Once more, an old KT interview

[Andrew B Marvick <abm4@cunixa.cc.columbia.edu>]

Old Kate Bush Interviews 3: "Rock and Pop Stars", 1979, #1

"Kate Bush: She's Your No. 1", from EMI's promotional magazine, "Rock and Pop
Stars", 1979, #1 (Anonymous)

"This Bush is at the top of the tree!"

   There's no doubt about it: 1978 was really a cracker of a year for Kate  
Bush, the doctor's daughter from Kent.
   At the tender age of 19, the strikingly good-looking red-haired Kate shot
to stardom in a most amazing manner, surprising probably even the record people
who were behind the tremendous promotional build-up of her singing career.
   One minute she was an unkown, likeable girl. The next, she was being hailed
as a star. And the nice thing is, she still remains as likeable as ever. 
   But there is no doubt the girl has changed, as far as her career and her 
performances are concerned. 
   It was that one haunting song, "Wuthering Heights", which launched her--and
catapulted her to instant stardom.
   She first hit the charts in January 1978 with her stange debut single. The
record was inspired by Emily Bronte's famous novel, and went to No. 1 and 
stayed there for several weeks.
   Her first album followed fairly quickly. Titled "The Kick Inside", it was 
a collection of her own cleverly penned and original songs. And this, more than
anything else, emphasized not only Kate's unusual vocal range, but also her 
unique presentation of music and the wide emotional depths of the lyrics to her
songs.
   Once launched, there was no stopping the girl. Her record success continued
with "The Man With the Child in His Eyes", which went into the Top 5 in the 
charts, and then her second album, "Lionheart", quickly earned her a gold disc
after jetting into the charts on its first week of release. 
   She has been referred to as having the fragile beauty of a gazelle. It is 
her stunning looks which undoubtedly add greatly to her vocal performances, 
putting Kate in a completely different category from most other girl singers.
<Huh?--IED.>
   She studied, at one time, under the master of mime and dance, Lindsay Kemp, 
and this comes through vividly in most of her on-stage performances. 
   She has a great feeling for the dramatic effect of a song, not only vocally
but physically, as well.
   As a child, Kate was encouraged by her parents and family as to the values
of self-expression. By the time she was eleven, she had taught herself to play
the piano, and had written her first songs. 
   When she was sixteen, she met David Gilmour, of the Pink Floyd group, and
with his help made her first demo disc. She was signed up on a recording 
contract by EMI soon afterwards.
   But she was always more interested in writing songs than singing them, she
admits. As well as incorporating a great deal f mime into her act, she likes 
to fit in a jigsaw of music, poetry and movement, so that her audiences can 
relate to her songs on more than one level.
   "I'm extremely nervous about stage performances," says Kate. "I've always
b my capabilities. When I appeared in pubs, singing, before I was well known, 
that was fine. But now, people will expect a certain standard of performance
from me."
   Her fantastic year of success has been based purely on her success in the
recording studios. It has taken her a long time to pluck up the courage to
build up her act and go out on the road with a stage show.
   her first British tour, in the spring of 1979, meant her stage debut at the
Palladium in April.
   It has been said, too, that Kate has worked very hard at creating a public
image. At times, she talks in a strange slangy accent--which is, quite clearly,
contradictory to her smooth middle-class upbringing. 
   "We always encouraged Kate to write songs, but we never thought for a minute
it would all turn out as it has done," says Kate's mother, who is still very
obviously surprised at her daughter's tremendous success.
   Says Kate: "I recall that when I was in the school choir, I couldn't sing 
high notes at all. I had to teach myself, as a sort of exercise."
   Over the years, she has also become a highly accomplished dancer.
   Last year, her record success led to her name spreading around the world.
Kate's records sold not only througout Europe, but in Japan, Australia, 
Canada and South Africa.
   As well as picking up the Tokyo Music Festival's silver prize, and the 
coveted Dutch Edison Award, she rounded off 1978 by being voted the world's
top female singer in a poll by Melody Maker readers.
   So it's not surprising that Kate figured heavily in the British Rock and
Pop Awards.

-- Andrew Marvick