FEATURE:
Running Up That Hill
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush promoting Hounds of Love at the London Planetarium on 9th September, 1985/PHOTO CREDIT: Dave Hogan/Getty Images
Why Kate Bush Finally Deserves a Place in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
_________
AWARDS aren’t everything…
PHOTO CREDIT: Guido Harari
and being inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, to some, is irrelevant. This year’s field is incredibly strong. In years where there have been one or two suspect choices, this year is the most remarkable for a very long time. Recognising artists across various genres who have made an impact and proved to be hugely influential, it is a way of recognising those who have made a difference. I know that, when the nominees was announced yesterday (1st February), many sniffed and felt that a corporate American body like this was worthless. Why would it matter if an artist was included or not?! With A Tribe Called Quest, The White Stripes, and Missy Elliott in the running, it is going to be tough predicting who will make it in. Pitchfork had their say on the 2023 nominees:
“The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced its 2023 nominees today, and they were surprising in a good way. Most of the nods went to artists who have never appeared on the ballot before: Missy Elliott, the White Stripes, Cyndi Lauper, George Michael, Willie Nelson, Sheryl Crow, Warren Zevon, and, in a rare combo, Joy Division/New Order. Kate Bush has already been nominated three times without being voted in (shameful!) but she’s clearly a shoo-in this year with her “Running Up That Hill” redemption arc. And A Tribe Called Quest are on the ballot once more, after not making it into the Hall last year (also shameful!).
There must be a Gen-X faction of the nominating committee that keeps trying to make Rage Against the Machine happen, because this year’s nom marks their fifth time at bat. (Related: Soundgarden are nominated for a second time.) I see the logic: Rage are the only band to make political rap-rock sound fun, you know? Meanwhile, Philly Soul and Motown legends the Spinners are nominated for the fourth time since 2012. Also: Iron Maiden are longlisted for a second time, as a little treat for the metalheads.
As for those exciting first-timers: Somebody must have marked their calendar long ago, counting down the days until Jack White would be eligible, ready to anoint their next International Ambassador of Rock, a la Dave Grohl, because the White Stripes’ first single—a home-recorded 7-inch of “Let’s Shake Hands” with a Marlene Dietrich cover as the B-side—was released in the first few months of 1998. This follows the Rock Hall rules, which states that an artist can be inducted 25 years after their first record—but you kinda have to do the math: The inductees are typically announced in the spring, with a ceremony happening months after that (last year the ceremony was held in November, other years it has been earlier). By this logic, Missy Elliott, whose groundbreaking debut Supa Dupa Fly was released in July of 1997, would have technically been in the clear for the 2022 class. Better late than never, though!
I kid, but there is actually a (cruel, unjust) reality where Missy Elliott isn’t a first-ballot inductee. Rock purism runs in the institution, which was originally dreamed up in the early ’80s by Atlantic Records founder Ahmet Ertegun and a slew of industry insiders including Rolling Stone’s Jann Wenner. The voting body today is composed of musicians, producers, historians, journalists, and the like, supposedly in the range of 1,000 people; the nominating committee has been rumored to include folks like Grohl, Questlove, Steven Van Zandt, DMC from Run-DMC, songwriter Linda Perry, Springsteen manager Jon Landau, and Tom Morello (lol).
IN THIS PHOTO: Missy Elliott/PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images
The main consideration of outside genres seems to relate back to how they have influenced the development of rock’n’roll. That conversation is a bit easier to have when it comes to genres that are fundamental or concurrent to rock’s founding, like R&B and soul, but when the music becomes sample-based, electronic, or less focused on guitars and singing, that’s where the generational divide seems to come in. What is rock when you strip away the core sonic elements or modes of creation? It’s an attitude, one of youth and rebellion, and it’s one that hip-hop not only embodies but rewrote the rules of decades ago. How do you look at a movement through the lens of the one that it replaced in the zeitgeist?
Rappers get nominated to the Rock Hall every year, and at least one commercially successful artist from the hip-hop world is typically embraced in each class (Eminem last year, JAY-Z and LL Cool J in 2021, Biggie in 2020, none in 2019 and 2018, Tupac in 2017, N.W.A in 2016). This is the kind of voter base that thinks Eminem is more important than A Tribe Called Quest, and to be fair, Eminem’s shocking white anger touched at a raw nerve that is sometimes equated with rock. Tribe, meanwhile, quietly rewrote the rules of sampling and swagger in early ’90s rap, and their sound has transcended generations and genres.
Confession time—I am a Rock Hall voter. And like any diligent voter, I’m happy to critique the institution at hand. I have five votes to give (assuming this blog doesn’t get me booted from the mailing list!), and this is probably the best long list I have seen in my five or so years of voting. It is surprisingly progressive—the Rock Hall finally met some women?—and delightfully gay. New Order, George Michael, Kate, Missy, Cyndi—the club kids and quirky divas are invited to the party. Also, shoutout to Willie Nelson, a man who helped invent outlaw country and is everyone’s stoned grandpa now, and Sheryl Crow, who is lowkey one of the best pop-rock singer-songwriters of the late ’90s. There are a lot of ways for voters to get it right this year.
Anyway, here’s a gut reaction to how I might fill in my own ballot: Kate Bush, because… duh. Joy Division and New Order, because post-punk would look different without them, and I am intrigued by the two-for-one bargain. There’s a spot I am still deciding on, and it’s between either George Michael and Cyndi Lauper, for more of a vocal and pop songwriting vote, or Tribe, for everything. And because you need the new generation for an organization to evolve, Missy Elliott and the White Stripes make my ballot. It’s the first time a small quorum of artists more associated with millennials than boomers and Gen-Xers have a legitimate shot, and damn if this 34-year-old doesn’t feel the generational pull. I’m actually excited: Will Meg show up?!”.
Of course, I am here for Kate Bush! She is someone who has won various awards through her career. Including thirteen BRIT nominations (winning for Best British Female Artist in 1987), she has been nominated for three Grammy Awards. In 2002, Bush was recognised with an Ivor Novello Award for Outstanding Contribution to British Music. She was appointed a CBE in the 2013 New Year Honours for services to music. She became a Fellow of The Ivors Academy in 2020. Crucially, Bush has been nominated four times for induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame: 2018, 2021, 2022 and now. Some artists have been nominated more (and not inducted), but the fact that this is the third year in the row proves a couple of points. It shows that she is still incredibly relevant and is as popular in American now than she has ever been. Many have asked whether, as the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame is American, whether she is likely to get in. I wrote about this last year but, until last year, she was still not as celebrated in the U.S. as she should be. A country that has not got behind her music as much as others – Bush did not visit the nation too much through her career -, the fact that Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God) featured in Stranger Things last year helped. That Hounds of Love classic not only introduced her music to a new generation but, as that was a U.S. show, it meant that her music was being heard and watched by millions in the country.
Bush has been nominated again because she deserves to be there, but I don’t think it is just the momentum of Stranger Things that accounts for a 2023 shout. Sure, that show took Bush to number one in many countries (including the U.K.), helped her break records, and allowed her to connect with her fans through updates posted to her official website. Bush also spoke with Woman’s Hour in her first audio interview (about her own work) since 2016. The fact is that, now, Kate Bush is perhaps more important and influential than she has ever been. This is not a legacy or older artists being dusted off, having her work rediscovered and getting one last stab at glory. She is still working and, let’s hope, another album will arrive. Bush is keeping busy and is very much still around. Her lyrics book, How to Be Invisible, is being republished. It originally came out in 2018, but this is a special edition that has a uniquely Kate Bush touch! Whether wishing everyone a Happy Christmas, or reacting to the sad news of Jeff Beck’s death (Beck appeared on Bush’s 1993 album, The Red Shoes), she is keeping in touch quite frequently now. Not only is Hounds of Love receiving fresh love and a resurgence of attention. The rest of her calendar is being uncovered. Last year saw more than its fair share of Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God) covers. My favourite being the one Halsey performed live. So many artists are clearly inspired and moved by Bush.
IN THIS PHOTO: Halsey/PHOTO CREDIT: Daniele Venturelli/WireImage
She has so much love from American artists. For that reason, it would be fitting to celebrated and consecrate that with induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame! Bush clearly won’t attend the ceremony or perform live. Neither is a possibility for various reasons – including the fact she does not like flying and has not performed live since 2014. She might well provide a video or audio message, and she will definitely be grateful! Bush is not one of these artists who will snub the honour or feel like it is irrelevant. With every award she has won, she has always been gracious and humbled. This will be no different. Joining such illustrious company, she is shortlisted this year alongside greats like Soundgarden. It will be a tough contest, but I can see Bush being inducted this year. I am not sure whether her absence will count against her, but there are posthumous nominations for George Michael and Soundgarden (their lead Chris Cornell died in 2017). A video can be played of Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God), and the last barrier to induction should be a lack of physical presence at the ceremony!
Kate Bush is at a point in her career where her popularity and phenomenal body of work has reached more people than is possible to imagine. It would be foolhardy to ignore that! Also, is she is not inducted this year, does she get shortlisted next year? Does she get overlooked in the future? She has been denied three times already, so you feel like she needs to be in there. The award will be flown to her, and the others that are inducted this year will be there to perform and make a speech. Looking at social media and articles reacting to the nomination, the general feeling is that Bush should be inducted. It seems like she is an odds-on favourite. That said, she was lauded last year and she lost out in the fan vote. That is the crucial difference this year. I think, because her music has exploded recently, the vote will be a lot tighter. I do feel like George Michael and Missy Elliott will be inducted, but it will be a tough decision when it comes to other places (you can read more here). We all have our fingers crossed but, when it comes to queen Kate Bush, I think that…
THIS will be her year!