News-bits…

More news-bits: Huge thanks to Brian Cloughley for his fantastic Winter intro screen. Have a look at the site’s index page to see it…EMI have issued a slipcase 2CD package of Hounds Of Love/The Sensual World priced at $22.95. They are just the CD versions otherwise available elsewhere. (thanks to Dok)…Katie Melua was asked by The Scotsman newspaper for her choice of an alternative national anthem. “Wuthering Heights by Kate Bush because the writers of the song and the book are both English heroines. I’m not sure how it would sound at sporting internationals though.” Read more here

A clip of the tribute act Fake Bush is available at this site here…Judie Tzuke is on tour promoting her forthcoming eighteenth (!) album ‘The End Of The Beginning’. In the tour programme she answers questions sent to her by fans, one question was:- Which song by another artist do you wish you had written? Her answer was Cloudbusting by Kate…Radio 2 played Kate’s Rocket Man on the twelfth of November and prior to the song being played DJ John Inverdale asked how can anyone not think that Kate Bush is fantastic? 10 minutes later he thanked everyone for all their texts and emails saying how great she is and all wondering where she is and when she might bring out a new album…Canadian singer k.d. lang, promoting her excellent new album Hymns Of The Forty Ninth  Parallel, mentions Kate as one of her favourite artists in an interview with The Independent here (thanks Daffyd)…The Telegraph newspaper have asked their critics to select the 50 best cover versions ever recorded. To qualify, a song had to be well established by one artist, then given a new lease of life by another. They placed Kate’s version of Elton John’s Rocket Man at number 14. “Elton John’s lament to the loneliness of space travel (or cocaine addiction, depending on your age group) was vacuous tinny pop until Kate Bush’s keening cadences gave it the poignancy it deserved. Her little-girl-lost voice and the bittersweet sound of Uilleann pipes add startling beauty, and a thrilling chill to the Martian air. Key moment: The breathy, pained gasp of “Oh” before the chorus line “No no no I’m a rocket man.” You can read the full poll for yourself here…

Texan singer Erin McGrew invites us to listen to a free download of her song “Masquerade” from her CD Garnet. The song is her Kate tribute on the album. The acknowledgements in the liners include “Thank you, Kate Bush, for teaching me. I hope we meet one day.” Her site is here. (thanks Erin)…the Icelandic singer Margrét Eir recorded and published an Icelandic version of Wuthering Hieghts last year. The lyrics were rendered (by Þórarinn Eldjárn, a respected poet) into Icelandic, not an exact translation but keeping the spirit, the title being “Heiðin há“. The song was quite popular and encouraged some airplay of the original song. You can see a video here searching for “heidin ha” (thanks to Skúli Pálsson)…an advert for the the new Land Rover Discovery has a version of Kate’s Running up that Hill was playing. It was obviously some sort of dance version and it was basically the intro repeated over, played on a piano. (thanks Collin)…Wow was used as the music for an ITV commercial for the show “I Want That House” recently (thanks Tony)…The Guardian have reviewed the Waiting for Kate Bush book here (thanks George – Also thanks to Rob Jones for sending in newsbits and anyone else I have forgotten in this round up!!)