From our very own Dave Cross (HomeGround): “I am very happy to announce that once again Kate Bush has donated signed items to the Cabaret vs Cancer music auction…and this year, she’s donated four, YES, FOUR items, all signed exclusively for CvC! We have got the 50 Words for Snow special vinyl Polar Edition, Before the Dawn four disc vinyl box set AND Boxes one and two of the Hounds of Love special ‘Lost at Sea’ boxes.
All items were signed by Kate this week specially for us. Having Kate’s support for CvC means the world to me, Rose Thorne and the rest of our volunteers and we will hopefully raise a lot of money to help people dealing with the effects of cancer. Please see the auction link HERE to start bidding… there’s lots of other cool things too!” Thanks for letting us know Dave – amazing work from you and the team at CvC as always! Best of luck – Seán
Some heartwarming news about how Kate, with the generous support of her fans, has been helping to make a difference to the lives of vulnerable children around the world. US music magazine, Under The Radar, has spoken to Jim Benner, Global Music Lead of the War Child charity in their latest issue #74, The Protest Issue.
“We’ve done a Protest Issue every four or five years since 2004. As we’ve done in the past, the issue examines the intersection of music and politics and features photo shoots with musicians holding protest signs of their own making. Later this year we will auction off all the autographed signs, with all profits going to War Child UK and their U.S. fundraising arm, Children in Conflict.” The issue can be purchased here.
Kate has consistently supported the War Child charity for over 30 years. The magazine article notes that Kate “…continues to go above and beyond for the charity”. War Child provides psychosocial support for children caught up in war zones, whether it’s ensuring Iraqi children get an education, providing psychological support to children who have been traumatised by conflict in Yemen, finding lost vulnerable children in Afghanistan or providing life-saving emergency aid to the children of Gaza and their families.
Kate Bush signed Soundwaves art print – Running Up That Hill
“In the past 12 months alone, she’s raised over £500,000 for us.” Benner beams. “She just released a short animated film, ‘Little Shrew (Snowflake),’ which conveys the vulnerability of children in war in support of War Child. It’s beautiful and timeless. I urge everyone to go to Kate’s website to watch it. We had over £100,000 in donations and dozens of news stories in one day. “Kate also recently repackaged and reissued her back catalog, including a box set entitled Lost At Sea where she repurposed artwork she did for a War Child exhibition/fundraiser in 1994, Kate has donated proceeds and has made generous personal donations.
Another successful project Kate did for us was signing Soundwaves Art prints created by digital artist Tim Wakefield. Tim creates stunning artwork from a particular song. We then get the musical artist to sign. In this instance, Kate signed prints based on ‘Running Up That Hill’ which of course has had a great resurgence, thanks to Stranger Things. We usually ask the artist to sign 100 [copies], and Kate kindly did. The demand was so great that we then asked her to sign 150 more which she did, and 100% of the profits were donated to War Child.”
One of the “Boxes of Lost at Sea” special presentations of Hounds of Love
You can donate directly to help War Childhere. Read more about Kate’s Little Shrew animation here or watch it in the player below. Read more about her signed Soundwaves Art printshere. Read more about TheBoxes of Lost at Sea, “…a hybrid of an album and a piece of artwork you could hang on the wall” here or watch the special short promo film Kate directed to introduce these special presentations, narrated by Sir Ian McKellen, in the player below.
For this new episode of The Kate Bush Fan Podcast, Seán introduces an exclusive interview between our own Darrell Babidge and the Dutch photographer, Govert de Roos. Govert was Kate’s European photographer. Many of the photos that were taken of Kate in 1978 and were posted on many a bedroom wall were taken by Govert. In this interview we get a glimpse into his work with Kate Bush, as well as the rock and pop stars of the 70’s and 80’s. We also find out more about his work during the Efteling Special in Amsterdam and taking photos of Kate’s Tour of Life concert there. Other artists he worked with include Grace Jones, Queen, ABBA, Debbie Harry, Tina Turner, Prince and many more.
In this interview we hear about some of his work with these other great artists. We also get to hear a great story about when he was 15 years old, sneaking into the Hilton Hotel in Amsterdam with a fake ID and taking the iconic photos of John Lennon and Yoko Ono. We hope you enjoy this chat with Govert de Roos. (Many thanks to Kevin Hall for the montage of Govert’s photos).
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.
Image taken from promotional video for Is This What We Want? silent album
A new Kate Bush studio recording dropped unexpectedly today? Well, kind of, yes! As we saw in her recent Christmas message, the challenges and concerns posed by AI technology are not far from Kate’s mind of late and in a letter in today’s UK Times newspaper she joins many prominent artists and writers in a protest at the UK government’s AI copyright proposals. Many media reports single out Kate’s involvement in their headlines this morning. A similar campaign has paid for prominent wrap-around paid advertising on all major UK print newspapers this morning with the slogan “Make it Fair“.
Paid for advertising by the campaign on all major UK newspapers this morning
The letter states “There is no moral or economic argument for stealing our copyright. Taking it away will devastate the industry and steal the future of the next generation.” It is signed by Simon Beaufoy, Barbara Broccoli, Kate Bush, Stuart Camp, Matthew Dunster, Sam Fender, Helen Fielding, Rachel Fuller, Sir Stephen Fry, David Furnish, Dame Pippa Harris, Sir Kazuo Ishiguro, Sir Elton John, Paul King, Simon Le Bon, Dua Lipa, Alastair Lloyd Webber, Lord Lloyd-Webber, Sir Paul McCartney, Martin McDonagh, Sir Michael Morpurgo, Lucy Prebble, Sir Simon Rattle, Philip Ridley, Michael Rosen, Dame Hannah Rothschild, Ed Sheeran, Sting, Sir Tom Stoppard, Pete Townshend, Mark-Anthony Turnage, Matthew Warchus, Jeanette Winterson, Andrew Wylie.
As part of this campaign, a new “silent” album, called “Is This What We Want?” has been released today on streaming platforms including here on Spotify. The album includes contributions from Kate, Damon Albarn, Tori Amos, Annie Lennox, Pet Shop Boys, Billy Ocean, the Clash, Hans Zimmer, Imogen Heap, Cat Stevens, Max Richter, and many other names. Kate has written about the project on her official site:
Over one thousand musicians are jointly releasing this album today to protest the UK government’s planned changes to copyright law.
If these changes go ahead, the life’s work of all the country’s musicians will be handed over to AI companies for free. None of us have a say in it.
The UK is full of pioneering, highly creative and imaginative artists. The government’s willingness to agree to these copyright changes shows how much our work is undervalued and that there is no protection for one of this country’s most important assets: music.
Each track on this album features a deserted recording studio. Doesn’t that silence say it all?
I’m very happy to have contributed a track to this project and to join the protest.
Please help protect the music makers and our heartfelt work. We make it for you, not for it to be taken and used against us.
In the music of the future, will our voices go unheard?
Kate
The recordings of dormant music studios and performance spaces, represents the impact on artists’ livelihoods if the government pushes ahead with its plans, according to Ed Newton-Rex, the British composer and former AI executive behind the idea. He warns that livelihoods are under threat from these proposed changes to copyright law. According to an article in The Guardian today, “…the album contains 12 recordings with more than 1,000 artists credited as co-writers, with the individual artist behind each of the dozen “silent” tracks uncredited. However, it is understood that Kate Bush has recorded one of the dozen tracks in her studio. Bush said: “In the music of the future, will our voices go unheard?”
The 12 track titles spell out the following sentence: The British Government Must Not Legalise Music Theft To Benefit AI Companies. And we note that the final silent track 12, “Companies” does faintly feature the birdsong of a dawn chorus, a lot of cat purring sounds and what sounds like the sipping of hot tea (at the 3 minute 10 second mark)!! So, do we think this is Kate’s contribution to the project? Listen and see what you think.
Kate’s tradition of sharing a most-welcome Christmas message this year lands, appropriately, on Christmas Eve. As many of us prepare to spend time with family, today she has shared a Christmas Eve message on her official site that, while acknowledging the global strife and war that led to her creating her acclaimed Little Shrew animation, reflects on the possibilities of brighter revelations ahead for all of us.
A Monet Christmas Eve to All!
It’s been really exciting to see the wonderfully positive feedback to the Little Shrew animation. Thank you so much to all of you who made a donation to War Child. They have been absolutely delighted with the response.
Little Shrew will be getting a bowl of especially delicious earthworms this Christmas morning.
It’s been another year of exceptionally dark news. It just keeps getting worse, doesn’t it?
The wars keep raging. We helplessly stand and watch as those poor people are caught up in the horrors of it all and of course there are the children…
It’s hard not to focus on the worry we all feel about these conflicts and the massive changes that are happening around us, but I’d like to try to find something positive to say for this Christmas message:
Happy Christmas Eve! My favourite day of the year. When I was a child, it used to have a special feeling. It even had a sort of Christmas Eve smell… a mixture of smoking coal fires and damp leaves, all bundled up in a drizzly English frozen fog. If I really work on it, I can still summon it up on the day. I’m working on it now…
I went to see the Monet exhibition. Twenty one paintings in two rooms – all featuring the Thames in the smog. They were incredibly atmospheric. The fact that they were all of the same environment made you feel like you were there yourself, wrapped up in a mysterious smog of muddy sulphurous yellows, sun-starved pinks, car-sick greens.
You could only make out vague, blurred shapes through the etherial, swirling veils…a majestic bridge here, a wispy boat there… these paintings were completely mesmerising. They transported you to London at the turn of the last century.
Monet thought that the smog was beautiful and that London would’ve looked utterly uninteresting without it. For him it was the smog that created the magic of the place.
I imagined him ready at first light, stood at his easel spluttering and coughing as he peered through the polluted air, with no choice but to gasp at its beauty.
It made me smile to read that although he sketched them while he was in London, he took them home and finished them off in France. Ha ha! So all is not as it seems – that sun-starved pink was actually lavish Giverny pink.
Is that us? Standing in awe at the dawn of AI, the symbol of modernity, as smog was for Monet at that time in the newly industrial London? Do we only see the twinkling light of the new invention, which so often catches the eye of our imagination… and what are those vague, dark sardonic shapes we can see in the background, behind the theatrical gauze?
It’s hard to make them out, but could they be our human pods, like those from the Matrix, being readied for us by eager, playful digits? Or maybe they are freshly painted bridges – robust, and lovingly built to carry us all into a much longed-for new age of healthy thinking?
All will be revealed when the smog begins to clear.
Merry Christmas everyone. I hope it’s a really joyful one for you all.
In this new episode of the Kate Bush Fan Podcast, Seán gives a suitably wintry introduction to this short chat between Darrell and Paul Simmons of design team Timorous Beasties about his recent work on Kate’s illustrated vinyl version of 50 Words For Snow – The Polar Edition. Look out for even more conversation between Darrell and Paul about their work with Kate over the last decade in the new year. Wishing you all a very happy Christmas and a peaceful and healthy 2025 to come!
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.
In this new episode of the Kate Bush Fan Podcast, Paul and Darrell from Bush Telegraph reminisce over their first reactions to Kate’s videos and film work from her 1980 album Never For Ever. Ultimately, Kate created stunning visuals for 50% of the album, and they were so different to anything else that was around at that time. We also get to hear Kate and Paddy’s own words from the Kate Bush Club newsletters about the making of Breathing, Delius and Army Dreamers. Paul (who lives in the UK) and Darrell (who now lives in the States) also banter about their trips together to the record shops and reactions to the artwork and photos from each ‘Never For Ever’ single.
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.
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.
UPDATE January 27th 2025: The lovely people at Bloomsbury have let us know that the Hounds of Love 33⅓ book by Leah Kardos is now back in print and our site visitors can avail of a special 20% off discount code: HOUNDSOFLOVE25 – Visit https://www.bloomsbury.com/kate-bushs-hounds-of-love-9798765106990 and use it at the checkout stage. The code is valid in all territories so not just limited to the UK. It’s set to expire on the 31st March 2025. Thanks to Mollie and Brenna at Bloomsbury and to Leah for doing the podcast with me!
In this new episode of the Kate Bush Fan Podcast, Seán talks to Leah Kardos, author of the new book about Hounds of Love which is part of the acclaimed 33⅓ book series which examine key albums from music history. Leah is a musician, a senior lecturer in music at Kingston University in London, co-founder of that university’s Visconti Studio (with producer Tony Visconti) and is also author of Blackstar Theory: The Last Works of David Bowie. A very enjoyable chat in which she discusses what made her pitch Kate’s fifth studio album to the book publishers, her experience of writing the book as we emerged from a pandemic, the challenges of producing a smaller sized book like this and why it was important to her to emphasise Kate’s pioneering production work and barrier-breaking career achievements. I highly recommend this excellent little book as the perfect Christmas stocking filler for the Kate Bush fan in your life!
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.
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.
HomeGround and KateBushNews.com are thrilled to be back at The Royal Vauxhall Tavern on Thursday 30th January for another Kate Bush themed celebration, raising money for Cabaret vs Cancer. The night will be packed with amazing cabaret and drag performers, each giving us their versions of their favourite Kate songs. Heading the bill is the sensational Sooz Kempner, the hilarious stand up comedian, with the most gorgeous voice fresh from her UK tour and hit run at Edinburgh Fringe.
We also thrilled to welcome back, the brilliant lip sync star, Ripley, fantastic singer Jenny Scoones, drag legend Rose Garden with Phil Lawrence and, Michael Mayell, ex Cloudbusting. Plus the whole event is hosted by the cabaret drag sensation that is Michael Twaits…and watch RVT socials for more acts to be announced. This will be a night packed with Kate songs from her biggest hits, to fan favourites, album tracks and b sides, this will be much more than The Whole Story…
PLEASE NOTE: This event will be a mix of seated and standing, first come first serve. If you have access questions please contact dave@vauxhalltavern.com. ALL BAGS AND COATS MUST BE CHECKED IN TO CLOAKROOM The RVT is an LGBTQ+ venue, please respect our space. No hen/stag parties. https://www.katebushnews.com/
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.
As copies of the new 50 Words For Snow (The Polar Edition) start arriving to fans who have ordered them, the promised blank Christmas card with a beautiful Snowflake design is indeed included in the package. In an unexpected development, we have also heard from at least a couple of lucky fans who have discovered a SIGNED card inside their copies, with Kate wishing them a Merry Christmas! What a lovely thing to do. We have no idea how many cards Kate signed, most are indeed blank. Read more about this new illustrated vinyl edition at our news story here. The cards are also available to purchase in packs of 5 at Kate’s site here. Photos below by Dave Cross.
Author Leah Kardos and her book Hounds of Love (33⅓ series)
We’re very happy that today sees the publication of a new book, Hounds Of Love by Leah Kardos. It is part of the long-running 33⅓ book series, described by NME as ‘A brilliant series … each one a work of real love.’ We love these slim paperbacks about significant albums in popular music history and it’s high time Kate’s legendary 1985 album was included – this is the first of Kate’s works to be featured in the 33⅓ series after The Dreaming by Ann Powers was shelved a few years back. The book is available from Amazon and all good bookshops everywhere. Rough Trade even have some copies signed by the author on pre-order here. We especially love the section where Leah discusses all the appearances of blackbirds in Kate’s oeuvre! A very nice little addition to any fans bookshelf.
Thanks to the lovely people at the publisher, Bloomsbury, we have three copies to give away to our lucky site visitors! Simply answer the following question: Which song on the most recent editions of Hounds of Love now appears in the original “Single Mix”? All you need to do is email your answer to sean@katebushnews.com – winners will be drawn randomly next Thursday, 21st November. Closing date for entries is 12pm midnight Wednesday 20th November.
Competition Rules: Competition starts November 14th 2024 and ends November 20th, 2024 at 23:59 (GMT). One entry per person. Multiple entries, the registration of multiple email addresses for one person and incomplete entries will result in disqualification. katebushnews.com is not responsible for the timeliness of delivery or electronic or computer malfunctions that may affect the delivery or content of entry. Winner will be selected in a random draw from all eligible entries on or about November 21st, 2024. Winner will be notified by email. If winner cannot be reached within 3 days of notification, an alternate winner will be selected. Odds of winning depend on number of eligible entries received. Prize is non-transferable and non-exchangeable. No substitution or cash equivalent will be made. All decisions of katebushnews.com is final. Winner should allow 6 weeks for delivery of prize.
Sam Liddicott reviews the book on his blog here, and Rolling Stone have published an excerpt from the book here.
From the Press Release:Hounds Of Love invites you to not only listen, but to cross the boundaries of sensory experience into realms of imagination and possibility. Side A spawned four Top 40 hit singles in the UK, ‘Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God)’, ‘Cloudbusting’, ‘Hounds of Love’ and ‘The Big Sky’, some of the best-loved and most enduring compositions in Bush’s catalogue. On side B, a hallucinatory seven-part song cycle called The Ninth Wave broke away from the pop conventions of the era by using strange and vivid production techniques that plunge the listener into the psychological centre of a near-death experience. Poised and accessible, yet still experimental and complex, with Hounds Of Love Bush mastered the art of her studio-based songcraft, finally achieving full control of her creative process. When it came out in 1985, she was only 27 years old.
Author Leah Kardos and her book Hounds of Love (33⅓ series)
This book charts the emergence of Kate Bush in the early-to-mid-1980s as a courageous experimentalist, a singularly expressive recording artist and a visionary music producer. Track-by-track commentaries focus on the experience of the album from the listener’s point of view, drawing attention to the art and craft of Bush’s songwriting, production and sound design. It considers the vast impact and influence that Hounds Of Love has had on music cultures and creative practices through the years, underlining the artist’s importance as a barrier-smashing, template-defying, business-smart, record-breaking, never compromising role model for artists everywhere.
Leah Kardos is a senior lecturer in music at Kingston University London, UK. She is the author of Blackstar Theory: The Last Works of David Bowie (Bloomsbury, 2022), which was included as one of The Wire’s ‘Best Books of 2022’. With thanks to Leah and to Mollie Broad at Bloomsbury.
In this episode of the Kate Bush Fan Podcast Seán is joined in Dublin by Irish songwriter and musician SJ McArdle to enjoy an in-depth discussion on how Kate’s love of Irish music and deep connection with the country of Ireland has infused so much of her work throughout her career. We discuss Kate’s Irish family connections, the famous Irish traditional musicians who Kate has worked with down the years, in particular the great Donal Lunny, and chew over the Irishness inherent in recordings like Army Dreamers, Night of the Swallow, Jig of Life, The Sensual World, Mná na hÉireann and many more! Archive clips featuring Kate, Del, John Carder Bush and Donal Lunny help to illustrate this fascinating and enduring aspect of Kate’s work.
SJ McArdle recording the podcast episode in Dublin with Seán
Listen to the wonderful music of Seán’s guest SJ McArdle at his Bandcamp page here: sjmcardle.bandcamp.com/ and more from SJ at his official site: sjmcardle.com/ [Piper photo: John Carder Bush]
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.
