No Subject

[Doug Alan <nessus>]

In sifting through my mailbox, I came upon this letter from Mike Parsons
at the University of Kent that I was supposed to have forwarded to
Love-Hounds but unfortunately neglected to do so.

	From: harvard!seismo!mcvax!ukc!msp
	Subject: A few comments for the Kate Bush mailing list

	Apologies for not responding sooner...

Ditto!

	In England I get the impression that Kate Bush is very welcome
	back in the charts, after a long absence. That absence probably
	seems even longer for the average chart-watcher, as Kate was
	forgotten as soon as "The Dreaming" appeared (I think that "Sat
	in Your Lap", came out ages before the L.P., other tracks were
	released but only the title track got high into the charts.)

"Sat In Your Lap" did pretty well as a single in England -- it made it
to 10 or 11, I believe.  It did indeed come out ages before the album,
more than a year.  Kate wasn't originally going to put it on the album,
but people kept on saying to her "What?  You're not going to put 'Sat In
Your Lap' on the album???" so she did.

"The Dreaming" on the other hand, did not do incredibly well as a
single.  It only made it up to 46 or so.

	A few personal comments on RUTH: I like it very much, but I
	don't think it's up to the standard of "The Dreaming". It is
	ever-so-slightly monotonous to my ears. It got quite high in the
	British charts (#3), and then slipped quite fast.

Actually, it is still in the top 10.  In the U.S., it is currently 82
and climbing -- making it Kate's most successful single here.  In fact,
it's the *only* Kate Bush single that EMI-America has released since
"The Man With The Child In His Eyes", which made it up to somewhere
around 85.

	I do think Kate's earlier SINGLES had more appeal than RUTH.

Hmmm.  Except for the singles from "The Dreaming" and the singles
"Breathing" and "December Will Be Magic Again", Kate's singles are not
among my favorite songs of hers.

 	I for one just love the slight innocence and purity of her voice
 	on the early stuff.

Me too!  But I like her lower voice better.  Actually, I like her voice
best when she sounds like she's gargling with razor blades!  Oooooh!

Kate said in an interview that "The Dreaming" was her first album on
which she was happy with her voice.  For the first time her voice had
"balls", said she!

	I think the British public did too. Maybe RUTH was aimed more at
	the American market? (Stronger beat, not too complicated [ :-) ]
	no particular English associations?)

	It's interesting that Kate was relatively unheard of in the US.
	Will all the early stuff be re-released now she's getting there?

	--Mike.

All of Kate's albums have been released in the U.S., though most of her
singles haven't been.  The "Kate Bush Live" video tape was released in
the U.S, but "The Singles File" video tape hasn't been.  "The Kick
Inside", "The Dreaming", and "Hounds of Love" were released shortly
after their British releases, but "Lionheart" (1978) and "Never for
Ever" (1980) weren't released in the U.S. until 1984!

	P.S. Please explain "Homeground" !!

"Homeground" is a Kate Bush fan club and fanzine that centers around
Orphington, Kent.  They are also *really* big on Roy Harper.

--Doug