Happy 65th Birthday, Kate! xxx

Happy Birthday Kate!
But more than that, I want to say THANK YOU.
I’ve been a fan for years, on and off, but this year I found myself listening to Kate’s albums an awful lot. Not because of the Stranger Things exposure (I’ve never even seen an episode) but because I found myself frequently driving places alone. My OCPD partner would never want me to put music on the car stereo, so I rarely bothered. But she was diagnosed with cancer last year and as her condition worsened I spent more time driving on my own or just with our son: shopping, fetching prescriptions, buying things, plus the usual trips to friends, rehearsals, recording sessions. . .
Now free to play whatever I liked, I started listening to artists that I loved when I was younger, and Kate was right there. Somehow, her music connected to me in a way it never had before. Part nostalgia (those days when I was young and free, and spent ages with friends listening to the albums and working out how to play the bass parts in “The Dreaming” and “Hounds of Love”; the way the music brought back images of places and people now long gone) – part discovery (listening to the earlier albums in more detail; finding new aspects to admire in lesser-known pieces).
My partner died in May this year, and since then the “Kate Effect” has only increased. I listen more and more! The music has had a calming, steadying effect on me throughout these turbulent times. It’s on my “earworm radio” most days, a constant, loving companion that has helped me to concentrate and stay the distance while I try to do difficult jobs around the house or deal with the inevitable “sadmin” of bereavement. What’s more, my young son has decided that “The Dreaming” is the album he wants to hear all the time (with Blue Oyster Cult’s latest LP coming second – that lad has taste!) He’s not so keen on the later material (yet!) but I know it will grow on him. He loves everything from the first four albums. I know he pays attention because he asks questions about the lyrics, which are tricky to answer, because until the Internet came about I’d often mis-heard them. (“We’ll let the weirdness in” indeed!)
So. . . THANK YOU KATE, for helping me so much this year.