FEATURE:
Excites Me Silly
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in the studio in March 1978/PHOTO CREDIT: Mirrorpix
The Wonders of Early Exposure to the Gifts of Kate Bush’s Music and Potential
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A lot of people…
IMAGE CREDIT: Jay Noorman
are talking about Kate Bush now in the context of songs like Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God) and Hounds of Love (1985). A particular point of her career when she was established and she had just released – arguably – her very best work. That is great. Any conversation around Kate Bush is incredible and should be encouraged! Of course, many are looking ahead and seeing what might come from her next year. It is an interesting and busy time if you are a Kate Bush fan. Even though her most recent studio album was released twelve years ago now (50 Words for Snow), that does not mean she is irrelevant or lacks any modern influence. Quite the opposite! This year saw her inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Her streaming numbers have shot up and, with it, she has been introduced to a whole new generation of fans. Many exploring an artist they may not have heard before. What interests me is going back to the beginning. Well, almost. Think about her 1978 debut album, The Kick Inside, and being around her at the time. Nobody could predict where her career would go and the fact Kate Bush was still celebrated and hugely important in 2023! I like that mix of the modest and otherworldly. I mention this as, recently, a new edition of the Kate Bush Fan Podcast was with Andrew Powell. He produced her first two albums – The Kick Inside and the 1978 follow-up, Lionheart. Here is someone who has not done a lot of recent promotion. He is a crucial part of Kate Bush history:
“In this new episode of The Kate Bush Fan Podcast, Darrell, co-host of Bush Telegraph had the rare opportunity of chatting with Andrew Powell, producer and arranger of Kate’s first two iconic albums, The Kick Inside and Lionheart. Listen in as they discuss the very first time Powell met Cathy Bush as a 16 year old, and the songs they eventually chose and recorded together. We also get to hear how Kate’s vocal and piano playing with a live orchestra for ‘The Man With The Child In His Eyes’ was recorded all in one take – still at this incredibly young age.
Many new things are revealed and discussed. What David Bowie song did Kate cover when Powell worked with her in Japan? What songs did not get included on the published albums? And what was it like for Andrew Powell to hear ‘Wuthering Heights’ for the first time played by Kate in his flat? These questions and a whole lot more are revealed in this podcast with iconic producer, arranger, composer, conductor and musician, Andrew Powell”.
Go and listen to that episode in full. One thing that fascinates me is that we get these insights and new revelations regarding Kate Bush. Another recent episode of that fan podcast with Brian Bath (who played with Kate Bush and was a member of her band, the KT Bush Band in 1977) revealed some unheard audio. I have posted online how it is great that we hear new stuff after all of these years. I will end on why, in light of these new podcast episodes, how there could be excavation and new exploration of her earlier work. I know Kate Bush might not want rare songs, demos and other bits brought to the wider world. Even so, it is discussion-worthy and really interesting. There is this fresh burst of spotlighting around her early work. That 1977 to 1978 period that is deeply compelling. Imagine being Andrew Powell and hearing Wuthering Heights in Bush’s flat! Something most of us can only dream of, there is that balance of the modest/humble and something almost transcendental! You get to hear a song that would launch the career of one of the most influential artists ever. The teenage Kate Bush giving this exposure to a song like no other. It is not only Wuthering Heights and that incredible experience. Bush recording her vocal and piano in one take for The Man with the Child in His Eyes. That was done in 1975. A remarkable achievement for someone so young! There are a couple of things that I wanted to explore more. I shall come to Andrew Powell revealing songs that were not included on her albums.
I have written about it before, though I wanted to come back to those early days. Bush was an ambitious young artist who was definitely determined when she was recording The Kick Inside. Even so, she was inexperienced and would have been nervous at times. Considering how her career blossomed and what she achieved, how interesting it would have been watching her work. Hearing songs in their embryonic form. Listening to conversations where songs were being worked on and planned. I would pay anything to travel back in time and space and being around Kate Bush in 1977 and 1978! As intrigued as I am by her very earliest recordings, I think hearing that sonic revelation and kick that went into her debut is where I would go. Being in the studio when Wuthering Heights was recorded. People who were there got this incredible experience. Witnessing history in the making! With no other artists like her in the world, it must have been a beguiling and unique thing hearing this music take shape. There would have been a lot of sketches and ideas that never formed fully. Watching her mind work things out. This teenager exploring her own music and imagination. We now hear the recorded versions though, as The Kick Inside was being recorded, most people had not heard of Kate Bush or knew what she was about. Her friends, musicians, family and those around her had this special access. Getting to witness an exceptional and almost supernatural talent work! I always feel that the most interesting period of her career is those very early days. Getting the debut album done. Her passion and curiosity would have been at its peak. An exciting and hungry young woman who had been writing for years but this was her first time recording an album.
Among other things, producer Andrew Powell revealed on the Kate Bush Fan Podcast some songs that were recorded during the Lionheart period (in France) and never released. I always knew that Never for Ever was a song recorded but left alone because Bush did not like her vocal. It was intended for Lionheart rather than Never for Ever. I guess Bush liked the title and the idea, so that is why her third album was called Never for Ever (which boasted a few hugely impressive B-sides/rarities). Powell revealed how Bush loved his arrangement – and gave him a big hug! – but she did not like her singing. It is a shame as, by all accounts, it is a gorgeous song that is a lost classic! Powell was not sure what the song was about. You could hear regret at it not being used. Scares Me Silly (you can read the lyrics, and for other Cathy Demos tracks, here), which I always assumed was recorded during The Kick Inside’s sessions, was actually done for Lionheart. That never made it on. Perhaps Bush was curious of wanting her songs to be perfect and, if she was unsure or happy with anything, then it would not make it in. Dear Dead Days is another title that was mentioned. This modern discussion around some very early Kate Bush material. Andrew Powell has a recording of Never for Ever, so it is something that could be available. I’d like to think that a book or article will be written around songs that we have not heard and were considered for her first couple of albums. It gives is a greater insight into this young prodigy. Rather than them being scraps and songs she’d rather forget, I think they are parts of the puzzle and full picture. These minor gems that fans are really keen to hear. Whether that will happen or not I am not sure, though if they were ever brought to life, it would be amazing! Just think of what it was like being around Kate Bush when she was making her first moves. The intimacy that there would have been. People not quite knowing what would happen and how her music would connect with people. Thinking about it…
IS quite spine-tingling.