FEATURE:
Money in the Bank
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush and an extra during the shoot/rehearsals for the There Goes a Tenner video in 1982/PHOTO CREDIT: John Carder Bush (from the book, KATE: Inside the Rainbow)
The Tricky and Interesting Case of There Goes a Tenner, and Suspended in Gaffa from Kate Bush’s The Dreaming
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I have touched on this before…
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush (and Del Palmer) in the cover shoot for The Dreaming (1982)/PHOTO CREDIT: John Carder Bush (from the book, KATE: Inside the Rainbow)
when looking at Kate Bush’s The Dreaming, but I think the singles released from the albums were quite odd choices in some respects. Maybe Bush was looking to showcase different accents because, on The Dreaming’s second single, The Dreaming, Bush adopts an Australian twang. That song is about indigenous people being displaced and ravaged so, to follow that song, perhaps she thought something lighter was in order! I can appreciate that tact but, on 2nd November, 1982 – I am marking thirty-eight years since the single came out (albeit, a day early!) -, Bush’s lowest-charting song, There Goes a Tenner, was released. In terms of chart positions and the singles, Bush had mixed fortunes since her debut single earned her the only number-one (single) of her career. Wuthering Heights was followed by The Man with the Child in His Eyes - which reached number-six in the U.K. The Kick Inside, even though only two singles were released in the U.K., is the most successful album, on average, in terms of chart positions. Bush managed some high chart positions after The Kick Inside, and before The Dreaming – Wow (from Lionheart, 1978) reached fourteen; Babooshka (from Never for Ever, 1980) got to number-five and, apart from Hammer Horror in 1978, Bush was reaching the top-forty for her singles. It is hard to figure a formula regarding what constituted a commercial single. Maybe increased popularity explains why Babooshka hit the top-five, but I think the sound of the Fairlight C.M.I. in the song helped, in addition to the amazing video.
Never for Ever’s three singles all got to the top-twenty, but the two more political numbers, Army Dreamers, and Breathing, got to number sixteen; not quite as high as Babooshka. When it came to figuring which songs to release from The Dreaming, I guess (the singles) had to reflect the sound of the album, but they had to be successful too. The first single, Sat in Your Lap, was released a year before The Dreaming came out in 1981 and, a year after Never for Ever’s singles charted, I guess there was still momentum that got the song to eleven in the U.K. Even though the song did not chart well anywhere else particularly, Sat in Your Lap was Bush’s most-successful single since Babooshka – Bush released the Christmas single, December Will Be Magic Again, in 1980 and it climbed to number-twenty-nine. Sat in Your Lap has propulsion and a stuttering rhythm that is pretty awesome; Bush’s voice switches and it is a busy and instant song that, whilst not as accessible as her earliest singles, definitely differed from the Pop and mainstream music of 1981. In terms of balancing the accessible and experimental, I think Sat in Your Lap was a successful release. There are songs on The Dreaming – which I shall come to – that could have been great singles and would have charted higher than Sat in Your Lap.
The second single from The Dreaming, (its title cut), weirdly, charted much lower in Australia than it did the U.K. – considering the song’s themes, The Dreaming only got to ninety-one! Whilst number-forty-eight is not a tragedy in terms of single positions, it was a drastic drop on Sat in Your Lap, and there are a few reasons why. There was a period of seven months between December Will Be Magic Again sort of ending the Never for Ever period and Sat in Your Lap beckoning The Dreaming’s sound and world. A whole thirteen months had passed since Sat in Your Lap arrived - and it would be a further two months later until the album arrived in September 1982. One could say that this gap is natural, and releasing a single earlier would have created traction issues by the time the album came out. I think a year was a long time between singles coming out and, as the public had this early taste of The Dreaming in 1981, the fact they had to wait so long for more material perhaps dented The Dreaming’s chances as a single. I was not alive in 1982, but in June 1982, The Falklands War ended; in July (the month The Dreaming (single) was released ) there was the Hyde Park and Regents Park bombings: the Provisional I.R.A. detonates two bombs in Central London - killing eight soldiers, wounding forty-seven people, and leading to the deaths of seven horses.
Maybe the importance and stress of political tragedies closer to home meant that a song with an Australian heart and angle was quite jarring and hard to understand. It was typical of Bush to throw herself into a song and sing in an Australian twang! The video for the song is quite filmic and complex, whereas a simpler, lower-key video might have proved more popular with audiences. Look at the successful U.K. singles of June and July 1982, and Bananarama, Bucks Fizz, Yazoo, Dexys Midnight Runners, Madness, and Shalamar were owning the charts! Throw in something as radically different as Kate Bush backed by (unfortunately) Rolf Harris playing the didgeridoo and Percy Edwards provided sheep noises, and that could account for The Dreaming not being quite as popular as if it was released at a later time. Taken now, and I still think the song sounds pretty radical and unique! After rather muted acclaim for the title track of an album where Kate Bush was producing solo for the first time, then the third single, one hopes, would have redressed the balance. Following a song concerning the destruction of Aboriginal Australians' traditional lands by white Australians in their quest for weapons-grade uranium, she needed to throw the lightness of There Goes a Tenner into the mix! Sat in Your Lap opens The Dreaming, whereas The Dreaming opens the album’s second side.
For the third single in the U.K., Bush chose the album’s second track. Imagine hearing The Dreaming without knowing about the singles, and one gets a jolt going from Sat in Your Lap, to There Goes a Tenner, to Pull Out the Pin! There Goes a Tenner reached ninety-three in the U.K. and it was a disaster! Although The Dreaming sold well as an album and got some great reviews, the final U.K. single took away a lot that momentum and praise I think. It would be three years until Bush enjoyed chart success when she put out Hounds of Love’s first single, Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God), but it must have been nervy for EMI and Bush seeing this single do so poorly. I really like the song, and I feel it is jaunty, yet there is enough weirdness in there too. The song's lyrics are about a bungled bank robbery as told by a fearful and paranoid perpetrator. Towards the end of the song, the lyrics and tone take on a dream-like state, which is reflected in the video. There Goes A Tenner was released as a 7" single in the U.K. and Ireland only (featuring Ne T'enfuis Pas on the B-side). It was originally intended to be Bush's first 12" single - but its disappointing sales performance caused plans for the 12" to be cancelled.
There Goes a Tenner’s music video was directed by Paul Henry and depicted Kate Bush as part of a gang of thieves robbing a bank. Because the video was simpler and less arty was as a result of EMI demanding Bush reign things in and make something simpler…but I do wonder why There Goes a Tenner was chosen as the final U.K. single, as I said before. I am grabbing from the Kate Bush Encyclopaedia, because the reviews made for slightly worrying reading:
“Record Mirror noted: "Blackheath beauty goes all cooey cockney-gasp in a bouncy tale of the downfall of Thatcherism and the rise of mass working class solidarity... actually it's more trivial than that." Record Business noted: "A practically formless song with odd vocal affections, and no chorus to speak of. (...) Most disappointing." Neil Tennant wrote in Smash Hits: "Very weird... Obviously she's trying to become less accessible. Even so this has a haunting atmosphere".
In subsequent years, critics have been kinder to There Goes a Tenner. The readers of Louder placed the song at number-twelve in 2018. The Telegraph placed the single at eighteen in 2016, calling it a “playful curio”. That is pretty respectable, considering the fact it is Bush’s lowest-charting single, and it was not a song that was mentioned much for praise by critics in 1982. I think There Goes a Tenner would have made a decent B-side to another track from The Dreaming if we were to reimagine the third single.
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in 1982/PHOTO CREDIT: Pierre Terrasson
I will move on but, taking again from the aforementioned article from the Kate Bush Encyclopaedia, and Bush herself talked about There Goes a Tenner:
“It's about amateur robbers who have only done small things, and this is quite a big robbery that they've been planning for months, and when it actually starts happening, they start freaking out. They're really scared, and they're so aware of the fact that something could go wrong that they just freaked out, and paranoid and want to go home. (...) It's sort of all the films I've seen with robberies in, the crooks have always been incredibly in control and calm, and I always thought that if I ever did a robbery, I'd be really scared, you know, I'd be really worried. So I thought I'm sure that's a much more human point of view. (The Dreaming interview, CBAK 4011 CD)
That was written on the piano. I had an idea for the tune and just knocked out the chords for the first verse. The words and everything just came together. It was quite a struggle from there on to try to keep things together. The lyrics are quite difficult on that one, because there are a lot of words in quite a short space of time. They had to be phrased right and everything. That was very difficult. Actually the writing went hand-in-hand with the CS-80. (John Diliberto, Interview. Keyboard/Totally Wired/Songwriter (USA), 1985)”.
I will finish by naming a few songs that I think could have made a better single but, in Europe and Australia, Suspended in Gaffa was released instead of There Goes a Tenner. It is strange that various singles were released in different parts of the world, and I wonder what it was about Suspended in Gaffa that made it more suitable for other territories. Maybe after The Dreaming’s title track fared poorly in Australia, something a little lighter and more general was preferable. Also, perhaps the cockney accents would have been a little hard to understand and appreciate for Europeans and Australians. I think Suspended in Gaffa would have been a great single for the U.K. and Ireland, as I think it would have especially resonated with Irish audiences. The track seems more commercial and bewitching and, after the oddness and misstep of The Dreaming (which ids a stunning track!), there needed to be this rebound and balance. Whilst There Goes a Tenner is a great album track, I am not sure whether it makes for a great and radio-playable single. Suspended in Gaffa has a gorgeous video – which I shall mention later -, and the vocal delivery and lyrical content would have translated better worldwide. Suspended in Gaffa reached the top-forty in France and Spain. I think an A-side of Suspended in Gaffa with a B-side of There Goes a Tenner could have resulted in consistent chart popularity and, maybe, a top-thirty in the U.K. Even though The Dreaming (album) had been released so, in reality, a final single would not have been that important – as the album sold well and people got to hear all the tracks – considering increasing the sales of the album.
That said, EMI would have wanted every single to resonate and sell well, and Bush would have put stock in the songs released from the album. I am not sure whether it was EMI or Bush deciding which singles were released. Famously, Bush’s instincts paid off when she insisted Wuthering Heights was released as her debut single, and I get the sense EMI had greater say when it came to which songs to release from The Dreaming. It is a shame that Suspended in Gaffa was not favoured as the U.K. and Ireland single as I feel it would have charted higher than The Dreaming, and it would have been a smarter choice. I think Suspended in Gaffa is more representative of the best of The Dreaming, and it is a beautiful sonic contrast to the oddness of The Dreaming and the wildness of Sat in Your Lap. I will finish by choosing five tracks that, I feel, would have been successful and more popular singles. I love Suspended in Gaffa and, with mandolins from Paddy Bush and synclavier by Dave Lawson, there is this wonderfully unusual and great sound. I want to source from the Kate Bush Encyclopaedia, as we learn more about the video and background to Suspended in Gaffa:
“Kate wrote about the filming of this music video: "The video of 'Suspended in Gaffa' was to be done as simply and quickly as possible; as always with very little time to complete it in, the simpler the better. I saw it as being the return to simplicity, a light-hearted dance routine, no extras, no complicated special effects. As we were all so pleased with the previous sets - put together under the supervision of a very clever man, Steve Hopkins - we asked him to build another, this time an old barn with large gaps in the walls where we could allow the light to streak through.
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush alongside her mother, Hannah, in the Suspended in Gaffa video
We used a combination of natural and artificial light, and everyone was thrilled with the sense of realism that the set achieved. Steve brought in huge branches of trees that were behind the gaps in the set, and a dedicated helper called 'Podge' sat up on a piece of scaffolding for six hours and enthusiastically shook a piece of tree to make the light move and dance as if motivated by a furtive wind. The video did remain uncomplicated - just a few effects and just one extra: but a very special. one. There is one section where a child's voice says, 'Mother, where are the angels? I'm scared of the changes.' And there was only one person that could be addressed to - my mother. When I asked her to appear in the section, contrary to my concern about her nerves, she was more than obliging and said, 'Yes'. She was definitely the star of the day, and waited patiently hour after hour as we slowly moved through the bulk of the shooting to eventually reach her debut. I was amazed at her grace and stamina: as all of us began to wane and wilt, my mother continued to blossom and glow, and her only worries were getting back home in time to get dinner and hoping she would not succumb to an attack of giggles during the vital moments of being on screen. She needn't have worried, for she is a natural professional, a real star and my favourite mum."
“Whenever I've sung this song I've hoped that my breath would hold out for the first few phrases, as there is no gap to breathe in. When I wrote this track the words came at the same time, and this is one of the few songs where the lyrics were complete at such an early stage. The idea of the song is that of being given a glimpse of 'God' - something that we dearly want - but being told that unless we work for it, we will never see it again, and even then, we might not be worthy of it. Of course, everybody wants the reward without the toil, so people try to find a way out of the hard work, still hoping to claim the prize, but such is not the case. The choruses are meant to express the feeling of entering timelessness as you become ready for the experience, but only when you are ready. (Kate Bush Club newsletter, October 1982)
I could explain some of it, if you want me to: Suspended in Gaffa is reasonably autobiographical, which most of my songs aren’t. It’s about seeing something that you want–on any level–and not being able to get that thing unless you work hard and in the right way towards it. When I do that I become aware of so many obstacles, and then I want the thing without the work. And then when you achieve it you enter…a different level–everything will slightly change. It’s like going into a time warp which otherwise wouldn’t have existed. (Richard Cook, 'My music sophisticated?...'. NME (UK), October 1982)
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in 1982
‘Suspended In Gaffa' is, I suppose, similar in some ways to 'Sat In Your Lap' - the idea of someone seeking something, wanting something. I was brought up as a Roman Catholic and had the imagery of purgatory and of the idea that when you were taken there that you would be given a glimpse of God and then you wouldn't see him again until you were let into heaven. And we were told that in Hell it was even worse because you got to see God but then you knew that you would never see him again. And it's sorta using that as the parallel. And the idea of seeing something incredibly beautiful, having a religious experience as such, but not being able to get back there. And it was playing musically with the idea of the verses being sorta real time and someone happily jumping through life [Makes happy motion with head] and then you hit the chorus and it like everything sorta goes into slow mo and they're reaching [Makes slow reaching motion with arm] for that thing that they want and they can't get there. [Laughs] (Interview for MTV, November 1985)”.
I have written before how tracks such as Houdini, and Get Out of My House would have made great singles. Those songs end The Dreaming, and I especially feel Houdini would have been a very popular single in 1982. I will not mention them much but, as there is an irony to There Goes a Tenner being about a bungled robbery and a loss of wealth, tied to the single being a bit of a failure – not a ‘failure’ as such, but there was a bigger plan for success that never panned out -, I think that Bush had plenty of gold in the vault and money in the bank regarding alternate songs for single release!
The last three tracks I want to mention – apart from Suspended in Gaffa - are Leave It Open, All the Love, and Night of the Swallow. All three are very different singles and, depending on the attack plan, offer different things to the public. I have talked about the weirdness and wonder of Leave It Open, and how it provides this experimental nature but one where you are gripped from start to finish. All the Love, which I have also covered, is a beautiful and memorable track that would have delivered something different to Sat in Your Lap, and The Dreaming – having All the Love as a single in place of There Goes a Tenner would have been a wiser choice. In another case of a single being selected for a non-U.K. release is the mighty Night of the Swallow. The song has a significantly Irish theme in that it features many Irish musicians and instruments. It was released as a single in Ireland in late 1983, making it the fifth release from the album. Despite the perfect fit of Irish themes and sounds, Night of the Swallow failed to chart in Ireland. Like Sat in Your Lap being released a year before The Dreaming came out, Night of the Swallow arrived a year after the album’s release.
Maybe it was a tactical view whereby it would bridge the gap between The Dreaming dying away and her next album coming out, but I feel Night of the Swallow could have been released as a third U.K. single and done very well in 1982. I don’t think it is the case that an Irish-sounding song would have proved unpopular in the U.K. Consider the fact The Sensual World (1989) was a popular single, and Jig of Life from Hounds of Love is a very loved song, and it was an odd omission. One can look back to me mentioning the situation with the I.R.A. in 1982; perhaps there could have been this clash or discomfort. I don’t think releasing Night of the Swallow would have impacted people in the U.K. like The Dreaming’s title track would have done to the Australians. It must have been deflating for Bush to see The Dreaming (single) struggle, and then have There Goes a Tenner do even worse. Night of the Swallow proved to be the final single disappointment, and one can imagine there were a few grumbles from EMI regarding the commercial appeal of the album and whether Bush would be able to bounce back on her next album. I think Night of the Swallow would have been a terrific single in 1982. It (the Irish release) has Houdini as its B-side and, with that package, it would have done well in the charts around the world.
I will wrap up soon, but I will draw from the Kate Bush Encyclopaedia when it comes to Bush talking about that song:
“Ever since I heard my first Irish pipe music it has been under my skin, and every time I hear the pipes, it's like someone tossing a stone in my emotional well, sending ripples down my spine. I've wanted to work with Irish music for years, but my writing has never really given me the opportunity of doing so until now. As soon as the song was written, I felt that a ceilidh band would be perfect for the choruses. The verses are about a lady who's trying to keep her man from accepting what seems to be an illegal job. He is a pilot and has been hired to fly some people into another country. No questions are to be asked, and she gets a bad feeling from the situation. But for him, the challenge is almost more exciting than the job itself, and he wants to fly away. As the fiddles, pipes and whistles start up in the choruses, he is explaining how it will be all right. He'll hide the plane high up in the clouds on a night with no moon, and he'll swoop over the water like a swallow.
Bill Whelan is the keyboard player with Planxty, and ever since Jay played me an album of theirs I have been a fan. I rang Bill and he tuned into the idea of the arrangement straight away. We sent him a cassette, and a few days later he phoned the studio and said, "Would you like to hear the arrangement I've written?"
I said I’d love to, but how?
“Well, Liam is with me now, and we could play it over the phone.”
I thought how wonderful he was, and I heard him put down the phone and walk away. The cassette player started up. As the chorus began, so did this beautiful music – through the wonder of telephones it was coming live from Ireland, and it was very moving. We arranged that I would travel to Ireland with Jay and the multi-track tape, and that we would record in Windmill Lane Studios, Dublin. As the choruses began to grow, the evening drew on and the glasses of Guiness, slowly dropping in level, became like sand glasses to tell the passing of time. We missed our plane and worked through the night. By eight o’clock the next morning we were driving to the airport to return to London. I had a very precious tape tucked under my arm, and just as we were stepping onto the plane, I looked up into the sky and there were three swallows diving and chasing the flies. (Kate Bush Club newsletter, October 1982)”.
I was keen to mark forty-two years since the release of There Goes a Tenner in the U.K. and Ireland, and Suspended in Gaffa in Australia and Europe. I can appreciate how releasing different singles got more of the album out and there was a sense of each song being adapted for a particular audience but, considering songs like Houdini, and Leave It Open were not released as singles, I wonder what could have been if they were! I actually like There Goes a Tenner, and I am glad that it won praise and increased popularity since 1982. Whilst it was a flop as a single, The Dreaming itself proved to be a better place for it. In context, the song add some chipper step between the more intense opener, Sat in Your Lap, and the strange and wonderful Pull Out the Pin. If a tale of a bungled robbery failed to impress single buyers in 1982, it definitely added texture and a great chapter to one of Bush’s finest albums. In that respect, There Goes a Tenner…
GOT the job done.