FEATURE:
More Than Another Day
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush performing Them Heavy People during her 1979 Christmas Special, Kate
Inside Kate Bush’s Extraordinary 1979 Christmas Special
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LET’S get some facts and background…
out of the way first. Kate Bush embarked on her first and only tour in 1979. The Tour of Life took her around the U.K. and Europe. In 1979, she was also working on songs for her 1980 album, Never for Ever. Broadcast on 28th December, 1979, the Christmas Special, Kate, was a way of Bush being able to perform on T.V. and give those who did not attend The Tour of Life a scaled-down and Christmas-flecked version. A selection of songs that appeared on that tour setlist together with some new and unique performances, Bush was able to include songs that would appear on Never for Ever. Egypt and Violin featured in the set for The Tour of Life, though The Wedding List did not. I almost think of this song as an unofficial single. The fact that what we see in Kate (the name of that Christmas Special) is like a music video. It is brilliant staged. Shot at Nunhead Cemetery, south London, it is a wonderful visual. The live performances for the Christmas broadcast were filmed in October 1979. Filmed at BBC’s Pebble Mill Studios in Birmingham, Anthony Van Laast choregraphed (he appeared in The Wedding List as the ill-fated groom). It is amazing that, at only twenty-one, Bush had achieved so much! Doing this Christmas T.V. show too, it was another big achievement. Even if it does divide people, I really love it! There are a couple of questions around the authenticity of the audience. I have seen people write that it was a live audience, but it sounds quite hollow. I am not sure if anyone was there at all! To me, it sounds like audience sounds from the BBC, as all the reactions sound similar; you never see any audience members. Obviously, they could not leave it silent, but I also don’t get the impression people were there watching. Also, there are unique aspects of Kate that people understate. How Ran Tan Waltz got its only performance. The same goes for the duet between Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush, Another Day. A Roy Harper song, he would appear on her 1980 single, Breathing. She featured on his song, You (The Game Part II), from his 1980 album, The Unknown Soldier.
I love how there is a mix of songs from her first three albums. No Christmas carols or classics, instead, we get Bush’s only Christmas single, December Will Be Magic Again, performed. Its second-ever T.V. performance, it would be released as a single on 17th November, 1980. You can buy Kate – or the Kate Bush BBC Christmas Special – on vinyl. I have brought this feature in before, but I want to return to it. They look at all the songs included and write whether it is Christmas-appropriate or not. Whether it related to death, and whether the song was officially released or not. I will highlight their thoughts on Ran Tan Waltz, The Wedding List, and the final number, Don’t Push Your Foot on the Heartbrake:
“Is this a Christmas song? No.
Is this a song about death? Not that I know of!
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Is it unreleased? Yes. It would later be released as a B-side for “Babooshka” in June 1980.
A direct quote from my notes: “Kate Bush invented adult babies”
Speaking of bizarre tonal shifts, Kate is back — now in drag as a man — to sing “Ran Tan Waltz” with her wife and their adult baby. The choreography here is bonkers, wonderful, and really physically involved. She’s constantly getting picked up and thrown around, which causes her to lose both her beard and her hat, and by the end of the performance she’s no longer Kate Bush in drag as a man, but rather just a slightly disheveled Kate Bush in a vest.
Is this a Christmas song? No.
Is this a song about death? No, but it’s depressing as hell.
Is it unreleased? No, it’s a cover of a 1970 Roy Harper track. Gabriel and Bush had plans to record and release it at some point, but never did.
A direct quote from my notes: “I don’t know what to say about this”
Peter Gabriel comes back to perform a duet of Roy Harper’s “Another Day.” It’s not a Christmas song, but it is an extremely depressing song about reflecting on What Could Have Been with a former lover. Peter and Kate really sell it, performing both the past and present versions of the couple. It’s a beautiful performance, but it’s hard not to laugh when you remember that a) this is ostensibly a Christmas special and b) it’s proceeded by “The Wedding List”.
Is this a Christmas song? No.
Is this a song about death? No, but honestly we can never be too sure!
Is it unreleased? No, this one’s from Lionheart.
A direct quote from my notes: “Serving Cell Block Tango realness”
Kate and her dancers are now wearing matching, skintight, all-black outfits. They hang from some grates that make it look like they’re in cages and I half-expected Kate to break into a verse of “Cell Block Tango” at one point. During the second chorus, Kate pantomimes riding a motorcycle really convincingly only for the trash can to suddenly roll back on stage. She picks it up, SLAMS it on the ground repeatedly, and throws it off-stage.
Her dancers spin trash can lids hypnotically, and then it’s all over. The credits roll, and the instrumental outro of her megahit “Wuthering Heights” begins to play. Suddenly, you’re reminded that Kate Bush didn’t even bother to play her biggest hit during her BBC Christmas special”.
I am going to come to some thoughts from author Graeme Thomson in his book, Under the Ivy: The Life and Music of Kate Bush. Totally Rad Christmas shared their thoughts and appreciation for Kate Bush’s 1979 Christmas Special. There is not a lot written about it. It is a shame. Ahead of its forty-sixth anniversary on 28th December, I wanted to spend some time with it:
“The special is a mix of live performances and choreographed dance to prerecorded music. The live portion was recorded BBC Pebble Mills Studios in front of an audience. The music for the dance was done at EMI Studios in London. After a rotoscoped animated introduction, Kate launches into renditions off “Violin,” Gymnopédie No. 1 by Satie, and “Symphony in Blue.”
“Them Heavy People” follows with Kate garbed in sequins. Immediately a trio sings Peter Gabriel’s in, and he serenades the audience with “Here Comes the Flood.” Kate performs “Ran Tan Waltz” then premieres “December Will Be Magic Again” on solo piano. Next comes “The Wedding List” about a vengeful bride and the duet “Another Day” with Peter Gabriel about a failed marriage. Finally, Kate enthralls us with “Egypt,” “The Man with a Child in His Eyes,” and “Don’t Push Your Foot on the Heart Brake.” Does she hop in a garbage can and come out dressed like Sandy from the end of “Grease?” Why, yes. Yes she does.
Stevie Nicks-like flowing black outfit? Yep. Fake beard and “Fiddler on the Roof” getup? Uh huh. Kate doing interpretative dance superimposed over her playing piano? Definitely! So grab your violin and head to Egypt to this episode about Kate Bush!”.
Graeme Thomson heralds the performance of The Wedding List. The first outing of this highlight from Never for Ever, he does say that the rest of Kate ends up “looking cheap and rather silly”. I would disagree. It is Kate Bush. It is not silly! It is very much her aesthetic and tradition. It is not like she was doing too much out of her ordinary. I like the fact that there is not a lot of Christmas music in the show. Instead, we get to see these televised versions of songs that many would never be able to see otherwise. Unless they were at The Tour of Life. Thomson writes off Egypt as being rife for parody. Them Heavy People as a watered-down version of what she mounted for the tour. Although Egypt is not my favourite from Kate, I do love Them Heavy People. It is also great that Bush got to perform Symphony in Blue. Never a single in the U.K. (it was in Japan and Canada), it is the opening track of 1978’s Lionheart. One of the standouts. Also, that Another Day duet with Peter Gabriel. The fact the two solidified their friendship.
Bush would appear on Peter Gabriel’s Games Without Frontiers and No Self Control. They were from his extraordinary third self-titled album, a.k.a. Melt. The two shared the stage for the Bill Duffield tribute concert. This is when Bush decided to use one of her London dates on The Tour of Life to pay tribute to Duffield. He was a lighting director who tragically died after the warm-up gig for The Tour of Life following a freak accident. This tragic incident brought Bush and Gabriel together. She would appear later on Don’t Give Up (from Gabriel’s 1986 album, So). The two became firm friends, so is really nice to see Gabriel perform on Kate. I really love the under-discussed Christmas Special. I hope that it is shown on the BBC again, as it never really gets credit or that much love! I wanted to write some words about Kate, as it is a Christmas treat. One I hope fans enjoy…
THIS year.