The Kate Bush Thread

[Johnny Vinyl]

With the upcoming release of her 4LP/3CD live album Before The Dawn on November 25^th, which is a selection of various performances from her 22-concert residency (August 26 – October 1, 2014) at London’s Hammersmith Apollo theatre, I thought it appropriate to start a thread dedicated to her impact on the music scene and her body of work.

Kate started writing at age 13 and had written and made demos of close to 200 songs before her debut album was released in 1978 at age 19. David Gilmour was instrumental in her development after hearing a demo tape two years prior to the release of her debut record. She is well-known for her determination to keep control of her work and how EMI promoted her, which early on saw disagreement. After the release of her second album, for which she expressed dissatisfaction with her label for not having had enough time, she set up her own music publishing and management companies. Kate has been in complete control ever since.

She has released 10 studio albums, 1 compilation album, 5 EP’s, 35 Singles, 9 Promotional singles and 3 Boxsets (not including the as yet unreleased Before The Dawn). There were also 9 Video albums and 39 music videos.

We can discuss anything and everything about Kate’s work as you wish and I’ll start by listing her studio albums (with year of release) as I suspect most of the discussion will centre around them.

Studio Albums:
The Kick Inside (1978)
Lionheart (1978)
Never for Ever (1980)
The Dreaming (1982)
Hounds of Love (1985)
The Sensual World (1989)
The Red Shoes (1993)
Aerial (2005)
Director’s Cut (2011)
50 Words for Snow (2011)

As I’m sure you’ve surmised, I’m a huge Kate Bush fan and have all of the albums listed above on either LP and/or CD. I had The Sensual World on LP, but it was completely trashed due to a flood. I haven’t really looked for a replacement copy although I probably will at some point. Never owned an LP copy of The Red Shoes, but certainly wish I did as it's rather pricey now. At least I have the CD.

Her debut album (The Kick Inside) remains my favourite to this day with Aerial and Hounds of Love a close 2^nd and 3^rd. Honestly speaking though...I like them all.

Thanks for letting me indulge in a thread about one of my favourite artists.

[Johnny Vinyl]

Kate's debut album The Kick Inside received 6 different album cover treatments.

Top row from left to right: Yugoslavia, UK, Japan
Bottom row from left to right: Canada, US, Uruguay



The Uruguay cover is extremely rare and one was recently sold for $400.

[Joe Pittman]

Nice collection! I only have 3 of the above, but I also have the picture disk.

[Johnny Vinyl]

Great site for Kate Bush fans.

http://www.katebushencyclopedia.com/

[JCOConnell]

why 12 years gap between albums 93-05

[Joe Pittman]

WOW, WOW, WOW, WOW, WOW, WOW, Unbelievable. Yes, I too am a KB fan. Ever since seeing her on Saturday Night Live back in the day. I think she performed The Man With The Child In His Eyes or Wuthering Heights, cant remember (lost too many brain cells since then).

Anyway, I really liked her Live at Hamersmith video. Always wanted that on Blue-ray Disc. Anybody know if this is available in HD?

[Johnny Vinyl]

why 12 years gap between albums 93-05

She initially decided to take a year off, despite still writing, but never gave an explanation is to why it took so long. Part of it may have had to do with the birth of her son Bertie in 1998.

[Johnny Vinyl]

WOW, WOW, WOW, WOW, WOW, WOW, Unbelievable. Yes, I too am a KB fan. Ever since seeing her on Saturday Night Live back in the day. I think she performed The Man With The Child In His Eyes or Wuthering Heights, cant remember (lost too many brain cells since then).

Anyway, I really liked her Live at Hamersmith video. Always wanted that on Blue-ray Disc. Anybody know if this is available in HD?

It was only ever released on VHS and Laserdisc. Hopefully a Blu-ray of Before The Dawn is forthcoming.

[Guest]

I spend a lot of time in the 18th and 19th Centuries so I'm not up to speed on many of your contemporary artistes. If you would offer but one song from Kate Bush to convince an antediluvian such as myself to listen further, kindly name that tune. :-)

[Albert Porter]

With the upcoming release of her 4LP/3CD live album Before The Dawn on November 25^th, which is a selection of various performances from her 22-concert residency (August 26 – October 1, 2014) at London’s Hammersmith Apollo theatre, I thought it appropriate to start a thread dedicated to her impact on the music scene and her body of work.

Kate started writing at age 13 and had written and made demos of close to 200 songs before her debut album was released in 1978 at age 19. David Gilmour was instrumental in her development after hearing a demo tape two years prior to the release of her debut record. She is well-known for her determination to keep control of her work and how EMI promoted her, which early on saw disagreement. After the release of her second album, for which she expressed dissatisfaction with her label for not having had enough time, she set up her own music publishing and management companies. Kate has been in complete control ever since.

She has released 10 studio albums, 1 compilation album, 5 EP’s, 35 Singles, 9 Promotional singles and 3 Boxsets (not including the as yet unreleased Before The Dawn). There were also 9 Video albums and 39 music videos.

We can discuss anything and everything about Kate’s work as you wish and I’ll start by listing her studio albums (with year of release) as I suspect most of the discussion will centre around them.

Studio Albums:
The Kick Inside (1978)
Lionheart (1978)
Never for Ever (1980)
The Dreaming (1982)
Hounds of Love (1985)
The Sensual World (1989)
The Red Shoes (1993)
Aerial (2005)
Director’s Cut (2011)
50 Words for Snow (2011)

As I’m sure you’ve surmised, I’m a huge Kate Bush fan and have all of the albums listed above on either LP and/or CD. I had The Sensual World on LP, but it was completely trashed due to a flood. I haven’t really looked for a replacement copy although I probably will at some point. Never owned an LP copy of The Red Shoes, but certainly wish I did as it's rather pricey now. At least I have the CD.

Her debut album (The Kick Inside) remains my favourite to this day with Aerial and Hounds of Love a close 2^nd and 3^rd. Honestly speaking though...I like them all.

Thanks for letting me indulge in a thread about one of my favourite artists.

I love her,

I think I have all on your list as LP except Directors Cut. I have the new release on order. I still think Aerial is absolutely stunning, one of my favorite albums and a joy to listen to while viewing images of her and her son.

[Gusf]

Thanks, I enjoyed her music from the radio. Going to pick up a few of these.

[Madfloyd]

Also no mention of her box set "This Woman's Work" which has a lot of great stuff on it...

[Johnny Vinyl]

I focused on the studio albums only. TWW:Anthology is an 8 LP box of the first 6 albums and 2 LPs of B-sides, rarities and remixes.

[JCOConnell]

is BEFORE THE DAWN the first live album release so far?

[Johnny Vinyl]

I spend a lot of time in the 18th and 19th Centuries so I'm not up to speed on many of your contemporary artistes. If you would offer but one song from Kate Bush to convince an antediluvian such as myself to listen further, kindly name that tune. :-)

That's a really tall order for me as I love so much of her music, but I can say with certainty that "The Man with the Child in his Eyes" , from her debut album, is one of the most beautiful songs I've heard. Her highest rated U.S. single is Running Up That Hill from Hounds of Love and Cloudbusting from the same album is also worth visiting. I also really like Babooshka from Never For Ever. And lastly, I would be totally remiss if I did not suggest Wuthering Heights from The Kick Inside. It reached #1 in various countries, but only #108 in the U.S.

Thanks!

[Johnny Vinyl]

is BEFORE THE DAWN the first live album release so far?

Yes. However there was a 4-song EP released in 1979 called On Stage from a May 13, 1979 performance at London's Hammersmith Odeon theatre.

[Madfloyd]

Do you have this, Johnny? I do and love it...

[Johnny Vinyl]

I had it. It was completely trashed in a flood unfortunately. I will get a replacement one day.

[Madfloyd]

I'm a bit of a fan myself (since the famous SNL appearance). I actually traveled to London to see Before The Dawn which was a bucket list sort of thing for me. Looking very much forward to Nov 25th!

[Johnny Vinyl]

Nice!

[JCOConnell]

It was only ever released on VHS and Laserdisc. Hopefully a Blu-ray of Before The Dawn is forthcoming.

Is the early laserdisc of Kate Bush any good? I still have a good laserdisc player in my HT and might pick up a copy on the used market.

[Joe Pittman]

I had the Laserdisk of Hammersmith and it was pretty good, but poor video resolution for the time (really bad compared to current HD). I had the Pioneer Elite, the LD97 if I recall with the AC3 mod and sound quality was pretty good. Playing Laserdisks was too much of a hassle so I gave my player and discs to a friend a couple of years ago. But of the Laserdisks I had, I still want to find a great copy on Blueray. See the video on YouTube