FEATURE:
Mother’s Heroes
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in 2005 for a publicity photo in promotion of Aerial/PHOTO CREDIT: Trevor Leighton
Celebrating Generation Z and Their Love of Kate Bush
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THERE is a line…
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in a promotional image for 1980’s Army Dreamers (her second-most-streamed song and one of her most popular singles, it features on her third studio album, Never for Ever)/PHOTO CREDIT: John Carder Bush
in the Kate Bush song, Army Dreamers, that goes: “But he never even made it to his twenties”. Included on her 1980 album, Never for Ever, it was also released as a single. I was trying to modify that line to form the title of this feature. If that lyric refers to young men being led to war and dying tragically young, in this sense, I am thinking about people in their twenties discovering Kate Bush. That wonder. We think about Kate Bush as someone whose fans are older, maybe. Perhaps in their thirties, forties and older. If there are from Generation Z – those born between 1997 and 2012 -, then it is off the back of Stranger Things’ use of Hounds of Love’s Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God) in 2022. However, and tying into a feature I posted yesterday, I was at Avalon Cafe in Bermondsey on the eve (6th November) of the twentieth anniversary of Kate Bush’s divine and wondrous eighth studio album, Aerial. We were marking twenty years. I was one of the guests (alongside Leah Kardos) who were discussing the album. When I agreed to do the event, I was expecting those in attendance to be around my sort of age. I am forty-two. However, the audience there were mostly in their twenties. Maybe a couple of teens. It was a very young crowd for an album not discussed enough. It was a listening party and conversation. However, there was also a Kate Bush disco at the end. A selection of Kate Bush tracks, it was joyous and inspiring seeing these young Kate Bush fans dancing to her music. It was also impressive that they managed to dance to song's that you were think were un-danceable. Inventing choreography for Suspended in Gaffa (from 1982’s The Dreaming) and reinterpreting the moves to 1978’s Wuthering Heights (from The Kick Inside), it provided new hope and perspective.
Whilst a small and specific sample of Kate Bush fanbase, I know those who were at Avalon recently are perhaps not replicated throughout the world. However, I have been sceptical about the demographic of Kate Bush fandom. How so many people I know in their twenties and thirties do not know who Kate Bush is. Or they might know one song or album (normally Hounds of Love) and they are sort of uninterested in her. That, or they feel she is past or someone who is a bit kooky and weird. These cliché perceptions that are enforced and augmented by the media. The way Kate Bush is lazily, insultingly and misogynistic called a witch, recluse or oddball. Defining her by one or two songs. It was massively encouraging not only seeing this impassioned collection of young Kate Bush fans celebrate Aerial. They were engaged with the songs at the disco. From the Hounds of Love classics to some rarer or lesser-known cuts such Lily, they were dancing, moving and singing. I like to think that, from Berlin to New York to Melbourne, there are these pubs, clubs and spaces that have these Kate Bush discos, where these young and relatively fresh fans show their love. Avalon Cafe is this amazing L.G.B.T.Q.I.A.+/queer-friendly space. Maybe it would be inaccurate to say that the youngest Kate Bush fans are queer/L.G.B.T.Q.I.A.+ However, I do think that there is something about her music and influence that is touching and speaking to young L.G.B.T.Q.I.A.+ fans. However, there is this widespread young fanbase for Kate Bush across all genders and corners of society (and the world).
There are articles and features from the past few years that shine new light on the fact Gen Z are discovering Kate Bush. That there is much more to her than Stranger Things/Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God). This feature from Evening Standard, writes how a TikTok trend and spark has led Gen Z Kate Bush fans to explore her catalogue. In a year (2022) when there was this resurgence and fresh discovery:
“She has no social media presence. Her last album was released in 2011. While her breakthrough single – sung from the perspective of a ghost haunting an English moor – is even older – having been released in 1978.
Yet despite this, ethereal ‘80s pop star Kate Bush is primed for a generational rediscovery. Following her single Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God) being featured in the latest season of the hit Netflix series Stranger Things, a new legion of Gen Z listeners are unearthing her catalogue of otherworldly music.
On TikTok a thirty-second version of the Stranger Things clip has gained millions of views in just over a week, while Kate Bush’s original song has been used in over 750,000 short videos. A running theme throughout these videos are teens expressing their disbelief that they hadn’t heard of Bush before, or parents excitedly showcasing their Kate Bush vinyl collections to their newly captivated children.
"I did not know Kate Bush beforehand, but then I immediately skimmed through her work," said Sadie Sink, the actress in Stranger Things whose character Max was hooked on the track, “and then became increasingly more obsessed, and then I was listening to her all the time.” She continued, echoing the millions of viewers who have been on a similar journey of discovery.
Because of all this, earlier this week the song chopped the UK chart – 37 years after it was first released as the lead track on Bush’s album Hounds of Love. While across 34 separate countries, including the United States (where the song originally peaked at number 30), Britain, Belgium, Latvia, Ireland and New Zealand, Running Up That Hill has entered the top 10 list of most streamed songs.
She seldom gives interviews but on Tuesday, Kate sat down with Women’s Hour presenter Emma Barnett to weigh in on the “extraordinary” cultural moment. “I mean it’s such a great series, I thought that the track would get some attention,” Kate explained when discussing the show’s use of her smash-hit single. “But I just never imagined that it would be anything like this. It’s so exciting. But it’s quite shocking really, isn’t it? I mean, the whole world’s gone mad.”
She added: "What’s really wonderful, I think, is this is a whole new audience who, in a lot of cases, they’ve never heard of me and I love that. The thought of all these really young people hearing the song for the first time and discovering it is, well, I think it’s very special".
Sticking in 2022, British Vogue explored How Gen Z are discovering Kate Bush. Liam Hess shared his devotion to Kate Bush and remarked on this Stranger Things-propelled rediscovery and reactivation. How a new generation were finding her music. However, as I shall end, I feel like there was discovery prior to 2022. A younger fanbase picking up on her music before that Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God) success:
“I would go on to discover the entirety of Bush’s eclectic catalog, from the lyrically complex vignettes of her early albums Lionheart and Never for Ever, to what is arguably her masterpiece, the thrillingly experimental 1982 record The Dreaming. When Bush would deliver one of her rare missives, or announce a new release, I’d scour online message boards to join the conversation and share my excitement. One of my greatest regrets in life – no exaggeration here – was missing the Before the Dawn concert residency at the Hammersmith Apollo in 2014, her first live performances since 1979, and very possibly her last.
All of this is to say, I’d probably be a prime candidate to turn my nose up at the fact that Gen Z has discovered the music of one of my heroes through a teen drama – but on the contrary, I’m delighted. We all have to make those discoveries sometime and somewhere, even if that is through a show on Netflix, and gatekeeping our favourite artists serves nothing but our own egos. Plus, where better to start than with one of her greatest songs (and videos) of all, “Running Up That Hill”?
Part of the wonder of discovering Bush is the sense that her various oddities validate your own experiences as an outsider. Given the feelings of recognition I’ve found in Bush’s music over the years – from her tribute to the love of the gay couple living in secret in her apartment building that is 1978’s “Kashka From Baghdad”; to the sheer euphoric rush I feel listening to 1989’s “The Sensual World,” an ode to sybaritic pleasure inspired by Molly Bloom’s soliloquy in James Joyce’s Ulysses; to the dulcet vocals of “This Woman’s Work,” which never fail to bring a tear to my eye – why would I want to deny that to others?
As a teenager who always felt a little different (although, then again, what teenager doesn’t), I found a sense of refuge in Bush’s music; a reminder not just that it was okay not to conform, but that nonconformity is something that could be celebrated, or elevated to the highest levels of art. Even if I loathe the phrase entirely, Bush really did make me feel seen.
So, I’m happy for the Gen Z-ers discovering Bush for the first time. I’m excited for them to dive into all of the richly realised worlds she’s crafted over the years, across 10 records, dozens of music videos, a film, and songs that tell stories of accidentally dancing with Hitler, having sex with snowmen, or pay homage to her washing machine. And may it inspire them too: Lord knows we could use a little more of Bush’s strain of weird and wonderful creative magic in the world right now”.
There has not been anything recent regarding Gen Z and Kate Bush. I think a lot of it is tied to 2022. However, TikTok and social media has also played its part. How Army Dreamers gained new popularity recently because of videos on TikTok. The audience I was with recently, I feel, were Kate Bush fans for different reasons. It was not through exposure to a famed Hounds of Love song. Some connected with one of her albums a few months ago and then dug deeper. Others discovered her music when they were younger and then explored her cannon. One can see how there would have been a connect between Stranger Things and Aerial. One discovery led to another. However, I feel there are a variety of stories and personal experiences. Whether through their parents’ love of Kate Bush or hearing her music elsewhere, it is evident that there is a healthy Gen Z appreciation. Maybe not as small as I envisaged, I want to explore this theory further. Think about why these younger fans found her music and why they love her. If it has been fuelled by T.V. or social media or something else. Harking back to that night at Avalon on 6th November, a whole range of Kate Bush songs connected with those fans. Making me think that there is not this narrow focus on Hounds of Love or a viral moment. There is a deeper love and understanding. Gateway songs leading to wider investigation. An artist who is speaking to a new generation for a number of reasons. Whether it is a young L.G.B.T.Q.I.A.+ fanbase that finds solidarity and inspiration or it is about the invention, fearlessness and originality of Bush’s music against mainstream Pop familiarity and something depressingly commercial, I am not sure – maybe a combination of all of those factors. The Gen Z devotion and affection for Kate Bush inspired my mind and…
WARMS my heart.