FEATURE:
EMI vs. Fish People
Will Kate Bush’s First Three Studio Albums Ever Be Reissued?
___________
THERE are three reasons…
PHOTO CREDIT: Trinity Mirror/Mirrorpix/Alamy
as to why I am bringing up a subject I covered a couple of times. Revisionism and reissues is something some artists get involved with. I am going to bring in an article from 2011 soon that asked whether Kate Bush’s albums pre-The Dreaming will ever be reissued. When she remastered her studio albums and brought out unheard material in 2018, I guess that was a way of taking more control of her back catalogue - but also giving fans something they may not have heard. The greatest hits compilation, The Whole Story, is thirty-five in November. I think that, rather than another greatest hits compilations, perhaps reissuing those early albums would be a better idea. I am also thinking of holding a celebration of Kate Bush next year. 2022 marks forty-five years since The Kick Inside was recorded. It is also forty years since The Dreaming was released. Because of that, I have been thinking about her earlier albums and the fact there has not been a lot of revision. Bush, as she set up her Fish People label, has the rights and ownership of The Dreaming to modern-day. I also think that radio stations will never really break from their rigid playlists and limited exposure of Kate Bush’s music – just the singles and the songs that we all know. Having albums out with additional material and context might well compel them to explore her catalogue more thoroughly.
For every album, there would have been demos and material that was either cut or did not really make the grade. As I have said before, perhaps Bush feels that releasing music that was not meant to see the light of day is illogical. She will be able to resist any attempts at repackaging her post-1982 albums, though EMI will be able to have a little more say with albums prior to then. I am going to conclude in a bit. First, I wanted to pull in an article from Record Collector. Although there has been some revisionism since 2011, there has not been a lot of retrospection and reissuing regarding her studio albums:
“Which brings us to date. As Kate has now taken over the rights to her post-Dreaming albums and decided to reissue The Dreaming and Hounds Of Love in virtually unaltered form through her new Fish People label – Hounds Of Love will apparently feature the Special Single Mix of The Big Sky in lieu of the original, though we can’t be sure if this will be the remastered version overseen by EMI in 1997 – the likelihood of expanded editions of these albums seems minimal. We wonder if EMI might exercise their control over her pre-Dreaming work and go ahead with the expanded editions planned in 2000 independently of Kate’s approval. It would be wonderful to see editions of those early albums presented in the way that Universal recently handled The Cure’s back catalogue – each album offered in remastered form in carefully planned packaging with a bonus disc full of unreleased material from the relevant era and accompanied by a booklet of outtakes and notes.
As we’ve seen, there’s more than enough material for such a project. We haven’t even begun to touch on the wealth of Kate Bush video material that needs to be unearthed, preserved and presented to the public. All we can do is hope that Kate may soften to her past and to the whims of her fans and give the go-ahead for the vaults to be rifled. We live in hope”.
It is a shame that so much needs to be tied to anniversaries. 2023 marks forty-five years of The Kick Inside and Lionheart; Never for Ever turns forty-five in 2025. It is a long time to wait! I would love to see, next year, long-awaited expansions of those first three albums, with booklets, photos and maybe a two/three-vinyl package for each – there could be interviews and demos/rarer tracks combined. We did get to hear some of those lesser-heard cuts on the Remastered series (and on The Other Sides), though there is a lot left in the archives that have not seen the light of day. Another reason why I am thinking of it now is how the pandemic has been a time when more and more people have connected with Bush’s work. There might be a conflict and coming together if EMI decide to reissue expanded editions of The Kick Inside, Lionheart and Never for Ever without her permission. It is less likely Bush will put out reissues of her other albums. Ahead of The Whole Story’s anniversary, it would be a way to sort of clear the cupboards and that way there will be no need in the future to address the question. It comes down to how Bush feels about putting out material she was not completely happy with. I think EMI could release her first three albums without cashing in and being insensitive. So many fans would love to hear those albums alongside demos and B-sides. Alongside photos from the time and extras, it would help spark new interest in her music. At a time when radio stations only play the hits and many people do not dive deep, a few reissues would help address that. Putting out a few of her albums – or most of them – in a new vinyl package would be…
A real treat.