The boxed set: copy of a draft of a letter to EMI

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

 To: Love-Hounds
 From: Andrew Marvick (IED)
 Subject: The boxed set: copy of a draft of a letter to EMI

                                                July 30, 1990
 EMI Records, Ltd.
 20 Manchester Square
 London W1A 1ES
 England

 Dear Sir or Madam:
     I have heard that at long last there is a plan to release a
collection of Kate Bush b-sides, non-LP tracks and other rarities
on compact disk. I am writing to you now in order to offer the
following list of recordings as suggestions for inclusion in your
CD compilation.
     First of all, of course, there are the b-sides and other
non-LP releases from Kate's official EMI catalogue. These are:

  1-4.) _Kate_Bush_on_Stage_:
a four-track live EP of songs from the Tour of Life concerts.
   5.) _The_Empty_Bullring_:
from the b-side of the _Breathing_ single.
   6.) _Ran_Tan_Waltz_:
from the b-side of the _Babooshka_ single.
   7.) _December_Will_Be_Magic_Again_:
the a-side of Kate's Christmas single--this version of the
song has still never appeared on compact disk anywhere.
   8.) _Warm_and_Soothing_:
the b-side of the Christmas single, _December_Will_Be_Magic_Again_.
   9.) _Passing_Through_Air_:
the b-side of the _Army_Dreamers_ single.
  10.) _Lord_of_the_Reedy_River_:
Kate's cover of the old Donovan song, originally the b-side of
the _Sat_In_Your_Lap_ single.
  11.) _Dreamtime_:
the instrumental version of _The_Dreaming_, and the b-side of that
single.
  12.) _Ne_T'enfuis_pas_:
the b-side of the _There_Goes_a_Tenner_ single.
  13.) _Un_Baiser_d'enfant_:
the b-side of the Canadian version of the _Ne_T'enfuis_pas_ single.
  14.) _Under_the_Ivy_:
the b-side of the _Running_Up_That_Hill_ single and the first b-side
of the twelve-inch version.
  15.) _Running_Up_That_Hill_ (instrumental):
the second of the three b-sides on the _Running_Up_That_Hill_
twelve-inch single.
  16.) _Running_Up_That_Hill_ (Extended re-mix):
the third b-side from the _Running_Up_That_Hill_ twelve-inch single.
  17.) _Cloudbusting_ (The Orgonon Mix):
an extended re-mix of _Cloudbusting_ from the twelve-inch single.
  18.) _Burning_Bridge_:
the first of two b-sides from the _Cloudbusting_ twelve-inch single.
  19.) _My_Lagan_Love_:
the second of two b-sides from the _Cloudbusting_ twelve-inch single.
  20.) _Hounds_of_Love_ (Alternative Hounds):
the extended re-mix of _Hounds_of_Love_ from the twelve-inch single.
  21.) _The_Handsome_Cabin_Boy_:
the non-LP b-side from the _Hounds_of_Love_ twelve-inch single.
  22.) _The_Big_Sky_ (Meteorological Mix):
the extended re-mix of _The_Big_Sky_ from the twelve-inch single.
  23.) _Not_This_Time_:
the non-LP b-side from _The_Big_Sky_ twelve-inch single.
  24.) _Experiment_IV_ (Extended Re-Mix):
the a-side of the _Experiment_IV_ twelve-inch single.
  25.) _The_Sensual_World_ (instrumental):
the first b-side from the twelve-inch single and CD-single.
  26.) _I'm_Still_Waiting_:
the first of two b-sides from the _This_Woman's_Work_ twelve-inch
single and CD-single.
  27.) _Be_Kind_to_My_Mistakes_:
the second b-side from the _This_Woman's_Work_ twelve-inch single
and CD-single.
  28.) _Ken_:
the first of three b-sides from the _Love_and_Anger_ twelve-inch
single and CD-single.
  29.) _The_Confrontation_:
the second of three b-sides from the _Love_and_Anger_ twelve-inch
single and CD-single.
  30.) _One_Last_Look_Around_the_House_Before_We_Go..._:
the third b-side from the _Love_and_Anger_ twelve-inch single and
CD-single.

   The thirty tracks I have listed above constitute Kate Bush's
total official "b-side" and non-LP catalogue output. It does _not_, however,
constitute anything like the total number of non-LP recordings
which Kate has made to date, and which have still not been released on
compact disk by EMI. Here is a supplementary list of _indispensible_
non-LP tracks and rarities by Kate Bush which I am confident you
will include in your compilation:

   1.) _Maybe_:
this is the first of two known demo recordings of this song which
Kate wrote long before signing with EMI. Kate herself played an
excerpt from this recording on the BBC radio programme _Personal_
_Call_ in 1979, and Kate Bush fans have been copying and exchanging that
excerpt ever since. The song is a favorite among many fans, and
its exclusion from your compilation would be sorely missed.
  2. and 3.) _The_Long_and_Winding_Road_ and _She's_Leaving_Home_:
both from a pre-recorded television performance which Kate made
on the Japanese television variety programme _Sound_in_'S'_ on
June 23rd, 1978.
   4.) _Another_Day_:
this is a duet of the Roy Harper song which Kate recorded with Peter
Gabriel for her BBC television special _Kate_ in
December 1979. Kate fans count this as a particular favorite.
A song co-written by Kate and Peter Gabriel and originally intended
for the b-side of the single of _Another_Day_, which was unfortunately
never released.
   5.) _The_Magician_:
this is a song by Maurice Jarre with lyrics by Paul Webster which
Kate recorded for the soundtrack to the film _The_Magician_of_Lublin_,
starring Alan Arkin. Kate Bush fans have long suffered with nothing
except the soundtrack as dubbed off of video-tapes of the film, as
the soundtrack has never been released on record, let alone on
compact disk. This song is absolutely indispensible to any serious
compilation of Kate Bush rarities.
   6 and 7.) _Breathing_ (live) and _Do_Bears_Sh..._in_the_Woods_ (live):
these two songs were released as part of the Comic Relief album,
"Ha! Ha! Ha! Utterly Utterly Live", which included excerpts from
the live Comic Relief shows of April 4-6, 1986. The former track
is a live solo performance by Kate of the song from her _Never_For_Ever_
album; the latter track is a live duet with Rowan Atkinson of a
comic song written specially for the occasion.
   8.) _Be_Kind_to_My_Mistakes_ (original soundtrack-album version):
longer and much different from the version which was released as
a b-side from the _This_Woman's_Work_ twelve-inch single and CD-single,
this version was released--though never on compact disk--as part of
the soundtrack album from the Nicholas Roeg film _Castaway_.
   9.) _Brazil_:
this is a vocal version of the old popular song which Terry Gilliam
used as the main theme for his film, _Brazil_.
Kate recorded this version to an orchestral arrangement by Michael
Kamen as part of a collection of tracks which were
originally planned for a soundtrack album of Gilliam's film.
For undisclosed reasons it was never released. Kate's fans have
wanted to hear this recording ever since.
  10.) _Rocket_Man_:
this is a cover version of the Elton John/Bernie Taupin song
which Kate recorded for inclusion in a compilation album by various
artists, in tribute to the twentieth anniversary of the songwriting
team of John and Taupin. For undisclosed reasons that album was
never released, but Kate's fans have long coveted this recording.
  11-14.) _G.L.C_--the four missing tracks:
these four tracks are instrumental and choral pieces which Kate
recorded for or gathered together to include in the Comic Strip
television programme called _G.L.C._. Three other tracks from
this, the only Kate Bush film-soundtrack, were included as b-sides
on the twelve-inch single and CD-single of _Love_and_Anger_, but
the remaining four bits of music were omitted from any official
EMI release.

   Two other tracks deserve to be released on compact disk, although
they do not belong to quite the same category as the above. They are:

   1.) _The_Man_With_the_Child_in_His_Eyes_ (spoken-introduction version):
when released as a single by EMI in 1978 this song was preceded by
a brief but beautiful spoken introduction ("He's here!", etc.)
which is not on the album. The mix of the song itself is, however,
identical to that found on Kate's first album, _The_Kick_Inside_.
I recommend that you insert this exclusive and rare spoken introduction
into future pressings of _The_Kick_Inside_ album on compact disk--
perhaps as part of a boxed set of Kate's complete album output on CD?
   2.) _Cloudbusting_ (the video mix):
this is the version of _Cloudbusting_ which Kate recorded
for her video of the song. It includes a section of completely
new and exclusive music. Except for this particular section of
the video soundtrack, however, the recording is identical to the
original album version. I therefore suggest that you consider putting
the _video_ version of the track on a special future CD _Hounds_of_Love_
album, instead of the shorter but otherwise identical album version
of this track. Perhaps this could be part of a special collector's
boxed-set edition of the complete albums of Kate Bush on compact disk?

   Finally, it may be worth considering the release of a separate
compact-disk collection featuring Kate's guest-vocals on other
artists' releases. These include:

   1.) _Sing,_Children,_Sing_: Leslie Duncan's charity single
for UNICEF.
   2.) _Them_Heavy_People_: a version of Kate's song by EMI
recording artist Ray Shell, on which Kate sang vocals as well.
   3.) _You_(_The_Game_, Part_II_): a duet of Roy Harper's song,
from his album _The_Unknown_Soldier_.
   4. and 5.) _No_Self_Control_ and _Games_Without_Frontiers_, two tracks
from Peter Gabriel's third solo album, _Peter_Gabriel_, on which
Kate sang vocals.
   6.) _Flowers_: a track from Zaine Griff's album _Figures_, on
which Kate sang vocals.
   7.) _The_Seer_: the title track from an album by Big Country,
to which Kate contributed vocals.
   8.) _The_King_is_Dead_: a track from Go West's album _Dancing_on_
_the_Couch_, on which Kate sings backing vocals.
   9.) _Sister_and_Brother_: a duet with Midge Ure from his album,
_Answers_to_Nothing_.
  10.) _Once_: the title track from an album by Roy Harper, on which
Kate sings vocals.

   That sums up all of the most important of the _officially_
recognized Kate Bush recordings which every fan will expect to
find on EMI's compilation of rarities. There are, however, two
other, and _equally_important_, bodies of recorded work by Kate Bush
which her fans await with great impatience as official EMI compact-disk
releases.

     The first of these is a definitive, full-length recording of
one of Kate's Tour of Life live concerts. Many bootleg albums
exist of various dates from the Tour of Life, but they are all of
abominable quality. Kate's live show was so elaborate, and contained
so much fascinating non-LP music, that it really deserves to be
represented by more than the edited video film _Live_at_Hammersmith_Odeon_
which EMI released some ten years ago, or by the all-too-brief EP,
_Live_On_Stage_, which contained only four songs. Of particular interest
from the shows are the early version of _Egypt_ (very different from the
album version found on _Never_For_Ever_), and all of the "incidental
music" played between songs during the Tour.

   The second of these additional collections has come to be known
among fans as _The_Cathy_Demos_, after the title of a series of bootleg EP's.
To date some twenty-three individual songs, which were written by Kate
and performed by her alone at the piano, have surfaced and become
widely known to fans throughout the world. There are now many different
bootleg pressings of the Cathy Demos, none of them of particularly
good quality (as you can well imagine).
   Fans have nevertheless become extremely fond of these early but
beautiful and masterly songs by the young Kate Bush, and I hope
that you will consider releasing some or all of them in an official
collector's edition, perhaps as part of the boxed set of compact
disks which you are said to be planning for release at the end of
1990. I will not list the titles of these songs because their
real titles are still unknown to fans.
   In addition, a second collection of demo recordings is
hotly anticipated by Kate's fans. These are known as the
"Early Years" demos, and there are ten of them. They
were briefly released in Germany several years ago, but were
withdrawn when it was discovered that proper authorization had
not been obtained for their release. Kate's fans fervently
hope that pity will be taken upon them by Kate, and that these
wonderful early recordings--which include the version of _Passing _Through_
_Air_ which Kate did release in 1980--will finally see the light of day.
   Finally, there are several uncollected demo recordings which fans
share with each other, and all of these should be released in official,
high-quality versions. They include six demo recordings--probably
outtakes from the recording sessions for _The_Kick_Inside_--featuring
a non-LP song known alternately as _Scares_Me_Silly_ and _Really_Gets_
_Me_Going_. Also included among these additional demos are two
early versions of _Babooshka_, an early demo of _Sat_In_Your_Lap_
and a rhythm-track-only version of _Sat_In_Your_Lap_.

   Thanks very much for taking the time to consider the above
list of Kate Bush rarities. I think I speak for all Kate Bush
fans--certainly those who belong to the U.S. organizations Love-Hounds
and The American Kate Bush Society--when I say that we are already
very grateful to EMI and Kate for at last putting together her
b-sides and rarities as a compact-disk collection. If you take the
time to find room for most of the recordings discussed above, I am
very sure the Kate Bush fan community will respond by buying them in
record numbers.
                             Sincerely yours,



                             Andrew Marvick