Newsbits: Alison Goldfrapp continues to promote the new album from Goldfrapp, Black Cherry (see May 24th 2003 news). In an article from the Guardian: “One of the big inspirations for Goldfrapp was Hounds of Love by Kate Bush, and there is a link between Bush’s articulation of female sexuality and Goldfrapp’s erotic decadence. “Lots of hippies liked Kate Bush where I grew up, so I associated her with bongs and incense and everything disgusting,” she says, bristling at the memory. “Then I heard this album. I realised that she was beautiful and interesting, which is not a common combination. It seems very deep somehow, and she doesn’t get talked about much these days, probably because she’s female. There was a time during my teenage years when everyone was doing ecstasy and going out to raves, and I was at home listening to Kate Bush. On ecstasy.”…the “Nashville dream pop trio” Venus Hum continue to be compared to Kate, in a live review they are said to wear “their influences — Kate Bush and the Cure — on their sleeves, making a stand for sweeping beauty through electronic dance beats, lush soundscapes, and an emotive soprano.”…On Thurs 31st July, 11.50pm German time, BR will be screening “Hits der 70er (4)“, including Kate’s performance of Wuthering Heights on “Szene 78”, one of Kate’s first TV appearances, read more here

Toyah - My First CrashThe July 15th edition of The Sunday Times featured an article by Toyah – ‘My First Crash‘: “My lawyer sends me a fax every week saying: “Drive slower.” He knows I’ve had quite a few car crashes in my life. One of the worst ones was bizarre. I was doing a concert in Norwich and I came off stage at 11pm. I had to be in Birmingham for 7 o’clock the next morning so I set off about midnight for a four-hour drive in my VW Golf. I had just bought Kate Bush’s latest CD, The Red Shoes, and I was listening to a song on it called Moments of Pleasure – a very special song about Kate’s mother who had died before she made the album. It’s the most beautiful song in the world. Some of the roads I was driving while listening to this album were really bendy, but some of them were quite straight Roman roads. As Moments of Pleasure came on, and I was really howling at this song with the tears streaming down my cheeks, I thought I was on a straight road but suddenly this sharp bend came out of nowhere. I was doing about 75mph and I missed the bend entirely, shot over a ditch (which slowed me down a bit) and ended up in someone’s front garden. I must have slammed on the brakes when I realised I was leaving the road, but I pranged a tree or two before coming to a sudden stop. Then I just sat there for a minute listening to the song finish. The local people got up when they heard a crash and came to see if I was all right. The car didn’t come off too badly considering the speed – there was just a big dent down the passenger’s side and dirty great tyre marks in their front garden. I reversed out of the garden, somewhat embarrassed, and was able to drive it home with my tail between my legs.”

Hayley WestenraFormer Fuzzbox singer Vix says her singing style is inspired by Kate Bush and Debbie Harry here and check out her official site here (thanks Vix)..17 year old New Zealander Hayley Westenra is currently celebrating the release of her second album and international recording debut, Pure. “She agreed with her record company that she should aim to reach a wide audience, so she included a range of styles on the album, from the operatic In Trutina to the theatrical Kate Bush number, Wuthering Heights, Sir George’s pop composition Beat of Your Heart, and the Maori song Hine E Hine” read more here and here…Ulrik in Denmark has heard a new remix of Top Of The City on Danish national radio, it’s by a group called Day Breaker and the track is called “She’s No Good“…the June issue of an Italian music magazine has included a CD with a rock version of Wuthering Heights by Italian singer Cristina Donà. See this Italian KB site for more (thanks Roberto)…DJ Joe Gauthreaux (well known in New York see www.djjoeg.com) has been including the Infusion remix of Running Up That Hill (see May 24th news) in his live set. Kate fan Adam was at a 4th July party at the Paramount club – he writes: “…about 15 minutes before the end of the party I started hearing a faint familiar high-pitch voice. It was Kate, singing “if i only could” over and over again. I started grabbing my friends frantically, shouting in their ears that it’s Kate Bush. The remix is wonderful, very very high energy, then everything goes quiet for a second, and kate’s voice comes back with no drums, singing a whole segment of Running Up That Hill. Everyone loved it…this should be much bigger here, maybe by the end of the summer?” (thanks Adam)…from an article in The Guardian (1st July), the Futureheads played a gig at the Buffalo Bar in London: “…there is something grippingly odd about the Futureheads…partly, it is their eccentric choice of covers. Their marvellous version of Kate Bush’s Hounds of Love is totally unexpected: what is even more surprising is how thrilling its singularly feminine abandon sounds in their hands.” Read more here

The Scotsman has a review of The Penguin Price Guide for Record & CD Collectors by Nick Hamlyn. Their article mentions “a Japanese double CD set of Kate Bush”. Michael Leitz passes on this info on the CD, (which is worth £500!): The Japanese promo double CD set they’re writíng about is called “Moments Of Pleasure – The Best Works 1978-1993” (Toshiba-EMI SPCD-1402/SPCD-1403), features 32 tracks and is limited to 100 copies. (thanks Michael – read the book review here)…please note that Ronald Garrison’s codex of Kate rareities can now be downloaded as a zipped file from this URL (thanks for making it available Ron)…Katie in Australia had the good fortune of seeing about 2 seconds of a vintage Kate appearance on Australian TV on a program, ‘Dimensions’ looking at the history of Australia. On the 30th June the programme screened was on the ‘The King and Queen of Pop Awards‘, a popular vote conducted through TV Week magazine. In 1978, Marcia Hines and John Paul Young were crowned the King and Queen of Pop. Kate presented the King of Pop Award on the 11th of October 1978. Dimensions featured a tiny clip of her standing silently next to the host of Countdown (our equivalent of Top Of The Pops). She had her tradmark long red locks down, was wearing something black and looked serious. All in all, a tiny but wonderful treat for the usually neglected Aussie Kate fans.” Thanks Katie – read more here (other newsbit thanks to Simon Fourmy, Simon Clark, Michael Leitz, PDFM and Cynthia Conrad)