IT’S BEEN 4O YEARS! Kate’s extraordinary first tour, 1979’s Lionheart Tour, also known as the Tour of Life, kicked off 40 years ago this evening! Did you get to see one of the shows? Enjoy these stunning images from the tour by photographer Max Browne – see more of his work at this website here or email him for information: info@rockshots.co
Here’s a couple more images from the Rock Archive site:
As we celebrate 40 years of the Tour of Life today, we remember Bill Duffield, Kate’s lighting engineer, who sustained critical injuries in the Poole venue at the end of the night after the first date of the tour (a warm-up show on April 2nd 1979). Bill tragically died a week later. It’s lovely to think of Kate’s fans listening to her song Blow Away (for Bill) to remember him this evening x
UPDATE: APRIL FOOL! None of the story below is true…but like many of you, we sort of wish it was! Thanks for taking the joke in the spirit intended 🙂
It has been reported that Kate is among a group of 21 well known people in the UK arts world to be asked over the weekend to form an “extraordinary advisory commitee” to counsel the UK parliament in the current Brexit stalemate. Names from the world of music, film, literature and art, including JK Rowling, Danny Boyle, Kate Tempest, Stormzy, Ken Loach, Jeanette Winterson, Grayson Perry and Rita Ora are also believed to have been approached to form the advisory group which is to sit “with near immediate effect”.
The committee will be tasked with helping to formulate an agreed plan as the UK government continues to struggle to find any progress on the Brexit impasse. The extraordinary committee, part of a range of citizen’s assemblies being hurriedly created this week, may in fact be chaired by Kate, a source tells us. “The recent emphatic statement by Kate Bush rejecting any affiliation with the Conservative Party would seem to make her an ideal candidate to head up this committee with the aim of finally solving the Brexit matter once and for all.”
In this Bush Telegraph special episode of the podcast, Darrell and Paul have lots to say, as they go back nearly 40 years, reminiscing as school friends, the anticipation of the release of two more Kate singles in 1980, Babooshka and Army Dreamers…and how those songs match up today.
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 been almost 25 years…enjoy listening along with Seán as he re-visits the wonderfully unexpected surprise from 1994 that were Kate’s dazzling mini-musical-productions for the launch of Fruitopia on US television. He may even have unearthed one fans haven’t heard before! A lot of editing hard work, this one. “Hey, Hey, Juice!”
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.
From their website: “Our Album Of The Day is The Other Sides, Kate Bush‘s new collection of remixes, b-sides, rare tracks and covers, including the likes of Sexual Healing, Rocket Man and Candle In The Wind. Hear selections from the multi-disc set on air throughout Wednesday.”
Shaun Keaveny played Humming, Lauren Laverne played The Man I Love, Steve Lamacq played I’m Still Waiting – fantastic to hear Kate’s b-side from the 1989 This Woman’s Work single played on the BBC!
Kate has issued a NEW ad for the Kate Bush Remastered CD Collections which features some highlighted tracks from the remastered albums and from The Other Sides – the 4 CD set which is out in Ireland, the UK and Europe today! Order it here. It will be released in the rest of the world on March 22nd. Featuring Rocket Man, Humming, Under The Ivy, You Want Alchemy, The Man I Love and so many more brilliant 12″ mixes, b-sides, film tracks and covers, all freshly remastered. Wonderful.
In our latest episode of the Kate Bush Fan Podcast, Bush Telegraph duo, Paul and Darrell talk to Braden, a new generation Kate fan. Darrell met 19 year old Braden after noticing he had a Kate Bush t-shirt walking out of a health food store in San Francisco! Bush Telegraph also review Kate’s new book of lyrics ‘How To Be Invisible’, discovering some new gems.
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.
UPDATE: This book seems to have been delayed till September 2020, according to the Amazon listing.
Following on from the recent publication of his massive book of Kate photographs, Wow, photographer Gered Mankowitz is releasing an altogether more affordable collection of his iconic photos of Kate in September 2019. You can pre-order it here.
From the blurb: “Symphony of You is a complete celebration of Kate Bush – her music, her look, her impact, her creativity. Showcasing hundreds of Gered Mankowitz’s breathtaking photographs from the early years of Kate’s career, the majority of the images in this book have never been seen outside of the author’s own private works. The book also features essays from authors across a number of disciplines – from best-selling novelists and award-winning musicians to academics – offering their opinions on how Kate has shaped the cultural landscape. Symphony of You is a truly special collection, and a homage to a unique artist.”
Also in the works is a new book by photographer Max Browne, no publishing date yet. He took some great photos of Kate on her 1979 tour – see examples at his site here.
Kate releases her new 4 CD collection of rarities, The Other Sides, this Friday 8th March. She continues to add occasional notes about the included songs to her official site and has made the video of The Man I Love officially available today for the first time since 1994. You can pre-order The Other Sides here.
This romantic song was written by George and Ira Gershwin and when Larry Adler put an album together of their songs, called The Glory of Gershwin, he asked me to sing this beautiful song. The album was produced by George Martin. I was very fond of George – such a special talent and creative spirit, a really gentle man, very kind and incredibly interesting. It was a great honour to work with him and Larry. George and Larry were very different personalities ( Larry was a real character), but they made a great creative combination.
It was released as a single and Kevin Godley directed the video. I loved working with Kevin – so imaginative and great fun. I’d worked with him and Lol Creme when they directed the video for Peter Gabriel’s song, Don’t Give Up. Kevin chose to present the video in a very traditional way which suited the song extremely well. Godley and Creme are huge talents who left their mark not just in the music industry with their intelligence and wit in the band 10CC but also in the visual world with their groundbreaking videos, working with an impressive list of diverse artists.
This is the first time this video has officially been released since its original TV broadcast.
Seán says: I remember at the time of the single release seeing Larry Adler being interviewed on Sky News in which he fondly recalled the making of the video:
“When we made the video together, the one you just showed a bit of, I had gout in my foot, and whenever I had to go to my bedroom, Kate would escort me like a nurse, and I just was so charmed by her.”
In the run up to the March 8th release of Kate’s new 4 CD rarities selection, The Other Sides, she has been selecting tracks to write short anecdotal notes about on her official site. Having written about Rocket Man (see article here) she has turned her attention to Experiment IV (two versions of the track are in the set) and Under The Ivy.
About the Experiment IV video shoot in 1986, Kate writes:
This was written as an extra track for the compilation album The Whole Story and was released as the single. I was excited at the opportunity of directing the video and not having to appear in it other than in a minor role, especially as this song told a story that could be challenging to tell visually. I chose to film it in a very handsome old military hospital that was derelict at the time. It was a huge, labyrinthine hospital with incredibly long corridors, which was one reason for choosing it. Florence Nightingale had been involved in the design of the hospital. Not something she is well known for but she actually had a huge impact on hospital design that was pioneering and changed the way hospitals were designed from then on.
The video was an intense project and not a comfortable shoot, as you can imagine – a giant of a building, damp and full of shadows with no lighting or heating but it was like a dream to work with such a talented crew and cast with Dawn French, Hugh Laurie, Peter Vaughn and Richard Vernon in the starring roles. It was a strange and eerie feeling bringing parts of the hospital to life again. Not long after our work there it was converted into luxury apartments. I can imagine that some of those glamorous rooms have uninvited soldiers and nurses dropping by for a cup of tea and a hobnob.
We had to create a recording studio for the video, so tape machines and outboard gear were recruited from my recording studio and the mixing console was very kindly lent to us by Abbey Rd Studios. It was the desk the Beatles had used – me too, when we’d made the album Never For Ever in Studio Two. It was such a characterful desk that would’ve looked right at home in any vintage aircraft.
Although it was a tough shoot it was a lot of fun and everyone worked so hard for such long hours. I was really pleased with the result.
I needed a track to put on the B-Side of the single Running Up That Hill so I wrote this song really quickly. As it was just a simple piano/vocal, it was easy to record.
I performed a version of the song that was filmed at Abbey Rd Studios for a TV show which was popular at the time, called The Tube. It was hosted by Jools Holland and Paula Yates. I find Paula’s introduction to the song very touching.
It was filmed in Studio One at Abbey Rd. An enormous room used for recording large orchestras, choirs, film scores, etc. It has a vertiginously high ceiling and sometimes when I was working in Studio Two, a technician, who was a good friend, would take me up above the ceiling of Studio One. We had to climb through a hatch onto the catwalk where we would then crawl across and watch the orchestras working away, completely unaware of the couple of devils hovering in the clouds, way above their heads! I used to love doing this – the acoustics were heavenly at that scary height. We used to toy with the idea of bungee jumping from the hatch.
This is the first time this video has officially been released since its original TV broadcast.
A “vinyl walkway” of 21 of the most famous albums recorded at the Windmill Lane studio in Dublin was unveiled at the site of the original studio this week. It celebrates the musical history of the original docklands location of the recording studios. Kate’s Hounds of Love album sleeve is included as one of the classic albums featured. See Seán’s video clip at Windmill Lane above which shows the cover now part of the Dublin streetscape. The recording studios relocated in the early 90s to nearby Ringsend.
One installation is dedicated to the six U2 albums that include tracks recorded and mixed at the studios. The other displays the covers of 15 albums that were picked to reflect “the extraordinary breadth of acclaimed material created there over the studio’s 14 years at the location”. The album covers are embedded beneath perspex glass and set into the footpath. They will be lit so they can be viewed at night. Singer Máire Brennan from Clannad was there for the press unveiling and enthused about the fun, creative atmosphere at the studios in the 1980s.
Máire Brennan (Clannad) at the unveiling of the Windmill Lane vinyl walkway
Kate’s 4 CD remastered collection of rarities, b-sides, cover versions and 12″ mixes, The Other Sides, will be released separately on March 8th – you can pre-order it now. It has previously only been available in the Kate Bush Remastered Part 2 box set. Track-listing is the same as the box set discs. The same tracks are still available on the Remastered in Vinyl IV box set. PRE-ORDER “THE OTHER SIDES” HERE. Read more about Kate Bush Remasteredhere.
To promote the release, Kate has officially published the 1991 video for Rocket Man for the very first time. She writes about the song on her official site today:
Kate recalls:
I remember buying this when it came out as a single by Elton John. I couldn’t stop playing it – I loved it so much. Most artists in the mid seventies played guitar but Elton played piano and I dreamed of being able to play like him.
Years later in 1989, Elton and Bernie Taupin were putting together an album called Two Rooms, which was a collection of cover versions of their songs, each featuring a different singer. To my delight they asked me to be involved and I chose Rocket Man. They gave me complete creative control and although it was a bit daunting to be let loose on one of my favourite tracks ever, it was really exciting. I wanted to make it different from the original and thought it could be fun to turn it into a reggae version. It meant a great deal to me that they chose it to be the first single release from the album.
That meant I also had the chance to direct the video which I loved doing – making it a performance video, shot on black and white film, featuring all the musicians and… the Moon!
Alan Murphy played guitars on the track. He was a truly special musician and a very dear friend. Tragically, he died just before we made the video so he wasn’t able to be there with us but you’ll see his guitar was placed on an empty chair to show he was there in spirit.
This is the first time this video has officially been released since its original TV broadcast.
Disc: 1 – 12″ Mixes
1. Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God) [2018 Remaster]
2. The Big Sky (Meteorological Mix) [2018 Remaster]
3. Cloudbusting (The Organon Mix) [2018 Remaster]
4. Hounds Of Love (Alternative Mix) [2018 Remaster]
5. Experiment IV (Extended Mix) [2018 Remaster]
Disc: 2 – The Other Side 1
1. Walk Straight Down The Middle (2018 Remaster)
2. You Want Alchemy (2018 Remaster)
3. Be Kind To My Mistakes (2018 Remaster)
4. Lyra (2018 Remaster)
5. Under The Ivy (2018 Remaster)
6. Experiment IV (2018 Remaster)
7. Ne t’enfuis pas (2018 Remaster)
8. Un baiser d’enfant (2018 Remaster)
9. Burning Bridge (2018 Remaster)
10. Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God) [2012 Remix] [2018 Remaster]
Disc: 3 – The Other Side 2
1. Home for Christmas (2018 Remaster)
2. One Last Look Around The House Before We Go……. (2018 Remaster)
3. I’m Still Waiting (2018 Remaster)
4. Warm And Soothing (2018 Remaster)
5. Show A Little Devotion (2018 Remaster)
6. Passing Through Air (2018 Remaster)
7. Humming (2018 Remaster)
8. Ran Tan Waltz (2018 Remaster)
9. December Will Be Magic Again (2018 Remaster)
10. Wuthering Heights (Remix) [2018 Remaster]
Disc: 4 – In Others’ Words
1. Rocket Man (2018 Remaster)
2. Sexual Healing (2018 Remaster)
3. Mna Na Heireann (2018 Remaster)
4. My Lagan Love (2018 Remaster)
5. The Man I Love (2018 Remaster)
6. Brazil (Sam Lowry’s First Dream) [2018 Remaster]
7. The Handsome Cabin Boy (2018 Remaster)
8. Lord Of The Reedy River (2018 Remaster)
9. Candle In The Wind (2018 Remaster)
In our latest episode of the Kate Bush Fan Podcast, Darrell and Paul talk about being young teenagers, anticipating the release of Kate’s masterpiece ‘Breathing’ and attending the very first Kate Bush Club Convention. Only 300 attended and they were two of the youngest ones there! They also discuss the one-sided test pressing of ‘Breathing’ that has a unique etching on it as well as differences to the published single.
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.
So, while I was recording the podcast commentary for my The Line, The Cross & The Curve re-watch episode, I rather rushed through the credits section at the end and made an error which is worth pointing out! When the name “Laurie Borg” popped up, I mistakenly said that “she” was Kate’s foot double for some dancing shots. Laurie Borg is in fact a he and is now a highly regarded producer on TV shows such as Peaky Blinders and Black Mirror. He was First Assistant Director on Kate’s film in 1993. It was the similar sounding Lucy Burge whose name I was looking out for, but she is seemingly uncredited on the short film, as it happens.
Lucy is a dancer and choreographer and is currently directing movement for Hansel and Gretel at the Royal Opera House. She danced in productions with Rudolf Nureyev in the 1970s. Lindsay Kemp mentioned Lucy’s involvement in an interview about The Line, The Cross & The Curve with Dante Magazine in November 2016:
Lucy Burge
“When I arrived for the first meeting with Kate, she was staggering around en pointe in a pair of red toe shoes, which I really advised her against doing – it can be fun to dance on your toes but it can also be dangerous without the proper training. I brought in Lucy Burge, who was a ballerina with my company and had been a leading dancer with the Ballet Rambert. She helped with the choreography and she was Kate’s foot double, which I think nobody knows about.” So, apologies to Laurie and Lucy but it lead to a fun bit of research besides – Seán 🙂
Tribute band Cloudbusting are also doing their bit to help support the Crisis homelessness charity with an Ebay auction of a very special item. They write:
“On 17th February 2018 the UK based tribute band ‘Cloudbusting – The Music of Kate Bush’ performed a sold out concert at Islington Assembly Hall to celebrate exactly 40 years since the release of Kate Bush’s debut album The Kick Inside. They were joined on stage by a host of extra musicians and surprise guests including…
Preston Heyman: Drummer on the 1979 ‘Tour of Life’ & Christmas TV Special who went on to record in the Studio with Kate on the albums ‘Never for Ever’ and ‘The Dreaming’.
Stewart Avon Arnold: Dancer on the 1979 ‘Tour Of Life’ & Christmas TV Special who went on to appear in many of Kate’s videos including a featured role in ‘The Line, The Cross And The Curve’.
Del Palmer: Probably Kate’s longest serving and closest collaborator, Del began his involvement with Kate in 1977 as a member of the KT Bush band and has worked with her as a musician and recording engineer ever since. He played Bass Guitar on the 1979 ‘Tour Of Life’ & Christmas TV Special and the albums ‘Lionheart’, ‘Never For Ever’, ‘The Dreaming’, ‘Hounds Of Love’, ‘The Sensual World’, ‘Aerial’ and ’50 Words For Snow’.
He is also credited as an engineer on ‘Hounds Of Love’, ‘The Sensual World’,’The Red Shoes’, ‘Aerial’ and ’50 Words For Snow’.
Such was the demand for tickets for the show that they took the same production to the Wolverhampton Grand Theatre on 21st March 2018 for a final ‘encore’ performance. At this show all the performers including Del, Preston & Stewart signed a specially designed 22″ diameter Bass Drum head to commemorate the occasion. In light of the recent Kate Bush Remastered Pop-Up shop in aid of Crisis UK it has been decided to auction this unique piece of Kate Bush related memorabilia for the same charity. A glossy print of the picture of them signing the head will also be included.
For clarity, two matching bass drum heads were originally manufactured with the same design, one is owned by Cloudbusting and was used on the drum kit for live shows throughout 2018 (as shown in the picture), the other was not used and it is this one that was signed and is being auctioned in aid of Crisis UK.”
So, while I was recording the 
