FEATURE:
New Director Cuts
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in 1989
The ‘Missed’ Singles and Potential Short Films
__________
AS Kate Bush’s The Red Shoes…
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush with Miranda Richardson in the 1993 short film, The Line, the Cross and the Curve
recently turned thirty-two, I have been thinking about the short film that was released around the album, The Line, the Cross and the Curve. That was a short that Bush wrote, directed and starred in that drew in songs from The Red Shoes. Arguably, it was the first visual album. Something that no doubt inspired artists who followed. We can see Kate Bush as the first female artist at least to release something close to a visual album. It makes me wonder about other albums and short films that could have come from them. Also, there are a couple of songs from The Red Shoes that should have come out as single. It is inevitable that fans have their own theorises regarding ‘missed’ singles. Those that would have worked. I have written about this before. The first three albums from Bush have that opportunity. She did bring The Kick Inside and Lionheart’s tracks to life for 1979’s The Tour of Life, and numbers from Never for Ever were also included, in addition to appearing on 1980’s Never for Ever. Even though I don’t think you could have improved on The Tour of Life or made a short film from songs on The Kick Inside and Lionheart (1978), there were songs on each album that begged to be singles. Ones that could have had these remarkable videos that rank alongside the best Kate Bush videos. Moving, Them Heavy People and The Kick Inside all had live performances. Kate Bush recorded videos for them in that context. I am not sure that the budget was for her videos on her debut but, as effective and distinct as Wuthering Heights and The Man with the Child in His Eyes are, there was scope for something a bit more cinematic or different. Moving was released as a single in Japan but no official video. Them Heavy People was released as a single and had a live video accompanying it, whilst Moving has its live performances.
I highlighted these songs as it would be amazing to see fuller stories for them. Moving, this dreamy and beautiful song was brought to life on the stage, though I think that it could have made as successful U.K. single. One that would have charted high and could have been released after The Man with the Child in His Eyes. In terms of international singles, The Kick Inside would have been interesting. I am not sure what form the video would have taken, though I feel releasing it in Europe would have been a good commercial move and could have got the album more focus there. Them Heavy People was a single A live recording of this song was the lead track on the On Stage E.P. which reached number ten in the UK Singles Chart in 1979. The live video is great, though this song deserved to be released as a U.K. single in 1978 and had a video where Bush brought the lyrics to life. Maybe teachers, philosophers and ‘heavy people’ surrounding her. Bush immersed in books in this fantasy. I think, if Them Heavy People was released in 1978, it could have perfectly fitted with Moving, The Man with the Child in His Eyes and Wuthering Heights. I am not sure if EMI limited Bush to two U.K. singles and wanted to put more emphasis on the album rather than single. Lionheart has three songs not released as singles that could have had this amazing videos: Fullhouse, Kashka from Baghdad and Coffee Homeground. Hammer Horror and Wow were released as U.K. singles, though there should have been a third. In terms of potential, Coffee Homegropund would have been the most successful. Set in a café and involving this fascinating cast of characters where Bush sings “Pictures of Crippin/Lipstick-smeared/Torn wallpaper/Have the walls got ears here?/Well, you won't get me with your Belladonna/In the coffee “. You could have this incredible visual. Maybe the mixed critical reaction to Lionheart might have meant an additional singles would be a waste, though I do feel that a third U.K. single could have boosted the album sales and also highlighted one of the more underrated tracks from it.
Never for Ever not only has a couple of ‘missed’ singles. It also begs for a short film. Delius (Song of Summer) and The Wedding List were not released as singles. The former weas performed live on T.V. and Bush recorded the latter for her 1979 Christmas special. I love the video for The Wedding List and feel like it could have formed part of a short film. One that follows a woman and her relationship,. Babooshka being about a wife accusing her husband of deceit and trying to trick him. The Wedding List where she gets remarried and the groom is shot down. Maybe a revenge kill? The two songs could link. All We Ever Look For this reflective and philosophical point before The Wedding List. The night before the wedding. Breathing, where the bride was made pregnant and is trying to keep her foetus safe where there is nuclear war and threat around. That would be a four-song short film. There is potential for a larger plot and having a concept that starts with Delius (Song of Summer), we move to Babooshka, then end with Night Scented Stock. Breathing before that. How about 1982’s The Dreaming? An album never brought to the stage or with any numbers included in a Christmas special, I have said before how Houdini and Get Out of My House could have been singles. They would have been more successful that There Goes a Tenner, The Dreaming and Night of the Swallow (released in Ireland). The Dreaming and Hounds of Love are the two albums that seem to have the most cinematic potential. In terms of a plot for The Dreaming, it could be a mix of fantasy and reality. A woman, at the start, searching for knowledge and looking at regrets, it would end with her descending into madness. All the Love feeding into Sat in Your Lap. Then we move into Suspended in Gaffa. The heroine then caught in a dream state as we get Leave It Open, Houidini and Night of the Swallow being played out and representing her turmoil and heartbreak. She would break out of sleep but then descend into paranoia as we end with Get Out of My House.
Of course, it would need to be fleshed out a bit more, though there are links between songs and potential on all of her albums. You might feel that the fact music videos were made for several of the songs means a short film would be redundant. However, I feel something similar to The Line, the Cross and the Curve could have happened for several of her albums. Maybe not for Hounds of Love, as its second side, The Ninth Wave, is in itself a short film and cinematic. I have written about how this should have been released as a short film. I don’t think you could have released any more singles from the album. That is not true of 1989’s The Sensual World. An album where Bush wanted to write more from a woman’s perfective and wanted a more feminine album, a film plot around that could have been fascinating. The Sensual World, The Fog, Deeper Understanding, Rocket’s Tail and This Woman’s Work could have been woven together into a short film. I do think that The Fog would have been a great single. Also, Rocket’s Tail would have been a commercial success. Maybe harder to put together in a cohesive story, I do like the idea that The Sensual World gets this wider exposure. The Red Shoes has had its short film, but I have written before how Lily would have been a better single than the album’s final single, And So Is Love. 2005’s Aerial has A Sky of Honey as its second disc. I am writing about this a lot as Aerial turned twenty on 7th November. I have said how that suite should be made into a short film. Or something visual that brings the songs to life. Bush did perform A Sky of Honey for Before the Dawn (her 2014 residency), though most of us will never see that. Also, when we think of 2011’s 50 Words for Snow, there is a short film there.
You could have all seven tracks put together in this story, though the album is sixty-five minuets long, so you would need shorter edits. Either that or putting together four songs form the album, say, Snowflake, Lake Tahoe, Snowed In at Wheeler Street and Among Angels. I do think it would be more satisfying having all the songs together, just cutting them down so that everything could be included within about thirty/thirty-five minutes. In terms of their length, Kate Bush did not have many options for singles. Wild Man was released, though I think Misty and Among Angels would have been popular, albeit edited down. In any case, 50 Words for Snow definitely has a terrific short film in it. So do many of Kate Bush’s albums! I have been thinking about this as The Red Shoes turned thirty-two on 1st November. Remembering the short film that was premiered on 13th November, 1993 but has a wider release on 6th May, 1994, it made me wonder, and my mind wander, regarding other short films. How Bush writes in this cinematic way. You can see plots and stories. Weaving songs together and getting something new. Maybe people will have their own views, though I think some of my suggestions could fit. The cinematic power of Kate Bush as this amazing writer and producer. It goes to show that there are…
NO limits to her brilliance.