One of the highlights of the new 180-page special 40th Anniversary Issue of HomeGround – The Kate Bush Magazine is a beautifully evocative and thought-provoking piece by HomeGround’s own Krys Fitzgerald-Morris which explores not just her own fan memories of decades immersed in Kate’s music but also how Kate’s legacy might be cherished and maintained for future generations… “the pleasure of walking through memories.” I think any Kate Bush fan reading this would find themselves moved, but also a little proud, excited and perhaps a little wistful too – I experienced a whole mix of emotions reading this. Entitled “Through Leaves”, Krys firstly writes about the excitement of the early days of HomeGround Magazine; visiting Kate’s wonderful parents, Robert and Hannah, at East Wickham Farm, organising fan events and conventions (all those fans in The Big Sky video shoot!) and actually starring as an extra in the video for Experiment IV along with Peter and Dave from HomeGround. She shares many personal memories, all so treasured.
Dave, Kate, Krys and Peter (and a half-hidden Del!) at the 1990 Kate Bush Club/HomeGround Convention
Krys writes: “Growing older brings things up sharp and close, like what happens to these special things of ours once we’re no longer here. For me it is these treasured cards and letters from Kate, and cards from her parents. Not only these but the letters, cards and manuscripts of prose and poetry from John (Carder Bush). These things have to be preserved for the future.”
To illustrate just how important this will become for Kate’s legacy and to future generations, Krys recounts her own deep dive over the years into the life and work of Vita Sackville-West (1892-1962), the English novelist, poet and journalist who is remembered for the celebrated garden at Sissinghurst created with her husband, Sir Harold Nicolson. Noting that many of Vita’s letters and manuscripts are housed in archives in the UK and USA, Krys describes a very memorable visit she made to Sissinghurst where she was given special access to Vita’s Writing Room (preserved as she left it after her death in 1962) – filled with treasures and mementos from the writer’s life and work. And so, inspired by this, Krys takes the reader on a visit to her imagined Kate Bush Museum, housed at East Wickham Farm, one hundred years from now in 2122. It’s quite something to read. Like I said, a whole mix of emotions for any fan!
Read Krys’s article, and many many others (including contributions from Paddy Bush and John Carder Bush) by getting your FREE download copy of the epic, new 134-page issue of HomeGround Magazine here!
Mojo Magazine in the UK have joined in the Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God) resurgence with a cover feature and “Kate Bush Companion” themed cover-mount CD. From the magazine’s site:
“Everyone’s talking about Kate Bush, but no one’s going as deep into Running Up That Hill, and its parent Hounds Of Love album, as MOJO. Collaborators, admirers and MOJO’s top writers tell the incredible story of her greatest record, and its resurrection.. This month’s covermount CD is Thunder In Our Hearts: a collection of music that inspired and sustained Kate Bush – including Roy Harper, Anne Briggs, Eberhard Weber and Billie Holiday – plus exquisite Kate Bush covers by Tracey Thorn and Nite Jewel.” The magazine is available by mail order here. CD tracklising:
Roy Harper – You (The Game Part II)
Zaine Griff – Flowers
Nite Jewel – Hounds of Love
Anne Briggs – Sovay
Ewan MacColl & A.L Lloyd – The Handsome Cabin Boy
Tracey Thorn – Under The Ivy
Youth & Gaudi – Bass Weapon
Thomas De Hartmann – Hartmann/Gurdjieff – The Bokhairian Dervish, Hadji Asvatz-Troov
Planxty – Smeceno Horo
Siobhan McKenna – Soliloquy of Molly Bloom
The King’s Singers – Tsintskaro
Eberhard Weber – Pendulum
Billie Holiday – Strange Fruit
London Symphony Orchestra – Delius – A Song of Summer
Mary O’Hara – My Lagan Love
As before, Mojo also have a special subscribers cover (unadorned with other text etc) and it looks beautiful with that gorgeous Hounds of Love photo by John Carder Bush. The covermount CD is really excellent and thoughtfully put together. You will hear Kate herself on the Zaine Griff and Roy Harper tracks. Well done, Mojo! Thanks to the Kate Bush Clippings page for the photos.
Well, of course we’ve been calling this the “Summer of Kate” here at www.katebushnews.com (for obvious reasons) but Down Under it’s nothing short of a glorious Winter of Kate as she today racks up an EIGHTH non-consecutive week at No.1 on the Australian ARIA singles chart! Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God) has also been a huge success in neighbouring New Zealand where she hasn’t left the Top 4 for the last 9 weeks and even enjoyed a fortnight at No.1 in June!Let’s take a quick look at how the single is doing everywhere now, over two months since Stranger Things sent Kate’s masterpiece song into the stratosphere…
[Note: Don’t miss news of a HomeGround/KateBushNews.com fan event in London in September – all details below!]
OFFICIAL CHARTS: USA: The chart situation in the world’s largest music market remains fascinating – this week Kate retains her highest ever singles chart position in America for the second week running on the Billboard Hot 100 at No.3! Kate’s song has now become not just a streaming/download phenomenon but also one of US radio’s biggest hits of the summer of 2022. As Billboard explains: “The ‘Stranger Things’ viral bump is finally starting to recede for Kate Bush’s resurrected hit, but radio is picking up the slack. Radio programmers continue to successfully test “Hill” in callout research, in which they play snippets of the song to listeners along with other potential playlist staples. Also, it’s unusually strong on several top radio formats, rising from No.5 to No.3 this week on the Alternative Airplay chart and from No.10 to No.8 on the Pop Airplay chart.” As one industry spokesperson told Billboard: “…the audience isn’t tired of this thing.” Kate is currently at No.4 on the Billboard Global 200 having topped that weekly chart of charts on three previous occasions. Billboard have all kinds of charts including Hot Songwriter and Producer charts, you can download the latest set of these here. Kate has enjoyed 4 weeks at No.1 on the Hot 100 Songwriters chart, and an astounding 9 weeks at No.1 on the Rock Songwriters chart and 8 weeks at No.1 on the Alternative Songwriters chart. Kate is also No.2 on several Billboard Producer charts also, having spent up to 5 weeks at No.1 on those.
OFFICIAL CHARTS:Ireland: Kate has today moved down to No.2 after an astounding SEVEN weeks at No.1 in her maternal homeland! Simply staggering Irish chart success. UK: Kate stays in the UK Top 10 for a TENTH week, remaining at No.9 in today’s new countdown – we remind ourselves that Wuthering Heights had a shorter stint, 7 weeks, in the Top 10 in Kate’s home country. Kate has enjoyed three weeks at No.1 in June with her second ever UK singles chart topper and anyone paying attention to her official site knows how she feels about that! Also, very significantly, Kate received an early birthday present on July 29th from the UK record industry when the BPI certified Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God) DOUBLE Platinum, with sales of the single in excess of 1.2 million copies! Wow.
Canada: Kate is at No.5 this week in the Canadian chart, down from No.3. She previously peaked at a Canadian chart career high of No.2 a few weeks ago. Germany: Kate remains at No.11 on the German singles chart this week. Kate reached a peak on the German chart at No.4 for three weeks in June. France: Kate is at No.15 in France, having peaked at No.3 for two weeks in June. Italy: Kate has spent 8 weeks inside the official Italian Top 40 peaking at No.18 in June. The Netherlands: Kate is at No.20 in the Dutch charts this week, having peaked at No.3 in June. Kate spent 6 weeks in the Dutch Top 10. Sweden: Kate has had a very impressive run in the official Swedish singles charts where she is currently at No.6. Kate peaked at No.1 in the chart in June and has remained in the Top 7 ever since! Norway: Kate is at No.20 on the official Norwegian chart this week and hasn’t left the Top 20 since she entered the chart at No.4 in June. Finland: Kate has now stayed 8 weeks in the official Finnish Singles Top 20, peaking at number 6 in early June. Denmark: Kate is at No.13 on the Danish singles chart and has spent 4 weeks in the Top 10 there, peaking at No.6. Austria: Kate is currently at No.8 in the Austrian chart and hasn’t left the Top 10 since June, peaking at No.3.
iTunes: Kate is today at an incredible No.2 on the Worldwide iTunes chart, having topped this chart three times previously. She is No.2 in Australia, No.2 in Canada, No. 5 in the USA, No.7 in Chile, No.7 in New Zealand, No.9 in France, No.12 in Norway and No.12 in the UK.
Spotify: Kate is at No.4 worldwide on Spotify right now having topped the weekly global chart three times. She is No.1 in Australia and the UK (Kate has been No.1 in the UK on Spotify for the last 8 weeks!), No.2 in Ireland, No.3 in Canada and also the USA, and No.4 in Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and No.5 in Switzerland. Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God) has been streamed almost 400 million times since the song featured on Stranger Things at the end of May, bringing the total on the platform to an incredible 540 million+ streams in total. And finally…
BIG NEWS – Fan event!!! From our own Dave Cross: “Hey kids, I’m thrilled to announce this special event at The Royal Vauxhall Tavern in London, England. HomeGround and KateBushNews.com present; A Deal with God – a celebration of Kate Bush, to raise money for Cabaret vs Cancer on Wednesday 7th September, doors at 7pm.
A gorgeous line up of amazing performers including Jonathan Paul Hellyer, Ginny Lemon, Sadie Sinner, The Songbird Sooz Kempner, Rose Garden with Phil Lawrence, A Fat Child and hosted by Michael Twaits with Pippa Dee Jorge, Veronica Maldonado and Simon Le Vans. Tickets are on sale now.“
From 7pm GMT time this evening, BBC2 television in the UK will be dedicating an entire evening of its schedule to her music and story, to celebrate Kate’s birthday today and indeed her incredible international chart success in Summer 2022!
Starting at 7pm, a programme celebrates Kate’s debut year, 1978, with many Top of the Pops performances from that year, including Wuthering Heights. Other great content includes the previously seen Kate at the BBC, full of wonderful performances 1978-1994, then the great 2014 documentary, The Kate Bush Story, her 1979 BBC TV special and Queens of Song at the BBC!
Happy birthday, Kate! At the start of this month your fans sent us in photos to celebrate your 3rd week at the top of the charts in the UK, but you can add many millions more beaming faces to those above now, who will all be wishing you a wonderful day today…and thanking you. In the year that you had the biggest (record-breaking!) global hit single of your career, the world watched on as you expressed your astonishment and happiness in the most humble and grateful terms imaginable. There is no-one in music like you. No-one. You richly deserve the planet re-discovering your incredible work in such huge numbers, and we hope that continues to delight you….it’ll be a better world for it. Have a great day with your loved ones, Kate! With love, Seán, Krys, Peter and Dave x
Youtube: Since Stranger Things 4 landed on May 27th, the Youtube views of Kate’s iconic, dance-based video for Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God) has sky-rocketed, almost 52 million views have now brought the total for the video (since Kate released it to her official Youtube channel in 2011) to 101 million+ views! It remains the most-watched music video right now in Australia, Ireland and the UK and is Top Ten in 10 other countries. Have YOU seen it? 😉
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Official Charts:Global: Kate has just landed her THIRD week (second in a row) at No.1 on the Billboard Global 200 chart. We can’t stress enough how major that is, the chart ranks songs based on streaming and sales activity culled from more than 200 territories around the world, as compiled by Luminate. Amazing. USA: In the US Kate has remained at No.4 on the Billboard Hot 100 for the second week running (third week in total at this peak) as airplay increases each day nationwide. This remains Kate’s highest ever singles chart position in the the USA, the world’s largest music market. Ireland: Kate has achieved her 5th consecutive week at No.1 in Ireland! Unbelievable. UK: Kate remains in the Top 5 in her home country, dropping two places to No.5, with the ACR chart rule now back in place for a second week, but here’s a chart fact that’s worth remembering: Kate has now, in 2022, matched her 7-week run in the UK Top Ten that she achieved with Wuthering Heights in 1978! If she remains in the Top Ten on Friday she’ll have beaten that career record. Astounding.
Australia: Kate has scored her 5th non-consecutive week at No.1 in Australia (she dropped to No.2 for one week at one point) in the week that Kate congratulated the Brisbane Pub Choir for their rousing performance of Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God). Canada: Kate has climbed back up to No.3 in the Canadian chart. Elsewhere on official charts, Kate is at No.7 in Germany, No. 2 in New Zealand, No.9 in France, No.24 in Italy, No.7 in Sweden, No.10 in Norway, No. 4 in Austria, No. 12 in Denmark, No.23 in Belgium, No. 3 in Switzerland, and No.9 in The Netherlands.
Spotify: Kate is enjoying her second week in a row (third in total) at No.1 the Global Weekly Songs chart on Spotify! An extraordinary success. Last week Kate had achieved 13 consecutive days at No.1 on the streaming giant’s daily global chart. Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God) has now had almost 441 million streams on Spotify, with a staggering 328 million of those since Stranger Things 4 arrived on May 27th. On Spotify today she has moved down to No.3 on the Global Daily Song chart, but remains No.1 in Australia, Canada, Estonia, Ireland, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and the USA. RUTH is No.2 in Belgium, Iceland, Latvia, United Kingdom, No.3 in Lithuania, Luxembourg, No.4 in Czech Republic, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland, No.5 in Bulgaria, No.6 in Austria, Cyprus, Israel, No.7 in Romania, No.8 in Hungary, No.9 in Germany, Poland and South Africa, No.10 in Singapore, No. 11 in Denmark, France, Netherlands, Norway, Philippines, Portugal, No.12 in Finland and No.14 in Malaysia.
iTunes store: The Whole Story is today No.1 in the Irish iTunes charts! On iTunes currently, Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God) is No. 1 in Australia, No.2 in Canada, Czech Republic and the USA, No.3 in New Zealand and Hungary, No.4 in France, Greece, Ireland and the UK, No.7 Brazil, Denmark and Mexico, and No.9 in the United Arab Emirates.
Apple Music: On Apple’s own Spotify streaming equivalent, Apple Music, Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God) is Top Ten in no less than 37 countries! Shazam: Kate is the No.1 most searched for song in the USA and No.2 worldwide having been No.1 for many weeks.
If you loved the gentle, orchestral version of Running Up That Hill that plays over the end credits of the Dear Billy episode of Stranger Things, a Variety article discusses the production of the “lullaby” orchestral / full choir version of Running Up That Hill by composer Rob Simonsen, heard over the end credits of Episode 4: Dear Billy. The article includes an Instagram clip (above) of the recordings taking place in Air Studios in London.
Finally, for the third re-print of the Kate Bush edition of their popular “Ultimate Music Guide” bookazines, Uncut Magazine has added a feature about the current success of Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God) and chat to Stranger Things Music Supervisor, Nora Felder, about how the song came to be used on the show. Nora was nominated for an Emmy this week for her work on the show. This third, updated, re-print of this bookazine is available to order here.
Kate Bush: The Ultimate Music Guide (3rd re-print)
John Carder Bush in HomeGround’s 40th Anniversary Issue
To celebrate HomeGround Magazine‘s 40th anniversary issue which has just been published, Kate’s brother, John Carder Bush, has contributed something very special indeed. He is offering readers access to his special site which offers a wonderful collection of videoed recitations of his favourite poems: Poems, Hats and a Beard. You can visit the site here and use the login HOMEGROUND with password FORTY.
Many, many years ago, I used to give live poetry readings with my two poet friends, Tony Buzan and Jeremy Cartland as the Salatticum Poets, and in more recent years, I used to entertain them both with recitations of my favourite poems when we met for dinner. Because both of them have now moved on to the Great Poetry Reading in the Sky, I decided I would carry on reciting, but to a wider audience.
John Carder Bush (2022)
John Carder Bush, also known as Jay, was born in 1944. He is Kate’s eldest brother. He is a respected photographer and writer. John’s poetry narration and backing vocals have been used on several of Kate’s albums. He headed the Kate Bush management team for twenty years and since her early childhood, and throughout her career, John has photographed Kate both candidly and professionally. His images have appeared on iconic album, single and magazine covers worldwide. John read from his own work between songs during the Tour Of Life performances in 1979 and also recorded a performance as part of Jig of Life for the Before the Dawn shows in 2014. In 2005 he published a novel, The Cellar Gang. He has published two stunning books of photographs of Kate; Cathyconsists of portraits of his sister taken during her childhood, and in 2015, Kate: Inside The Rainbow, a book of photographs of Kate from throughout her career.
Well, it’s a fantastic, uplifting, moment captured on video that’s had almost 100,000 views on Facebook and it’s probably about to have a lot more. Brisbane Pub Choir, in Australia, have caught Kate’s attention! As they describe it themselves: “What happens when 1600 strangers have a few drinks, then learn to sing Running Up That Hill in three-part harmony? Turn up the volume and find out! Singing is for EVERYBODY! Thank you to Kate Bush for writing this timeless tune and for letting Pub Choir sing it. We hope we did you proud. Feel like having a sing with us? Join us at the pub some time!”
Kate has just written her response directly to them:
Dear Brisbane Pub Choir,
I’ve been so busy that I’ve only just had the chance to watch you all singing RUTH. It’s utterly, utterly wonderful! I love it so much! Thank you everyone. You sing it really beautifully. I’m incredibly touched by your warmth and all your smiling faces. Thank you!
With lots of love,
Kate
The choir organisers were quick to express their delight on their Facebook page:
KATE BUSH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Cancel all your plans. Quit your job. Throw all your books in the bin. Just sit down a minute and get a load of this. Life as we know it is over, and this email is all that remains.
We really did that, Brisbane.
According to a report in The Brisbane Times choir maestro Astrid Jorgensen was about to go for a run on Thursday morning, “up that hill” as it happens, when she checked her email on her phone.
“There it was. A personal message from the zeitgeist-defining Bush. “I ran home pretty fast,” Jorgensen said. “When we sent off the request for the song, the response that we got back from the publishers was pretty much along the lines of ‘have a backup plan, because this is probably going to be a ‘no’ because she doesn’t approve requests very often for the use of her music’,” she said.
“Even getting the song felt like a massive deal, and I told the crowd that on the night. “I think everyone felt like that was really special for us, but yeah, this is obviously a pretty big icing on the cake.”
A brilliantly erratic chord structure and a chorus that comes out of nowhere makes Running Up That Hill a difficult song to master in 90 minutes, but that was exactly what the Brisbane crowd managed. “It is a really complex song and I think that’s why her music has been so interesting for so long,” Jorgensen said. “It’s not everyone’s cup of tea at all times, but it’s complex, it’s never boring.”
The song’s distinctive synth riff was replicated by a string section, courtesy of the Queensland chamber orchestra, Camerata. “The song itself is about a total breakdown of communication in a relationship and begging God to change places with the person so you can understand each other better, so I felt like that is a fairly big, heavy message,” Jorgensen said. “Strings are kind of similar to human voices in a spooky way, so it felt like a nice little extension of the choir.”
Paddy Bush has written for HomeGround’s 40th anniversary special issue
A highlight of the epic, new 134-page issue of HomeGround Magazine just published online to mark 40 years of publication, is the contributions to it by Kate’s two wonderful brothers; Paddy Bush and John Carder Bush. Paddy Bush has written a beautiful new piece for HomeGround readers, “Our Journeys Through Time” – a moving reminiscence of what music, and the connections made through it, have meant to him on his own journey through life. I’ll confess I had a lump in my throat as I read it – he talks so movingly about the days spent working on the recording of Army Dreamers in 1980 with Alan Murphy, Brian Bath and Kate.
It’s good to know you are still there and that we are in a time continuum with a life of its own. Music has transformed us and carried us through time together. My life still overflows in musical instruments, they are the time machines that take me to places I wouldn’t get to any other way.
Paddy Bush, 2022
As well as checking out the magazine (it’s a FREE download, all details here!) please be sure to watch the marvellous Celia Lowenstein documentary that Paddy made in Madagascar in 1998 – Like A God When He Plays – on Vimeo below. Paddy says just skip through the blank bits where the ads would have played! Paddy’s journey is indeed a spiritual quest as he finds delight and enlightenment pursuing his musical hero Rakotozafy, and the legends of the music which invigorated his life at a time of self-doubt. The programme features Justin Vali, the famed valiha player who performed on Kate’s tracks Eat The Music and The Red Shoes. A wonderful insight into the country of Madagascar and it’s people, the programme makes a powerful yet simple point: music connects us all and sets our souls to flight. We have wings….
Kate is this week back at No.1 on the formidable Billboard Global 200 singles chart, the one that covers the combined chart performances from around the whole world! She has knocked Harry Styles off the global top spot, the second time Kate has achieved this staggering feat with her song, and once again basically has “the biggest song in the world” as Billboard describe it themselves. In the USA today, thanks to ever-increasing American radio airplay and formidable download sales and streaming figures, Kate has climbed back up the US Charts to No.4, returning to her highest ever placing in the Billboard Hot 100! Can she climb even higher? This is her SIXTH week in the US Top Ten. Anecdotally, we are hearing from fans in the US that Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God) is being played everywhere.
Kate has also climbed back up several other national charts; to No.6 in The Netherlands, No.5 in Germany and No.2 in Switzerland. Tomorrow we will see if she has risen further in the Canadian charts and that incredible Billboard Global 200, where she is currently back up to No.3. See Friday’s news post for more current global chart news, including Kate at No.1 in Ireland and Australia for the 4th time in each country.
Spotify updates: The song is at No.1 globally on Spotify this week, and yet again on today’s Daily Global chart, her 13th time topping it! Also very significantly, Hounds of Love has climbed to No.7 on the Global Albums Weekly chart on the world’s largest streaming music platform! Spotify have launched a newly curated “This is Kate Bush” playlist (see it below) that features 50 tracks from throughout Kate’s career and could well help listeners explore other corners of Kate’s catalogue. Her monster hit just continues to astonish.
On her official website, Kate has graciously congratulated LF System who take over the No.1 position in the UK charts after Kate had a three week run at the top. The ACR rule now applies again to Kate’s track, so Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God) has to achieve twice as many streams as other songs to achieve the equivalent in converted sales, hence the drop to No.3 on the chart. Kate writes:
Many, many congratulations on the UK No. 1 single for LF SYSTEM. So many of you have loved the last two episodes of Stranger Things, released last Friday. We’ve received an overwhelming number of messages. I just want to say again, how very proud I am that RUTH has been included in the shows in some small way.
Thank you everyone for supporting RUTH with such positivity. It’s lovely to see the song continuing to do so well around the world – it’s just boomeranged back to No 1 in Australia! Hope you can get a chance to enjoy the arrival of summer. Best wishes, Kate
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Finally, something we haven’t linked here before was this solid hour-plus Youtube discussion about Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God) from the Produce Like a Pro Youtube channel. It includes chats with those involved in the song and Hounds of Love album, such as drummer Stuart Elliott, engineer Brian Tench and engineer Nick Launay (talking about his work on The Dreaming).
Last week Part Two of Stranger Things 4 landed on Netflix and continued to break viewing records for the streaming service. As expected, Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God) featured again in an epic scene in which all the characters in the show were pitted against almost insurmountable odds. An intense version of the song (called the TOTEM remix, from soundtrack composer duo Patrick Buchanan and David James Rosen) was used and is rapidly spreading across Youtube and beyond.
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As a result, Kate’s song has climbed BACK to the summit of many charts (not that she had slipped far at all!) and, briefly here’s the current chart picture:
Official charts: Kate is No.3 in the UK charts today, after having been No.1 for a staggering 3 weeks. Kate is No.1 again today in Ireland for the fourth week in a row! Kate is No.1 again in Australia for her 4th non-consecutive week at No.1 in that country. Kate is No. 2 in New Zealand. As radio airplay in America builds each week, Kate has climbed back up to No.6 in the US Billboard Hot 100. Kate has climbed back up to No.4 in the Canadian charts. Kate has climbed back up to No.3 on the Billboard Global 200 (which covers the whole world!). Elsewhere on Billboard Kate is enjoying her 5th consecutive week at the top of the Hot Alternative Songs chart.
iTunes:Kate is currently No.1 in the world on iTunes. Around the world, Kate is No.1 in Australia, Canada, Czech Republic, Hungary, Luxembourg, New Zealand and the United States, No.2. in Chile, France, Ireland and the United Kingdom, No.3 in Poland and Switzerland, No.4 in Mexico, No.5 in Brazil, No.6 in Belgium, No. 7 in Denmark, No.9 in Austria and No.10 in Norway, Poland and Spain.
Spotify: Kate has today once again reached No.1 in the Global Weekly Spotify chart. Always worth pointing out that, amazingly, this means that no other song was streamed more last week on the world’s biggest streaming music service. Kate is also today No.1 yet again on the Spotify Daily Global Chart, her 10th time on top of this chart now. Around the world she is still No.1 on Spotify in Australia, Canada, Estonia, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Saudi Arabia, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom and the United States and Top 10 in 22 other countries. Mind-blowing. Also, Babooshka has now passed 100 million streams on Spotify!
We had some lovely words of thanks to Kate from Stranger Things actress Sadie Sinkin this Vulture interview this week. “….The amount of times that I’ve listened to her music over the past two years is ridiculous. It’s gotten to the point where I feel like I’ve created her in my head. I need to reach out in some way. I would love to write her a letter or something, because she played such a big role in Max’s journey. I owe her so much. Okay, let’s get a message out to Kate right now. Sadie, what would you tell her? A giant thank you. Not only from me, but from the character of Max and from Stranger Things in general, because she’s added so much heart to the show and her music has made such an impact on season four. It’s so wonderful knowing she thought my scene had so much heart, because I think she really played the biggest role in that.”
Press: A great article in The Quietus by Matthew Lindsay recently is well worth a read. “This song once more finds itself dropping into a bitterly divided world. But in this world polarised by misunderstanding and division, it’s unsurprising that ‘Running Up That Hill”s searing pursuit of empathy and understanding still cuts so deep, and resonates so powerfully.”The Guardian have a wonderful feature in which stars discuss what Kate’s music means to them, including Brian Molko, Peaches, Sharon Van Etten, Mike Scott from The Waterboys and Russell Mael from Sparks.
Music producer Rick Beato shares with his 3 million Youtube followers exactly what it is about the song structure of Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God) that delivers such an emotional wallop. And yes, that D against E♭ dissonance is <chef’s kiss emoji>…
Director Taika Waititi claims today in an NME interview that at one point he was going to use Kate’s music in his newly released film Thor: Love and Thunder “…Yeah, there were a bunch of Kate Bush songs I wanted to have in there. We were gonna have ‘This Woman’s Work’, which was gonna be great for [a scene with] Natalie Portman’s character.”
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And to finish off this update two wonderful videos capturing the viral nature of Kate’s track and also how it has now been embraced worldwide as the anthem the world didn’t realise it needed right now; empathic, galvanising, hopeful, powerful, moving, comforting and renewing.
Korean outfit MayTree have an excellent a capella take
And, what happens when 1600 strangers in Australia have a few drinks, then learn to sing Running Up That Hill in 3 part harmony? Pub Choir joy. No wonder she’s been Number 1 there for four weeks!
The HomeGround/KateBushNews team are very pleased to be able to make available the Special 40th Anniversary Issue of HomeGround, The Kate Bush Magazine which has been bringing all the best from the Kate-speaking world since 1982.
Over 134 colour pages this special issue reviews the decade since the last print HomeGround in 2012, and brings the story up to date to these astonishing times for Kate fans, with special contributions from Kate’s brothers John Carder Bush and Paddy Bush, and some very special artwork from longtime principal HomeGround artist Debi Bowes, and also from Andrew Fry, Neil Sherriff, Madeleine Mitchell Rishton, and Sam Burton. Our special thanks to them.
The issue includes a major section on Kate’s Before the Dawn live shows in 2014, with appreciations of the shows from those who were there, and curious tales around the whole event.
Michael Mayell of Cloudbusting and Sue & Ian Crowther look at the growing area of Kate tribute bands and Dave interviews Sarah-Louise Young of the highly succesful West End Show An Evening Without Kate Bush. Seán and award-winning novelist Paul Burston cover that other important anniversary, 40 Years of Kate’s transcendental fourth album The Dreaming
There are special features on Kate’s lyric book How to be Invisible, and John Carder Bush’s essential Kate: Inside the Rainbow. Michael Byrne writes about how the beautiful Finding Kate came to be and Antonello Saeli tells us about his new novel, Aerie. Finally, we have a new substantial Kate Bibliography in which we try to cover all known Kate related publications.
Thomas Dunning writes about the new tracks and artists on the recent expansion of his classic Kate covers album I Wanna be Kate. Sharon, who veteran HomeGround readers will recall, and more recent fans share their Kate experiences, and some bring their creations. And there are paper dolls, poems, letters and a Kate Mastermind Quiz to test your Kate-related brain.
We must say thanks to everyone who sent in contributions. As is usual our problem was not finding material to put in, but what ultimately what to leave out. Perhaps, if everyone likes the idea there will another download HomeGround before too long and what we couldn’t use this time will find a place.
How do I get my free copy of HomeGround 80?
Option 1) PDF download! You can download this special issue of HomeGround HERE – this is a PDF document file that you can read on your computer, print out at home if you wish (check your colour ink supplies!) and it also has the added advantage of having clickable links (they’re in dark blue text or sometimes they are images you can click on in the margins) – these link out to websites, articles and videos etc – very handy!
Option 2) View online! You can read this special issue of HomeGround on any browser/device below as a flipbook. This is quite handy and we think you’ll only have to click away one pesky ad before enjoying your read. This version doesn’t have the active links that the PDF version above has. NB: We recommend that you view it FULLSCREEN. To open in Fullscreen click on the three dots on the top menu and select the Fullscreen option from the dropdown. You may need to close one brief advertisement when the magazine first opens. For iPads/tablets it may be better to use this direct link to view the magazine online. Rotating your device from portrait to landscape orientation will display the magazine in the recommended two page spread. Enjoy!
Kate’s fans celebrate with their Running Up That Hill singles!
Kate has reached No.1 for the THIRD week in a row in the UK! Amazing! To celebrate we asked Kate’s fans to send us photos of them holding their Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God) singles and you can see the large version of the image here. Thanks guys! Kate has also today scored her third consecutive week at No.1 in Ireland! And in Australia today Kate returned to No.1 after slipping to No.2 last week. So that’s three non-consecutive weeks at No.1 for her in Australia. Wow. Right, time to find some time to watch Part Two of Stranger Things season 4. What a summer!
Kate has posted on her site:
Still up on that Hill…
Whoooo Hoooo everybody! I just can’t believe it – No. 1 for the third week. We’re all so excited! In fact it’s all starting to feel a bit surreal.
I’ve just watched the last two episodes of Stranger Things and they’re just through the roof. No spoilers here, I promise. I’d only seen the scenes that directly involved the use of the track and so I didn’t know how the story would evolve or build. I was so delighted that the Duffer Brothers wanted to use RUTH for Max’s totem but now having seen the whole of this last series, I feel deeply honoured that the song was chosen to become a part of their roller coaster journey. I can’t imagine the amount of hard work that’s gone into making something on this scale. I am in awe. They’ve made something really spectacular.
I want to let you know about the amount of unofficial merchandise that’s out there. I haven’t seen it myself but I keep getting reports that there’s a huge amount: T-shirts, etc – some of which is very poor quality, some of which is pretty good and could be mistaken for being official. The only official merchandise is the already existing material that’s available through the official websites.
We hope you understand that we want to honour the energy that’s being generated by the audiences right now. An energy that feels very special, unique and quite frankly, bloody moving. Thanks very much everyone, Kate
The First Time Kate Was Running Up That Hill! In this new episode of the Kate Bush Fan Podcast, friends for over 50 years, Darrell (in the US), and Paul (in the UK), known as the Bush Telegraph, try and wrap their heads around the resurgence of Kate’s 1985 ‘Running Up That Hill’, and the global phenomenon it has become because of the new season of ‘Stranger Things’. Fans from the beginning, they often take us down memory lane. This time they open up the ‘time capsule’ of the release of ‘Running Up That Hill’ the first time it was unleashed to the world when they were teenagers themselves. What is their reaction to it getting to No. 1 in many countries throughout the world today?
We also get to hear how Darrell met Kate a week before it came out, and the extraordinary experience of being gifted the single before it was in the record shops! Also, how did Paul and Darrell meet her a week later? Let’s sit back and enjoy as we go back in time to 1985…
You can subscribe to the Kate Bush Fan Podcast on iTunes or Spotify or on any podcast app you happen to use, such as Stitcher or Tunein or listen below on Soundcloud.
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Our surreal early summer continues with Kate Bush EVERYWHERE. Let’s take another look at what’s happening with all things Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God) and Stranger Things. More of Kate’s music will be used in the hit Netflix show this coming Friday, July 1st, and we can only guess what the impact of this will have considering what’s been happening since Part 1 landed on May 27th. Thanks for all the lovely comments about the bumper Kate Bush Fan Podcast episode we put out last week to celebrate Kate’s global chart success. It felt important to mark the moment that way, speaking to many fans about all of this unexpected worldwide activity. You can hear it here and also listen out for an extra discussion on all things Running Up That Hill this week from Bush Telegraph.
Behind the scenes: Special effects used in THAT famous scene that featured Kate’s music
Stranger Things: While Part 1 of the current season of Stranger Things consisted of seven episodes, (you know, the ones that made Kate a global chart phenomenon) Part 2 is only two episodes long. However…those hoping to quickly binge it on Netflix (8am Friday morning GMT / midnight Thursday night PST) to find out how Kate’s music features, note that episode 8, “Papa“, runs for 1 hour 25 mins and the finale, episode 9, “The Piggyback“, is a whopping 2 hours 19 minutes long. So, two movies, essentially! Running up that duration length…
Following on from Kate’s great interview on BBC Radio 4 last week, you can now hear a short excerpt of myself, Seán, and Mandy Watson (singer with Cloudbusting) chat about Kate’s resurgence on BBC Radio 4 here on The Listening Project (it’s 13 mins into the programme). Our full unedited hour-long discussion will be archived permanently in the British Library as part of this project to capture everyday people talking about all kinds of topics. Speaking of Cloudbusting, the band played a polished rendition of Running Up That Hill on the popular This Morning programme on ITV in the UK today and Mandy had a friendly chat with hosts Philip Schofield and Holly Willoughby afterwards about all the Kate madness. More about the band here.
Cloudbusting perform Running Up That Hill on ITV’s This Morning programme
Some press articles of note: The Classic FM site posted a fascinating article that delves into the music theory on why Running Up That Hill is so amazing! Medium also discusses Kate’s inspired chord sequence in the song here and proposes that she started a major trend among film composers. As Kate celebrates a second week at No.1 in Ireland, The Irish Examiner looks at examples of her Irish roots here. In a lovely opinion piece in the same paper, Clodagh Finn writes:
“…it has also given us this glorious statistic: “Kate Bush is currently the youngest (19 with ‘Wuthering Heights’) and oldest (63, with ‘Running Up That Hill’) female artist to have a UK number one with a self-written song.” There is so much optimism in that single sentence. It tells the story of a supremely talented young woman whose creativity crashed through barriers in the male-dominated pop world of the 1980s, but it also shows that life goes on and, at 63, it is still possible to attract new audiences.“
Global Charts: Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God) is currently no. 4 in the Billboard Global 200 (her highest placing was that staggering No.1 feat two weeks ago). Kate is looking good (but not certain) for a THIRD week at No.1 in the UK charts based on what we’re seeing from her performance on the midweek charts, however Scottish DJ duo LF System have a rapidly rising viral hit on their hands at No.2. We’re still in shock that we’re captivated by the UK charts all over again! Exciting. Let’s see what happens, once again, we find out where Kate has placed in her home country at about 5.30pm on Friday – BBC Radio 1 will let us know first. The Whole Story has climbed to No.17 in the UK album chart. In the US Kate is enjoying her 3rd week at No.1 in the Billboard Hot Alternative Songs chart.
Kate enjoys her 3rd week topping the Alternative Songs Billboard chart
Official Charts: To recap, around the world on official charts, Kate is currently No. 1 in the UK, No. 1 in Ireland, No.2 in Australia (after two spectacular weeks on top), No.2 in New Zealand (also after having an astounding fortnight there at No.1), No. 10 in France (down from No.3), No. 4 in Germany, No. 9 in the USA (having reached 4 and then 5 in previous weeks), No.7 in Canada (down from No.2 last week as no less than FIVE new songs from Drake’s new album storm the Canadian Top 10), No.3 in Sweden (down from No.1), No. 2 in Switzerland (down from No.1), No.5 in Austria (down one from No.4).
iTunes: As I write Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God) is back at No.1 in the US iTunes charts, a position she has enjoyed and maintained many times over the past few weeks. She is No.5 on iTunes worldwide currently, No.2 in the UK, No. 1 in Australia, No.1 in Canada, No. 6 in Brazil, No.2 in France, No.9 in Germany, No.7 in Ireland, No.14 in Mexico, No.1 in New Zealand and No.9 in Switzerland.
Spotify: Kate is currently the #42 most listened to artist in the world on Spotify with 40,636,714 monthly listeners! In a Top 50 dominated by the likes of Ed Sheeran, Justin Bieber, Drake, The Weeknd, Taylor Swift, Dua Lipa and Post Malone, Kate has surpassed Queen at No.43, making her the current most streamed artist who started their music career in the 20th century. Unreal. Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God) continues it’s astonishing performance on the world’s largest streaming music platform. After over 4 weeks and 180 million+ streams it is No.3 on the weekly Top Songs Global chart AND also No.3 on the Daily Global Chart as I write this today. In national weekly charts she is No.1 in the UK, No.2 in Australia, Belgium, Ireland, New Zealand, Czech Republic, South Africa, Israel and Luxembourg, No.3 in Switzerland, Lithuania, Latvia, No.4 in France, Austria, United Arab, Emirates, No.5 in the USA, Germany, No.6 in Canada, Sweden and No.7 in Belgium. Dig deeper and you’ll find that Kate is No.31 in Pakistan, No.49 in Peru, No.34 in the Philippines…it goes on and on – check it all out here.
TikTok: There are now 1.93 million videos on this app featuring Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God). We’ll let that sink in for a while…
Youtube: Running Up That Hill is now by FAR the most viewed Kate video on the site with over 80 million views, and at this rate it is estimated that it could hit 100 million views by the end of July.
And finally, as we slowly try to drag ourselves out of the pandemic, the Most Wuthering Heights Day Ever events will be happening after a couple of years away and the Dublin, Ireland organisers have announced their event for Kate’s birthday, Saturday July 30th in Fairview Park. Get your red dresses and tights ready! A lot of fun, always.
