Over the past few weeks music artists have been choosing Kate’s tracks as favourites on BBC Radio 2. Ben on the guestbook writes: “When Beth Orton chose The Man With The Child In His Eyes on yesterday’s Radio 2 show (Oct 10th) she said “this song kills me. It’s a classic and it’s from my fave Kate Bush album The Kick Inside. The song is full of hope – that there is the right man out there”. Also Steve Balsamo picked This Woman’s Work, Rhianna chose Wuthering Heights and Brian Kennedy selected Running Up That Hill, all on Radio 2’s Ken Bruce Show. On another show, latin pop singer Shakira chose Wuthering Heights, John on the guestbook says that she said “that her sister used to play it to her all the time when she was a lass”. Sarah Kennedy included Wuthering Heights in her “Songs we either love or hate” feature, listeners vote in for song that irritates them the most. Sarah did say at the end that she liked the song.. To top it all off Dale Winton played the live version of L’Amour Looks Something Like You on his BBC show.
Jerry Dreiss lets us know about this from the October issue of Pulse (free magazine produced by Tower Records) in an interview with Peter Gabriel by Bill Forman. Forman mentions that: “the new Gabriel track “I Grieve” has an understated inspirational quality not unlike “Don’t Give Up,” Gabriel’s stunning 1986 duet with Kate Bush, who has been even more elusive than Gabriel this past decade. (“I saw Kate a couple of months back and I think she’s making noises again,” smiles Gabriel. “I mean, she was being a Mum for a while, and I think also her Mum had died before that, which sort of knocked her sideways. But I know she’s back in the studio, so hopefully we’ll hear something from her soon.)” Thanks Jerry, read the interview here. [Newsbit round up and links updates coming later this week, thanks to all for sending them in.]
For some reason the new poll by music channel VH1 of the 100 Greatest Women in music is getting more press coverage than one of these polls would normally get, after all they seem to come out every other month. Kate has been highly placed as usual at number 10, and various media reports are emphasising that she is the highest placed British female artist, a really incredible achievement when you consider that her last album was nine years ago. Madonna topped the poll, Kylie was second. The BBC website have a photo of Kate with their article here. Reuters said Kate was “forever famous for her 1978 debut single Wuthering Heights”, while Ananova also mentioned Kate’s placing as significant. Some of this mornings UK papers have photos of Kate too. 750,000 votes were cast, read more at the VH1 website. (thanks to Cynthia Conrad)
Newsbits: Brett Anderson from Suede appeared on the Channel 4 programme RISE on the 17th Sept. When asked the first single he ever bought was he replied “Kate Bush – Wuthering Heights”. He then went on to say he was completely mad about Kate (thanks to Rafferty on the guestbook)….Greg Kearney in Toronto writes: “Just happened upon the new “Paramount 90th Anniversary” compilation CD. It features “This Woman’s Work“, sandwiched between mega-hits from Saturday Night Fever and Titanic. A good barometer of our gal’s ever-rising stock in the U.S, “She’s Having a Baby” is not, after all, a prime jewel in the Paramount crown.” (thanks Greg)….while the new live DVD from David Gilmour (out this month in the UK, November in the US) does include the track Comfortably Numb alas it is NOT the version with Kate from earlier this year (John on the guestbook adds “The DVD is of the June ’01 gig with extras from the Jan ’02 shows.”)….vote for Kate (yet again!). BBC Radio 2 are organising yet another of those all time Top 50 charts of number one hits, so run, don’t walk, to this site and vote for Wuthering Heights. If you go into the “Presenters Choices” link, you will see that DJ Simon Mayo picks WH as his favourite and says “When the vocals started I just stopped and looked at the radio.” Radio 2 are also using a snippet of WH with Simon Mayo’s quote to advertise the poll (thanks to Boolbar)….Swan fom the French site says “the soundtrack to the TV series Alias includes “This Woman’s Work” – in the second episode titled “So It Begins” (thanks Swan)….Mark B writes: “In the current edition of UK’s Record Collector there is an interview with Claudia Brucken (ex Propaganda) currently working on new material which includes a new version of Running Up That Hill, also mentioned is promos having been released of Hammer Horror by PHATS….The September 2002 issue of Classic Rock magazine includes an interview with Joe Elliott (Def Leppard). On the subject of the new album ‘X’ he says “with this record we’ve taken snippets of Linkin Park and we’ve taken snippets of others, but its not just the modern stuff. I mean, Kate Bush pushed the boundaries of pop music, and we still steal from people like her and Peter Gabriel – people who sold lots of records but who were sonically challenging and appealing.” (thanks to Malcolm Calder)….Ernest Stoddart saw Kiki & Herb‘s live show: “I went to see Kiki and Herb at the Soho Theatre last night and they were very funny and manic. They sang versions of Bonnie Tyler’s Total Eclipse of the Heart, Radiohead’s No Surprises and Patti Smith’s Horses amongst others. Included in the show was a version of Moments of Pleasure. The show has been extended to the 30th August. A must see at only £12″….Ernest also had this news for bargain hunters: “Most of Kate’s albums can now be found at bargain prices in the record stores. Virgin are selling the Red Shoes and The Sensual World at a sale price of only £3.99 while FOPP a new record store in Covent Garden London has all albums from The Kick Inside through to Hounds of Love for only £5 each.” (thanks Ernest)….
The Summer 2002 Issue. It’s 20 years since the release of The Dreaming album (hence the cover image), and the magazine marks the occasion with a look back at the effect the album has had over the years by several readers. The issue also includes an interview with Charlie Morgan, all the latest news including reviews of the Norwich tribute show, the second part of the piece on Kate’s literary influences and all the usual content that’s helped the magazine keep going for 70 issues now!
Newsbits: A lot of recent rumours about the progress on Kate’s new album and indeed who is handling the promotion or otherwise of the new work have been circulating, one rumour suggested that a particular person in the record industry has been given a list of tracks from the new album already. Just so you know, the editors of HomeGround magazine have told me that they have good cause to be sceptical about the latter story….Tony B on the guestbook writes: “I’ve just returned from two weeks holiday in Cornwall. While there, I went to see ‘The Eden Project.’ Kate is a part of it. There is a part of the project dedicated to the production of rubber, one display is lots of rubber wellingtons happily dancing away to a very loud Rubberband 
Girl. It is so sureal to see all these boots jigging away to Kate, next to a condom display. You just have to be there!”…Hideaki Nishihara of the Lionheart Japanese fan club has sent me a link to a new “Kate Museum” page which features a lot of rare promotional pics (see photo left) and photos from Kate’s time in Japan (including those Seiko watch ads) in the early days here…VH1 are currently taking votes for the 100 greatest women to be screened late September, Simon Fourny has sent in this link to vote….Kate’s Babooshka video was played on the French TV show “80 à l’heure” on 5th August (see French Kate forum here, thanks also to FX of The Ninth Wave site for letting me know)….Geoff Tate, while promoting his solo release, mentions Kate as a personal favourite artist here (thanks David)….Malcolm Calder also noted in the recent issue of Record Collector, hidden in the ‘Big Heart For A Big Country’ article – tribute to Stuart Adamson, three of the participants (Bill Nelson, Midge Ure & Mike Baillie) are asked ‘What do you miss about him most?’ Midge Ure replies: “The fact that there’s one less person fighting against mediocrity. I had a great conversation with Kate Bush about 10 years ago. We were doing a duet and we went to her studio. She was talking about quitting and I said, ‘You can’t because if you quit, I’ll quit, and if I quit somebody else who cares will quit…’ Stuart was one of those steps down the line. He was someone who cared, who’s not there now.”….David Sheasby has sent in this very proper mention of Kate’s birthday fromThe Daily Telegraph….Justin in Bath let me know that Naked Voices (see July 28th news) performed Rocket’s Tail that day, “It was almost as if Kate and the Trio were there themselves amazing”….Kate’s rendition of Rocket Man is played in the film Women Talking Dirty, starring Helena Bonham Carter. (thanks to “Bonzo” on the guestbook)
On his weekly BBC Radio 2 show “Sounds Of The Seventies” last week, Steve Harley played Wow by Kate, introducing the song with “there are even those who dont go too big on Kate Bush, I pity them”. After the song he casually mentioned: “I saw Kate Bush a few weeks ago, and I am pleased to say she is recording as we speak. My drummer Stuart Elliot is playing on the album and says she is bang on form”. You may still be able to catch a recording of the show at his website here. (thanks to Linda on the guestbook.) Here’s this entry on Steve from the excellent Gaffaweb dictionary: “Leader of the group Cockney Rebel, in a less well known credit Harley also provided vocals for the first version of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical The Phantom Of The Opera. Having donated half of Cockney Rebel to the recording of the album The Kick Inside, Harley further gave of himself on 12 May 1979 by appearing at a benefit concert at the Hammersmith Odeon in memory of the late Bill Duffield, with whom Harley had worked in the past.”
Newsbits: There is a picture of Kate (back cover of Lionheart by Gered Mankowitz) in the ‘She Bop‘ exhibition at theNational Portrait Gallery in London, downstairs, next to the bookshop. See the gallery’s site here. (thanks to David Sheasby and David Plaister for letting me know)….this site and many others have been reviewed and assessed in a two page article about Kate Bush on the Internet in the August issue of Record Collector magazine. I’m pleased to say that Kate Bush News & Information is recommended as a first stop, so thanks to writer Cliff McLenehen (thanks to Mark for spotting the article)….two artists discussing Kate on the BBC website recently include Jane Weaver and Euros Child (of Welsh band Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci), click on their names for the interviews….the BBC site also mentions a concert last year at the Bristol Community Festival where the group Naked Voicesperformed “soothing acappella interpretations of everything from Kate Bush to Seal, enough to bring warmth to the coldest soul”….Tristan and Jeremy send some news from France about two new compilations Platinium Pop includes Babooshka andTogether – Pop includes Running Up That Hill….Michael Leitz found Kate at number one in the Ulver Music Top Ten with Hounds Of Love, “A classic Kate Bush album and the one that broke her into major stardom in the US. Interestingly enough, the UK pressings sound much better than the US ones.” See the BBC site here…Michael also found an article in the Guardian newspaper by singerLouise Wener of Sleeper: “The one good thing about growing up with chronic asthma was the frequency with which I was allowed to stay home from school in the winter, listening to music….I discovered that the force of singing along to Wuthering Heights and whirling my arms above my head like Kate Bush made my breathing easier; and that the addition of a hairbrush, a mirror and a touch of bathroom reverb made it all the more enjoyable…I spent the rest of the night singing along to Kate Bush in front of the bathroom mirror, writing a new chapter for my second novel, counting my blessings and wondering what on earth I could have been thinking of…” See the article here….Kevin Tachman says that Kiki & Herb (see April 22nd news) will be performing in London 24 July-17 August, not sure of venue…John Lang heard Hello Earth played on the BBC Radio 3 show Late Junction, see the site here….JOY FM, Australia’s only gay and lesbian radio station ran a 2 hour special on Kate and Tori Amos at Saturday 27 July 2002 (thanks to Henry Chan)
Krystyna FitzGerald-Morris of HomeGround fanzine writes: “Just to let everyone know that our annual HomeGround Kate gathering is on Sunday 28th July, 3pm on Glastonbury Tor. Then on to (probably) The Rifleman’s Arms pub for a few hours & a few pints. It is always an enjoyable day & a chance to meet other Kate fans. Check out the Glastonbury Tourist Info site for B&Bs etc. Issue 70 of HomeGround will be available in August – September sees the 20th anniversary of The Dreaming & I am putting together a feature celebrating the album, so if anyone would like to contribute thoughts & feelings about The Dreaming, please email me. The deadline is mid-July 2002.
Newsbits: Joseph spotted a sample from Under Ice on a CD mixed by DJ John Digweed. The track by Liquid Language is called Blue Savannah on the album 006 Sydney. The repeated lyric is “I’m speeding past trees” (thanks Joseph)…Peter Gabriel‘s back-catalogue has been re-released in digitally remastered form. Albums with contributions from Kate: Peter Gabriel 3 features “Games Without Frontiers” and “No Self Control” with Kate on BVs. So features “Don’t Give Up”, Shaking The Tree features “Games Without Frontiers” and “Don’t Give Up”. See Peter’s site here. (thanks to Michael Leitz)…Iarfhlaith Manny noticed that in the current issue of theRTÉ Guide (Irish radio and television listings) it said that this week 24 years ago, Kate gave an interview with the RTÉ Guide telling that her top 3 favourite albums were: 1. David Bowie “Young Americans”, 2. Anything by Eric Satie, 3. The Beatles “Sgt. Pepper’s” (thanks Iarfhlaith)…Hounds Of Love was voted number 50 in the BBC Radio 6 “Glorious 50” poll. Stone Roses by Stone Roses was number 1. Check it out here. (thanks to Cynthia Conrad)…TV Kanagawa in Japan h
ave featured Kate on 14th June in a “Nothin but Piano” editon of “Sony Music Access” in which DJ Chris Tomoko showed videos of songs “with impressive piano sound”. They played This Woman’s Work. The show had contacted me for permission to mention my site, and I gladly agreed! See their site here. (thanks to Sozo for help)…SingerCara Dillon has written a piece for the 25th Anniversary issue of Ireland’s Hot Press magazine dated 3rd July. “..please, please can she record another album soon? People like her shouldn’t be allowed to retire!” The feature includes a large B&W pic of Kate, click on the image here for a scan of Cara’s article…Q Magazine had a jokey headline featuring Kate in their recent issue. “P45 for Kate Bush?” The cash strapped Capitol/EMI/Virgin Group recently “re-structured”. So who’s in the firing line? On borrowed Time? Bryan Ferry, Billie, David Sylvian, Kate Bush – no new album since 1993’s The Red Shoes. Are her bosses prepared to keep waiting, standing ovation at last year’s Q Awards or not!” (thanks to Bill Richotte)…Barbara Ellen in The Observer UK newspaper was complaining that the arty Meltdown Festival was always hosted by men. This year’s host is David Bowie and he is rumoured to be playing Low in its entirety at his concert. Kate is pictured and mentioned as a possible female host of the festival along with a list of others including Tracy Chapman and Madonna (thanks to Andrew Thompson)…Ben on the guestbook writes: On Thursday 27th June Brian Kennedy chose Running Up That Hill as one of his Tracks Of My Years on BBC Radio 2. He raved on about how wonderful Kate is and especially Hounds Of Love. He also urged Kate to ‘release the new album soon’. (thanks Ben and thanks also to Jane Blackley at Brian’s official site, I’ve previously interviewed Brian, read the chat here)…
Mick Karn has recorded bass with Kate on her new album. The session took place earlier this year according to his official website. Karn previously played on The Sensual World album in 1989 on the trackHeads We’re Dancing. Karn first came to prominence as a key member of the British art-rock band Japan, his unique bass playing skills contributing to the global success of the band. Mick first met Kate when they both took part in the Prince’s Trust concert in July ’82. (thanks to Detlev Behrens)
Newsbits: Marco Gatti in The Netherlands writes: “The Efteling celebrates it’s 50 birthday this year with a book about its history, “Efteling, Kroniek Van Een Sprookje” (“Efteling, A Chronicle Of A Fairy Tale.) The text is accompanied with a small picture of Kate in front of the haunted castle with the caption “Beautiful Kate fits perfectly in the Haunted Castle”. Kate performed dramatised versions of seven of her songs from The Kick Inside for a Dutch TV programme in May 1978, filmed at these gardens. (thanks Marco)…this weekend’s UK press reports that Wuthering Heights was voted #18 in the poll of the top songs by British artists since the Queen’s coronation in 1952. (thanks to Steve Thomas)…Dance group Faithless played their favourite video clips of all time on the Australian ABC TV Programme “Rage”- they picked Cloudbusting as one of their favourite tracks and the clip was played (thanks to Brian Parker)…Cynthia tells me that a UK magazine listed Kate at 47 in a poll of the 50 Best Looking British Women of all time (thanks Cynthia)…Henrik Nilsson from Stockholm noticed that Cloudbusting (and a nice pic of Kate) was featured in the in-flight magazine of airline company Britannia in the presentation of the different radio channels on offer…according to The Independent, The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain plays Wuthering Heights. “It took some cheek for George Hinchcliffe, the orchestra’s boss (he started the band 16 years ago) […] to reinvent Kate Bush’s ‘Wuthering Heights’ as a cocktail-jazz croon, but he did it. By the end, I was a delirious convert to the instrument” For more info on the orchestra, you can visit their homepage (thanks to Michael Leitz)
The BBC have just reported that Kate is among the musicians honoured at today’s prestigious Ivor Novello Awards ceremony in London. The awards, now in its 47th year, honour the contribution of songwriters, composers and music publishers to the industry in 2001, selected by the British Academy of Composers and Songwriters.
On receiving her award Kate said: “It’s so special to be thought of as a songwriter. This means so much to me, I’ll really treasure this.”
From the BBC News report: “Dido, Kate Bush and the team behind Kylie Minogue’s recent smash hit (incl Cathy Dennis) have won Ivor Novello songwriting awards, marking a success for women songwriters….veteran singer-songwriter Kate Bush completed the successes for women with her award for heroutstanding contribution to British music.” The ceremony this afternoon was at the Grosvenor House hotel in London’s Park Lane.
Update 24th May 2002:Ben on the guestbook writes:”BBC Radio 2 gave excellent coverage to Kate last night. They played Kate’s very emotional acceptance speech. Stated that she is probably the most respected British female of the last 3 decades and for many her appearance was the highlight of the awards. They then played pieces of SIX of Kate’s songs including Moments and The Dreaming. She sounded amazingly touched by the accolade and it was a real delight to hear her..” (thanks Ben). The man pictured here who presented Kate with her award is broadcaster Paul Gambicini.
Big thanks to John Harper for these pictures from this morning’s GMTV news report – see all of his images at his site here.
