FEATURE:
This Woman’s Work/And So Is Love
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in 1993/PHOTO CREDIT: John Stoddart/Popperfoto via Getty Images
Kate Bush and a Natural Kindness
___________
THIS sort of ties in…
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush signing The Dreaming at the Virgin Megastore, Oxford Street, London in September 1982/PHOTO CREDIT: Pete Still
with features I have in mind about The Dreaming. Kate Bush’s fourth studio album is forty in September. It is worth celebrating that anniversary, as it is a terrific album with so many interesting stories and moments attached. There are a couple of incidences of kindness from Bush that relate to The Dreaming. As I have been referencing UNCUT’s recent edition (where they have a twelve-page spread about The Dreaming), one thing that stood out to me is how much respect people had for her. This is no surprise. In previous features, I have talked about her hospitality, generosity of spirit and the way, as an artist and producer, she brought the best out of everyone she worked with. Reading anything about Bush and her albums, everyone who worked with her had something kind to say. She was keen to listen to everyone and have their voices heard. Bush’s niceness was evident during The Dreaming. Several people who worked with her received gifts. Howard Gray was sent chocolates and a signed copy of the album. Terri Reid was given a Nintendo Game & Watch video game for Christmas. For an artist so ahead of her time and visionary, she had her hands full recording that album. Even though it was exhausting and challenging, Bush managed to keep her finest qualities intact. Other artists would simply have recorded the album and left the personnel with a simple thanks. Bush seemed to go out of her way to reward and thoughtfully touch those who worked with her.
Rather than this simply blowing smoke a bit and finding a flimsy excuse to praise Bush, it is more a way of highlighting how a genius and music pioneer has this incredible human side. A warmth and enormous generosity that goes alongside immense talent and ability. Sticking with The Dreaming – and something I may return to -, and fans who attended signings of the album remarked how Bush had time for them all and let people kiss her on the cheek. Not someone who merely got things like this out of the way as quickly as possible, she was keen to see the fans and thank those who came out to get The Dreaming signed. It must have been slightly unnerving being faced with huge lines of adoring fans! Dignified, sweet and generous, she gave so much time and affection to those who bought her album. When she was working on The Tour of Life in 1979, it could have been easy to do a huge thing like this with so many people and having a somewhat collegiate relationship with many. As it transpires, she learned everyone’s name (right down to the cleaners) and created this family. Protective to everyone, the love and natural warmth she gave to everyone was reciprocated. Whether it was material goods or providing time and support, Bush’s kindness was evident. I know of times when Bush gave chocolates and a handwritten note to people (men) who worked with her.
There would have been one or two who wondered whether this was romantic or something more. It was just Kate Bush being herself and very giving! There was a time when Tony Visconti wrote a letter to Kate Bush and her was close to producing The Dreaming (Visconti produced David Bowie’s 1979 album, Lodger, and I think Bush took some inspiration from that album). Bush turned him down, but she was very sweet and kind about it, explaining if she was going to have another producer work on her album, then it would be him. One can look at her upbringing and how there was a lot of love and warm hospitality around. That was not the case for everyone who was young in the 1950s and 1960s. Bush was from a very loving and, yes, well-off family, so I think she was brought up to respect and be kind to everyone but be humble with it – rather than being very extravagant or throw wealth around. When Bush was awarded a CBE in 2013, she dedicated it to her family, friends and musical collaborators. Through the years, as I have written before, she has raised money for charities by selling her music at a pop-up shop, or donating items for an auction. CRISIS is a charity close to her heart that she has given so much to. Bush has also appeared on charity singles. She was part of a cover of The Beatles Let It Be in 1987 with a host of other artists. She appeared on Spirit of the Forest, a 1989 Live Aid-style charity single that also included Iggy Pop, Kim Wilde, Fish from Marillion, the Jungle Brothers and the Ramones.
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush at a fan convention in 1994 at the London Hippodrome
She gave so much time to everyone around her. Supporting important causes and giving gifts and lovely notes to people who worked around her, I feel this immense kindness and love has never dimmed. Bush was a regular contributor to her fanzine. She is said to have once interviewed herself in the guise of an American journalist called Zwort Finkle. She has always loved the fans and those she worked alongside. Even though she has not released new music for over a decade, she is still inspiring people and showing that natural and unflinching kindness and thoughtfulness. We have definitely not heard the last of Kate Bush, either as a recording artist or someone who appears (virtually) in the public eye. She is someone who is always thankful of the support she is given, and, in turn, she gives back so so much to so many others. I was thinking about The Dreaming and how she was so kind and giving to people who worked on the album. This sense of largess and benevolence goes back to before her debut album. It has continued to this day. I was eager to write about some of Bush’s generous moments and, if it needed to be reiterated, prove how respected she is. How much love she gave to other people. There is no doubt Kate Bush is someone with a beautiful soul and…
A huge heart.