FEATURE:
You Don’t Have to Be Beautiful…
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in 1982/PHOTO CREDIT: Clive Arrowsmith
Some of the Early Press Reaction to Kate Bush’s Music
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MAYBE something that influenced…
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in 1978/PHOTO CREDIT: DPA
Prince’s 1986 hit, Kiss, there is this oddly insulting headline that appeared in SOUNDS in 1978. Their headline ran “You don’t have to be beautiful…”. I wanted to look at some of the weird and sometimes short-sighted press that Kate Bush has received through her career. Now, she is considered to be an icon and legend. There is mostly positive press - but that was not always the case! I have written about this before, but it is very strange that the press did not really know how to handle Kate Bush or what to make of us. If her music was original and unlike anything around her, the press seemed to use that as an excuse to cast Bush in a very odd light. I can only imagine how she must have felt, excited about her career and keen for the music to connect, reading some of the press! SOUNDS spotlighted Kate Bush in March 1978. Even if they were very positive about her music fort that interview, the fact that they lead with an odd headline – and say that we cannot accuse them of being sexist – was a peculiar angle. They do mention her looks and beauty. Bush said that she didn’t mind this being brought up, so long as it did not get in the way of her career and interfere with her process. Donna McAllister was the interviewer. It is a mixture of compliments and random digs. There is mention of her mannerisms and over-gesticulations. It was not always the case though, for a teenage artist excited to see her name in print, there was this somewhat condescending and patronising overtone. By mentioning her looks or kooky side, it did undermine the seriousness of her music and the fact that she was a professional.
SOUNDS were back at in September 1978! It is okay not to like an artist, but the way in which this was conveyed by the magazine was a bit insulting. They interviewed her after a busy and successful year. This time around, it was Pete Silverton who was asking the questions. There are some great quotes from Bush, but the language used by Silverton was extraordinarily disrespectful. There is a quote that said: “…insipid to the point of unreality”. It came from a paragraph where Silverton remarked being “trapped” in a conversation with Bush was like being in a kid’s T.V. show. Something quite wholesome, but with unwarranted aspirations of intellectualism. Silverton was patronising when Bush talked about astrology. She was not referring to someone’s star signs, but real astrology where mathematicians get together and study it. Written off as someone who was quite airy and ridiculous, how discouraging must it have been for Bush to read stuff like that?! I am not spotlighting this press to emphasise anything bad: more, it is about showing how this amazing artist succeeded and resonated with fans, despite the fact the press didn’t truly understand her. If they are faced with someone interesting and different, their instinct was to mock and ridicule! This is not a random dive into the press around Kate Bush. I have been reading Laura Shenton’s Kate Bush: A Visual Biograph. Shenton discusses Bush’s amazing career. Her words are accompanied by incredible photos and press cuttings. It is a terrific read for Bush fans!
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in 1982/PHOTO CREDIT: Steve Rapport
Whilst I was amazed by the photos and this really arresting writing, the press cuttings, at times, made me feel both sadness and respect. Every artist has to deal with some bad or inaccurate press coverage. There was a turn of the tide by the time Hounds of Love arrived in 1985, but the years before that were quite tough at times. Bush committing to interviews, only to be described in such belittling or insulting tones! Even when an interview is largely positive, there was always some sting or unnecessary comment. 1982’s The Dreaming was a very experimental and dense album. I can understand how critics might have felt confused by the album – and not quite sure how to address or assess it. Keeping things with SOUNDS – not to fixate on the publication, but they did interview her quite a bit -, and there was a less editorial approach from Karen Swaye. Instead of Swaye going off on a tangent and sharing unwanted opinions about Bush’s looks and sound, there was this forum where she allowed Bush to speak. Published in October 1982, it is one of the mire respectful interviews. Even so, during the interview, Bush was asked about early press and how she was portrayed. In 1978 and 1979, there were not many female artists around. The press did not quite know how to cope with an artist who was coming into a male-dominated industry. If someone early interviews winkingly claimed not to be sexist, by calling attention to that, I think that they were.
Definitely, when you read some of the words aimed at Bush, it was a case of journalists going after an ambitious and unique female artist. It was easier for them to mock and misunderstand, rather than take her seriously! I am glad there was a reversal in tone and affection by 1982. Even so, a review of The Dreaming by Rose Rouse couldn’t help but be spiteful. New to Bush’s work, Rouse found her sickening and stomach-churning. Criticising the production and feeling depressed by some songs, Rouse was a typical example of what journalists had been doing since 1978. Bush was constantly dogged with this idea that she was on cloud nine and quite vapid. Rouse was shocked that there were real themes and serious words throughout The Dreaming. Expecting Bush to be empty and sickly-sweet, encountering tracks like The Dreaming and Pull Out the Pin were a surprise. Even so, the review came across as ill-informed and stuck up. A young woman daring to do something different and experimental! There was still this impression that women in music should have a particular sound and style – and that an album like The Dreaming was boring or a mistake. Alongside the more positive and encouraging reviews and interviews, Bush still had to read this. She was mocked for being quite philosophical and dreamy. She was then written off when doing something more esoteric or political. She could not win either way!
SOUNDS were covering Kate Bush in 1985. Hounds of Love got enormous praise, but one of the biggest music magazines of the time were still not willing to give it over to Bush. Caroline Linfield was not impressed when she attended the premier at the London Planetarium. It was a very condescending and bored take. Linfield described the evening in rather distressed tones. Not impressed by the light show and this idea that Bush was a hippie that was all surface and no substance. Lacking any real respect for Kate Bush and displaying zero knowledge of her importance and back catalogue, it is another press cutting that should have been full of praise and respect – but instead was a waste of column inches and time! As I say, most of the press was positive and showed compassion and affection. There was a sector that was pretty mean and dismissive of Bush. Whether she was being interviewed back in 1978, or returning to the spotlight in 1985, I can see why she would stop reading her press after a while. Some may say that it does not matter but, in the 1970s and 1980s, the Internet was not a thing. People were getting their music media from magazines and newspapers. That is how a lot of opinions were formed. Bush has had the last laugh and is a massive success all these years later. It comes down to her being misunderstood and ahead of her time. One of few female artists in the mainstream when she started out, critics could not get over this common idea that she was a waif-like teen with not a lot to say. This was never true, but it was just the way she was written about. Perception has changed now, but there were so many years where Bush could not get away from this notion that she was insubstantial and out of her depth. The narrative did change, and now one can bury that ridiculous press! There is so much love for her now. The press she gets now is overwhelmingly positive. After some of the words she had to read early in her career, it is the very least…
THAT she deserves.