FEATURE:
How Amazing, This Woman’s Work!
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush being presented with a South Bank Sky Arts Award for 50 Words for Snow by Tom Jones in 2012/PHOTO CREDIT: Richard Young/Rex Features
Kate Bush: The Five Best Award Wins
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EVEN though I have dedicated a feature…
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush at the Capital Radio Awards. During the ceremony on 6th March, 1979 (at the Grosvenor Hotel in London), she won two awards: for Best British Female Singer and Best British Newcomer
to Kate Bush and her award wins, I wanted to narrow it down to the best five awards. I was watching a video of Bush collecting an award in 1978. Bush has won multiple awards through her career, though there are a few that are especially meaningful; ceremonies that were more interesting then others. The first award that I want to mention is the Edison Award. This was the one that Bush won in 1978 – the video that I was mentioning earlier. I am going to lean on the Kate Bush Encyclopaedia when it comes to providing information about these awards. I incorrectly said, in the previous award feature, that she won the Edison Award in 1979. It was actually November 1978. This article gives us some context:
“On 15 August 1978 a jury consisting of Meta de Vries, Jim van Alphen, Henk van Gelder, Ruud Kuyper and Jan Maarten de Winter announced the winners of Edison awards for that year. Kate won the award for 'best international single' for Wuthering Heights. The awards were presented to Dutch artists on 28 September 1978 in Wassenaar, the Netherlands. International artists weren't present on that day. Kate was presented with her award in early November, during a party at castle Ammersoyen during which her second album Lionheart was presented”.
One reason why I love this is because it came so early in her career. Wuthering Heights was honoured and Bush, when you see her collect the award, looks genuinely chuffed and humbled! Up until that point, her music had not been widely garlanded. It must have been quite a daunting and hectic year in 1978. As she was promoting her second album that year, the sense of confusion and fatigue would have been evident. That makes the Edison win especially gratifying and deserved.
One of my favourite Kate Bush award-winning moments was when she won The South Bank Sky Arts Award in 2012 for 50 Words for Snow (2011). Even though this was late in her career, Bush was still nervous and was grateful. The Kate Bush Encyclopaedia provides more details:
“The South Bank Sky Arts Award (originally The South Bank Show Award) is an accolade recognizing British achievements in the arts. The awards have been given annually since 1996. They originated with the long-running British arts programme The South Bank Show. The last South Bank Show Awards ceremony to be broadcast by ITV was in January 2010. After the network had announced that The South Bank Show would be cancelled at the end of the 2009 season, the award ceremony continued to be broadcast by Sky Arts and was eventually renamed the South Bank Sky Arts Award. Sky Arts revived The South Bank Show itself in 2012.
There are awards in the following categories: Literature, Theatre, Visual Art, Film, Opera, Classical music, Pop Music, Dance, Comedy, TV Drama, Times Breakthrough Award, Outstanding Achievement in the Arts.
In 2012, Kate Bush won the award in the Pop Music category for her album 50 Words For Snow”.
I felt 50 Words for Snow deserved more awards and acclaim. I am glad that Bush made that public appearance, as she could easily have sent someone else to collect it. Like in 1978, she was bowled over and really pleased to get an award. Those in attendance gave her great warmth and applause. I am sure that we will see more awards coming the way of Kate Bush.
The third award that, I feel, is among the most important, is the 2001 Q win. One would think the magazine would have put more awards her way! As the Kate Bush Encyclopaedia outlines, Bush should have won another award in 2014:
“The Q Awards were first organized in 1990. Since then, the Q Awards have become one of Britain's biggest and best publicised music awards. During her career, Kate has received one Q Award for 'Classic Songwriter' in 2001. She attended the ceremony, too, receiving the award from Midge Ure. After her Before the Dawn shows in 2014, she controversially didn't win a Q Award, becoming runner up behind the band Kasabian instead”.
I love how Bush approached her acceptance speech. She was cheeky and wonderfully surprised. It is only right that she should have won an award for songwriting. One of the best songwriters in musical history, it was another year (2001) where Bush was not making too many public appearances. Bush was also photographed with John Lydon at the ceremony. They have this friendship and connection. It sounds like it was a good night in 2001! Lydon actually talked about his respect for Kate Bush in an interview with Q . One can see the awards Bush has won through the year. I feel getting a nod from Q must rank alongside the very best. I think it is in her top five for sure!
The penultimate award I want to spotlight is the Best Female Singer win at the BPI Awards in 1980. That was the second year in a row Bush had won. The fact that her album, Lionheart (1978), did not get overly-great press was rectified by awards like this. Bush did take The Tour of Life through Europe and the U.K. in 1979. The popularity she had acquired and the sort of acclaim bodies like the BPI (British Phonographic Industry) shows that she was one of our best stars. I like the acceptance speech again, as Bush did not take it lightly. She was thanking people and wanted to make sure that she mentioned everyone! After her win in 1979, she cemented her position as one of the U.K.’s biggest female artists. 1980 saw the release of Never for Ever – with Bush taking her music and voice to new places. I am going to finish with one last award in a minute. Some of the videos of her collecting awards through the years have been removed from YouTube. I am glad that so many have survived, where we get this documentation of Bush winning prizes and showing her appreciation. Of course, she would say the work is the most important thing to her, though she never looked down her nose at awards (some of her peers certainly would have).
The final selection when it comes to the finest and most impressive awards Bush has won, it takes me to 1987 and a BRIT for Best British Female. Formerly the BPI awards, the BRIT win was a good one. It is remarkable, because this was her first win at the BRITs! In 1986, she was nominated three times (including Best British Album for Hounds of Love). After that, she was nominated a further seven times. She was nominated for Best British Female in 2012 but lost out. Ray Davies presented her with the 1987 award for Best British Female. At the ceremony, Bush got to present Peter Gabriel with the Best British Male Award. He released the incredible So in 1986. The two performed on that album’s duet, Don’t Give Up, and they were great friends. Bush provided vocals for several Gabriel songs for his third eponymous album in 1980. It was great that she got to receive an award and also give one to someone who helped change her music. Gabriel introduced Bush to the Fairlight CMI and opened her eyes to new worlds; ones that she would explore on albums like Hounds of Love. I look back at photos and videos of Bush collecting awards in 1978 and forward that to 1987. Whilst she has changed in terms of her appearance and voice, the pleasure (and shock) that she shows is so charming and wonderful! As I say, we have not seen the last of Bush winning awards. Let’s hope that, with new music possible in the future, it gets plaudit. I wanted to highlight five award-winning occasions that marked particular highs in Kate Bush’s career. On these occasions, and all the rest, she emphatically proved that she…
DESERVED every one of them.