Kate Bush News

US musician Les July has been in touch to let us know about an unheard piece of music, Magnolia Road, from the greatly missed Del Palmer. Les writes: “You may not know this but I worked with Del on his CD, “Point Of Safe Return”. We knew each other via Facebook and he had always been a fan of my Kate tribute (see here), but he had no idea I was also a horn player. I did the horn arrangements for the song and gave it a Miles Davis , ‘Sketches of Spain’ kinda vibe and he LOVED that. Unfortunately, due to a flood in his studio, the track that I played on, “Magnolia Road” could not be put on the record. He sent me an email explaining what happened, how sorry he was and that one day, he intended for the world to hear what he considered to be my great work. I made a video slide show with pictures in tribute, using the song. This is a song of Del Palmer that no one has ever heard.“

Lovely to hear Del’s voice, thank you so much, Les. See more from Les at his Facebook page here and Instagram here.

The new issue of Uncut Magazine (January 2025) hits the news-shelves this coming Friday and features Kate on the cover and a full feature and archive interview within. The issue is available to order online here. “In this revelatory lost interview from 2011, Kate Bush holds forth on fame, the internet, pop music, fantastical creatures and the time she nearly burned her house down…”

The feature brings Kate’s story bang up to date by chatting to Paul Simmons of Timorous Beasties about the illustrated editions (we almost had a yeti cover!), designer Jonathan Barnbrook about producing the lettering on the recent special edition vinyl releases and how he designed the lettering for the reworked Fish People logo, and animator Gayle Martin also discusses working with Kate on the recent Little Shrew animated short film.

In this shorter minisode Darrell from Bush Telegraph chats with Alan Skidmore, the saxophonist on Kate’s 1975 The Saxophone Song, recorded when she was only 16. Alan talks about his recording session and briefly meeting the young Cathy in the studio. Alan, known as “Skid” in the jazz world, has had a prolific career working with all the jazz greats. His amazing playing is not only highlighted on Kate’s song in the podcast, but we also get to hear another phenomenal track he plays on.

You can subscribe to the Kate Bush Fan Podcast on iTunes, Audible, Spotify or on any podcast app you happen to use, such as Podcast Addict or Tunein or listen below on Soundcloud.

At a time when we’re already buzzing at Kate’s confirmation that she is working on ideas for a new album, it has been announced that Kate and her son Albert McIntosh have been nominated as art directors in two categories in next year’s 67th Grammy Awards in the USA. Her 2023 illustrated vinyl release of Hounds of Love, The Baskerville Edition is nominated for Best Recording Package, while The Boxes of Lost at Sea art pieces (also editions of Hounds of Love) have been nominated for Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package. You can read more about these releases on our original news item here. Congratulations to Kate and Albert and team! We are sure you must be delighted by this. Winners will be announced on the day of the Grammy ceremony in Los Angeles on February 2nd 2025.

The Grammy Awards, established in 1958, are awarded annually by The Recording Academy of the United States for outstanding achievements in the music industry. They were originally called the Gramophone Awards, as the trophy depicts a gilded gramophone. There are a whopping 94 categories covering not just every genre of music but also for the likes of record packages, historical recordings, production, engineering, composition and arrangement. Most of these less glitzy Grammy trophies are presented in a pre-telecast “Premiere Ceremony” in the afternoon before the Grammy Awards telecast, a live show dominated by the most popular “general field” pop categories. Previously Kate was nominated three times for a Grammy; in 1988 for Best Concept Music Video (The Whole Story), in 1991 for Best Alternative Music Album (The Sensual World) and in 1996 for Best Music Film (The Line, the Cross and the Curve).

Significantly, in terms of Kate’s profile and status in the USA, these are Kate’s first Grammy nominations in nearly 30 years, with Forbes magazine musing that “clearly Recording Academy voters seem interested in recognizing her work and her talent.” This follows Kate’s biggest chart success ever in the USA in 2022 with Running Up That Hill and her induction last year into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Forbes also notes that while Kate faces tough competition in the two fields, “she should be considered a serious contender for one, if not both awards. She is one of many artists who have never won a Grammy whose legacy has grown throughout the years.”

The Baskerville Edition of Hounds of Love, adorned with artwork by Timorous Beasties, was notable for its innovation for being the first ever vinyl record to have a solar powered LED light specially developed and built for the project by Kate and her team. The circuitboard was exclusively designed for the package so it would fit into the standard thickness of the gatefold sleeve. The release was accompanied by a special Cloudbusting-themed short film written and directed by Kate. Read more about the Grammy for Best Recording Package on Wikipedia here.

Meanwhile Kate has made a donation for each sale of The Boxes of Lost at Sea artworks to War Child, a charity Kate has recently also supported with the release of her beautiful Little Shrew animation. Inside The Boxes of Lost at Sea are two vinyl records, each with a UV print on a side without grooves, on white vinyl. Kate said of them last year: “The idea was to create a hybrid of an album and a piece of artwork you could hang on the wall. They’re based on something I designed for an auction for the charity War Child” Read more about the Grammy for Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package on Wikipedia here.

Kate has this morning announced the third release in her series of illustrated reissues, following Hounds of Love (The Baskerville Edition), and The Dreaming (The Escapologist Edition). 50 Words For Snow (The Polar Edition) is available to pre-order now, and will be released online and in stores on the 15th November as a double album on 180g vinyl. It is once again illustrated by Timorous Beasties and designed by Fish People, with a gatefold sleeve, metallic belly band with embossed text, poly sleeve and stickers. Each record will also come with a special snowflake design Christmas card. It was printed at Pozzoli and pressed on black vinyl at Record Industry from new lacquers cut by Bernie Grundman of the 2018 remasters by Kate and James Guthrie. It is available to pre-order on Kate’s site here: https://music.katebush.com/buy/50-words-for-snow-polar-edition/ but you can also check with your local record store and ask them to pre-order it for you.

Update: Thanks to our linguist friend, Tristan, for deciphering the Inuktitut words (one of the principal Inuit languages of Canada) on The Polar Edition’s “belly band”. It reads: ᐸᐃᐱᑎ ᐅᖃᐅᓲᑦ ᐊᐳᑎᒧᑦ which is spoken as Paipiti uqausuut aputimut which approximately translates as “50 Words For Snow” – additionally Kate’s full name is transliterated into Inuktitut as ᑲᐃᑦ ᐳᔅ on the reverse side of the belly band. So now you know!