Ktrivia, mailbag

[IED0DXM@OAC.UCLA.EDU]

     IED picked up still another in the continuing (never-ending)
series of KT bootlegs the other day. This one was mentioned earlier by
another Love-Hound some four months or so ago.
_Kate_Bush_Live_at_the_London_Palladium_1979_ is a 3-record set from
what looks like the same old New Yorkers.  On this album they go by a
name they deserve, "Pharting Pharoah Records". The album design is
particularly noxious: on the front cover it features the famous (and
copyrighted) photograph of Kate with ivy in her hair; and on the back,
a collage mixing official photographs taken from music magazines
(including the KBC Newsletter) with shots from the nude photo session
of "'lookalike' Kate Simmons" which originally appeared in the U.K.
edition of _Penthouse_ Magazine.  However, there is no reason that IED
can see for doubting the authenticity of this album's contents. All 24
songs from the Tour of Life concerts are included (spread over three
records), as well as virtually all of the "incidental" music and
poetry/prose readings, readings, chants, etc. (The Bristol bootleg, in
its recent vinyl incarnation, manages to fit roughly the same amount
of material into two records, but who's counting?)  The sound of the
Palladium set is no better than you'd expect, but the source does
sound different from those of any of the other albums. As a result, it
seems relatively safe to accept that this set originated from the
London Palladium.

>  lyrics she had been planning to use, were not traditional, but
>  rather were owned by someone.  She therefore got her brother

     Since she had mentioned earlier the A. L. Lloyd version, isn't it
likely that her original plan was to use Keats's lyrics, which IED
believes Jamie quoted from (the same that Lloyd used), and which are
public domain? It wouldn't, therefore, have been that they were
"owned" by someone, as much as that they just weren't as close to what
she wanted as John's lyrics.

      [	No, John Bush told me that the lyrics they were going to use
	they thought were in the public domain, but they found out on
	very short notice that they were actually owned by someone, so
	John threw together his lyrics on the day the song was to be
	recorded.  -- |>oug ]

     As for her remark that the whole thing was "a day's work," and
that John just threw the words together, IED would just like to
mention that Kate has very often minimized the labour that goes into
her work.

      [	This was told to me by John -- not Kate.  And he was very
	specific about the timespan.  -- |>oug ]

In an issue of _Dreamtime_ (sorry, no source immediately at hand)
there's a quote about how "RUTH" was put together which makes it sound
like the song was an hour's work, when we _know_ that it took a lot
longer than that...

>  "RUtH":        Paddy
>  "HoL":        Del
>  "The Big Sky":    JC
>  "Mother":    Mother (!)
>  "Cloudbusting":    Father

> I think this works quite well!  (With the possible exception of
> "TBS", in which I can't see too much of a connection with JC.)
> However, others may differ, or perhaps IED or some lesser authority
> (such as Kate :-)) may have stated this before.

     Your idea of a "programme" for the songs on side one is very
interesting, Jamie, but a little problematic. IED (who does not, by
the way, feel quite _that_ authoritative, though he _has_ been
insufferably know-it-all-ish for some time now) supposes it's possible
that the different a-side songs were secretly "dedicated" to
individual people in Kate's life.  Anyway, your idea that "Mother
Stands For Comfort" and "Cloudbusting" could have been dedicated to
Kate's mother and father sounds good.  Especially nice is your point
that the last lines of side two dovetail back into side one. (Cf. my
paper, "Venturing into the Garden", posted in Love-Hounds about a year
ago, for a separate but related conclusion.)
     About "RUTH" being for/about Paddy, however, the connection isn't
clear to this listener. "RUTH" is basically about a lover's difficulty
in understanding and getting along with her/his partner, and her/his
consequent wish that it were possible to switch places with the
other's sexual identity, in order to understand the other's feelings
better. Kate has mentioned the word "lover", IED believes, in the
context of "RUTH" at some point.  So perhaps both "RUTH" and "HoL"
could be "dedicated" to Del? "The Big Sky" could be "dedicated" to her
brothers, in that the song is about "the child in us all," as Kate has
put it.  Kate's brothers do make vocal appearances in the
Meteorological mix, too.
     Kate has never pointed out that the first side seems to be a kind
of suite on the theme of romantic, sexual, childish, maternal and
filial love (in that order?). But she _has_ said something like "it's
all about love."  That's about as specific as she's likely to get...

-- Andrew Marvick

P.S. to Rob Stanzel: Had an answer for you but have been unable to
send to your address in any form.