FEATURE:
All We Ever STILL Look For…
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in the studio of her brother, John Carder Bush, in 1977/PHOTO CREDIT: John Carder Bush
Kate Bush: Will We Get to See the Rarities and the Unheard?
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A subject that I have…
PHOTO CREDIT: Kate Bush News
covered and discussed before, I am briefly coming back to it, as a new edition of the Kate Bush Fan Podcast with Brian Bath. A second part has gone out. I was excited that Seán from The Kate Bush Fan Podcast got to talk with someone who has been in Kate Bush’s sphere since the start. A friend before she recorded her debut album, The Kick Inside, in 1977, there was this fascinating chat, plus the airing of some unheard and rare audio (Bush singing Bath's Dream Island). Here are some details about a conversation with a crucial part of Kate Bush’s music and history:
“A very special episode! Few people have more of an insight into Kate Bush's very earliest career and rise to fame than her bandmate and friend, the wonderful guitarist and songwriter, Brian Bath. In this episode of the Kate Bush Fan Podcast, Seán talks to Brian about his growing up in London in school bands with his friend Del Palmer, befriending and making music with a young Paddy Bush in 1970, visits to the Bush family home, forming bands with Vic King and Charlie Morgan and ultimately forming The KT Bush Band in 1977 with Del, Vic and Kate to briefly take the London pub and club scene by storm before Kate recorded her debut album! Historic stuff. And this is only Part One of our conversation! p.s. Listen out for some never-before-heard audio treats too”.
It is great that, in 2023, there is this ‘new’ Kate Bush audio. It got me thinking about rarities and unheard material that there must be out there. I love that period where the KT Bush Band were playing pubs and clubs in 1977 prior to Bush getting into the studio and recording her debut. Some of her very early recordings, Cathy Demos, was the young Bush at home on the piano. Many of the early songs were considered for her debut. I know that there is stuff out there that has not been cleaned up and remastered. One song, Scares Me Silly (But It Gets Me Going), is on YouTube. The audio quality is not great. I can imagine that there are live recordings from those KT Bush Band days. Some unfinished sketches or some demo-versioned songs that were considered for her studio albums that never got worked into anything much. I can imagine Kate Bush would not want to have stuff she considered to be poor or insufficient put out into the world. I understand that some of those very early recordings are something Bush wants to put distance between. I can imagine there are things in the archives from her studio albums that are yet to be unearthed. During quite intensity and long hours, there would have been other songs that were recorded but never released. When tapes were running, maybe some chatter or ideas being exchanged.
What we have received officially from Kate Bush through the years has been very clean, controlled and without huge surprise. She has released an album with B-sides and covers on it. We have not had a surprise moment when something truly unexpected has been issued. Either something visual like a documentary or songs that were recorded during the album sessions but not released. Kate Bush is private and does want to have a say on what goes out there. Even so, as she has just reissued her studio albums and is not averse to retrospection and repackaging, she must be aware that all fans would love to hear something ‘new’. No rush regarding an eleventh studio album, yet putting something into the world we have not heard would be massive. I am not sure what form that would take. As we approach Christmas, a treat from Bush would be a little glimpse into the vault! I know that there will be stuff set aside. Whether that is a demo or something unreleased she recorded for Never for Ever in 1980, a gold piece of audio from the Hounds of Love sessions in 1985 or if we go right back to 1977 or earlier, I have been thinking about what must be in her possession. Though we would all really love a new studio album, there will also be that curiosity around older material and clips that we have not heard. Not that she needs to raid her archive and give us everything! Fans’ loyalty definitely should translate into one or two recordings. I suppose we will never see documentary footage at all. Cameras were not in the studio when she was recording her albums, so we will never get that Beatles/Get Back-style release. You know there would have been some home recordings and some photos taken that we have not seen (but Bush might want to keep those personal and private).
PHOTO CREDIT: Kate Bush/Fish People
It is amazing that Brian Bath has been talking about Kate Bush and memories of working with her. I really love the fact that we have access to people from her past, at a time when Bush is posting messages on her website but there are no new interviews with her. Not that we should always look to her past though, aside from the studio albums, there is not a tonne from those periods that has been released. Still gaps out there. Certain songs and albums not available on streaming services. Songs that are rarities but are in poor state audio-wise. Even her videos, as I have said before, would warrant a 4K HD treatment. The Tour of Life’s visuals and audio does not really exist in a brilliant and clear format. No footage from 2014’s Before the Dawn. Some interviews and live performance with scratchy and grainy footage. Such an important artist, I do hope there is restoration and revelation to come. I am going to wrap it up now. We are all grateful to Kate Bush for the communication she has put out. The reissues; everything she has done and given us in 2023. I have no idea what next year holds, though wishing too hard for album eleven might leave us disappointed! I stand by that desire for rarities and something ‘between albums’ for fans. Stuff we have not heard but is something Kate Bush feels comfortable releasing into the world. There must be more than a few examples! As we look towards Christmas and the idea of gifts, though Kate Bush has provided more than a few treats, an annual message on her website together with an audio gem that is an exclusive from the archives…
WOULD be the best gift ever!