FEATURE:
The Case of Wuthering Heights and a New Vocal
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in an outtake from The Whole Story shoot/PHOTO CREDIT: John Carder Bush
Kate Bush’s The Whole Story at Thirty-Five
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I am going to start with…
the album broadly before moving on to the case of Wuthering Heights. Turning thirty-five on 10th November, The Whole Story was the first greatest hits collection for Kate Bush. There had been The Single File of 1983. That was a collection of her singles that, whilst you can technically think of it as a greatest hits package, I don’t feel that was what it was marketed as. A collection of Bush’s music videos, the original U.K. version of Wuthering Heights was on that release. My first exposure of Kate Bush was the VHS of The Whole Story. I think, seeing her videos rather than hearing the music first, gave me a bigger hit and greater impression of her talent. That visual aspect was key. Before moving to a bit about Wuthering Heights, the Kate Bush Encyclopaedia gives some details regarding The Whole Story:
“The album was released on LP, CD, tape and - in 1998 - on Minidisc. The LP came in a gatefold sleeve.
A 180 gram vinyl edition was released by Simply Vinyl on 30 October 2000.
In 2005, a so-called 'mini LP replica' version was released on CD in Japan.
There was also a video version of 'The Whole Story', released on VHS video and Laserdisc, containing the videos for all the tracks, plus one bonus video: The Big Sky. A Video CD version was released a few years later, entitled The Whole Story '94.
Critical reception
Roger Holland in Sounds (UK): "Over the last nine years and five albums, Kate Bush (...) has matured into quite the most sensual, expressive, and creative artist this country can now boast". Colin Irwin, Melody Maker (UK): "This glorious retrospective collection... she's playing a high-risk game, and more often than not her irrepressible flair, her instinct for a hook, and her gift for unusual and gripping arrangements carry her through." John McReady, NME (UK): "More useful and more enjoyable than the constipated jangling of a hundred and one little lads with big mouths and even bigger clothes allowances. Such people are not worth a carrot. Meat or no meat, Kate Bush is streets ahead." Andy Strickland, Record Mirror (UK): "A monumental tribute to this craziest, coziest girl-next-door. (...) One of the most refreshing compilation LPs it would be possible to put together."
Kate about 'The Whole Story'
Yes, I was [against the release of a compilation album] at first. I was concerned that it would be like a "K-tel" record, a cheapo-compo with little thought behind it. It was the record company's decision, and I didn't mind as long as it was well put together. We put a lot of work into the packaging, trying to make it look tasteful, and carefully thought out the running order. And the response has been phenomenal - I'm amazed! (Kate Bush Club newsletter, Issue 22, December 1987)
It wasn't chronological because we wanted to have a running time that was equal on both sides, otherwise you get a bad pressing. In America, where I'm not very well known, they didn't realise it was a compilation! ('Love, Trust and Hitler'. Tracks (UK), November 1989)”.
I have written about The Whole Story a few times. I have not really focused too much on the new vocal that Bush recorded for Wuthering Heights in 1986. Then, she would have been about twenty-seven/twenty-eight. The original, for her debut album, The Kick Inside, was recorded when she was eighteen. The reasoning behind doing a new vocal for her greatest hits collection, I guess, was her putting a modern take on her best-known song. Her debut single, she wanted to give the song a womanlier take. The vocal for the original is higher-pitched and teenage. Perhaps feeling the track was a bit too immature or strange the first time around, the 1986 version is sort of similar - but there is a distinct difference in terms of the pace of the vocal. This is something that has split critics through the years. When singling out her number-one track in previous features, I have looked at the original and what it means. Watching the video on The Whole Story when I was a child means that the original is favourite and the one I recall fondly. I am not against the re-recorded vocal, though I think the original was flawless.
I have touched on this before. From Bush’s perspective, I feel she distanced herself slightly from her first couple of albums. The vocal on Wuthering Heights was an effect that she did to make it sound more ghostly and dramatic. Wanting to calm things down and put a slightly deeper vocal on the song, one can forgive that decision (and the original is always available). I wonder whether I would have had the same fascination with Wuthering Heights and Kate Bush if my first experience had been with that new vocal. Maybe not. I reckon there could have been a place on The Whole Story for both versions of Wuthering Heights. The 1978 original is so iconic, it did seem a little strange to put the new version on. I do like both versions. I just feel the original carries something extra in terms of beauty and power. I wonder whether, nearly thirty-five years since The Whole Story came out, Kate Bush would ever think about doing a new version of Wuthering Heights. A now-Bush recording the song would sound fascinating! I would urge people to go and listen to The Whole Story and see, by 1986, what a collection of awesome songs Bush had released1 Three is no doubting the importance of Wuthering Heights. Its vide opened my eyes and ears to an artist that is very important in my life. I have warmed more to the new vocal recording of the song. It has its strengths. The fact she did it at all means she knows how important the song is. She has affection for it but wanted it to sound more like her in 1986 than the teenage self of 1978. A happy thirty-fifth anniversary to The Whole Story on 10th November. Fans and critics have been divided since 1986 as to whether such a huge song sounded better originally or with a new vocal. To me, nothing can beat the spine-tingling version of Wuthering Heights…
FROM The Kick Inside.