FEATURE:
Ran Tan Waltz
ART CREDIT: Noelle McClanahan Broughton
The Illustrated Kate Bush
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THE title of this feature…
doesn’t really mean too much really, but I am running out of song-based titles - and Ran Tan Waltz will play a part in something I want to discuss later. I have covered a few different areas regarding Kate Bush projects and stuff that needs to be on the market that is not there already. I have already written about a possible podcast before and I am also keen to explore a documentary somewhere down the line. There are definite gaps in the market that could be usefully filled, but one area that is a little under-represented is books. There are some great Kate Bush books around already; from Under the Ivy: The Life & Music of Kate Bush by Graeme Thomson, to John Carder Bush’s KATE: Inside the Rainbow – her brother’s unique and loving visual documentation of her young life and career. There has not been much in the way of new books for quite a while. I know there is at least one scheduled for early next year. Here are some more details regarding Kate Bush On Track: Every Album, Every Song:
“Kate Bush started her career at the top, the spellbinding 'Wuthering Heights' giving her a number one hit single with her first release. Yet from there, artistically at least, the only way has been up. For while the sales of both singles and albums over the five decades since have had their peaks and troughs, every new release has seen Bush refuse to be boxed in by past success but instead continue to take the musical chances that have characterised her career from day one.
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in a promotional photo taken during her visit to Holland in spring 1978
Across ten studio albums, including director's cut reassessments of two of them, and a live record of the 2014 Hammersmith Apollo residency, Kate Bush has constantly sought new ground, reinventing her sound time and again. She has often strayed from the commercial path of least resistance to examine the less travelled musical byways that have provided the inspiration for an extraordinary body of work, quite unlike anyone else's. With a string of platinum albums and hit singles to her credit, Kate's is a fascinating journey. This book examines her entire recorded catalogue from The Kick Inside through to Before The Dawn, hoovering up all the B-sides and the rarities along the way. It's a comprehensive guide to the extraordinary music of Kate Bush”.
Aside from that book coming out, I don’t think there is anything else planned at the moment. Max Browne was looking to release a book of photographs that he took of Bush during 1979’s The Tour of Life, and that would be fascinating to see if it ever comes to life. There were also plans for Gered Mankowitz to release a photobook, Symphony of You, around this time, but those plans were shelved – I am not sure whether it will ever see the light of day. A book of lyrics, How To Be Invisible, was published in 2018, and I think this is the most-recent book regarding Bush and her work.
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush during the Hounds of Love era in 1985
Nobody really knows what is going to happen next year regarding projects around Kate Bush and whether she will release music herself, but I am interested in both Bush’s visual side in addition to her magnificent work. I feel a lot of people do not know about the sheer depth and scope of her music and career. One can see a lot of great photos in books like KATE: Inside the Rainbow, and it provides snapshots and illustration of who she was and how her music and personality entwined and evolved. I really love that book, and I also really like Graeme Thomson’s biography, as it is authoritative and deep. One gets to learn a lot about Bush as a child and at every turn of her career, and there is enough on the market, in book form, that gives you really good detail and depth. One book that I really like is Visualizing the Beatles: A Complete Graphic History of the World's Favorite Band, which is wonderful in the way it mixes great visuals and brings The Beatles’ music to life. For example, we get to learn the types of guitars the band played, how their style changed through the years; there are quotes and lyrics sprinkled in. I think The Illustrated Kate Bush would be a useful compendium. Similar to the book about The Beatles, there could be illustrations that looks at every single and its chart position; the fabulous and rare tracks (like Ran Tan Waltz), and Bush’s appearances on T.V. through the years. There could be graphs and illustrations regarding her dates for The Tour of Life, the various famous faces who attended 2014’s Before the Dawn, and the visual breakdown of that show in 1979.
Also, similar to the book that is coming out each year, there could be this section regarding each album and a song-by-song guide that has illustrations that bring various lyrics and facts to life. I like the idea of putting in various lyrics and unseen photos. Record Collector is bringing out a special edition dedicated to Kate Bush next month that looks at her collectables and memorabilia, a look at every album and some unseen photos, so a lot might be covered then. I think there is plenty of scope for addition and expansion. Hounds of Love’s The Ninth Wave is such a cinematic piece, and I like the idea of a chapter charting those songs and illustrating each moment of that suite – in a similar way, one could also do that with Aerial’s A Sky of Honey, as it is similar epic and immersive. From memorabilia and chart records through to innovations and various musicians and singers she has worked with, bringing that to life through charts and illustrations would be easier to absorb and digest, I think, than a longer biography. There are album cover designs and photos with great stories behind them, so they could be illustrated and annotated. There are so many great Kate Bush interviews that could be charted and exposed.
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush during filming for The Line, the Cross and the Curve in 1993/PHOTO CREDIT: Guido Harari
I do think that the book coming out next year that explores every Bush album and track will be quite detailed but I wonder if, like Caroline Sullivan’s Madonna: Album by Album, there could be an integration of that idea in a Kate Bush book; in the sense that each album has a lot of story, detail and background – maybe the Kate Bush On Track: Every Album, Every Song will be great but not as comprehensive as possible. There is so much to explore when it comes to Bush’s long career, little-known details, biography, lyrics and so much more. Putting all that together in a hardback book that is beautiful and detailed, I think, would appeal to the fanbase and bring in new people – many discovering Bush and her music for the first time. This is another idea I am punting out there but, like a new podcast and a documentary, I do think that there is room and demand in the marketplace to have these out there! I look forward to the new book coming next year regarding her songs and albums – and how it explores them -, in addition to the much-anticipated Record Collector magazine that is arriving in December. I like what some magazines have done this year regarding Kate Bush’s music. MOJO ranked Bush’s best songs, and they also talked about her 1979 tour and residency in 2014. Another great aspect was the stories behind albums like Hounds of Love (1985) - and the terrific details laid out. Maybe The Illustrated Kate Bush could bring timelines to life and introduce great diagrams that includes all the pertinent date, but does it in a very captivating and easy-to-absorb manner. There are some great Kate Bush-related books that were published years ago worth seeking out such as Kate Bush: Complete Recordings Illustrated: Volume 1 (which is current out of print), but an up-to-date book that draws in everything fans want to know could, I feel, provide…
QUITE a popular addition.