There has been an explosion of press coverage about Kate’s KBC announcement over the past few days, most are variations of the same news recycled from Music Week, although longer pieces have been printed in The Telegraph and The Times in the UK. The BBC website has posted a story and a link back to this site. The Evening Standard ran a story “Comeback Kate” and including nice comments such as ‘a unique performer who inspired a generation’. Other news stories have appeared on Sky News, Female First, Ananova,Contact Music, Launch Music, The Daily Mirror, The Sun, Play Louder, The Sunday Post, Sound Generator and various TV teletext services across Europe. (big thanks to Ben on the site’s forum who has been gathering news mentions and links from all over)
It all amounts to a surprisingly broad splash of pre-publicity for Kate’s eighth album, with BBC Radio 2 playing December Will Be Magic Again, Moments Of Pleasure and Hounds Of Love in recent days. The Telegraph featured an article by Richard Wolfson: “The very existence of this novel, Waiting for Kate Bush by John Mendelssohn, is an indication of the bizarre levels of obsession that Bush still inspires. Despite her decade-long absence, the 46-year-old from Bexleyheath still holds a central place in the national consciousness. As I wandered around London, having just purchased a copy of the book, periodically someone would catch a glimpse of Bush’s face on the cover and grab my arm. “She’s absolutely brilliant. I love her,” said the Glaswegian security guard at the building works around St Pancras. “Can I see that?” said an 18-year-old a few yards further on, who would have been about seven when Bush’s last album, The Red Shoes, was released. “I really need to check her out. Muse say she’s their biggest influence.” It is not just the music that has been influential. It is the scale of her theatrical ambition which makes her such a compelling figure, and which makes the prospect of new material next year something to savour.”
The Times today has a large article on page five, as well as a picture of Kate in its front cover. David Sheasby has scanned the article for me: “The article is mainly a compendium of info that has been posted on this site over the past couple of years – in fact, the article refers at one point to “her website”, by which I think the writer means Kate Bush News and Information.” The article, written by Adam Sherwin says: “Twelve years after her last release, one of pop’s most mercurial performers has delivered a surprise Christmas present to her long-suffering fan club. The record features the last work of Michael Kamen, the composer and arranger, who died last year. She has also been working with Mich Karn, bassist with Eighties new romantic group Japan, drummer Stuart Elliott and jazz percussionist Peter Erskine. The London Metropolitan Orchestra will feature with two classical musicians, Emma Murphy and Susanna Pell. Bush, 46, burst on to the music scene as a 17-year-old with the swooping Brontë-inspired Wuthering Heights. She was noted as a unique performer who combined musical theatre, dance, poetry and rock. But she retired from live performance in 1979 and her recordings became more rare, despite huge successes including Hounds of Love in 1984. In 1993 she released an album and a self-directed film entitled The Red Shoes, then retreated to her home near Reading to sculpt and work on an untitled project. Her record company, EMI, has waited patiently for the results. Her long absence even inspired a novel, Waiting for Kate Bush, by John Mendelssohn. But what everyone, not least EMI, would like to know is when the album will be released. “We’ll let you know,” Bush writes. March has been hinted at. Bush returns as a new generation of artists recall her as an inspiration. OutKast, the US rap group, want to produce her next record. Madonna, Björk, P.J.Harvey and Katie Melua have revealed the debt they owe to the doctor’s daughter from Bexleyheath, southeast London. A cover of Hounds of Love by hotly-tipped rock band The Futureheads is to precede her return to the charts. The music industry sought to lure her back with the offer of a Brits Lifetime Achievement Award but she rejected it because she would have to perform live. Three years ago she accepted Ivor Novello and Q Magazine awards, even making a surprise appearance to perform Pink Floyd’s Comfortably Numb with Gilmour at the Royal Albert Hall, prompting speculation of a return to the concert stage.” (big thanks to David Sheasby)
Australian newspaper The Age has a long article about Kate and the Waiting For Kate Bush book here…(thanks to Andrew Thompson)…Tom Hingely of Inspiral Carpets mentions that he’s a Kate fan in an online BBC interview: “I’m listening to some old compilation albums of Kate Bush! I’ve three daughters and I’m getting them in to listening to that. I actually hated Kate Bush when she first came out – it took me 20 years to realise that she totally brilliant! I find quite good ‘girl music’. I know that’s going to cause problems. But I find it very sensate and feminine – very different from what I do.” Read more here (thanks to Ben)….on Erasure‘s New DVD “The Swan, The Tank and The Balloon”, from their 1992 “Fantasmagorical Tour” there’s a recent interview with Andy Bell. The opening of the show featured him coming in on a swan-cart for the song “Siren Song”. When asked why a swan to open the show, Andy Bell answers: “Because I loved– There’s a Kate Bush song called Lord of the Reedy River. Well, it was written by Donovan, but she did a version. And the first line of the song is “I fell in love with a swan”, and it seemed to tie in with a song called Siren Song.” (thanks to when lingers on the forum)…a film called Women Talking Dirty on Channel 4 featured Kate’s version of Rocket Man…
The NME ran a full page photo of Kate with the caption “How did this woman blow Andre 3000‘s mind?”. The article is on page 29 and covers artists who’ve had an influence on today’s pop stars. The piece is very complementary, indicating that without Kate there’d be no Goldfrapp, PJHarvey or Bjork. Describing her as the original quirky-something, the article says “Kate Bush is worshipped around the globe for a) having an amazing unique voice, b) being a brilliant songwriter, and c) being really hot. But she’s not a workaholic. She released two albums in 1978, four in the 80s, but there’s been nothing new for 12 years. Without Kate there’d be no PJ Harvey, no Courtney Love and no Goldfrapp. True, there’d be no Bjork either, but we shouldn’t hold that against her. Anyway, the wait is-probably-nearly over. She’s been recording her new album for at least five years. In October 2001 she said “I am making an album but it is taking a little longer than I thought”. A track called, rather pertinently, “How To Be Invisible” is one of the few that’s known to exist. Try The Futureheads’ favourite ‘Hounds of Love’ from 1985; its a loveable bastard of a record, stuffed with bonkers, mammoth hits that were never off the radio. ‘Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)’ was one of the defining tracks of the 80s. OutKast’s Andre 3000: “Kate Bush’s music opened my mind up,” he said recently. “She was so bugged-out, man, but I felt her. She’s so f*ucking dope, so underrated and off the radar” (thanks to Matt Denney)
Maggie Ball has written a review of the Waiting For Kate Bush book here (thanks Maggie)…Kate has been mentioned in a new philosophy book by Julian Baggini “What’s It All About?: Philosophy and the Meaning of Life”. In the review the quote from the book is “The lyrics of Kate Bush…are really quite profound if you think about it.” (thanks to Darrell Babidge)…meanwhile Kate’s heavy metal credibility is briefly discussed in Seb Hunter‘s recent book ‘Hell Bent for Leather – Confessions of a Heavy Metal Addict’. Hunter writes: “There was even a time when Kate Bush was considered borderline Metal, but I’m not sure why. I think it might have been a simple sex-object thing. Maybe it was just because she had really long hair. Or because she crimped it”. (thanks Liza)…a blog poster has the Hammer Horror video here. (thanks to L. Thompson, also thanks to David White, John T Black, Simon Clark, Brian Parker and Amanda Williams). Wishing all our site visitors and forum users a very happy Christmas! Thanks for all the support this year! Seán.
Music Week, the UK’s definitive music industry news service has a front page article this week about Kate’s KBC album announcement: “One of the longest waits for a follow-up will finally be over next year, when the first Kate Bush album in more than a decade appears. The EMI artist last week confirmed that she is set to deliver her first new studio set since 1993’s The Red Shoes in 2005, having been working on new material over the past few years. Bush announced that the long wait was nearly over in a letter last week to members of her fan club. EMI has since confirmed to Music Week a new album is definitely on its way. Besides collaborating with the late Michael Kamen, Bush has also been working with bassist Mick Karn, drummer Stuart Elliott and percussionist Peter Erskine. Although she has largely been out of the limelight as she concentrated on bringing up her son Bertie, Bush was at the Ivor Novello Awards in 2002 to collect the outstanding contribution to British music award. (With thanks to Monty and Ben on the site’s forum). Read more about Music Week at its site 
Peter Gabriel has been interviewed by the Toronto Sun newspaper, promoting ‘Play’, his music DVD collection. “Kate had a son and lost her mom and I think that kept her (occupied),” said Gabriel. “I spoke to her quite recently in fact and she’s just about finished on a new record. It is exciting. She’s being a mom and loving it. So, if you like, music’s gone from being full-time to being part-time, so that slows you down. She pointed out (she takes) even longer than I take,” joked Gabriel. (thanks to Rachel and Dresden)….on November 28th 
Stuart Elliott, Kate’s drummer, was interviewed at a session in a church on the BBC programme Songs Of Praise. He said that he has been busy recording drums on Kate’s new album and that recording on the album had just finished (thanks to James Smythe and David)…
2004 an art exhibition in France has the title “Never For Ever a tribute to Kate Bush” by the French graphic designer Clement Mériguet (alias “Kéké”). The venue is at Kingdom Of Incense, 12 rue des Haudriettes, 75003 Paris, France. Metro station: Rambuteau. The exhibit continues through December. Read more 
BBC Radio 2 DJ, Mark Radcliffe, has been making constant Kate references ever since somebody picked her record for the Crucial Three feature on his show last week. Mark is a huge KB fan and today will be day 5 on his show’s “Bushometer” (showing how many days he’s been waiting to get a reply). Apparently he desperately wants Kate to be on his show, he’d even be happy with a phone call. One of our site visitors, Louise, has had an email about Kate read out on air, other fans have been posting on his site’s guestbook and listener’s have been phoning in their Kate-related anecdotes. Currently the 
Here’s a recent photo of Del Palmer playing his custom Chris Larkin guitar. Chris is a guitar maker living in Kerry in Ireland and his site features a gallery of musicians with the instruments he has made for them. Perhaps we’ll hear this guitar on KB8? Read more at the 
The new issue of HomeGround yet again has a unique contribution from a member of Kate’s family. Krys says “The highlight of this issue is an exclusive 7-page interview with John Carder Bush, Kate’s brother, that he & I did in June & July. It is absolutely wonderful & a must for all Kate fans. This issue has something of a Cathy theme, as you will see, and we think it is something quite special. We also have a wonderful article by Colin Lloyd Tucker about his new album Fear of Flying and the influences behind it. He takes us on a dreamy, atmospheric step into the past, to the places where his music came from. Colin sent me the demo some time ago, and the finished CD arrived recently. I have played it to death ever since! Details for ordering are at 
Krys from HomeGround tells us that Colin-Lloyd Tucker (The Red Shoes) has sent her his new CD Fear of Flying & that it is brilliant. Have a look at his website for ordering info, plus some great photos of him & Paddy Bush when they werein the studio recording their Skyscraping album. There’s a great photo of Colin & Paddy as Kate’s Red Shoes devils from her film! (see pic left). There’s also a great interview on the site where Colin mentions Kate, & Paddy. See Colin’s site 
Joanna McMeikan is a singer-songwriter who has created quite a positive buzz with her solo debut release Breaking The Habit. Her sound has generated a lot of Kate Bush and Tori Amos comparisons, she certainly seems to be a Kate fan. Her official website is 
Here’s a round up of recent lists Kate’s appeared in: The special edition of Q magazine entitled “The ’70s, From Zeppelin To The Pistols” has 20 singles that “changed the world” in that decade. Kate’s at number 11 with Wuthering Heights: “Otherworldly femme fatale falls to earth – Released bang in the middle of the new wave’s chart invasion, Wuthering Heights was so thrillingly peculiar that even 19-year old Bush’s hippy-chick look was excused. A David Gilmour protégé who’d not bothered to read the Emily Bronte novel that inspired her bewitching madwoman epic. Bush and her falsetto-voiced debut had one-hit wonder written all over it. Instead, she survived for a series of Bowie-like musical reinventions. With her maverick tendencies proving the rule, rather than the exception, Kate Bush became a key alternative role model inspiring everyone from Björk to Tori Amos.” In the category “Images Of Rock’n’Roll 1978”, there’s a double-sided reprint of the pink leotard photo of Kate. (thanks to Malcolm)…Mojo Magazine had Wuthering Heights at number 6 in their ‘Top 100 Epic Rock Tracks of All Time‘ in April, describing the track as “audacious”. (Thanks Johnny & Malcolm)…The Obsever newspaper had Kate at no. 22 in their “Best British albums” listing. Emma Warren wrote: “The first woman in this list is the hugely talented, wildly strange first lady of romantic experimental pop. Hounds Of Love, recorded at her own studio in Kent, was Bush’s fifth and most successful studio album, selling more than a million copies. It remains a trenchantly individual piece of work, resonant with ghosts and connections to witch-dunking mythology – although you could never describe the crafted pop and dramatic sound sweeps on the record as fey. Not only did Bush write the songs, and sing them in her four-octave voice, but she played Fairlight bass and piano too. And anyone who says they’ve never sung along to the pretend barking on the title track is simply a liar.” On Sunday June 20th Miranda Sawyer additionally wrote: “What? No Girls Aloud? Well, no, because no girls are allowed in a list of Top British Albums, banned by ancient boy law which states that women only make two types of credible contemporary music – either whimsical, solo love ditties or guitar-fuzz, eff-you rock attack. So we’re left with ‘that nice Katie Bush’, as my grandpa used to call her, and the Slits. Down in the 80s and 90s we get Dusty et al, tucked in at the end to show that, yes, there is still a point in having a Best Female Singer award at the Brits. Well, there’s a point if you’re Annie Lennox.” (thanks to PDFM)…Hounds Of Love was listed at number 23 on Q’s Best British album ever chart, the only female artist on the list…The July issue of ‘Classic Rock‘ Magazine has Kate at number 38 in their ‘100 Greatest Frontmen‘ article: “The etheral dove who shot to prominence as a teenager with the enigmatic ‘Wuthering Heights’ single. Her beauty, brains and prodigious musical insights got the attention of Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour, who helped guide her early career. Kate hasn’t released a new album in more than a decade, and is now a recluse. But nobody ever combined gothic music (not goth), dance and theatre better.” (thanks to Liza)…
A new book on Kate by music journalist John Mendelssohn, entitled “Waiting for Kate Bush” is now already listed (pre-publication) on the UK, German, Canadian and Japanese Amazon websites. It will contain 240 pages and will be published on 15 November 2004. The blurb reads: “When Kate Bush came out of nowhere in 1978 with her jaw-droppingly eccentric debut single ‘Wuthering Heights’, screeching like a banshee, flapping her arms as though trying to take wing, pulling alarming faces, people either adored or loathed her. One of the former was an American underwear model, Lesley Herskovits, who, in spite of his remarkable good looks, reserved his loathing for himself. By the time Kate had taken to keeping her fans waiting literally ages between albums, he’d found himself a boarding house near Kate’s birthplace that accommodated only fervent Kate fans. Only his disinclination to miss her eighth album, after waiting more than a decade for it, kept him from leaping off a multi-storey tower block. In Waiting for Kate Bush – an unusual hybrid of satirical novel and music biography – the reader will not only laugh aloud at Herskovits’ attempt to make sense of his life in an alien culture, but also learn in detail what Kate Bush – known alternately as “the barmiest bird in pop”, “the Pre-Raphaelite nymph with Minnie Mouse’s soprano” and “the greatest artist of the last 30 years” – has been up to in the silent decade-plus since the release of her last and best alb [sic]” An anonymous review on the Amazon site says “Having read the proof and viewed fans comments via the web, this book beats all expectations and is a worthy addition to any Kate Bush fan while waiting for the new album. The information is fresh and well written and explains above all why KB fans are some of the best and most patient in the world. Beautiful pictures inside. A worthy buy when released.” It will be interesting to see initial reactions to what sounds like one of the most unusual books yet written about Kate. (thanks to Henrik and Kyla).
The new issue of HomeGround Magazine (Spring 2004 Issue) has been mailed out to subscribers (I received mine late due to a postal strike here in Dublin – was starting to get HG withdrawals!). It’s had a very good response on the site’s forum and is one of the most poetic issues yet produced – the issue includes some great poetry courtesy of John Carder Bush (Kate’s brother) as well as several readers. There’s a wonderful story by Thom Penman, a review of the book Starter For Ten (its author David Nicholls writes about his Kate influences for this issue too). There’s a report on the Glastonbury 2003 gathering and pictures of the now-famous mini cloudbuster! Birgitte contributes a comprehensive look at Kate’s 1978 De Efteling TV special in The Netherlands, there’s a look at links between Kate’s work and classical painting, a fun tongue-in-cheek quiz and all the usual news, letters and artwork – do not miss! Make sure your subscription is up-to-date at the 