” effectively became their new theme song: The title of their final BBC radio special was changed to “The Beatles (Invite You to Take a Ticket to Ride).”

Lennon always maintained that McCartney’s role in writing the song was minimal — “Paul’s contribution was the way Ringo played the drums” — while McCartney contended that “we sat down and wrote it together” in a three-hour session at Lennon’s Weybridge home. That might account for the different stories on where the title came from: An obvious explanation is that it refers to a train ticket. (When the Beatles belatedly filmed a promotional clip for the song in November 1965, they lip-synced the song against a backdrop of gigantic transportation passes). But Don Short, a British newspaper journalist who traveled with the Beatles, claimed that it dated back to the band’s days in the red-light district of Hamburg, Germany. “The girls who worked the streets in Hamburg had to have a clean bill of health, and so the medical authorities would give them a card saying that they didn’t have a dose of anything,” he said. “John told me he coined the phrase ‘a ticket to ride’ to describe those cards.” McCartney had a more innocent explanation: He said that it was a play on the name of the town of Ryde on the Isle of Wight. One other possibility: On the day the Beatles recorded “Ticket to Ride,” Lennon passed his driver’s test”.

In 2023, NME placed Ticket to Ride sixtieth in their ranking. In 2019, The Guardian listed The Beatles’ singles in order of greatness. Ticket to Ride came in fourth. Last year, Time Out wrote how Ticket to Ride was the sixteenth-best song from the band. There is no doubting what a phenomenal and iconic song Ticket to Ride is. I discovered it as a small child and it still has this great power. One of the band’s catchiest choruses, it is a song I will always love. I wonder if Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney will mark its sixtieth anniversary somehow. On 9th April, we mark six decades of…

A work of genius.

FEATURE: American Grammar: Is It Possible to Realise An Album Dream?

FEATURE:

 

 

American Grammar

IN THIS PHOTO: A view of New York/PHOTO CREDIT: Craig Adderley

Is It Possible to Realise An Album Dream?

_________

I have written about this before…

PHOTO CREDIT: Blaz Erzetic/Pexels

but wanted to return to the subject. Rather than this being a vanity feature or something specifically personal, it is something bigger than that. There are those out there who are not musicians who have songs in them but you wonder whether they will ever realise that. There is technology that can help a bit with composition and realising songs. For me, I am very much about the lyrics. I can hear compositions but not truly realise them. I really do not have a desire to sing the songs at all. I have these tracks in my mind that have titles. The album, American Grammar, is not taken. I have searched for that title to see if another artist has taken it. It does not look like it. I would love to see an album come together at Electric Lady Studios in New York City. That would be a dream. Rather than this being some idle thought or excuse to write a feature, it has been an ambition for a while now. One of the main reasons why I want to see an album realised is because of my love of Steely Dan. The pairing of Donald Fagen and the late Walter Becker – and their cast of musicians – are a big influence. There has not really been anyone like them since they stopped recording together. Donald Fagen is still recording music but, as he is in his seventies, he will not put too many more albums out. In terms of their influence, there is not really anything like Steely Dan around. Maybe an attitude or essence though, when you think about the rich musicianship and these phenomenal compositions, nothing like that exists today. The same lyrical perspectives too. These intriguing and often sarcastic and odd characters standing alongside one another.

IN THIS PHOTO: Electric Lady Studios, New York City/.PHOTO CREDIT: Jeremy Liebman

Maybe one reason why a group such as Steely Dan have not been emulated or replicated is the cost of musicians. Fagen and Becker worked tirelessly in search of a perfect take. Musicians being almost drilled to get that sound. That would cost quite a lot in any studio setting, let alone Electric Ladyland. I don’t think anyone would need to be as precise and excessive. It is possible to strike a balance between carrying on a band’s sound and doing something that will not break the bank. I use Steely Dan as an example because they clearly speak to a lot of people yet musicians seem hesitant to even attempt to get close to that sound. There is a major gulf that I hope is addressed. The songs I have been writing about very much has Steely Dan in mind when it comes to compositions. Multiple guitar players and drummers. Lush and incredible brass players and this incredible production sound. Maybe not exactly the same kind of lyrics, there would be a mix of Steely Dan in there. When it comes to character-led songs and the worlds they create. For me, an album is also a chance to address themes that not many artists are discussing. Talking about gender inequality in music, discrimination against the L.G.B.T.Q.I.A.+ community, sexual assault and women’s rights. In addition to perhaps ‘lighter’ themes. Romance, yearning and dreams combining with these songs that are perhaps a bit more serious.

PHOTO CREDIT: Photo By: Kaboompics.com/Pexels

It is a shame when you cannot realise a dream or ambition. For me, I can imagine songs in part. The lyrics at least and some of the melodies. However, it would be a case of collaborating with someone else. Musicians-wise, perhaps American players. I am not sure about vocals and whether it would be one person or multiple. I like the idea of that title, American Grammar, and what it could represent. A title track that is political. Reacting to what is happening in America now and comparing that to the past. Ideals of thew American dream and something classic together with modern-day America. Though the ideas are not concrete, I do think they are more than a passing fancy. There are guides regarding how to make an album. Of course, there is always that fight between ambition and budget. If you have a range of musicians recording out of a big studio, that can run into perhaps tens of thousands of pounds. You then have to factor that against the profitability of an album. Whether physical copies will sell enough to justify its existence. Maybe it would be a one-off project, however, I have been pretty hooked on this idea of an album. Not just to fill a gap that other artists are not taking advantage of. Ideas and themes not being spoke about enough. A chance to combine some legendary session musicians and some young talent on the same album. Maybe it will never happen, though I wonder how easy it will be.

PHOTO CREDIT: Daniel Semenov/Pexels

Alongside this is the very present threat of A.I. Artists like Elton John speaking out to protect their work by being stolen and used by A.I. Of course, if making a new album, there is always that tantalising treat of using samples. It can be expensive to clear songs, though A.I. makes it easier to do that. To also replicate artists’ sounds. I would never do that, though A.I. can be useful when it comes to helping with compositions. Easier to make demos that are almost studio-quality and realised. It is complex and challenging right now with A.I. possessing this threat. I want to do things naturally and not use A.I. at all. From the album cover shoot through to the recording of the songs, there would be something traditional and classic. That would mean quite an expense, so how realistic is it to make an album that is quite ambitious and full? Also, if you are not a musician and it will take longer to complete songs, is it pie in the sky? I would like to think there is a chance for people like me. Maybe crowdfunding an album and reaching out to composers and musicians. I am not sure whether Donald Fagen is contactable, though it would be great to ask his permission to do something similar to Steely Dan. Thinking about vocal collaborators that could be on the album. Song titles I have already including American Grammar, Hipsterlooza, Can’t Buy a Thrill, For Those in the Back Row, Negative Space, and Southside. The playful and humorous alongside tracks that tackle important themes. A great album cover that mixes mystery and suspense with 1950s America and this dead or long-gone dream. The chance to see music recorded out of Electric Lady Studios. Being in the city and drawing from it for ideas and even sounds. I keep wondering whether it is a dream that…

COULD ever be realised.