FEATURE:
Ferry Aid 1987
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush performing her part on Let It Be for Ferry Aid
Kate Bush, Speaking Words of Wisdom
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ALTHOUGH Ferry Aid…
might seem like a benefit concert for Roxy Music’s Bryan Ferry, it was in fact a charity record for a noble cause. I normally wouldn’t mention anything involving The Sun. Although they are a newspaper one should avoid, Kate Bush did have a brief involvement with them in 1987. I am exploring Bush in 1986 and 1987, as they were the years between her bringing out Hounds of Love (1985) and her releasing The Sensual World (1989). The amount of attention that was aimed her way after Hounds of Love must have been similar to the first explosion in 1978. Rather than rush an album out, Bush did select her projects and next moves carefully. The greatest hits collection, The Whole Story, was released in 1986. A year later, she would appear on a song that went to number one (Bush’s only single that has gone to the top spot in the U.K. is her debut, Wuthering Heights). I have been thinking about charity singles. With the turmoil in Afghanistan, the ongoing climate crisis and other tragedies, I wonder when we might get a star-studded charity single. Kate Bush was no stranger to The Beatles! As a big fan, she had already performed cover versions of She’s Leaving Home, Come Together, The Long and Winding Road and Let It Be. After performing Let It Be in Japan in 1978, Bush would sing it as part of an ensemble eight years later.
PHOTO CREDIT: Dave Hogan/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Maybe many Kate Bush fans do not know about the Ferry Aid single. The Kate Bush Encyclopaedia provides more details:
“On March 6, 1987, the ferry Herald of Free Enterprise, leaving Zeebrugge port in Belgium, overturned, killing nearly 200 people. Among the passengers were many British people, using a special offer in tabloid newspaper The Sun, allowing them to make the crossing for just one UK pound.
The newspaper soon organised the recording of a single to benefit the Sun's Zeebrugge Disaster Fund, which was set up to raise money for victims of the disaster and relatives of the deceased. The performers of the chosen song, Let it be, were (in order of appearance):
Paul McCartney
Boy George
Keren Woodward
Nick Kamen
Paul King
Mark King (Level 42)
Jaki Graham
Taffy
Mark Knopfler (guitar solo)
Andy Bell
Pepsi & Shirlie
Mel & Kim
Gary Moore (guitar solo)
Kim Wilde
Nik Kershaw
Edwin Starr
Ben Volpierre-Pierrot (Curiosity Killed The Cat)
Ruby Turner
Kate Bush
The closing choruses of the song feature an ensemble choir featuring many of the above performers as well other recording artists. The back-up chorus consisted of: The Alarm, John Altman, Debee Ashby, Al Ashton, Rick Astley, Bananarama, Simon Bates, Alison Bettles, Jenny Blythe, Errol Brown, Miquel Brown, Bucks Fizz, Jay Carly, The Christians, Nick Conway, Linda Davidson, Hazell Dean, Anne Diamond, Difford and Tilbrook, Doctor and the Medics, The Drifters, Drum Theatre, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Roy Gayle, Go West, Carol Hitchcock, Felix Howard, Gloria Hunniford, Imagination, Jenny Jay, Ellie Laine, Annabel Lamb, Stephanie Lawrence, Loose Ends, Linda Lusardi, Ruth Madoc, Bobby McVey, Suzanne Mizzi, The New Seekers, Sadie Nine, The Nolans, Hazel O'Connor, Mike Osman, Su Pollard, Tim Polley, Pamela Power, Maxi Priest, Princess, Jimmy Pursey, Suzi Quatro, Mike Read, Sally Sagoe, Nejdet Salih, Ray Shell, Mandy Smith, Neville Stapleton, Alvin Stardust, Steve Strange, Sylvia Tella, Terraplane, Bonnie Tyler, Maria Whittaker and Working Week.
The recordings took place on March 14, 15 and 16, 1987. Kate Bush appeared on March 16, 1987 to sing her part. There had been some confusion about whether she would be there for the recording or not. When she finally appeared on the Monday, she explained that she had been ill over the weekend. She was the first artist to have the studio cleared, and also the first to refuse all interview requests, saying "It's for the cause - It's not what I've got to say”.
There were a fair few people on that one track! Not that Bush was the biggest name in the cast – one could argue Paul McCartney was the leading light (and he was singing his own song!) -, though she would have been one of the most unexpected names to appear. If Bush’s take on Let It Be in Japan was not especially smooth or memorable, the 1987 version was a little more assured and professional. I would be interested to hear Bush do a solo recording of Let It Be now. It is clear she has an affection and attachment to that particular song (I would have loved the young Bush to have tackled The Beatles’ I Saw Her Standing There). Whilst there is no particular link between the lines of The Beatles’ track (which was Paul recounting a dream where his deceased mother visited him) and the Herald of Free Enterprise disaster, Bush’s involvement is an interesting chapter! Nowadays, bigger tragedies have happened. I doubt few artist would support a musical initiative by The Sun – even if it were for charity.
I have written about Kate Bush involvement with charity before. It is no surprise that she was part of Ferry Aid. Bush lent her song, This Woman’s Work, for the NSPCC’s campaign years ago. She has been part of Comic Relief and has supported charities such as Crisis through the years. Anything she can do to help a cause or charity that she believes in! I can understand why Bush did not want to record her vocals with a bunch of others. Think about Live Ad from 1985 and the Band Aid single, Do They Know It's Christmas?, of 1984. Those experiences would have been more collaborative and closer. Rather than Bush being detached or not wanting to speak with anyone, she wanted some space and did not ant to be crowded out. I forgot to also mention that, in 1987, Bush was part of an Amnesty International event at the London Palladium in March of that year. David Gilmour performed with Bush on her track, Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God). Maybe the success of Live Aid compelled Bush to become more involved in charity events and the Ferry Aid campaign. Whilst it is a footnote in her career, I am fascinated in the few years following Hounds of Love’s success and what Bush did next. Maybe the popularity of the album provoked Bush to do more; perhaps it was a period of the 1980s when there were a lot of appeals that she could not ignore. Aside from the association with The Sun, Ferry Aid was a great cause for a disaster that would have rocked the nation. Now, as we are seeing unsettling images from Afghanistan, perhaps it is fitting to record a charity single – whilst it does not solve the problem, it could raise funds and provide some humanitarian aid and shelter for those displaced and beleaguered. Although, were there a charity single, Kate Bush is unlikely to be involved, one can…
NEVER bet against it.