Kate Bush News

The latest news about the musician Kate Bush and her work

Kate Bush News banner

Site Exclusive! Unpublished chapter from new Kate biography

Thanks to everyone who entered our Running Up That Hill: 50 Visions of Kate Bush book giveaway competition, we had hundreds of entries and the successful winner has been notified! As a thank you for your interest in the book (see our enthusiastic review here) the author, Tom Doyle, has decided to exclusively share an unpublished chapter (or “vision”) from the book. You can DOWNLOAD the chapter here (PDF format) or read it in full below. The book is published today and has already received glowing reviews from the likes of Mojo Magazine (4/5), Record Collector (4/5) and Uncut Magazine (9/10). Tom writes:

Hello folks,

So, my Kate book is out today. It was very much a labour of love for me, and quite some trip to write. I’ve never laughed or “twinkled” as often as I did when writing this book, so I very much hope you enjoy.

There was one “lost” chapter that ended up on the cutting-room floor. So, here it is as an exclusive for Kate Bush News.

Cheers,

Tom

Order “Running Up That Hill – 50 Visions of Kate Bush” on Amazon UK

A Celebration

Staging Kate Bush Tribute Shows, 2016-17

In the 1980s, for a generation of future musicians, Kate Bush’s 1986 hits collection, The Whole Story, was their portal into the world of her songs. Scottish singer Emma Pollock – of Glasgow indie rock band The Delgados, and a solo artist in her own right – was 15 years old when Bush’s singles collection was released. It made a huge impression on her.

            ‘It goes back to my mum introducing me to Kate Bush’s music in the late ‘70s,’ she says. ‘She adored “Wuthering Heights”. But I bought The Whole Story with my own Christmas money, and I just had an absolute love affair with that album.

‘For kids, compilations are amazing, because they provide a point of access, and you don’t have to grapple with the artist’s song choices when it comes to an album, and how they might be slightly difficult for a kid. I think compilations hit the sweet spot for someone who suspects they’re a fan but kind of needs it confirmed.’

Similarly, in Sunderland, brothers Peter and David Brewis, later to combine their vocal and multi-instrumentalist talents in their art rock band Field Music, were surrounded by Kate Bush’s songs at home when they were kids.

‘I was only six or seven,’ says David. ‘But I intrinsically knew all of the songs on The Whole Story. And I probably knew all the songs on the first side of Hounds of Love. But I don’t think you understand the second side until you’ve passed eight years old (laughs).’

‘Growing up, Kate Bush was just part of the musical fabric of the household,’ says Peter, by four years the elder brother. ‘Those records were just around all the time. And they definitely became part of my idea about what music is meant to be. It’s the idea of this synthesis of various things to create your own music.’

In 2016, Emma Pollock was approached by the organisers of the True North music festival in Aberdeen with the idea of her staging a show involving a line-up of guest singers exploring the music of Joni Mitchell. ‘Even though I love Joni Mitchell, I actually wanted to do Kate Bush,’ she says. ‘So, I kind of countered with that. And they said, ‘Yeah, sounds great.’”

WIN a copy of new Kate biography! One of the best yet written.

Yes, we all adore our immense HomeGround Anthology books and swoon at John Carder Bush’s essential Kate: Inside the Rainbow but the prospect of another more traditional biography of Kate might not exactly excite longtime fans – a quick glance at my own bookshelf here confirms that there have indeed been many, many attempts over the years to tell the story of Kate’s career in book-form with varying degrees of success; Graeme Thomson’s twice-revised Under The Ivy being far and away the best of the bunch. So, when we heard this Summer that a new book by respected British music journalist Tom Doyle would be surfacing with the title “Running Up that Hill – 50 Visions of Kate Bush” and that it would take the form of a “mosaic biography”, it did at first sound like it might be a tired, cobbled together clippings rehash to cash-in on Kate’s phenomenal global hit single this year – thankfully, this is not the case.

[Pre-order “Running Up That Hill – 50 Visions of Kate Bush” on Amazon UK]

Instead, this excellent book, published on October 27th, is easily one of the best yet written about Kate’s career – surprisingly refreshing, full of new details and insights, and earnestly crafted with obvious respect and serious admiration for the subject matter without ever leaning into all-out hagiography. As with Graeme Thomson’s lauded biography, you come away with the feeling that Doyle “gets it” and clearly enjoyed shining a light on many carefully chosen aspects of Kate’s output over the years. As a writer for Mojo Magazine, Doyle was granted a very significant exclusive in 2005, spending a day with Kate at her home to conduct what would be the first and most in-depth interview she would do to promote her return with the Aerial album. Little wonder that he uses much unpublished detail from this charming encounter to form the spine of his book structure.

Presented as 50 chapters or “visions”, the traditional chronological biography approach is (sensibly) still present, but the “multi-faceted” aspect highlighted in the book publicity has freed up the author to include “Guest Testimony” chapters (with new contributions from the likes of David Gilmour, writer Ian Rankin and photographer Guido Harari) as well as dipping into interviews and transcribed TV appearances and much fascinating fresh interview material; Kate’s brother John Carder Bush describes his unforgettable Rackham-inspired photography of a young Kate that would be included in his Cathy book. Gilmour’s fresh account of the recording of the demos in the 1970s is riveting stuff. Video directors Paul Henry and Julian Doyle discuss the making of the videos for The Dreaming (shot in a day), There Goes a Tenner and the iconic Cloudbusting film. There’s even an unexpectedly welcome exploration with Utah Saints about their dance smash Something Good in 1992. I was very pleased to see Doyle allowing his “visions” structure to devote entire chapters to some of Kate’s artistic peaks; Pull Out The Pin, Under The Ivy, Moments of Pleasure, A Coral Room and the filmed And Dream of Sheep are among those duly given this special spotlight treatment.

Throughout, Doyle writes wonderfully about his subject matter, describing the Kate Bush he met as “steely, gently controlling, painfully self-critical, and also the first person to happily puncture the reverential bubble that surrounds her.” In his introductory chapter he states that his book is: “…designed to be a multifaceted portrait of Kate Bush: illuminating from fifty different angles the girl who lived in her imagination, reluctantly became famous because of it, then had to deal with unwanted outside forces, before battling on and emerging triumphant, to become one of the most groundbreaking, idiosyncratic and singular artists of our time.” Highly recommended.

[Pre-order “Running Up That Hill – 50 Visions of Kate Bush” on Amazon UK]

COMPETITON TIME! The lovely people at Bonnier / Nine Eight Books have given us a copy of Running Up That Hill – 50 Visions of Kate Bush to give away! To be in with a chance, just answer the following question:

Who introduced Kate’s only ever TV performance of Under The Ivy in April 1986?

Please send your answer to 50visions@katebushnews.com – if you are successful we will then be in touch by email to get your details for getting the book to you. The competition runs till the end of Wednesday October 26th at which point the random draw will be made. Good luck!

COMPETITION RULES: COMPETITION STARTS OCTOBER 20TH 2022 AND ENDS OCTOBER 26TH, 2022 AT 23:59 (GMT). ONE ENTRY PER PERSON. MULTIPLE ENTRIES, THE REGISTRATION OF MULTIPLE EMAIL ADDRESSES FOR ONE PERSON AND INCOMPLETE ENTRIES WILL RESULT IN DISQUALIFICATION. KATEBUSHNEWS.COM IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR THE TIMELINESS OF DELIVERY OR ELECTRONIC OR COMPUTER MALFUNCTIONS THAT MAY AFFECT THE DELIVERY OR CONTENT OF ENTRY. WINNER WILL BE SELECTED IN A RANDOM DRAW FROM ALL ELIGIBLE ENTRIES ON OR ABOUT OCTOBER 27TH, 2022. WINNER WILL BE NOTIFIED BY EMAIL. IF WINNER CANNOT BE REACHED WITHIN 3 DAYS OF NOTIFICATION, AN ALTERNATE WINNER WILL BE SELECTED. ODDS OF WINNING DEPEND ON NUMBER OF ELIGIBLE ENTRIES RECEIVED. PRIZE IS NON-TRANSFERABLE AND NON-EXCHANGEABLE. NO SUBSTITUTION OR CASH EQUIVALENT WILL BE MADE. ALL DECISIONS OF KATEBUSHNEWS.COM IS FINAL. WINNER SHOULD ALLOW 6 WEEKS FOR DELIVERY OF PRIZE.

[Pre-order “Running Up That Hill – 50 Visions of Kate Bush” on Amazon UK]

Kate remembers the late Robbie Coltrane

Kate has posted a message remembering her friend, the wonderful actor Robbie Coltrane, who died on Friday, aged 72. Robbie’s voice (“You must wake up!”) can be heard among those trying to rouse Kate from sleep in Waking The Witch. In 2011, he starred in the official music video for Deeper Understanding. He played the actor playing the subject matter of Kate’s song “Ken” in the Comic Strip Presents film, G.L.C. For millions around the world, of course, he’ll be known as the loveable giant Hagrid in the Harry Potter films as well as starring in the BAFTA-winning UK TV series, Cracker. Kate’s message from her official site:

Robbie

I was very upset to hear the news about Robbie.
     I’m really grateful that he agreed to star in a video that we made some years ago. It was incredibly exciting to watch him at work and to be in the presence of his deeply profound intelligence and earthy wit. He was so much fun. I’m really going to miss him.
  I had so much respect for his many talents and his generosity of spirit. We’ve lost one of our great treasures…
            Kate

New podcast! The Dreaming 40th Anniversary Part 1

In this new episode of The Kate Bush Fan Podcast, Darrell and Paul (The Bush Telegraph) start a three-part series all about ‘The Dreaming’ album, as we celebrate its 40th anniversary. In the first episode they discuss the excitement of its release when they were young teenagers, including the first time they met Kate at the Virgin Megastore album signing. Each track is discussed, as well as quotes from Kate about the album and reviews from the press. The following episodes will have exclusive interviews with Teri Reed, engineer at Advision Studios and Nick Launay, engineer at Townhouse Studios. You will not want to miss these, as new light is shed on each of the album tracks, as well as ‘Lord of the Reedy River’, b-side to ‘Sat In Your Lap’. Fun anecdotes of their work with Kate are also shared. Happy Dreaming!…

You can subscribe to the Kate Bush Fan Podcast on iTunes or Spotify or on any podcast app you happen to use, such as Stitcher or Tunein or listen below on Soundcloud.

[WHILE WE HAVE YOU HERE, IF YOU’RE LIKING WHAT WE DO AT WWW.KATEBUSHNEWS.COM CONSIDER THROWING US A VERY SMALL DONATION TO HELP US SUPPORT RUNNING COSTS HERE: HTTPS://KO-FI.COM/KATEBUSHNEWS]

New Podcast: John Carder Bush interview – Part One!

In this very special episode, Seán chats with Kate’s eldest brother, the poet, writer and photographer, John Carder Bush at his home in South East London. A dream come true! In this first part, we talk about John’s early life, how he developed his writing, his days playing in folk bands in London (with a young Kate taking notes), forming the Salatticum Poets with his great friends Tony Buzan and Jeremy Cartland, the story behind “Nicholas Wade” and so much more! Part two coming next week.

You can subscribe to the Kate Bush Fan Podcast on iTunes or Spotify or on any podcast app you happen to use, such as Stitcher or Tunein or listen below on Soundcloud.

[WHILE WE HAVE YOU HERE, IF YOU’RE LIKING WHAT WE DO AT WWW.KATEBUSHNEWS.COM CONSIDER THROWING US A VERY SMALL DONATION TO HELP US SUPPORT RUNNING COSTS HERE: HTTPS://KO-FI.COM/KATEBUSHNEWS]

New Kate Bush Fan Podcast: The Summer of Kate!

In this detailed new episode of The Kate Bush Fan Podcast Seán packs an hour looking back over all the amazing landmark events of Summer 2022 when Kate’s song Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God) was featured on Stranger Things and became her biggest ever global smash hit – all the summer chart news, the reaction from Kate, the media and the fans! A souvenir of an extraordinary few months.

You can subscribe to the Kate Bush Fan Podcast on iTunes or Spotify or on any podcast app you happen to use, such as Stitcher or Tunein or listen below on Soundcloud.

[WHILE WE HAVE YOU HERE, IF YOU’RE LIKING WHAT WE DO AT WWW.KATEBUSHNEWS.COM CONSIDER THROWING US A VERY SMALL DONATION TO HELP US SUPPORT RUNNING COSTS HERE: HTTPS://KO-FI.COM/KATEBUSHNEWS]

New Philip Pullman book The Collectors inspired by Kate!

Acclaimed author of the His Dark Materials trilogy, Philip Pullman, has released his book, The Collectors, as a slim 80-page hardback edition illustrated by Tom Duxbury. It’s well known that Kate and Philip are friends and mutual admirers of each other’s work (Kate famously recorded the song Lyra for the film adaptation of Pullman’s The Golden Compass). Kate is mentioned in the dedication at the start of the book as having inspired it!

Filled with the magic of Pullman’s assured pen, this glorious new tale set in the universe of His Dark Materials sees an art-collecting Oxford academic acquire two imposing paintings…on a dark winter’s night in 1970, Horley and Grinstead huddle for warmth in the Senior Common Room of a college in Oxford. Conversation turns to the two impressive works of art that Horley has recently added to his collection. What the two men don’t know is that these pieces are connected in mysterious and improbable ways; and they are about to be caught in the cross-fire of a story which has travelled time and worlds.

The book is available to order here.

The Dreaming was released 40 years ago today!

We’ve been celebrating the 40th Anniversary of The Dreaming on our Facebook page with videos of the 5 singles from Kate’s incredible 1982 album. It was released on September 13th 1982. I wrote about it in the special new 40th Anniversary Issue of HomeGround Magazine (available free here). Also coming this month is a two-part Bush Telegraph podcast episode all about The Dreaming album with some very special guest interviewees. Here’s some of what I wrote:

“Earlier this year I was contacted by the editor of one of the UK’s major music magazines, asking to pick my brains about a Kate Bush cover article they were hoping to run. For a change, they were mulling over doing a cover feature on The Dreaming album, 2022 being the 40th anniversary of the album’s release (almost impossible to believe). As we have seen over the last decade, having Kate on the cover of a music monthly can shift a healthy amount of magazines but typically those feature articles will focus on Kate’s very early career, the live 1979 tour or the perennial favourite album – Hounds of Love.

I was emphatically enthusiastic about the cover idea and reeled off a list of reasons to the editor why Kate’s extraordinary, ground-breaking fourth studio album still deserved every bit as much attention from the music press as the beloved Hounds of Love – it was indeed time for them to recontextualise this darkly complex, astonishing record. It was the first album Kate produced entirely by herself and of course many of you reading this still regard it as her greatest masterpiece out of a triumvirate of her most acclaimed works that includes Hounds of Love and Aerial. The daring, complex experimentations within are not fumbling towards something more accomplished, they are often more startling than those on Hounds of Love itself. The complexity and inventiveness are insane. In the wider world, The Dreaming is normally mentioned as the album she had to make in order to go on to create her “true” masterpiece, Hounds of Love, but many fans feel it mightily holds up all by itself. This is the one that meant she had “broken free of pop stardom’s strait-jacket, to infiltrate the ranks of art-rock aristocrats” as The Quietus put it. It was Never For Ever that was surely the essential transitional work – The Dreaming was her arrival at an amazing new place in her career, a seismic shift.

Paul Hardiman, Kate and Del Palmer at Advision Studio, recording The Dreaming in 1982 (via Del’s facebook page)

There’s so much fascinating drama and intensity around this particular record’s creation and reception. Kate was only about 22 when she wrote the songs and 24 when she released it, but she still had the guts to produce it herself – she was utterly driven to do that. Years after release we still get insights into the making of the record from some of those that were there – Graeme Thomson did a good job in his Under The Ivy biography getting new insights from studio types like Hugh Padgham, Nick Launay and Paul Hardiman. I imagine what it would be like to have been a fly on the wall during the concentrated experimentation of those sessions across expensive London studios like Townhouse, Abbey Road and Advision on Gosfield Street (hence the “Gosfield Goers” credit) as Kate figured out the new technology and sound possibilities at her disposal – the Fairlight, gated reverb drum patterns, the undeniable influence of Peter Gabriel’s studio work. Crafting layers of utterly new, and to some listeners, baffling soundscapes to press forward her post-Never For Ever ambitions. “I was using different instruments, and everything was changing; and I felt that really the best thing to do would be to make this album a real departure – make it completely different. And the only way to achieve this was to sever all the links I had had with the older stuff”

Original album teaser poster, salvaged from a hoarding in Lewisham in the Summer of ’82 and later restored and photographed by Krys!

“Game changer”. “Jarring”. “Cinematic”. “Pulsating”. “Obsessional”. “Thunderous”. “Sonic Assault”. Wading through the word salad that exists to try to describe The Dreaming album makes one thing clear – forty years later, this remains a record you can’t be apathetic about….

…the Uncut magazine cover feature that eventually surfaced in February this year was, refreshingly, not a re-hashed archive article – a considerable line-up of people involved in the creation of Kate’s dark masterpiece are interviewed by writer Peter Watts, including Preston Heyman, Paul Hardiman, Richard Burgess, Brian Bath, Roy Harper, Hugh Padgham, Dave Lawson, Howard Gray, Danny “Dan Dan the Sushi Man!” Dawson, and Teri Reed…

In 2014 on a BBC documentary Del did finally reveal the truth behind the mystery man on the cover of the record, the ‘Harry Houdini’ that Kate is passing the key to – yes, it was Del himself. A great rehearsal shot of Kate (with key on tongue) and Del in the same pose (Del donning a fetching knitted jumper) appears in the stunning book of photographs Kate: Inside the Rainbow by John Carder Bush. John described the final shot thus: “A slightly cloudy day outside in the kitchen garden at the back of our parents’ house. Apart from Kate looking very beautiful, the ivy behind her is wonderfully textured and full of hidden spaces and shadows amongst the glossy leaves themselves. Ivy may look wonderful, but it likes to slowly strangle any tree it lives on. It’s not poisonous, and in ancient times a poet’s crown was made of ivy.”

From “Kate: Inside the Rainbow” – John Carder Bush (Little Brown, 2015)

…it’s interesting to wonder how Kate feels about The Dreaming album now, from this perspective. In the intervening years she’s been asked far more frequently about Hounds of Love, and it’s obvious that her follow-up to The Dreaming is one she’s very pleased with. No song from The Dreaming was performed live on stage in 2014, although an understanding of how the show came to be structured mostly explains that omission. Guitarist David Rhodes let us know that yes, Kate did initially want to do Sat in Your Lap for Before the Dawn but then this got switched out for Top of the City and, sadly, her 1981 single never made the rehearsal stage – we can only imagine. In the 90’s she recalled looking back at that record “and it seems mad. I heard it about three years ago and couldn’t believe it. There’s a lot of anger in it. There’s a lot of ‘I’m an artist, right!’” With that in mind it’d be fascinating to know how Kate felt relatively recently, listening back to the sparkling new version of The Dreaming she worked on with James Guthrie for her 2018 Remastered project. It remains, a very special treat for our earholes – and in this 40th anniversary year in particular we just need to remember to “Play it Loud”

Full unedited article available in the free HomeGround 40th Special Issue

Kate participates in new Abbey Road documentary

Kate at Abbey Road studios

Filmmaker Mary McCartney has debuted her film about the legendary Abbey Road Studios, If These Walls Could Sing, at the Telluride film festival. The documentary includes interviews with members of Pink Floyd, Elton John, Kate, Ringo Starr and Mary’s father, Paul McCartney. From classical to pop, film scores to hip-hop, “If These Walls Could Sing” explores the breadth, diversity, and ingenuity of Abbey Road Studios. Intimate interviews with leading artists, producers and composers paired with vivid archive footage and session tapes give exclusive access to these famously private studios. From Elton John to Jacqueline Du Pre to Jimmy Page, from Kate Bush to Paul McCartney to Celeste, all found their musical language in Abbey Road Studios. Audiences will experience the creative magic that makes it a revered and sacred space that still produces many of the most recognised records today and makes Abbey Road the most famous and longest-running studio in the world.

Director Mary McCartney

Variety writes: “Kate Bush makes a rare modern appearance in the documentary, albeit audio-only. “It’s amazing having Kate in there because she produced her third album there, directed her video in there… I kind of made contact with her. I know she doesn’t do interviews, but I know she feels real affection for Abbey Road, so over time she kindly agreed to do an audio piece that she wrote and sent to me. Just having her voice talking about the space is pretty special as well.” In the Variety review of the film, they note that “resurgent star Kate Bush talks about the studio’s historic reluctance to repaint, lest even the slightest alteration affect the sound…”

If These Walls Could Sing will be streaming on Disney+ at a date to be announced

New PROG magazine Kate cover feature and poster

The latest edition of PROG Magazine in the UK, out Friday September 9th, has a Kate Bush cover, a feature on her 40 greatest songs and includes 4 Kate Bush postcards and a double-sided Kate poster which features that great Never For Ever cover image they released in 2020. It will be available to mail order from Friday at this site. The magazine writes:

“Kate Bush graces the cover of the new issue of Prog as we present her 40 greatest songs, as chosen by her prog peers from King Crimson, Marillion, Opeth, Porcupine Tree, Eivør, The Anchoress, Jane Weaver and more… We also explore the strange phenomena of Kate’s current resurgence thanks to Stranger Things….”

PROG magazine double-sided Kate Bush poster and postcards with the issue

Running Up That Hill CD single out in the US Sept 2nd!

Running Up That Hill CD single cover art

Lovers of physical formats (and Kate collectors) rejoice! As Kate remains in the US Billboard Hot 100 Top 5 this week at No.5, with incredible radio airplay in the USA still, her US record label, Rhino, is releasing a two-track CD single version of Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God) on September 2nd! As with the original 7″ vinyl release, the single also includes Kate’s stunning, fan favourite song, Under The Ivy. It is almost three months since her 1985 hit was first heard on the Netflix TV show, Stranger Things, but the song shows no signs of losing its grip on the US public’s affections – it has been a phenomenon all summer. The direct order link from the Rhino Records site is here – this is a US release so shipping will be calculated based on being shipped from the USA. This is the first time the single has been issued on the CD format. So far there’s been no official comment from Kate on her website about this release.

From the shop description: “The first single from Kate Bush’s fifth studio album Hounds of Love, “Running Up That Hill” was originally released to critical acclaim in August of 1985. Available once again, this CD single stays true to the original, featuring period correct artwork and b-side “Under the Ivy.”

CD Tracklisting:

1.RUNNING UP THAT HILL
(A DEAL WITH GOD)
2.UNDER THE IVY

Krys Fitzgerald-Morris: HomeGround 40th Anniversary Issue Highlights

One of the highlights of the new 180-page special 40th Anniversary Issue of HomeGround – The Kate Bush Magazine is a beautifully evocative and thought-provoking piece by HomeGround’s own Krys Fitzgerald-Morris which explores not just her own fan memories of decades immersed in Kate’s music but also how Kate’s legacy might be cherished and maintained for future generations… “the pleasure of walking through memories.” I think any Kate Bush fan reading this would find themselves moved, but also a little proud, excited and perhaps a little wistful too – I experienced a whole mix of emotions reading this. Entitled “Through Leaves”, Krys firstly writes about the excitement of the early days of HomeGround Magazine; visiting Kate’s wonderful parents, Robert and Hannah, at East Wickham Farm, organising fan events and conventions (all those fans in The Big Sky video shoot!) and actually starring as an extra in the video for Experiment IV along with Peter and Dave from HomeGround. She shares many personal memories, all so treasured.

Dave, Kate, Krys and Peter (and a half-hidden Del!) at the 1990 Kate Bush Club/HomeGround Convention

Krys writes: “Growing older brings things up sharp and close, like what happens to these special things of ours once we’re no longer here. For me it is these treasured cards and letters from Kate, and cards from her parents. Not only these but the letters, cards and manuscripts of prose and poetry from John (Carder Bush). These things have to be preserved for the future.”

To illustrate just how important this will become for Kate’s legacy and to future generations, Krys recounts her own deep dive over the years into the life and work of Vita Sackville-West (1892-1962), the English novelist, poet and journalist who is remembered for the celebrated garden at Sissinghurst created with her husband, Sir Harold Nicolson. Noting that many of Vita’s letters and manuscripts are housed in archives in the UK and USA, Krys describes a very memorable visit she made to Sissinghurst where she was given special access to Vita’s Writing Room (preserved as she left it after her death in 1962) – filled with treasures and mementos from the writer’s life and work. And so, inspired by this, Krys takes the reader on a visit to her imagined Kate Bush Museum, housed at East Wickham Farm, one hundred years from now in 2122. It’s quite something to read. Like I said, a whole mix of emotions for any fan!

Read Krys’s article, and many many others (including contributions from Paddy Bush and John Carder Bush) by getting your FREE download copy of the epic, new 134-page issue of HomeGround Magazine here! 

New Mojo Magazine Kate Bush Cover feature

Mojo Magazine in the UK have joined in the Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God) resurgence with a cover feature and “Kate Bush Companion” themed cover-mount CD. From the magazine’s site:

“Everyone’s talking about Kate Bush, but no one’s going as deep into Running Up That Hill, and its parent Hounds Of Love album, as MOJO. Collaborators, admirers and MOJO’s top writers tell the incredible story of her greatest record, and its resurrection.. This month’s covermount CD is Thunder In Our Hearts: a collection of music that inspired and sustained Kate Bush – including Roy Harper, Anne Briggs, Eberhard Weber and Billie Holiday – plus exquisite Kate Bush covers by Tracey Thorn and Nite Jewel.” The magazine is available by mail order here. CD tracklising:

  1. Roy Harper – You (The Game Part II)
  2. Zaine Griff – Flowers
  3. Nite Jewel – Hounds of Love
  4. Anne Briggs – Sovay
  5. Ewan MacColl & A.L Lloyd – The Handsome Cabin Boy
  6. Tracey Thorn – Under The Ivy
  7. Youth & Gaudi – Bass Weapon
  8. Thomas De Hartmann – Hartmann/Gurdjieff – The Bokhairian Dervish, Hadji Asvatz-Troov
  9. Planxty – Smeceno Horo
  10. Siobhan McKenna – Soliloquy of Molly Bloom
  11. The King’s Singers – Tsintskaro
  12. Eberhard Weber – Pendulum
  13. Billie Holiday – Strange Fruit
  14. London Symphony Orchestra – Delius – A Song of Summer
  15. Mary O’Hara – My Lagan Love

As before, Mojo also have a special subscribers cover (unadorned with other text etc) and it looks beautiful with that gorgeous Hounds of Love photo by John Carder Bush. The covermount CD is really excellent and thoughtfully put together. You will hear Kate herself on the Zaine Griff and Roy Harper tracks. Well done, Mojo! Thanks to the Kate Bush Clippings page for the photos.

Mojo subscriber’s cover variation

Kate now 8 weeks at No.1 in Australia! Full chart update

Global Chart update

Well, of course we’ve been calling this the “Summer of Kate” here at www.katebushnews.com (for obvious reasons) but Down Under it’s nothing short of a glorious Winter of Kate as she today racks up an EIGHTH non-consecutive week at No.1 on the Australian ARIA singles chart! Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God) has also been a huge success in neighbouring New Zealand where she hasn’t left the Top 4 for the last 9 weeks and even enjoyed a fortnight at No.1 in June! Let’s take a quick look at how the single is doing everywhere now, over two months since Stranger Things sent Kate’s masterpiece song into the stratosphere…

[Note: Don’t miss news of a HomeGround/KateBushNews.com fan event in London in September – all details below!]

OFFICIAL CHARTS: USA: The chart situation in the world’s largest music market remains fascinating – this week Kate retains her highest ever singles chart position in America for the second week running on the Billboard Hot 100 at No.3! Kate’s song has now become not just a streaming/download phenomenon but also one of US radio’s biggest hits of the summer of 2022. As Billboard explains: “The ‘Stranger Things’ viral bump is finally starting to recede for Kate Bush’s resurrected hit, but radio is picking up the slack. Radio programmers continue to successfully test “Hill” in callout research, in which they play snippets of the song to listeners along with other potential playlist staples. Also, it’s unusually strong on several top radio formats, rising from No.5 to No.3 this week on the Alternative Airplay chart and from No.10 to No.8 on the Pop Airplay chart.” As one industry spokesperson told Billboard: “…the audience isn’t tired of this thing.” Kate is currently at No.4 on the Billboard Global 200 having topped that weekly chart of charts on three previous occasions. Billboard have all kinds of charts including Hot Songwriter and Producer charts, you can download the latest set of these here. Kate has enjoyed 4 weeks at No.1 on the Hot 100 Songwriters chart, and an astounding 9 weeks at No.1 on the Rock Songwriters chart and 8 weeks at No.1 on the Alternative Songwriters chart. Kate is also No.2 on several Billboard Producer charts also, having spent up to 5 weeks at No.1 on those.

Get your FREE download copy of the epic, new 134-page issue of HomeGround Magazine here! 

OFFICIAL CHARTS: Ireland: Kate has today moved down to No.2 after an astounding SEVEN weeks at No.1 in her maternal homeland! Simply staggering Irish chart success. UK: Kate stays in the UK Top 10 for a TENTH week, remaining at No.9 in today’s new countdown – we remind ourselves that Wuthering Heights had a shorter stint, 7 weeks, in the Top 10 in Kate’s home country. Kate has enjoyed three weeks at No.1 in June with her second ever UK singles chart topper and anyone paying attention to her official site knows how she feels about that! Also, very significantly, Kate received an early birthday present on July 29th from the UK record industry when the BPI certified Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God) DOUBLE Platinum, with sales of the single in excess of 1.2 million copies! Wow.

BPI Double Platinum Certified

Canada: Kate is at No.5 this week in the Canadian chart, down from No.3. She previously peaked at a Canadian chart career high of No.2 a few weeks ago. Germany: Kate remains at No.11 on the German singles chart this week. Kate reached a peak on the German chart at No.4 for three weeks in June. France: Kate is at No.15 in France, having peaked at No.3 for two weeks in June. Italy: Kate has spent 8 weeks inside the official Italian Top 40 peaking at No.18 in June. The Netherlands: Kate is at No.20 in the Dutch charts this week, having peaked at No.3 in June. Kate spent 6 weeks in the Dutch Top 10. Sweden: Kate has had a very impressive run in the official Swedish singles charts where she is currently at No.6. Kate peaked at No.1 in the chart in June and has remained in the Top 7 ever since! Norway: Kate is at No.20 on the official Norwegian chart this week and hasn’t left the Top 20 since she entered the chart at No.4 in June. Finland: Kate has now stayed 8 weeks in the official Finnish Singles Top 20, peaking at number 6 in early June. Denmark: Kate is at No.13 on the Danish singles chart and has spent 4 weeks in the Top 10 there, peaking at No.6. Austria: Kate is currently at No.8 in the Austrian chart and hasn’t left the Top 10 since June, peaking at No.3.

iTunes: Kate is today at an incredible No.2 on the Worldwide iTunes chart, having topped this chart three times previously. She is No.2 in Australia, No.2 in Canada, No. 5 in the USA, No.7 in Chile, No.7 in New Zealand, No.9 in France, No.12 in Norway and No.12 in the UK.

Spotify: Kate is at No.4 worldwide on Spotify right now having topped the weekly global chart three times. She is No.1 in Australia and the UK (Kate has been No.1 in the UK on Spotify for the last 8 weeks!), No.2 in Ireland, No.3 in Canada and also the USA, and No.4 in Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and No.5 in Switzerland. Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God) has been streamed almost 400 million times since the song featured on Stranger Things at the end of May, bringing the total on the platform to an incredible 540 million+ streams in total. And finally…

BIG NEWS – Fan event!!! From our own Dave Cross: “Hey kids, I’m thrilled to announce this special event at The Royal Vauxhall Tavern in London, England. HomeGround and KateBushNews.com present; A Deal with God – a celebration of Kate Bush, to raise money for Cabaret vs Cancer on Wednesday 7th September, doors at 7pm.

A gorgeous line up of amazing performers including Jonathan Paul Hellyer, Ginny Lemon, Sadie Sinner, The Songbird Sooz Kempner, Rose Garden with Phil Lawrence, A Fat Child and hosted by Michael Twaits with Pippa Dee Jorge, Veronica Maldonado and Simon Le Vans. Tickets are on sale now.

GET YOUR TICKETS HERE!

BBC2 Host Kate Bush Night to celebrate her birthday!

From 7pm GMT time this evening, BBC2 television in the UK will be dedicating an entire evening of its schedule to her music and story, to celebrate Kate’s birthday today and indeed her incredible international chart success in Summer 2022!

Starting at 7pm, a programme celebrates Kate’s debut year, 1978, with many Top of the Pops performances from that year, including Wuthering Heights. Other great content includes the previously seen Kate at the BBC, full of wonderful performances 1978-1994, then the great 2014 documentary, The Kate Bush Story, her 1979 BBC TV special and Queens of Song at the BBC!

Page 5 of 92

Powered by WordPress & Theme by Anders Norén