Parts of a new phone interview with Kate, in which she remembers her friend, Lindsay Kemp, were broadcast on BBC Radio 4 today as part of its obituary programme, Last Word.
You can hear the programme here.
In this new episode (yes, it’s been…ahem…a while), Seán introduces the first of a new series of fan chats. Paul Thomas and Darrell Babidge, friends for 40 years, reminisce and talk about Kate’s music and influence. These “Bush Telegraph” podcast-within-a-podcast episodes hope to cover many topics regarding Kate, including the release of singles and albums, the Kate Bush Club newsletters, conventions, TV appearances, rarities, and visits to the Farm. In this episode we are introduced to Paul and Darrell as they reminisce about their introduction to Kate in 1978, and their experience at the Before The Dawn concerts. Teasers include future plans to talk about a rare test pressing that has not been heard before, and the unique experiences that Paul had with Kate singing and talking to him on his birthdays!
You can subscribe to the Kate Bush Fan Podcast on iTunes or on any podcast app you happen to use, such as Stitcher or Tunein or listen below on Soundcloud.
He taught me that you can express with your body – and when your body is awake so is your mind. He’d put you into emotional situations, some of them very heavy. Like he’d say, “right, you’re all going to become sailors drowning and there are waves curling up around you.” And everyone would just start screaming. Or maybe he’d turn you into a little piece of flame… (Kate Bush, 1978)
We were very sad to hear today of the passing of the great dancer, actor, teacher, mime artist, and choreographer, Lindsay Kemp. He was 80 years old and had been at his home in Livorno, Italy preparing for upcoming performances and writing his memoirs.
When Kate reissued her album, The Red Shoes, in 2011 with a warm analogue remaster, she made sure to include a prominent new dedication on the sleeve-notes: “Special thanks to Lindsay Kemp, the most original artist ever, for being such an inspiration”. It was accompanied by a Guido Harari photograph of Lindsay in costume from the set of Kate’s film The Line, The Cross and The Curve, dancing manically on burning bones and grinning broadly, lost in the joy of the dance. For Kate Bush fans, Lindsay was one of those iconic reference points in Kate’s early story, like Gilmour, or East Wickham Farm or the KT Bush Band – her decision to attend his classes and learn how to extend her musical expression into movement and dance utterly changed the shape her career would take.
Lindsay was born on May 3rd 1938, growing up in a poor one-parent family in South Shields on Tyneside, and transformed himself, via early performances in working men’s clubs, into an influential avant garde creative force working across Europe. He studied art with painter David Hockney, who took him to see his first ballet at Sadler’s Wells in London. He went on to study dance with Hilde Holger and mime with Marcel Marceau and founded his own dance company in the 1960s. He met David Bowie in 1966 when Bowie attended his dance classes in London.
“He came to my dressing room and he was like the archangel Gabriel standing there, I was like Mary,” he said. “It was love at first sight.” Bowie became his student and his lover, performing in Kemp’s show, Pierrot in Turquoise and gaining the theatrical inspiration for Ziggy Stardust. “He was certainly multi-faceted, a chameleon, splendid, inspiring, a genius of a creature. But I did show him how to do it,” Kemp said. After their brief relationship, Lindsay went on to choreograph and perform with Bowie at the Ziggy Stardust concerts in 1972.
When Kate left school she had already mulled over the idea of dance but she couldn’t get accepted into a full-time ballet course as she didn’t have the qualifications. Famously, it was seeing Lindsay’s performance of ‘Flowers’ that convinced Kate to join his classes in 1976 at The Dance Centre in Covent Garden. Lindsay’s own website describes the celebrated show: “Kemp’s extremely free interpretation of Genet’s novel “Our Lady of the Flowers”, with himself playing the central role of Divine, a transvestite transcending gender in a world of criminals, whores and angels: prisons and sexual fantasies, Genet’s verbal violence and poetry transformed into music and gesture, silence and stillness. A dreamlike journey to destruction, through seduction, shock, laughter, poetry and total emotion.”
Needless to say Kate had never seen anything like it; it reduced her to tears. “The first time I saw him it was like a whole new world opened up for me. He did more than I’d ever seen done on stage before and he never opened his mouth!” Kate would later sing backing vocals on a song called “Flowers” released in 1982, dedicated to Lindsay by singer Zaine Griff, also a student of the maestro.
Lindsay Kemp in ‘Flowers’
In recent interviews Lindsay humorously and affectionately recalled the teenage Kate Bush showing up at his classes.
Lindsay writing his memoirs, at home in Livorno, August 2018
“Kate turned up dressed very properly in her ballet tights and things and her hair scraped back looking very, very professional indeed, looking like a serious student, but as timid as hell! And of course she took a place at the back of the class. You know, I had to coax her forward, I mean she was extremely shy, extremely timid and the first thing I had to do was bring her out of herself, give her courage. I have to say, that once Kate actually started dancing, she was a WILD thing, I mean she was wild!”
Kate dedicated the opening song from her debut album, The Kick Inside, to Lindsay, much to his surprise and delight. The lyrics of ‘Moving’ describe the devastating effect Kate felt on seeing him in performance.
Moving liquid, yes, you are just as water
You flow around all that comes in your way
Don’t think it over, it always takes you over
And sets your spirit dancingHow I’m moved, how you move me
With your beauty’s potency
You give me life, please don’t let me go…
you crush the lily in my soul
Kate went on to cast Lindsay in the role of a mysterious guide in her 1993 short film, The Line, The Cross and The Curve. A wealth of photographs from this project surfaced recently when photographer Guido Harari published a lavish book, The Kate Inside, containing many images of Lindsay and Kate working together. You’ll see some of these shots at the end of this article. Lindsay wrote the foreword for the book as well as co-signing some deluxe editions with Guido. As recently as June of this year, Kate sent flowers to Lindsay to congratulate him on a stage performance in Manchester, his white-painted face as expressive and beguiling as ever.
Today, Kate has paid tribute to him in a statement:
A message for Lindsay
The world has lost a truly original and great artist of the stage.
To call him a mime artist is like calling Mozart a pianist. He was very brave, very funny and above all, astonishingly inspirational. There was no-one quite like Lindsay. I was incredibly lucky to study with him, work with him and spend time with him. I loved him very much and will miss him dearly. Thank you, dear Lindsay.
RIP Lindsay, you were irreplaceable. With sincere condolences to your family and friends – Seán, Peter, Krys and Dave x
Read about Lindsay’s work at his official site here.
Big Boi from Outkast has long been one of the most vocal fans of Kate in the music world, taking part in the 2014 BBC documentary about her and tweeting in May 2017 about having had dinner with her, showing off his signed Before the Dawn CD! (See the CD below) He continues enthusing about Kate’s work in this new video from Pitchfork in which he talks about exactly why he loves Running Up That Hill so much.
Sending Kate our warmest wishes for a wonderful day today as she celebrates her 60th birthday! Fans online have been sending their best wishes and congratulations to Kate. Salon have today called her “an exquisite pop genius whose influence endures.” And in this, the 40th year of her music career, we couldn’t agree more. She is utterly unique and her unparalleled work is so precious to us all – we’re all celebrating with you, Kate! With love from Seán, Peter, Krys and Dave xxx
Press Update: The Guardian chime in with 60 “unbelievable” facts about Kate here. Salon celebrate her 60th birthday with the article mentioned above, you can read it here. Attitude Magazine pick out some career highlights here. On RTE Radio Dave Fanning discusses Kate’s career along with guest Donal Lunny (Irish musician who has worked with Kate several times) – listen here. Also in Ireland, the Sunday Business Post have a cover feature on Kate written by Nadine O’Regan in their magazine (see cover right). DJ Gary Davies on BBC Radio 2 created a “Kate Bush 80s Master Mix” to celebrate here. Kate gets plenty of mentions in this article in The Independent about older female rock stars (and about Madonna also turning 60) here. And the NME writes here: “It’s the way that Bush is simultaneously carefree and in complete control of her life and legacy that makes her such an icon, an enigma worthy of the name. So happy birthday Kate Bush; long may you intrigue, evade and – very occasionally – pop up unexpectedly and delight.”
Del Palmer has posted a birthday greeting to Kate on his official Facebook page along with a stunning childhood portrait of Kate by her brother John.
Once again, major fun was had across the globe on July 14th as a mesmerising array of “Cathys” gathered in the open air to dance to Wuthering Heights – Kate’s debut single that is this year celebrating it’s 40th year in all our lives – well done to all (and let me know which events I’ve missed here!)
Dublin, Ireland
Atlanta, USA
San Diego, USA
Berlin, Germany
Canberra, Australia
Sheffield, UK
Melbourne, Australia
Sydney, Australia
Folkestone, UK
Lomagna, Italy
Austin, USA
Woodford, Australia
Uppsala, Sweden
Rotterdam, Netherlands
Newcastle, Australia
Bega Valley, Australia
Adelaide, Australia
English singer-songwriter and musician, Tim Arnold, has recently collaborated on stage with mime artist Lindsay Kemp – a working partnership that was triggered by his lifelong interest in Kate’s work. Kate sent flowers to Tim and Lindsay last month when they performed “What Love Would Want“, an installation of music, film, photography and dance, at The Bridgewater Hall in Manchester. The event was presented by Katie Puckrick. Tim posted pics to Twitter of them holding Kate’s flowers.
A recent interview with Tim shines a light on his history with Kate and Lindsay including a recollection of a visit to the set of The Line, The Cross and the Curve when he was 17! Here’s an excerpt:
How did you get to work with the mime artist Lindsay Kemp?
I first read of Lindsay Kemp in a book about Kate Bush by Fred Vermorel. I was sitting alone in the basement of the McDonalds on the corner of the Tottenham Court Rd, huddled over an Egg McMuffin in 1987. I was 12 years old, away from my mother’s home in Spain for the summer holidays and devouring as many albums and books from London charity shops as I could.
Through Kate Bush, I also discovered Gurdjieff and Ouspensky, as well as the great Colin Wilson. But it was always the mention of Lindsay, an almost ethereal being from another world, that sparked my imagination when I began to study the roots and foundations running through English pop culture.
The first time I saw Lindsay, I was on the set of Kate Bush’s film The Line, The Cross and The Curve. I was 17. My older brother was working on the production and he invited me along to watch. I remember it well. It was the first time I had seen a Papaya. There was a lot of exotic fruit used in that film. I remember seeing Kate, Miranda Richardson and Lindsay in my brother’s monitor and also in person, between their takes. At the end of the shoot, I felt elated and inspired, as if having seen a glimpse into a creative future. I also lived on Mangos and Papayas for a week after that.
Lindsay and I finally met last year at one of his shows in London. I was so honoured to discover he had even heard of me, and had listened to my album The Soho Hobo. He said he loved the songs I’d written about Soho. It totally blew my mind and when we discovered we had so much in common, we knew we had to work together.
You can read more about Tim at his official site here.
Watch the entire, unmissable, 40th Anniversary recent tribute to Kate Bush by the Gothenburg Symphony and guest artists Jennie Abrahamson and Malin Dahlström! This is amazing.
This Woman’s Work – A Tribute to Kate Bush from Göteborgs Symfoniker on Vimeo.
We’re very pleased to report that Kate’s brother Paddy Bush has been working on new music with his longtime collaborator Colin Loyd Tucker. After having both appeared on Kate’s The Red Shoes album, the duo released a wonderful album called “Skyscraping” under the name Bushtucker, that same year. Now, 25 years later, a new single and video have surfaced from Bushtucker -“The Abduction & Rescue of Lord Weir’s Daughter.” An album, which we believe won’t include this hypnotic single, is due to follow later this year.
Paddy tells me: “…you should know that ‘Lord Weir’ is not an actual human being and bears no resemblance to any possible other Lord Weir living or dead. We haven’t gone into the business of kidnapping or rescue, my voice is not disguised for criminal reasons and you will never work out in a month of Sundays what I’m playing on the track…” Intriguing as ever!
Kate’s contribution to the Brontë Stones project is now available to see on one of four carved Brontë Stones in the Yorkshire landscape. Kate’s poem is inscribed on natural rock in the Ogden Kirk area of the Yorkshire moors. The letter carving was carried out by Pip Hall, and maps of the various walks to see the stones are now available at the parsonage in Haworth. 2018 marks 200 years since the birth of Emily Brontë and 40 years since the release of Kate’s single Wuthering Heights. Kate’s poem, dedicated to Emily Brontë, reads:
She stands outside
A book in her hands
“Her name is Cathy”, she says
“I have carried her so far, so far
Along the unmarked road from our graves
I cannot reach this window
Open it, I pray.”
But his window is a door to a lonely world
That longs to play.
Ah Emily. Come in, come in and stay.
Speaking earlier this year about the project (see our news item here), Kate said:
“I am delighted to be involved in this project. Each sister being remembered by a stone in the enigmatic landscape where they lived and worked is a striking idea. Emily only wrote the one novel – an extraordinary work of art that has truly left its mark. To be asked to write a piece for Emily’s stone is an honour and, in a way, a chance to say thank you to her.”
Kate’s ‘This Woman’s Work‘ was used as part of the soundtrack in the Season Two opening episode of The Handmaid’s Tale on US television. Spoiler Alert for fans of that show in this article ‘The Unerring Power of ‘This Woman’s Work’ by Jen Chaney from The Vulture here.
Kate has agreed to contribute a piece of poetry, along with poet laureate Carol Ann Duffy, the Scottish makar, or national poet, Jackie Kay and the novelist Jeanette Winterson in a summer project celebrating the Brontë sisters. All four have been commissioned to write a piece of poetry or prose which will then be engraved on stones positioned over the eight-mile route between the sisters’ birthplace and the family parsonage between Thornton and Haworth. Winterson will celebrate the Brontë legacy as a whole, Duffy will celebrate Charlotte, Kay has Anne and Kate has Emily. The writers have been commissioned by Bradford literature festival, which will unveil the stones in July.
Kate says:
“I am delighted to be involved in this project. Each sister being remembered by a stone in the enigmatic landscape where they lived and worked is a striking idea. Emily only wrote the one novel – an extraordinary work of art that has truly left its mark. To be asked to write a piece for Emily’s stone is an honour and, in a way, a chance to say thank you to her.”
2018 marks 200 years since the birth of Emily Brontë and 40 years since the release of Kate’s single Wuthering Heights. The stones project may possibly be the only way Kate will be marking the 40th anniversary of her song. The other three writers are confirmed to inaugurate the stones on July 7th in Bradford by reciting their words. Read more at The Guardian here.
From the event Press Release:
BRADFORD, 26th April 2018 – Writer and musician Kate Bush, poet Carol Ann Duffy, poet and novelist Jackie Kay and novelistJeanette Winterson come together to celebrate the literary legacy of the Brontë sisters, with a new permanent multi-site public art installation set in the rugged landscape of Yorkshire, that the Brontës themselves immortalised with novels such as Jane Eyre andWuthering Heights.
Curated and delivered by Bradford Literature Festival (29 June – 8 July 2018) and originated by writer Michael Stewart, the Brontë Stones project features four new, original works of writing, engraved onto stones in different locations connecting the Brontë sisters’ birthplace in Thornton and the Brontë family parsonage, now the Brontë Parsonage Museum, at Haworth. The captivating journey along the four points, of approximately 8 miles, form what is believed to have been the route the sisters themselves often took between the two locations.
Of the four commissioned pieces, three of the works (by Kate Bush, Carol Ann Duffy and Jackie Kay) respond to one of the Brontë Sisters (Emily, Charlotte and Anne, respectively), while the fourth (by Jeanette Winterson) responds to the Brontë legacy as a whole.
Accompanied by beautiful, hand drawn maps, created by Yorkshire cartographer Christopher Goddard, the stones take visitors on a journey in the footsteps of these extraordinary Yorkshire sisters, whose novels are recognised worldwide as some of the greatest works of literature to emerge from the 19th century. The project will leave a permanent memorial in the landscape that homed and fueled the imagination of these ground-breaking writers.
The Brontë Stones will be inaugurated this year, the bicentenary of Emily Brontë, at Bradford Literature Festival in a special launch event titled The Brontë Stones: Meet the Writers. Taking place on Saturday 7 July at Bradford’s historic Midland Hotel, writer’s Carol Ann Duffy, Jackie Kay and Jeanette Winterson will be in attendance, presenting the first official readings of their new work. On Sunday 8 JulyMichael Stewart will lead visitors on a guided walking tour In the Footsteps of the Brontës taking in each of the four stones for the first time. Tickets for both the launch and walk are now on public sale at www.bradfordlitfest.co.uk.
Following its inauguration at this year’s festival, the walk remains for members of the public to undertake for generations to come. As a legacy project, future plans include the development of a mobile app providing a personal, guided experience of the Brontë Stones walk.
This project has been made possible by funding from Arts Council England and sponsorship from Provident Financial Group PLC.
Kate Bush said, about Emily Bronte:
“I am delighted to be involved in this project. Each sister being remembered by a stone in the enigmatic landscape where they lived and worked is a striking idea. Emily only wrote the one novel – an extraordinary work of art that has truly left its mark. To be asked to write a piece for Emily’s stone is an honour and, in a way, a chance to say thank you to her.”
Jackie Kay said, about Anne Brontë:
“It’s been a real pleasure working on the Brontë Stones project. The Brontës are part of the literary landscape of this country. The stones are exciting in that they will make the past new again, opening up along the way new paths for different readers to follow. I particularly loved writing about Anne – she’s the most underrated writer in the family, the pioneer about whom people know the least. I liked the challenge of writing a hidden poem within the poem on the stone and working with the artist to try and achieve that effect.”
Jeanette Winterson said, about the Brontës:
“When I was growing up in Lancashire and roaming the hills in the rain, and feeling both passionate and misunderstood (like all teenagers, well, maybe some have better weather), I read the Brontës and felt their spirit stand by me. For me, reading is about connection – and connection that works across time too. Good books live in the present, regardless of when they were written. The Brontës showed me that hearts beat like mine, that the struggle to know who you are happens across time and generations, and gender. They showed me that writing needs the power of the personal behind it – but that somehow the story one person tells has to become a story many people can claim as their own. And the Brontës are women. As a woman I needed those ancestors, those guides. I still do.”
Syima Aslam, director of Bradford Literature Festival, said:
“It has been a huge privilege to curate and deliver the Brontës Stones project as part of the Festival this year. The Brontës are an integral part of the literary landscape of Bradford, and the inspiration for our annual Bronte Heritage strand of events. It is therefore an honour for Bradford Literature Festival to bring the legacy of the extraordinary Bronte sisters to life in this exciting new way. It’s a matter of great pride for us that the Stones will stand in some of the most beautiful places in the county, bearing these moving, mysterious and playful literary works, that the public can enjoy for years to come.”
Other events related to the Brontës taking place at Bradford Literature Festival 2018 include:
- An event co-programmed with the Brontë Parsonage Museum focusing on Ann Bronte.
- A panel discussion on whether Emily Brontë was a heretic or a mystic.
- A panel discussion focusing on the Gothic elements in the work of Emily Brontë.
- A panel discussion on alternative readings of Heathcliffe from Wuthering Heights.
Michael Stewart, project originator said:
“I first conceived of the Brontë Stones project in October 2013. I live in Thornton and have long wanted my village to receive recognition for its place in the Brontë story. All three literary sisters and their wayward brother were born here. They were a happy family, but very shortly, after their move to Haworth in 1820, tragedy struck. First the death of their mother, then the two oldest siblings. I was also aware that Anne Brontë was buried in Scarborough many miles from the rest of her family and I wanted a stone to mark her return. It’s fantastic to see the project come to fruition.”
Kitty Wright, Executive Director of the Brontë Society said:
“We are thrilled to be playing a part in this exciting project and are delighted that the Anne Stone will be situated in the grounds of the Parsonage, where Anne spent almost all of her life. Haworth and the Yorkshire landscape are of immense significance to the Brontë story and we are sure local residents and visitors will enjoy making their way along the Brontë Stone trail for years to come. We look forward to building on our partnership with Bradford Literature Festival as together we continue to celebrate the legacy of Anne and her sisters.”
Bradford Literature Festival, in association with Provident Financial Group, takes place 29 June – 8 July 2018. View the full programme at www.
bradfordliteraturefestival.co. . Booking is open now online or via 01274 238525.uk