Category: Books & Magazines Page 1 of 6

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.

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.

Prog Magazine have featured Kate on their cover many times over the last couple of decades and it’s nice to see an outtake from Jay Myrdal’s album cover shoot for The Kick Inside used here. This issue (no. 154) is on sale Friday 18th October and also features 4 postcards with images of Kate.

Prog have sent me some details of the cover feature: “This issue we explore Kate Bush’s wonderful debut album, 1978’s The Kick Inside: the album that birthed a phenomenon. Kate’s whole story is quite remarkable in itself, but with the help of people who were there at the time we look back to when it all started and how that fantastic debut came to be made. At the same time the cover story offers a rare insight into what this most remarkable of artists was really like in her early days.”

The Prog printed edition of Issue 154 will be available for purchase here from Friday 18th October. More details about Prog magazine can be found at their site. Thanks to editor Jerry Ewing for the info.

The June 2024 edition of Mojo Magazine (out in shops in the UK/Ireland next week or order the magazine online here) features Kate on the cover plus an 11-page article by writer Tom Doyle on Kate’s early years. “A deep dive into her early creative evolution. The demos, the pub gigs, the life-changing hit, the fight for control in the studio, on stage and in the camera’s eye. Plus: the tour that changed everything.” The cover shot, taken at Old Street Studios in London in 1979 by photographer Brian Aris, looks especially great on the black & white subscriber edition cover.

Tom is no stranger to writing about Kate, having recently published the very well-received ‘Running Up That Hill – 50 Visions of Kate Bush‘ book, and I’m told the piece even features a rare reminiscence about attending a KT Bush Band gig in Lewisham – always fascinating.

This issue is available for purchase online here. Read more about the issue contents at the Mojo site here.

Thanks to everyone who entered our Running Up That Hill: 50 Visions of Kate Bush book giveaway competition, we had hundreds of entries and the successful winner has been notified! As a thank you for your interest in the book (see our enthusiastic review here) the author, Tom Doyle, has decided to exclusively share an unpublished chapter (or “vision”) from the book. You can DOWNLOAD the chapter here (PDF format) or read it in full below. The book is published today and has already received glowing reviews from the likes of Mojo Magazine (4/5), Record Collector (4/5) and Uncut Magazine (9/10). Tom writes:

Hello folks,

So, my Kate book is out today. It was very much a labour of love for me, and quite some trip to write. I’ve never laughed or “twinkled” as often as I did when writing this book, so I very much hope you enjoy.

There was one “lost” chapter that ended up on the cutting-room floor. So, here it is as an exclusive for Kate Bush News.

Cheers,

Tom

Order “Running Up That Hill – 50 Visions of Kate Bush” on Amazon UK

A Celebration

Staging Kate Bush Tribute Shows, 2016-17

In the 1980s, for a generation of future musicians, Kate Bush’s 1986 hits collection, The Whole Story, was their portal into the world of her songs. Scottish singer Emma Pollock – of Glasgow indie rock band The Delgados, and a solo artist in her own right – was 15 years old when Bush’s singles collection was released. It made a huge impression on her.

            ‘It goes back to my mum introducing me to Kate Bush’s music in the late ‘70s,’ she says. ‘She adored “Wuthering Heights”. But I bought The Whole Story with my own Christmas money, and I just had an absolute love affair with that album.

‘For kids, compilations are amazing, because they provide a point of access, and you don’t have to grapple with the artist’s song choices when it comes to an album, and how they might be slightly difficult for a kid. I think compilations hit the sweet spot for someone who suspects they’re a fan but kind of needs it confirmed.’

Similarly, in Sunderland, brothers Peter and David Brewis, later to combine their vocal and multi-instrumentalist talents in their art rock band Field Music, were surrounded by Kate Bush’s songs at home when they were kids.

‘I was only six or seven,’ says David. ‘But I intrinsically knew all of the songs on The Whole Story. And I probably knew all the songs on the first side of Hounds of Love. But I don’t think you understand the second side until you’ve passed eight years old (laughs).’

‘Growing up, Kate Bush was just part of the musical fabric of the household,’ says Peter, by four years the elder brother. ‘Those records were just around all the time. And they definitely became part of my idea about what music is meant to be. It’s the idea of this synthesis of various things to create your own music.’

In 2016, Emma Pollock was approached by the organisers of the True North music festival in Aberdeen with the idea of her staging a show involving a line-up of guest singers exploring the music of Joni Mitchell. ‘Even though I love Joni Mitchell, I actually wanted to do Kate Bush,’ she says. ‘So, I kind of countered with that. And they said, ‘Yeah, sounds great.’”

Read More

Yes, we all adore our immense HomeGround Anthology books and swoon at John Carder Bush’s essential Kate: Inside the Rainbow but the prospect of another more traditional biography of Kate might not exactly excite longtime fans – a quick glance at my own bookshelf here confirms that there have indeed been many, many attempts over the years to tell the story of Kate’s career in book-form with varying degrees of success; Graeme Thomson’s twice-revised Under The Ivy being far and away the best of the bunch. So, when we heard this Summer that a new book by respected British music journalist Tom Doyle would be surfacing with the title “Running Up that Hill – 50 Visions of Kate Bush” and that it would take the form of a “mosaic biography”, it did at first sound like it might be a tired, cobbled together clippings rehash to cash-in on Kate’s phenomenal global hit single this year – thankfully, this is not the case.

[Pre-order “Running Up That Hill – 50 Visions of Kate Bush” on Amazon UK]

Instead, this excellent book, published on October 27th, is easily one of the best yet written about Kate’s career – surprisingly refreshing, full of new details and insights, and earnestly crafted with obvious respect and serious admiration for the subject matter without ever leaning into all-out hagiography. As with Graeme Thomson’s lauded biography, you come away with the feeling that Doyle “gets it” and clearly enjoyed shining a light on many carefully chosen aspects of Kate’s output over the years. As a writer for Mojo Magazine, Doyle was granted a very significant exclusive in 2005, spending a day with Kate at her home to conduct what would be the first and most in-depth interview she would do to promote her return with the Aerial album. Little wonder that he uses much unpublished detail from this charming encounter to form the spine of his book structure.

Presented as 50 chapters or “visions”, the traditional chronological biography approach is (sensibly) still present, but the “multi-faceted” aspect highlighted in the book publicity has freed up the author to include “Guest Testimony” chapters (with new contributions from the likes of David Gilmour, writer Ian Rankin and photographer Guido Harari) as well as dipping into interviews and transcribed TV appearances and much fascinating fresh interview material; Kate’s brother John Carder Bush describes his unforgettable Rackham-inspired photography of a young Kate that would be included in his Cathy book. Gilmour’s fresh account of the recording of the demos in the 1970s is riveting stuff. Video directors Paul Henry and Julian Doyle discuss the making of the videos for The Dreaming (shot in a day), There Goes a Tenner and the iconic Cloudbusting film. There’s even an unexpectedly welcome exploration with Utah Saints about their dance smash Something Good in 1992. I was very pleased to see Doyle allowing his “visions” structure to devote entire chapters to some of Kate’s artistic peaks; Pull Out The Pin, Under The Ivy, Moments of Pleasure, A Coral Room and the filmed And Dream of Sheep are among those duly given this special spotlight treatment.

Throughout, Doyle writes wonderfully about his subject matter, describing the Kate Bush he met as “steely, gently controlling, painfully self-critical, and also the first person to happily puncture the reverential bubble that surrounds her.” In his introductory chapter he states that his book is: “…designed to be a multifaceted portrait of Kate Bush: illuminating from fifty different angles the girl who lived in her imagination, reluctantly became famous because of it, then had to deal with unwanted outside forces, before battling on and emerging triumphant, to become one of the most groundbreaking, idiosyncratic and singular artists of our time.” Highly recommended.

[Pre-order “Running Up That Hill – 50 Visions of Kate Bush” on Amazon UK]

COMPETITON TIME! The lovely people at Bonnier / Nine Eight Books have given us a copy of Running Up That Hill – 50 Visions of Kate Bush to give away! To be in with a chance, just answer the following question:

Who introduced Kate’s only ever TV performance of Under The Ivy in April 1986?

Please send your answer to 50visions@katebushnews.com – if you are successful we will then be in touch by email to get your details for getting the book to you. The competition runs till the end of Wednesday October 26th at which point the random draw will be made. Good luck!

COMPETITION RULES: COMPETITION STARTS OCTOBER 20TH 2022 AND ENDS OCTOBER 26TH, 2022 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 OCTOBER 27TH, 2022. 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.

[Pre-order “Running Up That Hill – 50 Visions of Kate Bush” on Amazon UK]

I had the pleasure this afternoon of meeting up on Howth Head, Dublin, with Michael Byrne and Marius Herbert, the two gifted Irish creatives behind Finding Kate, an illustrated journey through five decades of the music of Kate Bush – a truly stunning coffee table book project that we’ve followed on the site here from its successful Kickstarter campaign through development and now, finally ready to ship put around the world from Monday. It was a joy to leaf through the pages of the book and talk through this impressive piece of work with its clearly relieved and delighted creators. As promised, the book is a visual feast, illustrating twenty six of Kate’s songs across sumptuous double-page spreads. The songs have been chosen by Michael, a major Kate Bush fan (it shows!) who writes beautifully about each song’s significance in Kate’s career and what they mean to him.

** Purchase your copy of Finding Kate here**

The unexpectedly generous introduction sections by Michael throughout constitute a wonderful, concise synopsis of Kate’s recording career, so there’s plenty of great reading here for both casual and more hardcore fans of Kate. But, this large LP-sized book is intended to be a visual feast and Marius has produced some breathtaking images filled with detail and touches that were agonised over for months between the pair – a honeybee flies across the pages from a near psychedelic explosion of Kate in colourful nature imagery (and a familiar yellow sun-design) for Delius, a floating, angel-winged electric guitar poignantly reflects the departed musicians name-checked in Blow Away (for Bill), a water-submerged Kate simultaneously floats, dreamlike, above the planet for Hello Earth, an Irish dancer’s feet captured in whirling mid-step on a flagstone floor for Jig of Life, four glorious pages devoted to A Sky of Honey where the crimson, red and rust of golden hour transform a female figure into an explosion of feathered wings and avian friends, soaring skyward…and so many, many more surprising visuals. The book can be ordered now for €39.95 per copy PLUS cost of delivery, and ships worldwide from Monday.

** Purchase your copy of Finding Kate here**

** Purchase your copy of Finding Kate here**

Italian writer, Antonello Saeli, has written an unusual English-language novel, ‘Aerie‘, that should be very interesting for Kate’s fans. It tells the story of singer Neve Rever, who is ready to come back to the music scene after a very long absence, with a new double album called ‘Aerie’ and a live show. And then her precious diary is stolen from her…

The book is littered from the start with references to Kate’s work (the name ‘Neve Rever’ should already be sounding familiar…) and because Antonello has previously had creative collaborations with the likes of Del Palmer and John Carder Bush you will see that he is indeed steeped in the lore and meaning behind the music we love. You can order your copy of “Aerie” here.

If you’ve been following the progress of this luxury coffee table book project by two Irish designers, you will know that it achieved and surpassed its funding goal on Kickstarter earlier this year. This beautifully crafted book is now taking preorders on the newly launched www.findingkatebook.com site. The book is on schedule to reach their original publishing target, printing on Oct 30th and beginning distribution on Nov 30th 2021. Pre-orders before Sept 30th also get a free set of high quality postcards – see below. We’ve been publishing a few sneak peeks of the project this year but you’ll see more over on the book site. Well done to Michael and Marius (both genuine Kate fans) on getting this far!

French Kate Bush fans may like to know that a new magazine, Les Légendes Du Rock N° 8 (similar to Classic Rock in the UK) is out in newsagents there now with Kate on the cover and an article about the 1979 tour. It can be ordered online here (French language website). Thanks, Tristan!

Our friend Antonello tells us: “A very beautiful book featuring some of Kate’s record covers has been recently published. The book is called ‘Cover Stories’ and it includes hundreds of photos of record covers that were made by Bill Smith Studio. The book is truly beautiful. High quality and definitely recommended.” Thanks, Antonello!

This 12-inch square book features original album art produced by Bill Smith Studio and the stories behind them. Across five decades Bill Smith Studio worked with more than 200 bands and artists, creating hundreds of album covers, singles bags, and CD covers. This design house worked with Kate for her album and single releases from 1985-1990 and included sleeves for singles like Running Up That Hill, Cloudbusting, Hounds of Love, The Big Sky, Experiment IV, The Sensual World, This Woman’s Work and Love and Anger, and for the albums Hounds of Love, The Whole Story, The Sensual World and the 1990 This Woman’s Work box set. The book can be ordered here.

We got a call one afternoon from Steve Davis, the Head of Marketing at EMI, he asked us if we would like to work on the next Kate Bush album, Hounds of Love. This would have been around April/May of ’85 and it was full steam ahead from that phone call on. We attended several meetings with Kate and EMI to discuss the cover concept. We must have produced more visuals for that project than just about any other. This was pre-Mac, everything by hand with finished visuals using colour photo prints and rub-down transfers for type etc … working with Kate was always a joy, she had the whole picture in her head for each project, the photos were normally ready for us to work from, we’d discuss ideas on layout and typography and then she would let us get on with it…

Bill SMith 2021