The second of two Gambaccini radio programmes

[IED0DXM%OAC.UCLA.EDU@mitvma.mit.edu]

 To: Love-Hounds
 From: Andrew Marvick (IED)
 Subject: The second Gambaccini radio programme

     <Here is the second of Kate's two radio interviews with
Paul Gambaccini. This programme, aired on BBC One Radio on December 31,
1980, features a selection of Kate's favourite "popular"
recordings by other artists. Transcribed from a tape by IED.>

     Thank you, _News_Beat_ team.
     This is Paul Gambaccini, and we are with Kate Bush on this New
Year's Eve. Hello, Kate.
     "Hi."
     You've made it back from last night.
     "Yes, I have, thank you."
     Now we'll be playing some of your favourite popular songs.
Let's begin straight away with Roy Harper's _Another_Day_.
     <The recording is heard. Kate had already recorded one or
more versions of this song as a duet with Peter Gabriel by
this time. The first version was recorded for Kate's own BBC
television special, which aired in December of 1979; the second was made
at about the same time as this interview, with the intention of releasing
it as a duet single. A b-side co-written by Kate and Gabriel was
even recorded to this end, but the project was unfortunately
abandoned. Kate also contributed vocals on a song from Roy Harper's
1980 album _The_Unknown_Soldier_.>
      Roy Harper, and a song called _Another_Day_. Kate,
if I were asked to choose a quintessentially English
track, I would choose a Roy Harper one: _When_an_Old_Cricketer_
<_Lives_the_Creased_? (indecipherable)>. And, uh,
I'm wondering if you consider him a typically English artist.
     "Yes, uh, I think that's a very good point. I think
he is a very English _poet_. I mean,
I think Roy is a poet, I really do. And that one particular
song is classic. Uh, It's funny you should mention
_The_Cricketer's_<inaudible>, because
for me that's the other all-time classic, and it was a
matter of choosing between the two, for me. Um, this track is
incredible. In fact, I asked Roy what he wrote the song about,
and he said the whole thing is true. It's a completely true
story about a lady he"d met, and who he really loved, and
he was after her. And she kept putting her nose in the air and
running away from him. Then he met her a few years later, and
suddenly realised that she was chasing him, and he saw the irony
of the situation, and wrote this song about the rooms that the'd
been in together. It's a very personal song, and I think that's
why it works so strongly. It's a very emotional, intimate song."
     If I may ask a crass question after such an intimate song:
An artist like yourself has enjoyed success in a commercial sense
quite early in her career. How do you relate to an artist like Roy,
who has the respect of his peers but who has never really broken
through commercially?
     "I think it's tragic, I really do. Um, one of the main
reasons that I've chosen these tracks, and the ones from last
night, is that I'm choosing people--deliberately--not like
Bowie, Pink Floyd, who are people I love very much. All the big,
famous artists, I really love a lot of them. I deliberately chose
people who I think are very underestimated, who aren't really
recognised as the great talent that they are. And for me, Roy
is one of the greatest English songwriters we've had, and
people just don't realise it. And I really think that when they
do we're going to have another top songwriter up there. He's
brilliant."
     Well, here's certainly one of the all-time cult figures:
Captain Beefheart, and his Magic Band. Uh, here's a man who
for over a decade has been making music which some people have been
absolutely raving about, and yet he's never broken through to
mass acceptance.
     "Yes. Again, I think, um, he's <laughs>, he's
such an obvious person to be big here. When you look at a lot of
the new wave groups and the punk groups, they're really nothing
compared to Beefheart. He's the original. And for me he's a, a
_natural_ poet. I mean, he's incredible. Um, I've heard a beautiful
quote of his. When he was backstage one day, um, there was someone
hanging around who he didn't want to be there; and he told them
to get out. And when the someone said why didn't you want me here?
he said he's had too much to think.
     And if I may just quote a couple of lines from one of his songs
called _Bat_Chain_Puller_. It's about a Voodoo train. Um, his
poetry's incredible. It says: 'A chain with yellow lights
that glisten like oil-beads;' and another line: 'It whistles
like a root snatched from the dry earth. Sod-busting rakes with
grey-dust claws announces it's coming in the morning.'
<inaudible>...is a poet. Then listen out for the line
in this song, which is called _Tropical_Hot_Dog_Night_, and
it's 'Like two flamingos in a fruit fight.'"
     <The song is played.>
     Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band, and _Tropical_Hot_Dog_
_Night_. Kate, I--I think I would like to stash that one. Maybe it's
the New Year's party I'm going to tonight.
     "Let's play it again right now and get up on the table!"
     <Laughing>Are--are you going to go to a New Year's Eve
party, do you think?
     "Um, well, I might do. It depends on if I'm--if I get
home in time tonight."
     Oh, that's right, well...
     "We could have a drink here and then get up on the table!
<Laughs>
     Oh, yeah, we could have a lot of fun after this show! Yes, this is
the show during 1980 when you have the most fun _afterwards_.
     "<Laughs>"
     We're coming up now on one of Kate's favourite
songs of all time. Ladies and gentlemen, this could be the only
show in history to feature both Frank Zappa and Rolf Harris.
     "<Giggle from Kate.>"
     And I remember, I remember hearing this song on the radio
in America in the Sixties. Did you hear it on the radio or from
a copy at home?
     "Um, from the radio but very much a copy at home, too, a
forty-five. I don't know whose it was. Uh, I think it's the
most fantastic track, I really do. I don't think there's
anything being done like it since then, and I, uh, I wish Rolf would, uh,
do some more musical ventures. I think it's fantastic. I mean
to be the discoverer of the wobble-board, and to be able to play
the dijeridu, and sing and write and draw. He's a very talented
man, he really is. And I think _he's_ very underestimated
because of the areas he's got into now.
He's a sort of top television personality. But it seems to
me he's got a great deal of musical talent, and for me this
track is just magic. It's just...Oh..."
     In the early Sixties _Sun_Arise_ was a very experimental sound.
     <The record is played. It is immediately obvious how direct and
heavy was the influence of this recording upon Kate's track, _The_Dream-
ing_. Not only the rhythmic pulse and instrumentation, but even the unusual
use of a major-key tune that avoids resolution in the tonic, using
instead a single, unchanging dijeridu drone; as well as the use of the
vocal lines as a group of peculiar instruments--all these qualities
are echoed, even reproduced in Kate's track.>
     I was just thinking if John Peel had an experimental radio
programme then as he does now, he would have been playing that Rolf
Harris song.
     "<Laughing>Maybe he would. I wonder what he'd
say about that."
     Just shows you how some artists do change in their career
direction.
     "Absolutely."
     _Sun_Arise_, that track by Rolf Harris.
     An interesting comment is that, uh, apparently Alice Cooper
has since done a version of _Sun_Arise_. I've no
idea what it sounds like, I've not heard it, but, um,
it's an interesting thought."
     Hm, one to drag out for sure.
     This is Radio One, on New Year's Eve. And we're playing
Kate Bush's favourite songs of all time, and here's one by
John Lennon, who was killed in the most apalling way earlier this
month, and Kate I'm wondering if you are too young at the age
of twenty-two to have fully understood what all of the media fuss
was about. So many people were affected so traumatically for so long.
Could you really understand what Lennon and the Beatles meant to
them?
     "Yes, absolutely! I think probably people of about sixteen
or seventeen, that's the age where it wouldn't really mean
that much. But even at my age they really meant so much. I wasn't
aware of them first happening and then being the 'new thing'.
But I was aware of them as the most incredible source, and of Lennon
being the most fantastic songwriter. He really was one of my favourite
artists--not as The Beatles, but as Lennon. And in fact, in compiling
this list a couple of months ago before the news, I'd chosen
this track as one of my favourites. So it wasn't meant as a
tribute, it was genuinely planned as one of the tracks."
     Why this of all his songs?
     "Um, for me it's just magic. Um, his voice; the
production--it's the most incredible production; uh, little
backwards voices. They're really things that I love. And
just, the song and everything--it's wonderful. And I--I'm
really sad, because he's left the biggest hole in the business
that we've known yet, I think."
     Here's John Lennon's _Number_Nine_Dream_.
     <The record is played. In my opinion there is no single
record that Kate's music reflects the influence of more clearly
than this track. All references to Peter Gabriel's influence--even
as regards production--pale beside a comparative listening between
_Number_Nine_Dream_ and any of a dozen of Kate's recordings.>
     One of the dozen or so most important human beings of my lifetime
so far: John Lennon, and _Number_Nine_Dream_. We're
playing the favourite records of Kate Bush on this
New Year's Eve, and Kate, I have to admit: you've stumped
me. I don't know our next artist.
     "Well, his name's Eberhard Weber. _Veh-ber_!
<in German accent:> Eberhard Weber! And he's
German. And he's a fantastic fretless bass-player. He'
got his own solo albums, and he works beautifully with
glockenspiel, vibes, uh, vocal pieces. And uh, it's very
spacey, um, jazz-rocky. But what I like about him is always
there's Jaco Pastorius, Stanley Clarke, they're right
up at the top with all the big bass players, but again there're
lots of very talented people that aren't that well known.
So I'd like to give him a bit of exposure. And this is
off the album called _Fluid_Rustle_. And the track's called
_Quiet_Departures_.
     <An excerpt from the track is played.>
     _Quiet_Departures_ by Eberhard Weber, from the album _Fluid_Rustle_.
     Kate, does music like that influence you as well as entertain you?
     "Oh, absolutely. I really feel that anything that I see,
read, listen to, feel, eat, etcetera, is an influence. Because
anything you like you're going to have an automatic
attraction and want for. And so even subconsciously you, um,
you use it, somehow it gets in there."
     Well if that's the case let's, uh, throw you a hard
one here and ask you a question you haven't prepared for. What
books have inspired you?
     "What books? Well, my problem with books is that I used
to read a lot more than I do now, and so I think my book inspiration
is now coming from television, films, newspapers--you know, all
the modern media. But I really do think that all the books I've
read have had a tremendous influence on me because of their strong
imagery. I think books really are a fantastic form of inspiration."
     Well here's a man who grew popular with his images and his
unusual voice, 'cause in the selections you played both last time
and today I know you love the use of the human voice as an instrument.
The man I'm talking about is Donovan.
     "Yeah, Donovan has got the most beautiful voice--that
very slow vibrato that people like Cliff Richard can put on; but
<Donovan> has it very naturally. I mean he sings like this
all the time. And again, he's an incredible songwriter, lyric
writer, he can play the guitar and he has that fantastic voice.
And it seemed that he'd got really caught up in the copying
of Dylan when he first signed up and was singing. And he was wearing
the hats and he was carrying the guitar and everyone thought he
was just a Dylan copy. When in fact he wasn't at all. And it
seems that he's just, um, been forgotten, he's gone under."
     It's unbelievable. He was one of Britain's leading,
hit-making solo stars of the Sixties and a great international artist.
And now it's almost as though he'd never existed.
     "It's ridiculous. I can't stand to see that happen
to people, especially someone like him. Um, one of my favourite
albums of his is _H.M.S._Donovan_, which I
think has been deleted now, which is even more ridiculous.
And it's beautiful: fantastic illustrated cover; a double album,
and each song is either a fairy story or something he's written
to other people's words. He's used Blake's poems, he's
used some Lewis Carroll--a big selection of fantasy stuff. And
one of my favourite tracks from there, which he actually wrote
himself to his own music, is _Lord_of_the_Reedy_River_.
     < The record is played. Donovan actually performed this
song well before recording it for _H.M.S._Donovan_. He appears in the
1968 film _If_It's_Tuesday_,_This_Must_Be_Belgium_, singing this song
to his own guitar acccompaniment. Of course, Kate herself recorded this
song, and put it out as the b-side of the single _Sat_In_Your_Lap_
in 1981. A rumour persists that Donovan actually contributed
a bit of backing vocal on Kate's track, though this has not
been confirmed.>
     Donovan, and _Lord_of_the_Reedy_River_. I suppose--
     "...so beautiful..."
--all it would take would be one or two really good tracks and--
     "Ah, but he's _got_ them, you know,
that's the silly thing. He's got so _many_ good tracks.
I think that song there too, is so essential, and
erotic. And you know no-one's even heard of it--incredible.
I mean if you put a bit of film to that...what a fantastic..."
     Most people don't realise that most of his hit records
were produced by Mickie Most.
     "I didn't realise that either, no."
     There's another track of his that you like alot, a b-side.
     "Yes. Uh, it was the b-side of <_indecipherable_>, called
_Mr._Wind_. What I liked about it was he was using 'Vari-Speed',
Um, he was using _very_low_voices_ and _very_high_voices_
<Kate imitates these--precious audio unfortunately not transcribable>
all mixed in together: _Mr._Wind_spoke_like_this!_ And all the people
that he woke up in the morning _spoke_like_this!_
<Laughs> And it was beautiful; it was just a really fun track
putting a different speed to the voices of the various characters.
And it was really fabulous for kids, uh, you know? I...I wish there
had been more."
     Let's come right up to date now, with an album currently
in the charts: Steely Dan, _Gaucho_ LP, and from it, _Babylon_Sisters_.
     <Part of this record is played. Then Kate comes back on,
announcing in a surprising, very uncharacteristic imitation of an
American accent (perhaps prompted by Steely Dan's music, which she
has elsewhere described as quintessentially American):>
     "Hi, everybody! This is Radio Fun, and I'm here with
Paul Dictionary and with him, Miss Bush!"
     <Laughing> And--and we have just heard Steely Dan
from their _Gaucho_ LP, and _Babylon_Sisters_.
Now, Kate, this brings us right up to date, 'cause this is an
album that's out right at the moment. And this is a, a funky little
track by these two chaps, Becker and Fagin. And they're monstrous
stars in America--not so here.
     "No, that's uh, again why I played them. I think
they're very underestimated. They're the most incredible
musicians. This is it. They are here--a musician's band. I mean,
all the musicians in this country just rave about them technically,
and uh, as songwriters. But you know, they're not really played
on the radio, but they're just incredible--really good jazz
<indecipherable>"
     Kate, if we go beyond the current charts and look beyond this
program and beyond the parties we'll be attending tonight,
into 1981, what are your immediate plans?
     "Well, my immediate plans now are to make another album.
That's what I've been doing the last couple of months:
writing, too, and trying to demo. It's been a really good time
for me, actually. I love writing. That's the thing I'd like
to do all the time."
     As you have had three LPs, do you find that the songs come quicker,
or they kind of take longer?
     "It definitely goes in phases. And I find that if I'm
not busy working on something else, then the songs are going to
flow in much easier. There does seem to be a, a brain--sort of
cooperation thing. If it's busy working on something else then
it won't allow me to use up the back bit for a song
<laughing>! But if it's vacant, then I can fill it up!"
     Do you ever think you'll do anything with Peter Gabriel again?
     "I hope so, yes. Uh, we're trying to work on something
at the moment, but uh, it's quite hard to get all the business
uh, through, but I hope that will happen. He's great to work
with."
      He worked with our next act, didn't he?
     "Yes, he did. It's a very strange coincidence. Uh, because I
saw him the other day, and just mentioned if he'd heard of Jules
and the Polar Bears--which is uh, one of the next tracks we're
playing. And he said yes, he had because he was producing their live
EP, and he sent it on a couple of days later. It's very good.
     "And the track that I've chosen is called _The_Smell_of_Home_.
And it's off an album called _Phonetics_. Which is very
interesting, because all the lyrics on the lyric sheet
they've actually written pho-net-i-cal-ly! So you can try to
read the words, and it's uh, all in phonetics. And I think
they're great. I've never heard of them in this country.
They've not been played on the radio, as far as I know.
And they're great--he's got an incredible voice, the lead
singer."
     Well, I think, I have been played in the evening--
     "They have?"
     --but not so much during the day, really.
     "No, I've not heard them getting enough recognition
anyway."
     Well, let's hear them in one of their earliest time slots:
Jules and the Polar Bears, _The_Smell_of_Home_.
     <This record is played.>
     _The_Smell_of_Home_, by Jules and the
Polar Bears, one of Kate Bush's all-time favourite
tracks. Kate, the time has now come for me to spring on you that
question: What is your all-time favourite single?
     "My all-time favourite single. Very, very difficult
question, it really is, because just, just trying to compare songs,
you know, let alone trying to put one higher than all the
others...I think I would say at this point in time John Lennon's
_Number_Nine_Dream_--for lots of reasons."
     We will close with an artist who has had a long career
beginning in the late Sixties, when Lennon as part of the Beatles
was so popular. I'm talking about Frank Zappa, in those days
with the Mothers of Invention, and in the Seventies doing a series
of bizarre LPs on his own. And one of these has particularly tickled
your fancy.
     "Yes. Uh, I think Zappa's great, and one of my
favourite albums is _Bongo_Fury_, where he and
Beefheart are together, so we've got two loonies
on one album. It's wonderful, so exciting. The track
I've chosen is _Montana_, off of _Overnight_Sensation_.
For me this is one of Zappa's more commercial albums: uh, more
instant songs, but at the same time very versatile. I really do
hold it as one of my favourite albums. And the track's called
_Montana_.
     <The record is played.>
     I still like _We're_the_Brain_Police_, myself.
That's my favourite by Frank Zappa. That one's called _Montana_, and
that is Kate's favourite.
     Kate, many people would like to know if they will be able to
see you in live performance again in 1981. Do you think that's
a possibility?
     "It is a possibility, but I wouldn't like to say
any more than that, 'cause, uh, you know, things take so much
time. It's incredible. Uh, the album is the thing that I've
decided that's happening, and we'll see what happens after
that's out of the way!"
     Have you enjoyed 1980?
     "Um...Yes, on the whole, but I think, to be quite honest,
it's been a really hard year, and I think so many people will
be glad when it's over. It's been a very testing year.
In many ways it's almost been saying 'All right, let's
see if you can get through this, and if you can then one up to you.'
And I think an awful lot of people have really
coped with this year fantastically well. So, uh, here's to them,
and here's to 1981!"
     Reason to celebrate.
     "Yeah!"
     O.K., we'll do that right now! Uh, but Radio One
continues, first of all with _Mailbag_ and then with
other programs to help you see in the brand new year.
     Thank you, Kate Bush.
     "Thank you."
     And thank you, folks, for listening.
     Right now it's six-thirty, and here's the news.