1996

Kate and The Artist Formerly Known As Prince

November: Okay, let's just call him Prince. Kate is featured on background vocals (or "additional vox" as Prince prefers) on the track My Computer from his album Emancipation released 18th November 1996. This follows on from their collaboration on Kate's track Why Should I Love You from 1993's The Red Shoes album. As with that track, it seems that the recording was made by swapping tapes by post. While most people say that Kate's voice is hard to make out in the mix, Q magazine described it as "the finest moment" of the album, and a "career highlight" for The Artist.

Brian Kennedy remembers.....

October: In the 16th October 1996 issue of the Irish music paper Hot Press, Brian Kennedy, the Belfast singer-songwriter, is interviewed by Joe Jackson in relation to the release of his new album. Brian was one of the featured musicians on Common Ground. He was promoting his album A Better Man which has been a massive success in Ireland. The following is a quote from this interview:

" ... when someone says 'What is that song about?', I say, 'What do you think it is about ?' and whatever they say is, to me, what the song is about. At least, at that point, because I've sent it out into the world and really do believe that the whole process is only complete when other people complete that circle....... That's what songs always did for me, going back to 'The Man With The Child In His Eyes ' by Kate Bush, that I first heard when I'd sneak into my friend's big brother's bedroom - which of course, fuelled the whole experience, in that it involved all that guilt-ridden Catholic desire stuff, in that we shouldn't have been in his brother's bedroom at all, listening to his great record player with these fabulous speakers, and I'll never forget when he put the stylus down on the vinyl ...what I heard, and how I responded, was extraordinary. Then later I was very fortunate to meet her and have dinner at her house. Because what happened was that I made this promise to myself, back in the beginning, that if I ever made an album I'd send it to her. And I did, with a letter saying, 'you were one of the first people I ever got moved by , on record, and I always said I'd send you my first album, so here it is, bye.' And she wrote back! And when I met her I told her in detail what that song had done for me and she was really delighted. And delightful."

The album Brian is referring to here is 1990's The Great War Of Words, and his comments have prompted some Kate fans to wonder if his beautiful song Captured from that album is about hearing Kate for the first time....

Gaffaweb Arrives!

August: On the 3rd August 1996 the biggest and best (by far!) Kate site was launched on the web. Gaffaweb was put together by a group of Kate fans on the newsgroup rec.music.gaffa (which is also served by it's companion mailing list: love-hounds) with the aim of becoming the ultimate Kate Bush resource available online. We were all gob-smacked. It contains a vast archive of stuff perfect for anyone pining away thinking "she'll never release anything again....", to spend hours mulling over each excellent section. Archives of love-hounds postings, a massive gallery of images (entitled Wow!), discography, videography, all the lyrics (even the demos), a dictionary of all things Kate, a great FAQ (frequently asked questions) and The Garden (a huge resource of info in itself). It comes highly recommended and you'll find a link to it on the Links page.

Radio Stories

July: Don Black (songwriter of Sunset Boulevard) hosted a BBC Radio 2 programme on Kate as part of a series entitled "They Write The Songs" on 4th July. He told the following anecdote:

"I met Kate just a few weeks ago. She told me that she had only seen one musical in her life. That was "Godspell" some twenty years ago so I arranged for her to see "Sunset Boulevard". The reason I mention this is because I was amazed that she was so amazed by it. Not just the show but the orchestra, the lights, the costumes. We automatically assume that stars are used to opening nights, fancy parties and hobnobbing with sophisticated friends. I think that I can say that Kate is one of the most normal, ordinary mega-stars I have ever met. There is no side to her at all. No show-business veneer..... I asked Kate if she had a favourite singer and she said her favourite is the blackbird and her second favourite is the thrush- well, I told you she was different. I also asked her which one of her records she particularly liked and she said "Running Up That Hill".

Mná na hÉireann: Kate sings in Irish!

May: Great interest is generated among fans as Kate breaks her silence and is featured singing a track on the album Common Ground (Voices Of Modern Irish Music). The album is produced by Donal Lunny, who has worked with Kate before on The Sensual World, Hounds Of Love and The Dreaming albums. Kate was approached by Donal to record a song in Irish entitled Mná na hÉireann (Women of Ireland) and she was very excited by the prospect, despite being on a years break from any kind of work at that time. It was a lot of work since Kate is not an Irish speaker, and she put a lot of time and effort into getting her performance to the right standard. In the December 1995 Kate Bush Club newsletter, Kate says:

"It was fun and very challenging .....I will eagerly await comments from all Irish-speaking listeners in particular. I'm sure Ma gave me a helping hand!"

("Ma" refers to Kate's mother Hannah, who very sadly died in 1992. Hannah Bush (née Daly) came originally from Co. Waterford in Ireland.)

The Common Ground album also features tracks from Elvis Costello, Sinéad O Connor, Bono & Adam Clayton, Brian Kennedy and Liam Ó Maonlaí among others. Kate's track is a composition by Seán O Riada from 1969 with lyrics from a poem by the 18th century Irish poet Peadar O Doirnín. The album entered the Irish charts at no.6 and peaked at no.5.

You can read all about Mná na hÉireann by going here.

1995

Greeting Stars

Christmas: Kate contributed a design towards a set of Christmas cards sold in aid of the War Child charity. The cards were part of a project by Brian Eno entitled "Greeting Stars". Costing £5.99, the set included 12 cards, with other contributions from Eno, Peter Gabriel, David Bowie, Oasis, Radiohead and The Stone Roses.

Kate's design aped the Red Shoes cover illustration except in winter scenery with the shoes replaced by skates. Kate signed the card with the word "peace".

Kate: "I'm still alive!"

December: Kate explains what she's been up to this year in the December Kate Bush Club newsletter.

"I've been taking time off work this year and it's been really good for me. I've still kept busy but I've also had lots of time to rest and catch up on things. Many, many thanks for your continued support - I've had such positive feedback from you about the last album and the film. I feel so privileged to have such nice people responding to my work"

Mojo tip their hats to Kate

Spring: The UK music magazine Mojo lists Kate at no.15 in their Mojo Music Guide of 100 great voices. The following is a quote from the entry on Kate:

"Apart from being one of the most extraordinary records ever made, Running Up That Hill is all the evidence one needs to argue that Bush is a major-league chanteuse. Precisely because she's prepared to sing in that ditsy English convent girl voice, she produces a sound that's nakedly close to the bone"

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