FEATURE:
The First Big Revolution
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush signing her album, Never For Ever, at London's Virgin Megastore/PHOTO CREDIT: Chas Sime/Getty Images
Kate Bush’s Never for Ever and a New Sonic World
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I understand I have covered…
Never for Ever in pieces before, though I have not really touched on one observation. Kate Bush would undergo various evolutions and musical leaps through her career though, to me, the first distinctive evolution occurred when she released 1980’s Never for Ever. I think that her first two albums, The Kick Inside and Lionheart (both released in 1978) are tremendous and showcase an incredibly confident and mature artist. One of the observations levied at those albums is that their compositions and sonic palettes are fairly simple. The Kick Inside is largely composed of piano, guitar, bass and percussion - albeit arranged beautifully and with some sublime moments. Even though Lionheart possesses some more evocative, inventive and unusual sounds – think of songs like Hammer Horror, Coffee Homeground and Full House – Bush was not allowed much time to consider musical progression and creating a second album that was an advancement and shift from her debut. Even so, what we hear on Lionheart seems quite a bit different and remarkable given the tight deadline and window for original expression. Following 1979’s The Tour of Life and the fact Bush not only had played songs from her first two albums and move on; she also incorporated mime, art and cinema into that show. With a greater degree of creative input and production responsibility – her first two albums were produced by Andrew Powell -, I definitely feel 1979 was the bridge between the sound of her first two albums and Never for Ever.
Quite a bit changed by 1980. Bush co-produced Never for Ever with Jon Kelly (who was an engineer on the first two albums). Bush assisted production on Lionheart but, now, she was in a position where she could mould and direct her music as she felt fit. It is natural that a more experienced producer would helm for the first album or two. It was clear that EMI had enough faith in Bush to be able to let her produce relatively unaided. Bush and Kelly had produced together for the On Stage E.P. (which was released on 31st August, 1979). They started work on Never for Ever the same month. Bush was only twenty-one at this point so, although she had relatively limited input on her debut and follow-up, she was still so young to be in a position to produce. I have written about the Fairlight CMI before and the fact that transformed Bush’s music. Inspired by peter Gabriel’s use and introduction of the Fairlight CMI – and having worked with him on a couple of songs from his third eponymous album of 1980 (which was recorded summer-autumn 1979) -, we hear splashes and shades from the revolutionary kit on songs such as Army Dreamers and Never for Ever’s third (and final) single, Babooshka. Recorded in 1980, this was a song where Bush could utilise the Fairlight CMI and show to the world that she was embracing modern technology and breaking away, to an extent, from what she recorded on The Kick Inside and Lionheart.
Babooshka is the opening track on Never for Ever. I think part of that is to do with the fact that it is quite an urgent and catchy song that would hook people in early. I think another reason is because Bush wanted to put a song at the top that superbly showcased how far she had come. I think she had this love and fascination with the Fairlight, so Babooshka’s use of that piece of kit might have contributed to the track’s inclusion at the start of the record. I was reading the new On Track… book that was written by Bill Thomas. He covered every song and album from Bush. Although the demo was recorded in 1977, the album version is incredibly different. Thomas notes that Babooshka is a prime example on Never for Ever of a crisper and more modern-sounding artist. In some ways, her first couple of albums were more classical and had a distinct feeling of the past. Perhaps the arrangements are more stifled and conservative on The Kick Inside and Lionheart. Never for Ever is Kate Bush unrestricted and liberated. A few other moments from Never for Ever demonstrated how Bush was cleaning the slate and starting afresh. Babooshka leads straight into Delius (Song of Summer). There is no gap and, as Thomas also notes, Never for Ever was sort of a concept album. Not in terms of an over-arching story and intention. Rather, some tracks flow together and Bush was, in some way, inspired by concept albums.
She was firmly at the helm, and I feel that she is amazingly assured as a producer (with help from Jon Kelly). Look at Night Scented Stock and the fact that it is a wordless bridge between The Infant Kiss and Army Dreamers. If Bush was not consciously making a concept album she was thinking, as a producer, about more than compiling songs. In terms of compositions, Bush had widened and expanded her output since The Kick Inside and Lionheart. Maybe she felt the production and sequencing on those albums were a little dry and routine. As such, Never for Ever flows, twists and seems more like a film than a series of chapters in a book. The album is more surprising, eclectic and progressive than her earlier work. It is amazing to hear what Bush managed to achieve on her first album as a co-producer. Never for Ever is a very underrated album. I think there is so much to enjoy. The songs are so interesting and deep. Bush was also changing things up in terms of her lyrical horizons. Overall, one can not really compare the sounds of Lionheart and Never for Ever. Bush would, arguably, take an even bigger leap for her next album, 1982’s The Dreaming. I wanted to revisit Never for Ever, as I had not really covered the sonic and production differences between her 1978-released albums and what came out in 1980. I think that Never for Ever opened doors and set a course for Bush as a producer and creator. The more I listen to it, the more that I realise the fact that Never for Ever is…
A delightful and fascinating album.