FEATURE:
In the Warm Room
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in 1978/PHOTO CREDIT: Gered Mankowitz
When Kate Bush Travelled to France to Record Lionheart
_________
LATER in the year…
I am going to put out a podcast about Kate Bush’s second studio album, Lionheart. That will come closer to its forty-fifth anniversary in November. I wanted to talk about July 1978. The month before, Bush was in full promotion mode for The Kick Inside. She travelled to Japan to promote the album there, taking part in the 7th Tokyo Song Festival. She also filmed an advert for Seiko. Even though the promotion was gruelling and seemingly endless, it was paying dividends. By June 1978, Bush was the best-selling female albums artist in the U.K. (for the first quarter of 1978). Her debut single, Wuthering Heights, topped the charts in the Netherlands, Belgium, New Zealand (five weeks), and Australia. It went top ten in Germany, France, Brazil, Argentina, South Africa, Denmark, Sweden and Finland. It was a massive success and one of the most important debut singles ever. By 4th July, 1978, the second single from The Kick Inside, The Man with the Child in His Eyes, reached number six in the U.K. Things were not really happening in the U.S. The Kick Inside was reissued there with a different cover. With Kate in Jeans and boots, she looked like Tammy Wynette or a Country artist. Maybe not the best shot to promote the album! Wuthering Heights was not being played and talked about, as American stations and audiences found it too weird. The first half of her first professional year was an exhausting one! Bush has ventured around the world and been involved with countless interviews. It must have been enormously tiring for her!
In a future feature, I will look ahead to the completion of Lionheart and Bush previewing tracks from it. It was on 7th July that Bush travelled to Superbear Studios in Nice to record. She had heard good things about the studio from her mentor and friend David Gilmour. Although it was the first time Bush had recorded outside of the U.K. (and only), it was a welcomed break. Forward things to August, and the ten weeks of recording had been completed. Bush noted how The Kick Inside was designed to affect the senses. Maybe more spiritual and cerebral, Lionheart was aimed at hitting the guts. Maybe a tougher and tauter album. At ten tracks, it was shorter than its predecessor. Lionheart signalled the end of a brief partnership between Kate Bush and producer Andrew Powell. He produced The Kick Inside. Lionheart was Bush acting as an assistant. The same musicians (more or less) were used for both albums. Through Bush wanted her own band to play on her second album – the players from the KT Bush Band (including Del Palmer and Brian Bath) -, they only had a small role. Brian Bath played guitar on Wow. Del Palmer played bass on a few tracks (including Hammer Horror), and the rest featured musicians who played with Bush on The Kick Inside – including Ian Bairnson and Duncan Mackay. I would love for there to be photos available of that time in France. When Bush and her artists were recording this album.
Lionheart reached six in the U.K. and it was an international success story. Maybe not as lauded and popular as The Kick Inside, it was remarkable she managed to release such a good album with such incredibly short notice. I think that, when she travelled to Nice in July 1978, it was a needed break for her. Rather than stay in London and have the stress and smog around her, it was deemed worthwhile taking things to France. With the mountains around her, that fresh air and calmer setting was just what Kate Bush deserved! By all accounts, there was fun and relaxation to be had. Many moments when Bush and her band were lounging by the pool. Kate Bush is said to have bathed topless on more than one occasion and been partial to some weed. Not for any prurient interest, but it makes me wonder why there is not film or photos of Bush and her band in this idyllic setting. Maybe something will come to light in years to come. After six months of solid promotion, this is an opportunity to spend some time getting back to music. Even if there was disagreement between Bush and Powell regarding the sound of the album – he wanted a repeat of The Kick Inside; she wanted a progression and something different – and the band who were playing on it, Bush did give interviews where she was positive. She instantly said she preferred Lionheart to The Kick Inside. It at least gave her a taste of production. By 1980, acclaimed and established, she chose her own band and co-producer (Jon Kelly).
In July 1978, with bits of The Kick Inside’s legacy and promotion still being wrapped up, she got the chance to go to France to record her second album. With only time to write three new songs – Symphony in Blue, Coffee Homeground and Full House -, it was a bit of a rushed affair. EMI wanted to capitalise on the momentum of The Kick Inside, unaware that their star wanted time to work on new material and create something different. I think the label naively assumed that the same sort of album would be produced, so Bush could certainly pull older songs from the archive pretty quick! At least that trip to Nice provided Bush the chance to get a little bit of downtime. Away from any interviews and press focus, she was able to get to work on her second album. Regardless of tighter schedules, few new songs and some tension with her producer, there was lots of laughter and good times. By October 1978, Bush was firmly back on the campaign trail. She was in Australia for a couple of appearance; one of which involved a live performance of Hammer Horror. That was to be the album’s first single (released a couple of weeks after that performance). She devised the dance routine quickly in her hotel routine. 1978 was a frantic and non-stop one in terms of work. Bush did not have much time to rest, which is why I wanted to focus on France and the recording of Lionheart. It seemed to offer some tonic and soothe for someone who, still a teenager, was thrust into the deep end! One positive thing that came out of that time in France is…
AN amazing album.