In this second episode of the Kate Bush Fan podcast we’ve had out this week in time for Christmas, the guys from Bush Telegraph, Paul and Darrell present: “2011 – The Year Of The Director’s Two Cuts!” Being the 10th anniversary of both ‘Director’s Cut’ and ’50 Words For Snow’, Bush Telegraph chat from either side of the Atlantic, and reminisce about their individual experiences of listening to the albums for the first time and their reviews of both albums. Kate surprised her fanbase by releasing two albums in one year, and although fans have divided opinions about these albums, they are solid works that fit perfectly in her prolific recording catalogue. Bush Telegraph wish everyone a safe and peaceful Christmas and New Year.
You can subscribe to the Kate Bush Fan Podcast on iTunes or on any podcast app you happen to use, such as Stitcher or Tunein or listen below on Soundcloud.
It’s always great to hear from Kate and this year she sends a lovely message to her fans, via her official site. Wishing you a lovely Christmas, Kate and yes, a happier 2022 for us all x
With nearly two years of Covid, are any of us the same people we were before? It’s left everyone confused and uncertain of the future. It’s been a terrible time of loss for so many. I want to say a big thank you to all the people on the front line and in the NHS. I have such huge respect for all the nurses and doctors who’ve already been working flat out for nearly two years. These caring people are showing such extraordinary acts of kindness to others. Let’s hope they get the pay rises they rightly deserve. I’d like to mention something that happened a few weeks ago on a walk; stopping to look at the view, I noticed something moving in a tree right beside me. It was a Goldcrest – the smallest bird in Europe, even smaller than a wren. I stood still, hoping not to frighten it away. Its colouring is beautiful – a peacock’s eye on each wing and a striking yellow streak on its tiny head. This gorgeous little ball of fluff flew away after ten minutes or so. I’ve only ever seen one once before and very briefly. It made my day. In these strange times, I really hope you can get the chance to stop for a moment and feel nature around you. Please stay safe. Wishing you a restful Christmas and hoping 2022 is a happier year for everyone . With love Kate
Michael Byrne, the co-creator of the new coffee table book, Finding Kate, which visually explores Kate’s songs is interviewed by Seán to discuss how the pandemic, and a successful Kickstarter campaign, lead to this stunning book being realised. You can find out more about ordering the book at www.findingkatebook.com. This is the first of two Kate Bush Fan podcast episodes we’ll have for you this week, so you’ll have plenty of KB chatter to have on in the background as you prepare for the holiday season!
You can subscribe to the Kate Bush Fan Podcast on iTunes or on any podcast app you happen to use, such as Stitcher or Tunein or listen below on Soundcloud.
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.
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.
Yes, we’ve been hearing snippets from Big Boi for years now about his work with Kate but it does indeed seem to be simply awaiting release at this point. He has given his most in-depth comments about this long-teased collaboration speaking to producer/DJ Mark Ronson on The Fader Uncovered podcast.
Speaking to Ronson about his various collaborators throughout the years, Big Boi said: “I have a monster hit with Kate Bush that I’m just holding.” Adding: “It’s a dream come true and the people are going to fucking love it. It’s fucking incredible.” Here’s the full transcript from that portion of the podcast episode:
Mark Ronson: Has that gotten any further, doing a record with Kate Bush? I know you’ve been putting it out into the ether for a minute.
Big Boi: I have a monster hit with Kate Bush that I’m just holding.
Are you serious?
I’m holding it. It’s a fucking monster.
So you’ve made music together.
Yes, we have. Yes, we did.
That’s fucking incredible.
Yeah, you get it here first, buddy. Yeah, it’s a dream come true and the people are going to fucking love it. It’s fucking incredible.
Oh my God. So how long did it take? Because you’ve been saying this for so long and you almost sound like you were trying to will it into the universe, just sending good energy. How long did it actually take for her to come back and be like, “Hey yeah, let’s do something,” or whatever? However Kate Bush talks.
Well, she’s a very, very, very classy lady, and when we were on the Outkast 20 tour, I got tickets, me and my wife, and we went to go see her show that she had, played the live shows. And so from there, I get invited backstage, we have some wine and we talk. And her kid is there, he’s about the same age as my kids, which is cool. And she signs an album for me and give me her number. So after that, about a year or so pass, and I told her I was coming back, I just said, “Hey, when can we do a song?” Just send her a text every now and then. I talked to her on the phone, “Hello. Hello. So lovely.” And so I came back and she’s like, “Let’s go to dinner.” So we went and she took me to dinner to this cool little pub place where I had almond cognac. And we was both throwing them back. It was the coolest experience.
So we had dinner and then we’re like okay. Her son was going off to college and she was just like, “Okay, I’m going to try to get to something when I get my studio set back up.” And so my manager, being the great, great manager he is, he reached out to her manager a couple years ago and was like, “Hey, we need to make this happen.” And I just so happened to have the right song that is fucking phenomenal, and sent it to her. And it had the words on there and she just had to sing the words. And then I wrote my verse and my boy Go Dreamer wrote her parts and wrote the hook. And it is incredible. It’s incredible.
Is it going to come in the next year? Is it just you’re going to hold on, whenever the universe, whenever it’s right?
Yeah, whenever I think they deserve it, I’m going to give it to them.
That is a big scoop you just gave us. Thank you very much.
Yeah, it’s a big scoop. And I’m going to tell you another thing too I was thinking too, because you know how these NFTs are supposed to be works of art, so I’m thinking maybe this is that perfect art piece to have something stunning visual to go along with it as an NFT, I’ll fucking blow the whole world up.
That will. Or you could just make only one copy, like the Wu-Tang album, pocket $30 million or something.
No, the world got to hear because it’s uplifting.
Of course.
It’s uplifting.
So that collaboration right there was the last piece of the puzzle?
That collaboration right there was the last piece of the puzzle.
Yeah.
You know what I mean? As far as my legacy goes. The only other person I wanted to work with would’ve been Bob Marley.
Yeah.
And I’ve worked with everybody that I wanted to work with now. You know what I mean?
Yeah.
And this one right here is special because I’ve been a fan of hers since I was in middle school. You know what I mean? She’s one of the reasons why I started doing music.
How did you discover her? Were you just listening to the radio or …?
No. Everybody got the weird old uncle, right?
Okay.
My mom’s brother, her younger brother, my uncle Russell, he turned me on to Prince. He turned me on to Genesis, Phil Collins, Guns and Roses. And he turned me on … He listened to everything, Michael Jackson and all that. And so he had this record player and he had Kate Bush and he would tell me the stories behind the songs. And I was just intrigued. You know what I mean?
Yeah, yeah.
Oh, this is deep. And then to find out that she was producing and writing all this stuff. And then she worked with Peter Gabriel and I love Peter Gabriel. I used to ride my bike to school, listening and running up that hill. Crazy as a boy. And now as a grown ass man with three kids and a grandson.
Oh, congratulations.
Yeah, man. For sure. Like God is good. I’m blessed and highly favored, man.
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.
Following the release last week of ABBA‘s first new studio album in 40 years, Voyage, BBC2 in the UK will be airing an evening of ABBA-themed programmes from 8pm on Saturday 13th November. At 11pm they will screen the 1979 TV special ABBA in Switzerland, which famously features Benny and Björn introducing Kate’s unforgettable performance of Wow, which sent the British popular press into a frenzy at the time. Warm congratulations to Anni-Frid, Agnetha, Benny and Björn on their wonderful new album and enduring success.
ABBA in 2021 – in their performance capture ABBAtar outfits!
Lise Gerrard, 30th July 1983 in Regent’s Park, London after having visited East Wickham Farm with gifts and cards for Kate’s birthday. Photo: Sky Boswell.
We are all reeling from the news that our friend, Kate Bush fan Lise Gerrard has died. A remarkable person, and passionate fan, Lise coped with mounting health issues for a number of years with great humour and determination. Two of her close friends and fellow Kate Bush fans, Paul and Sky, pay tribute below. We send our sincerest condolences out to her son Noah, her parents, her family and friends.
Lise Gerrard with Lindsay Kemp (centre) and Paul Thomas, Sept 2016
Paul Thomas: Mementos of Pleasure – a tribute to Lise Gerrard
There are advantages to being a hoarder. I would much rather hear “good job you kept that” instead of “what a shame you threw that out”. Our dear friend Lise has left behind a mountain of mementos for me. Old concert and train tickets, bundles of postcards and letters, all in her beautiful, distinctive handwriting, and hundreds and hundreds of photographs. Then there are all the gifts she bought me- vinyls, CDs, books, T shirts and Christmas tree decorations. These now serve as mementos of a special friendship that spanned 5 decades. I am so pleased I kept them all and when I look through them next I know memories will flood through my mind like a film projection.
Recounting all those wonderful times. The many nights out, parties, concerts, the photo-booths, getting the milk train after keeping each other awake at a London train station. Then there are all the memories connected to Kate Bush, who essentially was responsible for us knowing each other in the first place. Holding hands with each other whilst Kate performed “Breathing” live at a Comic Relief benefit gig in 1986, the visits to the farm and sharing tea with Kate and other members of the Bush family during the 80s (especially with Kate’s dear mother). And more recently, Guido Harari’s book launch where Lise was thrilled to meet Guido as well as one of her idols, Lindsay Kemp. There are many special people in my life that I may not have met if it wasn’t for Lise. She seemed to be a linchpin for many friendships. Lise was very well known and loved not just within the Kate Bush fan community but many other communities too, where she left her mark with her wit and kindness.
We met when we were teenagers, the age when we start discovering things about the world around us, thinking how grown up we are when in fact we were babies and so green about everything. Our friendship was built upon the love of the same music, primarily Kate but also Leonard Cohen, David Bowie, Joni Mitchell and more recently Father John Misty. We also had many other things in common, including a similar sense of humour and a love of animals. She was easy to talk to, compassionate, funny and so very kind, traits that have been inherited by her beloved son, Noah. I know she was loved by so many and leaves a huge hole in our lives but we should be grateful that we knew Lise, our crazy, beautiful friend. I am sure she feels this outpouring of love from wherever she is now.
Just one more thing, “Love you more” – I win.
Lise Gerrard with Sky Boswell
Sky Boswell: Lise was the most selfless person I ever knew. Despite her many challenges in recent years she never moaned about her lot, and endured with patience, grace and an extraordinarily resilient sense of humour. She was one of a core group of close friends who met and bonded over our shared love of Kate’s music in the early 1980s when, like the almost-children we still were, we all thought we would live forever. In her healthy times we shared so much fun and laughter and, thankfully, I have wonderful memories and lots of photos of her and of us together. She was an utterly unique and amazing person, incredibly witty and funny, strong, sincere, kind, generous and selfless. I can’t get my head around the fact that she has gone from this world. Goodnight, darling Lise. I will miss you so much but I’ll see you again some day.
Preston waiting on the set of the ‘Breathing’ video.
Paul and Darrell dive further into drummer Preston Heyman‘s collaboration with Kate. We find out how he first got to work with her on the 1979 tour, and their incredible meeting of minds. We also get some fascinating and humorous stories involving his work on her third album ‘Never For Ever’, as well as his experience on the filming of the ‘Breathing’ video.
You can subscribe to the Kate Bush Fan Podcast on iTunes or on any podcast app you happen to use, such as Stitcher or Tunein or listen below on Soundcloud.
An example of a double-page spread from ‘Finding Kate’
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!
We are very excited to tell you that the sold-out critically acclaimed Edinburgh Fringe sensation, ‘An Evening Without Kate Bush’ will tour the UK from the 4th September – 3rd December, 2021 and transfer to Soho Theatre, London, 7 – 26 February, 2022.
From the press release: “Over a career spanning five decades, Kate Bush has always attracted loyal and devoted followers. This mind-blowing show celebrates their stories.
★★★★ “Sarah-Louise Young has crafted a sweet and, by the end, communal exploration of what it means to be a maverick, and to be the person who likes mavericks. Much more of this woman’s work, please.” The Times
After its smash-hit sold-out Edinburgh run, critically acclaimed chaotic cabaret cult ‘An Evening Without Kate Bush’, made by Sarah-Louise Young and Russell Lucas, is to transfer to Soho Theatre, London from 7 – 26 February, 2022.
Uber-fan or Kate Bush newbie? Join performer Sarah-Louise Young to howl with ‘The Hounds of Love’ and dance on the moors with ‘Wuthering Heights’. Kate’s not there, but you are…Over a caerer spanning five decades, from releasing ‘Wuthering Heights’ at the age of 19 to selling out the Hammersmith Apollo nearly 40 years later, Kate Bush has always surprised and confounded her critics. Through it all, her fans have stayed strong. In this unique and mind-blowing show Young invites you to celebrate her ground-breaking music.
★★★★★ “Sarah-Louise Young delivers a true masterpiece that only she (and potentially Kate Bush) could pull off” Broadway Baby
★★★★★ “Sarah-Louise Young’s attention to detail and vocal styling is meticulous, but it’s her rapport with the audience that sets this show apart, reinventing the tribute act by turning it around and celebrating the fans too” The Stage
Sarah-Louise is an actress, writer, director and internationally renowned cabaret performer. She has appeared in the West End with Julie Madly Deeply, Fascinating Aïda, La Soirée and Olivier winning improvised musical group, The Showstoppers. Named one of Time Out’s Top 10 Cabaret Acts and voted Best Musical Variety Act in the London Cabaret Awards, she has also been nominated for an Offie and awarded The Stage Award for Acting. As well as mainstream success on television and radio, she has toured extensively, both in the UK and internationally, including three invitations to the prestigious Adelaide Cabaret Festival and a New York run. She is one half of writing and performing duo, Roulston & Young with whom she is currently creating a new musical, ‘Maxa, The Most Assassinated Woman In The World’. She recently directed Mark Farrelly in ‘Jarman’ and Paulus in ‘Looking For Me Friend, The Music Of Victoria Wood’ and is working with Russell Lucas on his new solo show, ’The Bobby Kennedy Experience’.
★★★★★ “A brilliant dissection of the diva’s genius, Sarah-Louise Young wows with a tribute to a true one-off” Attitude
★★★★★ “A masterclass” Musical Theatre Review
★★★★★ “This was one of the greatest hours of my life!”West End Wilma
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!
Wishing Kate a very happy birthday today! We hope you’re having a fantastic day and having lots of fun. Gives us a chance to say THANK YOU for being you and for giving us your wonderful music! xxx
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…
Fans get their hands on the limited edition in HMV stores in the UK
So, when the artist you love hasn’t released anything in a while, even a reissue on limited coloured vinyl can spark quite a lot of excitement. This was the case yesterday up and down the UK in HMV stores when the special vinyl release of Hounds of Love went on sale as part of the music chain’s centenary celebrations.
Stock was very limited in many stores, with a total of just 1,500 copies of this edition pressed up. Those who queued early (some as early as 6am!) were assured of their copy as HMV staff allocated stock to those queuing on a first come first served basis. Only 1 copy of Hounds of Love could be purchased per customer. There were 37 albums in total made available as part of this campaign, Kate’s being #4. This edition is the same as the 2018 Remastered version of Kate’s 1985 album, and a nice touch was the re-use of the original album font on the circular hype sticker on the shrink wrap. Some of the vinyl albums were available online on HMV’s site at 4pm on the day but sold out almost immediately, with as many as 100 copies showing up on Ebay straight away for inflated prices, something we unfortunately see happening with Record Store Day releases also.
HMV centenary edition vinyl colour variations
For fans and collectors this edition is somewhat unique in that no two copies of the disc will look the same. The unique marbled effect is the result of using various recycled materials available from other coloured vinyl runs. In this case, thanks to many fans posting images of their discs, we can see that the colours run from rich reds and plum colours to dark and light greys, with flecks and marbling of other shades running through. Did you manage to get one?
