FEATURE:
A Magical Kick…
The Thrill of Discovering Kate Bush’s Music
__________
I have been thinking about…
how Kate Bush is still being discovered by people. Whilst not as ubiquitous and well-known as some of the biggest artists ever, she is pretty famous. Not just confined to younger listener, I know of adults who were not aware of her music and have latched onto it. I don’t think it is the case that it is only new artists we discover when we become older. There are established artists who will have evaded us that come onto the radar. When it comes to Kate Bush, she was one of the first artists I found. I think I was about three or four when I saw a copy of the VHS greatest hits collection, The Whole Story. That came out in 1986; I may have seen it the following year. Compared to, say, The Beatles or another artist I found very young, there was this different thrill and sensation with Bush. I am taking things back to 1978 for this feature. I am currently writing about her 1982 album, The Dreaming, and will get back to that soon. Today, I wanted to spend a bit more time with her debut album, The Kick Inside. In fact, this is a more general appreciation of her. The first song I heard was Wuthering Heights. Her debut single, the unusualness and ghostly nature of the song meant that it hit me very hard as a child.
Not conventional or like anything else, it was a real pivotal moment! All my love and admiration for Kate Bush’s career can be traced back to that moment when I saw the video for Wuthering Heights. It would be a little while longer until I delved deeper into her catalogue. I am trying to think why Bush had a much bigger effect on me than other artists. Sure, the immense beauty of her and her music was alluring and striking. I think it is the flow and gymnastics of her voice; the beautiful composition and beguiling video for Wuthering Heights. After that, I heard The Kick Inside and found more of the same gorgeous and stunning music. Whilst the other twelve tracks on The Kick Inside do not have the same vocal styles and sounds as Wuthering Heights, it was definitely so unusual to me that it really lingered. Bush’s other albums have a similar impact. I am thinking about people who are finding Kate Bush now and what draws them in. With so much music out there, Kate Bush still stands out and sounds like nobody else. Everyone has a different reason for loving Kate Bush the first time they hear her, but there is this common response of real delight, surprise and excitement. An artist that has this depth, nuance and beauty that is almost impossible to define and explain, I can remember what I was feeling when I heard her music the first time back in around 1987. You get this sort of tingling and shiver that runs through you. Whereas other artists I heard around the time were great and I liked, Kate Bush’s songs (and especially Wuthering Heights) really compelled me to follow her closely.
In the summer, it will be forty-five years since she went into the studio to start recording the remaining songs for The Kick Inside (The Saxophone Song and The Man with the Child in His Eyes was recorded in 1975). As someone who writes a lot of features about Kate Bush, I think I have helped a few people find her music and connect more widely with it. More than that, so many people have found or reconnected with songs that they overlooked or have not heard for a while. As it has been a few years since I started writing about Bush, I wanted to think back to those early experiences and the sense of revelation. It stays with me still. I know there are very young people around the world not yet conscious of Bush’s music. I have said how I worry whether it is easy now to find her. I discovered her music through a physical format. That was cemented by radio. Now, are people handing down vinyl and is the discovery process the same in families as it was in decades past? However children and new listeners are finding Kate Bush, I know that the feeling they receive and how it makes them feel is similar to how I and people my age did years ago. It is the inexplicable and divine brilliance of Kate Bush that is unlike anything else! One of the most important moments in my music-discovering life, it came to mind recently, and I felt I had to write about it. It also makes me look to the future; not only in terms of how far her music will spread and the artists coming through who are influenced by her, but for Kate Bush herself. There are no definite plans for any albums, but I do hope that this is not it. As I say many times, one can never predict her or say what she will do next! If you know someone who has not heard Kate Bush before – whether they are a child or have somehow avoided her -, then spend some time introduction them to her wonder. There is no doubt that it…
WILL change their lives.