Interesting NME article

[Doug Alan <nessus>]

I've just been reading a xerox that a friend sent me of an article from
the NME.  I think it is circa 1983, and is strange in that it claims
that the NME has been very unfair to Kate Bush and is almost an
appology.  Here are some interesting parts:

	There is the school of thought that Kate Bush is for mums and
	dads.  Freakily lovable.  The ET of pop -- something to laugh at
	when females impersonate her on TV by donning explosions of
	brown wig, making stabbing motions with their hands, all the
	while wailing like a cat fight.

	And there's a school who believe Kate Bush is "profoundly
	subversive", like Fred Vermorel.

Vermorel is famous for his biography of the Sex Pistols.

	...

	But among a younger generation, the school of thought seems to
	be that liking Kate Bush is about as hip as owning a set of
	Melanie albums or else that she is... *wonderful*.

	Someone at EMI said: "I've yet to see anyone sum Kate Bush up."

	Kate Bush said: "The thing I don't like about NME is it seems so
	cynical..."

	Those are the two main problems.
	

	It would be so easy to be horrible about Kate Bush.  A hundred,
	even affectionate, jokes immediately come to mind.

	The press tends to think Ms Bush is immune to satire, innuendo
	and downright rudeness.  Somehow it's alright for Simon Bates to
	phone her up live on Radio 1 and bellow down the receiver about
	Kate's bank balance and sex life.  The press can always say,
	"fuck you, you turgid cretin", but a household name is trained
	to be polite.  It's a shame.

	But on the other hand, Kate Bush is enigmatic, and what do you
	do when you don't understand someone?  Either attack them ("Kate
	Bush is a spaced-out druid with lush tits..." is a familiar
	cry),

Wow!  Where does that sound familiar from?  It seems that some critics
are parodies of their own stereotypes!

	or build fantasies around them a la Fred Vermorel.

If you'd ever read Vermorel's "The Secret History of Kate Bush", you'd
know what the writer is talking about!

	...

	Kate Bush hit her artistic peak on 'The Dreaming' album.  Yet
	sadly it was not recognized as an important or courageous album,
	and caused more confusion than fuss.  The three singles taken
	from it, 'Sat In Your Lap', 'The Dreaming' and 'There Goes A
	Tenner', were her finest ever and sounded to me like sure-fire
	radio hits.  But the Radio 1 DJs (except David Jenson) tittered
	nervously, and 'The Dreaming' just about did the whole station
	in.

	...

	She is reluctant to do press because of bad experiences.  She
	seems obsessed with doing things right, be it a performance or a
	photograph, and she does not seem afraid to wait.  I find that a
	rare quality.

	...

	[From my interview with her] I've got only one clear impression
	of Kate Bush's personality: she's sweet.  She wouldn't stomp a
	spider if was three inches wide and crawling through her hair;
	she wouldn't shout at anyone no matter how obnoxious they were
	being.  I got the feeling that all the energy other 25 year olds
	might expend on being sassy, sexy and a minor hell-raiser in
	order to impress their personality on the world, for her is
	contained and released in her work.

	...

	She lacks the cynicism and mistrust of the 80s, yet she's got a
	single-mindedness that transgresses all the pitfalls of fashion
	and falling sales.

	We should stop bugging her.

-Doug