To mark 40 years of Hounds of Love we’re putting together a time capsule each day for the month of September – a daily miscellany of the people, events and objects that relate to this momentous work, whether back in 1985 or right up to the present day…
Hounds of Love – person of the day
Today we think of a dazzling, genre-defying percussionist, Morris Pert, who had worked with Kate on some of her most famous recordings, including percussion on the songs Strange Phenomena, Kite, Wuthering Heights, Breathing, playing Boo Bams on the song Room For the Life and timpani on the song All We Ever Look For. On Kate’s 1977 recording of Wuthering Heights he played crotals, similar to disc-shaped glockenspiels. His studio session work included recordings with Paul McCartney, Andrew Lloyd-Webber, John Williams, Mike Oldfield, Peter Gabriel and Phil Collins. On the Hounds of Love album he performs on The Big Sky.
Morris was described as a shy, retiring man who lived quietly in his chalet near Kinlochbervie in Scotland, best known for his work with the pioneering group Brand X. In 1977 America’s Billboard magazine voted him the fourth best jazz and rock percussionist in the world, and the famous drummer Buddy Rich said he was one of the greatest drummers he had ever played with. He produced five CDs and wrote three major symphonies and featured on many BBC radio programmes. Here is an exciting example of his work, entitled Orinoco. Morris died on April 27, 2010, at his home in Balchrick, Scotland, at the age of 63. You can see some nice clips of Morris discussing working with Kate on the unofficial documentary – Kate Bush Under Review – watch a clip here.
Hounds of Love – happening of the day
Broadcast on November 30th 1985, Kate performed two songs on the Peter’s Pop show on German TV – Running Up That Hill and this very rare (and exuberant!) performance of The Big Sky. Peter’s Pop was broadcast annually by ZDF between 1985 and 1993. The show was presented by Peter Illmann. With thousands in the audience and many more thousands watching the programme on television, it was the biggest music show in Europe. Joining Kate on stage are Del Palmer, Kevin McAlea, Martin Glover (Youth) and Stuart Elliott on drums. Love how they follow Kate off stage in a line at the end! Fun fact: For whatever reason, stock images taken at this performance became the most used worldwide of Kate in 2022 by press and media when RUTH exploded on the global charts all over again. I guess they had a bulk deal going!
Hounds of Love – Artefact of the day
Released on April 21st 1986, The Big Sky (Special Single Mix) was released on 7″, 12″ and in this limited edition 7″ picture disc in clear pvc wallet. The b-side was the brand new track, Not This Time. Photography by John Carder Bush. This is one of the few 7″ picture discs Kate has released, along with This Woman’s Work, And So Is Love and King of the Mountain.
Hounds of Love – trivia of the day!
At the end of the song Hello Earth, a voice intones the words “Tiefer, tiefer, irgendwo in der Tiefe gibt es ein Licht.” This is German for “Deeper, deeper, somewhere in the depth there is a light.” While many believed this was Kate reciting the line, it was in fact recited by Gabi Zangerl, who is thanked in the album notes – a friend of the Bush family who was visiting at the time of recording. In the 1990s, a German Kate Bush fanzine had the title “Irgendwo in der Tiefe”.
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