FEATURE:
There Goes a Tenner
IN THIS PHOTO: Del Palmer and Kate Bush at the London Planetarium on 9th September, 1985, for the launch of Hounds of Love/PHOTO CREDIT: Dave Hogan/Getty Images
Highlighting My Favourite Kate Bush Moments
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I have not done a feature about this before…
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush with Tom Jones at the South Bank Sky Arts Awards in 2012, where 50 Words for Snow won for Best Pop/Pop Music (Bush posted a message to her website about the event)/PHOTO CREDIT: Richard Young/Rex Features
so I thought it was time to reveal my ten favourite Kate Bush moments. Rather than discussing albums, singles or anything like that, I am talking more about what she has done outside of the studio. Don’t get me wrong. There are plenty of studio moments that I think should be treasured and spotlighted. From Wuthering Heights to her donkey braying on Get Out of My House, this is something I might explore in the next feature. There are some key moments that stick in the mind. Some are funny and weird, the others are more normal. For some reason, these are ones I recall when I think about Kate Bush. They can be short and sweet or longer and more dramatic. I feel every Kate Bush fan would have their ten iconic/standout Kate Bush moments. The ones they call to mind when we think of her. I am going to discuss them in no particular order. That said, the first I want to bring up is the most recent of the list. I covered this for a recent feature. It is her 2022 interview with Woman’s Hour. This came after Bush hit number one with Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God). The track, which features on Hounds of Love and was originally released in 1985, was used in Netflix’s Stranger Things. There are multiple reasons why this moment is so special. Nobody really expected an interview at all. Bush communicated some messages through her official website. Prior to that, we had not heard an interview about her music since 2016. It was a long wait. One that was worth it. Bush, speaking from her home on a landline, chatted to Woman’s Hour’s Emma Barnett. They chatted about the success of Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God), what she (Bush) is doing at the moment – gardening, mostly -, and how long Kate Bush had been watching Stranger Things (prescription viewing in the Bush household). No doubt one of the very best and most heartwarming moments in Kate Bush’s career. For the fans like me at least.
Next in the list is one of the interviews I am going to source. There are many memorable ones to choose from. One of the absolute best is very early on. In 1978, when Kate Bush was starting out and people were struggling to define her and what to make of the music, there were a lot of interviews that where Bush was belittled or patronised. Almost treated like a girl or someone who didn’t believe in music. This interview from March 1978 is an example of an interviewer treating Kate Bush with respect. A serious and warm conversation about her music. Kate Bush is very mature and intelligent. She can handle odd and offensive interviews. On this occasion, there was no need for any shields or defensiveness. Instead, we got a real feeling that she was being treated as a serious artist doing something very special. There are a lot of wonderful interviews with her. Ones that stand in the mind. I wanted to highlight this one, as it comes so early in her career. In fact, only a month after her debut album came out. So many people were confused by The Kick Inside. The world had not really heard anything like it. Maybe it is understandable it would be difficult to digest an artist so original and different to everything around her. The interviewer, whose name I can’t seem to find online, is professional and respectful. This March 1978 interview has been highlighted across the media. A real test of Kate Bush’s nerves and maturity, it always comes to mind when I think of her.
I will get to another interview soon. Breaking away from that, it is worth thinking about award ceremonies. No stranger to them at all, Bush has collected a few awards through her career. One of the most recent is when she attended the South Bank Sky Arts Pop Award ceremony in 2012. 50 Words for Snow (2011) won for Best Album that year. Rightfully scooping the prize, it is one of the most recent public appearances from Kate Bush. Aside from 2014’s Before the Dawn, there was not that many occasions where she was out in the public eye. Not since the 1990s anyway. It is always nice seeing Kate Bush out there and being celebrated. I can understand that she may want to avoid this sort of limelight. We have not really seen her pick up awards recently. Someone needs to give her one pronto! There is another award ceremony, in 2014, when Bush won an award for Before the Dawn. That was at the Editor’s Award from the Evening Standard. In the space of a couple of years, two examples of Kate Bush being recognised for her pioneering work. Two cases of her being humbling and very sweet. Quite shy and overwhelmed. I chose the 2012 acceptance speech because of the crowd reaction. So much love and affection in the room that night! Presented to her by Tom Jones, you can see the joy on her face. Perhaps a little taken aback by the whole thing. This is why I hope that we again see Kate Bush take to the stage and collect an award. She is long overdue some sort of recognition. Again, I might well explore this in a feature.
Coming later, I will return to videos and the audio. I am going to include one more audio nugget. In fact, it is a feast for the eyes. Transmitted on the BBC in 1980, Deliah Smith spoke with Kate Bush about vegetarianism. This interview might also make it onto many people’s top ten Kate Bush moments. For a start, it has nothing to do with her music. Not really. It is a rare occasion when things shifted away from music. It is an interview that hits all the senses. In an idyllic and peaceful setting (the Bush family home of East Wickham Farm) and this almost tangible taste and smell. We get to see all these amazing dishes. In many ways, this interview was ahead of its time. An artist discussing the benefits of a vegetarian diet. There is also this wonderful mix of Kate Bush’s various sides. When she said she didn’t like the thought of harming animals. In a different interview, Kate Bush said how she felt vegetables almost had souls. Bush revealed how, when she first became a vegetarian, she lived a little bit on tea and chocolate. Realising this was not a healthy alternative, she then discovered these vegetarian dishes. How she could eat well on that diet. When she was eating meat, Bush explained how she did not realty eat vegetables. That changed when she became a vegetarian.
I am going to move away to a slightly different area. More of a photographic memory. In fact, it is in 1985. When Kate Bush premiered Hounds of Love. On 9th September, 1985, she promoted the album at a very special place. This is more of a deep-cut Kate Bush highlight. Rather than mention the album itself, I wanted to single in on this event. A few reasons why it is in my top ten Kate Bush moments. For one, it did seem like a career high. There is another photographic moment that will be mentioned soon. The photo of Kate Bush and Del Palmer (her then-boyfriend, we sadly lost him last year) together. It is the one at the very top of this feature. They looked incredible. So fashionable and cool, it was a very big moment. Kate Bush, possibly at her most chic, beautiful and captivating. Del Palmer looked so sharp and amazing. I can only imagine how incredible it was for those who were around Kate Bush that night. It was such a great time for her. A week later (16th September, 1985), her masterpiece was released. Capturing this very time of change, the photo I have included and feel is among the most beautiful. There is another shot of her at the Planetarium with her jacket off and she is leaning against some sort of rigging. Holding onto it with a smile on her face. Dave Hogan is the one who shot Kate Bush that night. Bush is relaxed and full of joy. Perhaps knowing she had made this timeless album, we got to see her shine and radiate. A wonderful moment in her career that so many fans cherish!
Keeping in 1985, one of my favourite Kate Bush moments is when she performed Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God) on Wogan. She performed on his show more than once.. Always so memorably. I feel this performance is her best on the show. The promotion Bush did in 1985 was insane! So many outings, interviews and appearances. She travelled all around and barely got a time to sit and relax. I love the Wogan performance. The aesthetics of the set makes the performance so memorable. Kate Bush and her backing band (including Del Palmer and her brother, Paddy) looking like druids. Dressed in brown robes, it was a contrast to the purples of Hounds of Love. That is the colour I associate with the album. Not only because of the album cover design and lettering. The video shows Kate Bush dressed in purple. One might expect that when she performed in live for Terry Wogan in 1985. Instead, we get this brown. A palette that maybe contrasts from many people’s visions of the song. A muddier and murkier colour for such a vibrant song. The performance is wonderful too. Even though it is mimed, there is this sense of theatre and effort. Not another artist phoning-in a performance. So arresting and memorable, I think that this performance is one of the best from Kate Bush.
Four more to go. I could not let the first night of Before the Dawn go by. I was not there at all – and did not get to any of the twenty-two dates -, though it was historic and seismic. On 26th August, 2014, Kate Bush stepped onto the stage for this residency. At Hammersmith’s Eventim Apollo, she was met with awe and rapture from thousands of fans. Many who had travelled from very far away. This real congregation. A mix of lifelong fans. Celebrity newbies and everyone in-between. I remember that first night and all the media attention. This real sense of it being an event. The speculation of what the show would be like. People did not know. What they were met with was something life-changing. One of the highlights was Kate Bush performing Hounds of Love’s second side, The Ninth Wave. It was the first time she performed it in full. A realisation of this wonderful suite. Something cinematic and epic. I would loved to have been at that concert. I have heard from people who were there and they all say the same thing: it was one of the best moments of their lives. Objectively one of the greatest Kate Bush moments, I think about it a lot. We are coming up to the tenth anniversary of a major event. That opening night for Before the Dawn. Even though I was not there, I felt this palpable sense of wonder and excitement through social media and wider. Reflecting now, almost a decade later, the shockwaves and reverberations are still going.
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush performing during 2014’s Before the Dawn residency/PHOTO CREDIT: Ken McKay/Rex Features
There are countless Kate Bush photos I could select that stand in the mind. Many of them shot either by John Carder Bush (her brother), Guido Harari or Gered Mankowitz. Again, repeating myself here, I could dedicate a feature to the best photos. The one I have selected is so eye-catching and memorable. Photographed by Clive Arrowsmith in 1981, there are two reasons why I have chosen this photo. One of Bush wrapped in ivy. She would release a track, Under the Ivy, as a B-side to Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God) four years later. She looks majestic and beguiling in the photo. The expression on her face is one of slight sadness. Arrowsmith explained how Bush was in a bad mood and downcast when she was photographed. It was not an instruction. You have this photo taken at a very interesting point in her career. There is a lot of mystique coming from the photo. Also, why was Kate Bush unhappy that day?! In 1981, after she had released Never for Ever (1980) but before The Dreaming (1982), there is this transition. A growth and evolution of an artist. Perhaps burnt out with recording and stress, we get a moment that shows the young Kate Bush perhaps at her most human. Not having to affect a smile or not wanting to, there is also this ethereal and almost artistic vibe to the photo. This slightly tired and unhappy subject looking gorgeous and almost like an art exhibition. It is a photo that I think about. What the atmosphere was like in the studio. If Kate Bush said much. How things were left. What we do get is a couple of wonderful and evocative shots. Some of the bets ever taken of her.
PHOTO CREDIT: Clive Arrowsmith
Two more choices to go. It was hard whittling them down. The final one relates to a message on her website. The penultimate moment I want to choose and discuss is an interview. Again, there are loads that I have missed out. I am going back to 2005. This is the year Aerial was released. It was seen as a big return. Kate Bush’s interview with Mark Radcliffe sticks in the mind. For a start, it was a chance to hear Bush speak about her new album. Her only double album. One we waited twelve years for. Any interviews from that time are precious and to be studied. Allowing Radcliffe a lot of time, I love the interview because there is that respect being paid. Mark Radcliffe had this campaign where he dreamed of interviewing Kate Bush. Almost like a personal aim. Something he talked about on radio. This interview was broadcast on BBC Radio 2. There are some nice and affectionate moments. Bush questioning some of Radcliffe’s remarks or observations. Allowing so much time for the interview to breathe, we got a real insight into Aerial. It was a wonderful and deep interview. Fans might have other choices they would put above this. For me, it stands out as a really important interview. One of a few long ones she did in 2005 – her chat with John Wilson also comes to mind. At this time when we welcomed her back (after 1993, we did not think there would be a twelve-year gap!), it was like she never left. The same amazing and incredible artist. Someone making music of the highest order. Just hearing her voice. Go and listen to the whole interview if you can (I cannot see one single YouTube video for it; it is divided into multiple parts).
The final selection in my top ten favourite Kate Bush moments might seem mundane and unspectacular. I include it because it is the most recent post from her website. The newest communication from fans. Some look at her messages for clues that she is recording new music. That she may grace us with something big. In fact, it is technically isn’t the latest message. It is the latest written by Kate Bush herself. A poignant one. It relates to the death if Del Palmer. He died on 5th January this year. Kate Bush posted a message on 10th January. We have not had another one since then. The final words, “I’m going to miss him terribly”, seem like an understatement. Losing her friend and former partner, Palmer was also on many of her studio albums as a player. He was there for The Tour of Life in 1979. Her sidekick and confidante for many years. Someone very special for her. It may seem like a rather sombre note to end on. It is tender and sincere. Rather than saying nothing or writing this long message, Bush kept it short but meaningful. It is always brilliant when we hear from her. I know that the next message will be more optimistic and music-based. I love this message because we wondered if Kate Bush would react to the death of Del Palmer or say nothing. It must have been impossible for her to process the news. I shall leave it there. Maybe you have your own top ten Kate Bush moments. I’d love to hear them. So many possibilities to choose from! I was keen to share mine. Thinking about them makes me want to dig deep and explore more. It shows that, when it comes to Kate Bush, that there is always…
SO much to discover.