FEATURE:
Jamaica to Australia
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in 1982/PHOTO CREDIT: Pierre Terrasson
Kate Bush’s June and July, 1982
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ONCE more…
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush deep in thought at Abbey Road Recording Studios on 15th October, 1982/PHOTO CREDIT: Steve Rapport/GI
I am referring to the invaluable and indispensable The Garden for this feature. They are a resource that provides a timeline of Bush’s career and all the important events and dates. I have utilised this before for other features but, as there are no anniversaries approaching for a bit, I thought I would go down a different path. I have already done a few features that documented an important month or moment in Bush’s career (including May 1983; I did a recent feature on 15th June, 1983). I wanted to look back at 1982, and specifically June and July. Forty-one years ago, Bush’s career was in a very interesting place. The first single from The Dreaming, Sat in Your Lap, had been released, though the album was still not out. It would eventually be released in September 1982. The album was supposed to come out earlier, but it had been delayed. It was a period of rest and new endeavour. In the May of 1982, Bush travelled to Jamaica for a holiday. Rather than finding it relaxing, there was something deafening about the peace and tranquillity. Having spent so much time in studios recording The Dreaming (sixteen months combined), you can understand why she wanted to go on holiday. Maybe unable to switch off the noise and pace of London, I wonder how beneficial that trip was. Straight back from holiday and there was stuff for Bush to attend and address.
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in 1982/PHOTO CREDIT: Pierre Terrasson
In June, the announcement was made that The Dreaming’s title track and planned second single was delayed. Maybe Bush was going to Jamaica and expecting her new single to be out very soon after. Instead, it was released in late-July. It must have taken some momentum away. Wanting to get a new single out after a year, many were wondering where she was and what was awaiting them. 1981’s Sat in Your Lap was a top twenty hit for her. Whilst different to anything she had released so far, it was a fair indication of what was to come. I will talk more about The Dreaming’s title track (and second single) nearer its anniversary in July. I wanted to mark out June and July, 1982, as it was a period between Bush returning from holiday, her album being delayed, and the second single coming out. I wonder whether it was originally conceived that the album and single of the same name would both come out in July. Regardless, there was not too much time to decompress and sit back after her holiday. In June 1982, Bush did some session work for Zaine Griff, who with her had attended Lindsay Kemp's mime classes back in 1976. She does backing vocals on a track dedicated to Kemp, Flowers. In the same month, there was that announcement the single would be delayed. Perhaps there was too much competition that month for it to chart. Maybe the unique aspects were not going to resonate as much in June 1982. I don’t know. When the single did come out, it charted low and got some decidedly mixed reviews – in spite of the fact it is a fantastic song, maybe not an obvious single! If Kate Bush felt a sense of tiredness or strangeness after her holiday, the ensuing few months showed that she did need a rest. It was a frantic time!
Unbeknownst to her, the first issue of the fanzine, HomeGround, was being prepared. Twenty-five copies are run off in an office photocopier. That happened in June 1982. Maybe Kate Bush did know about it, but I think that it is quite unlikely! They celebrated their fortieth anniversary last year with special edition. The fanzine ceased being in 2011, but from 1982 until then, they produced these wonderfully passionate informative zines with fans’ poems, letters, drawings, news and anything relating to Kate Bush. At a time when Bush was transitioning between recording and completing The Dreaming and awaiting the arrival of its second single, there was this HomeGround fanzine – its editor, Peter FitzGerald-Morris, also collated this timeline (The Garden) I am referencing – coming to life. On 26th July (though I have seen some say it was out on 27th), The Dreaming’s title track was released into the world. Although some press sources saluted the bravery and innovation of the song there was not a lot of radio interest. Only a week before the song came out, and with forty-eight hours' notice, Bush was asked to take David Bowie's place in a Royal Rock Gala before H.R.H. The Prince of Wales in aid of The Prince's Trust. She gives a rare live performance of The Wedding List (from 1980’s Never for Ever), backed by Pete Townsend and Midge Ure on guitars, Mick Karn on bass, Gary Brooker on keyboards and Phil Collins on drums. Rather than do Sat in Your Lap or a sneaky peak of anything from her fast-approaching new album, Bush sang live a track from Never for Ever that is a definite deep cut. By all accounts, her performance was one of the highlights of the night!
When The Dreaming’s title track was released, Bush was firmly thrust back into the promotional cycle. With very little time between everything being finished and that single coming out, I can appreciate why she made a firm decision that Hounds of Love would be a different experience. From 1983, as I have written about, she built her home studio and dedicated herself to dance and a more healthy working life. It is wonderful envisaging Kate Bush’s life during June and July of 1982. With some plans being delayed and an unexpected live appearance coming up, she was clearly keeping busy and living through this unpredictable time! I will refer to The Garden again and that invaluable resource of dates and important Kate Bush events. More than anything, it provides opportunity to explore vital dates and important moments. I think that the lead-up to The Dreaming coming out as a single is a pretty big one! After it came out, we got a sense that this artist we thought we knew was going in a very different direction. The Dreaming album would arrive in September and confirm Bush as one of the most innovative and unpredictable artists of her generation. A few days after The Dreaming (single) came out, Bush turned twenty-four. So amazingly ambitious, assured and accomplished at such a young age! I guess you can never be surprised or shock when it comes to Bush and her seemingly superhuman powers. She would unleash this incredible song about the Aboriginal Australians and how they were displaced and repressed. No artist her age was singing about these sort of things! Live performances of the song are among her most interesting and jaw-dropping. I absolute love…
EVERYTHING she does.