Kate Bush--this Woman's Work

[PFD]

Discussing Kate Bush in the Shout Box. Thought' I'd post this here, I wrote somewhere else the other day.

So I’ve been in a Kate Bush mode lately. Probably has something to do with seeing h perform Cloudbusting a couple weeks ago. All this week in the car (my carpool mate K. is on holiday) I have been listening to Kate’s entire catalogue.

Kate’s always been one of my faves—possibly in my Top 5 of all time. It’s not just that she’s hotter than jalapeno—although that helps. But her looks alone would not have compelled me to have her entire catalogue on numerous media. [Lps, cassettes and CDs]. That said, there’s no doubt that initially Kate was marketed as a sex icon. There’s an early EMI publicity shot of her in a tight pink sweater in an obviously air-conditioned room. But Kate is way beyond that. She’s an amazing singer/ songwriter, never afraid to experiment and trying something new—always on her own schedule.

Like Monty Python, Kate is either hit or miss. People absolutely love her or simply can’t stand her. They get it or they don’t. Her voice, some say, is a turn off. And, no doubt, sometimes she does sound like the producers put a bed of nails on her piano seat when she wasn’t looking. She does have this high-pitch wail doesn’t she?

I’ve seen many great female singers who try to reach her octave level and fail miserably. They’re great singers but they don’t quite have her pitch.

That said, Kate can sometimes go over the top: Check out this early Top of the Pops performance. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Otul8_633yM

And it’s a statement to her popularity that she was parodied wonderfully back in 1980 on the Not The Nine O’Clock News UK comedy show. Check out this O England my Leotard video. Bush fans will get it. www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-lf4VAxXVc

The one thing I have to say is that like the girl with the curls, when Kate Bush is good she is excellent. When she is bad…well, she’s never bad, but sometimes she’s off the mark.

The Kick Inside: Her debut album is one of her best. It’s part of her lore now that Kate was discovered when she was 15 or 16 by Floyd’s David Gilmour who produced a demo and sent it to EMI. EMI signed her and let her finish school before recording and releasing this album. [It wasn’t altogether altruistic on EMI’s part---they didn’t want anyone else to sign her]. This album is full of charm, a series of mostly voice and piano songs dealing with mostly female issues of love, lust, sex, pregnancy and even menstruation. Her youth, beauty and innocence add a certain erotic feel to such wonderful lines as “my stockings fall onto the floor…desperate for more.” Wuthering Heights is of course, her all-time classic. But Kick Inside also features The Man With the Child in His Eyes, (allegedly written when she was 13) James and the Cold Gun, a nice little rocker, and much more.

She was pressured immediately to follow that album up and Lionheart suffers from sophomore blues. The songs aren’t as good on this one and there’s a “rushed” feeling throughout. The first two songs Symphony in Blue and In Search of Peter Pan are adequate, but in my opinion it falls apart rapidly after that.

Following her one and only concert tour, Kate decided to take matters into her own hands and no longer buckle under record company pressure. Her third album, Never For Ever, was a bit of a change. Eschewing her piano/vocal style, she made use of her full band and produced a far rockier/ up tempo album. And it worked to perfection. This is a great album. It features Babooshka, Blow Away (one of many tributes she’s recorded to people who’ve influenced her) and the rocky/ screechy Violin. She returns to the pregnancy theme once more, this time from the POV of the fetus in Breathing, a song about a nuclear holocaust. And The Infant Kiss is a clever, brave song about a woman falling in love with a very young boy. Imagine if the roles were reversed…a man singing about falling for a very young girl.

Then, along came The Dreaming. This is one album of hers I have a very hard time with. It’s a heavily groovy album making much use of fairlight programming, very new-wavish (it was 1982). Kudos for her trying to experiment with something new…and the critics certainly loved it. Pretentious Kate Bush fans would say this one is their favourites, but that’s a bit like saying Waterworld is a great movie. The song writing is certainly there, there’s some well—interesting—songs on it; but overall I find it too noisy and overproduced. I’ve tried to listen to it loud and with the lights off, like she says on the liner notes, but it still doesn’t cut it.

Following her One Good/One Not-So-Good trend, along came Hounds of Love, her most commercially successful album, producing four hit singles…the title track, Running Up That Hill, Cloudbusting and Big Sky. I still have the original pink—yes pink—vinyl edition of this one. The hits are all on Side One. Side Two features a collection of linked songs called The Ninth Wave, all of which deal with water and death. Tops. Nothing bad on this one.

So, the next one should be bad, right? No. She surprised us all with The Sensual World. This album was a bit of a throwback to her roots, featuring a lot more straightforward, piano songs, reminiscent of her first album. Lyrically, it’s very moving, with very personal songs. This Woman’s Work, Deeper Understanding, Reaching Out all stand out.

Kate does have the occasional habit of writing strange songs…or coming up with bizarre, hokey ideas. There is a song on this album called Heads We’re Dancing about a woman who dances with Hitler. No, really.

Well, two good albums in a row…is it too much to ask for three? Apparently so. I hated The Red Shoes. Just another of those somewhat over-produced albums that just didn’t work for me. Rumour had it she intended to tour this, which is why she gave these songs a more up-tempo sound. Again, there’s some good enough material. Moments of Pleasure is another of her “tribute to people she admires” songs. Song of Solomon and Lily are quite nice. Rubberband Girl is a bit over the top; and the rest of it…well, I don’t really know.

So, a hundred years later she finally followed up The Red Shoes. Ariel is s a double CD, complete with a good old fashioned gatefold sleeve, like a double album from the 70s. How prog is that? True to form, Kate delivers both good and evil on this one. The second disc is a great conceptual piece, similar to The Ninth Wave from Hounds, a series of songs linked together by…hmmm…by birdsongs I think. It’s a lot better than it sounds. Honestly.

But then there’s the “poppier” Disc One which is…hmmm….uneven at best. There’s some good songs, but then there’s Kate at her self-parodying best, or worst. No, really, there’s a song about a Washing Machine. There is a song about “pi” where she relates the number to about 100 decimal places. [She left a few out, maybe they didn’t rhyme]. I’ve always said it’s important for a listener to relate to a song. I can’t relate to a song about pi. Maybe it’s because I don’t like circles. Or round things in general. I don’t know.

Then there’s a song called Bertie. I totally can dig the joy of having a child, and the desire for a songwriter to write about it. But it’s one of those things she should keep to herself. Even my favourite songwriter, John Lennon, wrote the incredibly turgid Beautiful Boy. Write a song about your child, fine. Record it, even, but keep it hidden away and embarrass Bertie on his 18th birthday with it or something.

Is this it for Kate? Who knows. She’s not getting any younger and she’s taking her sweet time recording these days. But she’s left a great legacy behind her. Many great female songwriters list her as their inspiration. From Tori Amos, Bjork, Paula Cole to Sinead O’connor, Jane Sibbery and Sarah McLachlan.

She was afterall, one of the first female singers to chart with her own material. She stood out bravely in a man’s world and didn’t take any shit from her record company.

The world can use more Kates. Ok, that’s a hokey ending…but it befits a tribute to Kate Bush…?

[Thor]

Nice PFD...

Kate is a fav ov mine as well. The Kick Inside especially.
Just for note: the tune "Blow Away" as well as "Moment of Pleasure" are 2 songs Kate wrote in memory of Bill Duffield. Bill, her lighting director, was killed in an accident during her 2 April concert at Poole Arts Centre he was only 21 yrs old. She has been haunted by this ever since. Some think that is why she refused to tour after that tour was over.

Blow Away is sung as a thought. It is Kate talking to Bill in her imagination. He is busy providing celestial stage lighting for other music greats that have died like Buddy Holly, etc.

[roger]

Originally Posted by PFD

But then there’s the “poppier” Disc One which is…hmmm….uneven at best. There’s some good songs, but then there’s Kate at her self-parodying best, or worst. No, really, there’s a song about a Washing Machine. There is a song about “pi” where she relates the number to about 100 decimal places. [She left a few out, maybe they didn’t rhyme]. I’ve always said it’s important for a listener to relate to a song. I can’t relate to a song about pi. Maybe it’s because I don’t like circles. Or round things in general. I don’t know.

Then there’s a song called Bertie. I totally can dig the joy of having a child, and the desire for a songwriter to write about it. But it’s one of those things she should keep to herself. Even my favourite songwriter, John Lennon, wrote the incredibly turgid Beautiful Boy. Write a song about your child, fine. Record it, even, but keep it hidden away and embarrass Bertie on his 18th birthday with it or something.

Aerial is a great album. I like Pi, and Mrs. Bartolozzi (Washing Machine). they all just work together so well. but my favorite is Sunset. man, what a song. makes me feel sooo good.

[Rick and Roll]

[/quote]

Too bad I already did a Kate show...

Very interesting stuff pfd, but it's amazing how different one can look at things. I love Dreaming (Get out of My House is wild!), Never For Ever, and especially Hounds of Love. I think it's fantastic that Cloudbusting was successful. It's one of the best songs of all time, with a great story. "The sun's coming out" into "your son's coming out" is brilliant.

I like Lionheart as much as Kick Inside. But I agree "Never For Ever" is awesome.

There are people that dislike Red Shoes because of the Prince tune. That's bullshit. I agree that it is uneven, but there are some uneven bits on Sensual World too. But I must say "Never Be Mine" is a GREAT track. Eberhard Weber ia a beautiful bassist. Reminds me of the great "All The Love" on Dreaming.

Her early stuff is high pitched due to her age....and I hope you like her looks at 50 too!

[PFD]

Well, she's put on the weight hasn't she now...:-)))

I agree with what you say, and it's a statement to her versatility that we can each find different things to like about her music. Get Out of my House and Suspended in Gaffa are pretty good songs off The Dreaming. Just all in all, not one of my faves.

[Rick and Roll]

Originally Posted by PFD

Well, she's put on the weight hasn't she now...:-)))

That's never an issue with me.

[PFD]

I was only kidding...

[podakayne]

well i certainly hope so

kate...hum she was "ok" with me in the beginning (voice to little girl whiney) i just wanted to wait till she got older and her voice "matured"...it did, she's good now...


and yeah i like jane better...nice thread though

poda
p.s. i like red shoes and her dancing