MisK.

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

   Michael Graham asks for some information about the various KT
books that are now or have at one time been available. Since it's
likely that many of the newer Kate Bush fans now reading this posting
will want to know about the state of the KT publications scene, IED
has offered a round-up for the benefit of anyone interested.
   First, it's important to remember that only one published book 
about Kate Bush can be said to have come from a completely reliable 
and more or less "official" source, and that's _Cathy_, a book
of photographs by Kate's brother, John Carder Bush. _Cathy_ 
contains about fifty duo-tone prints of black-and-white photo-
graphs of Kate which John took of his sister when he was about
twenty-two and she about eight--though the span of years is not
clear. John wrote a short, vague but personal introduction to
the collection, and he appended a brief, mildly poetic caption to each 
photograph. In short, the only "official" book about Kate contains 
scant factual information about her life, but it's still a beautifully
clothbound collection of wonderful, moving photographic portraits of
a great artist-in-embryo.
   A second book, Kate's autobiography, called _Leaving_My_Tracks_,
was planned for publication at one time, but in the end it was kept
out of print, and as far as IED is aware it does not exist. Love-Hound
extraordinaire Ed Suranyi is tracking this probably non-existent
book's trail in search of clues, but chances are the book will never be
found.
   A third book, usually found in sheet-music stores rather than
the biography or music sections of bookstores, is _almost_ officially
approved by the Bush family. Kate is said to have looked over the text
before publication of _Kate_Bush_Complete_, a trade-size paperback
purportedly edited by Cecil Bolton but actually the work of Peter
FitzGerald-Morris, co-editor of _Homeground_ (about which more will
be found below). _Kate_Bush_Complete_ contains minimal music
notation of most of Kate's published songs through 1986; a basic, no-frills
edition of the lyrics to those sixty-six songs; and--perhaps most
valuable of all--Peter's excellent chronology of Kate's career.
   The first "biography" of Kate to be published was Fred and Judy
Vermorel's _Kate_Bush:_Princess_of_Suburbia_, which is now rather 
hard to find. It was a very thin, trade-size paperback which contained
a fascinating collection of candid photos, birds-eye views of Kate's
family home (East Wickham Farm), and a load of wildly inaccurate text
about her youth and early career. Throughout the book the Vermorels 
are at once contemptuous of their subject and sycophantic about her.
It's a bad book with totally unreliable information, but most avid
Kate fans will still want to own a copy, sad to say.
   Shortly after the Vermorels published _Princess_ a more
standard kind of teeny-bopper fan-biography of Kate, simply called
_Kate_Bush:_A_Biography_ was written by Paul Kerton. Again a trade-
size paperback, this book contained some of the same interesting
photographs as well as a few new ones, and it reprinted a few of
Kate's school poems. The text contains its share of factual errors,
but Kerton's tone is inoffensive, for the most part.
   A few years later Fred Vermorel, apparently stung by criticism
of his despicable first book about Kate, published a second
"biography", this one entitled _The_Secret_History_of_Kate_Bush_.
Although it begins with a sort of backhanded apology for the first
book, the new text goes on to compound its predecessor's transgressions,
and--what's worse--it dwells interminably on dubious "research" into
Kate's historical ancestry. There are a few unrelated but interesting
remarks about Kate's studio techniques toward the end of this trade-
size paperback book, but for the most part _The_Secret_History_ is 
another washout--and an infuriating one, at that.
   In recent years three more books about Kate have come on the
market: Kerry Juby's _Kate_Bush:_The_Whole_Story_, Cann & Mayes's
_Kate_Bush:_A_Visual_Documentary_, and an unsigned, bootleg collection of 
magazine interviews and clippings called _To_Kate_With_Love_, or 
something along those lines. Of these three, the _Visual_Documentary_
is the best by far.
      Juby's _The_Whole_Story_, published by the reputable firm of Sidgwick 
& Jackson, came out in hardback a few years back. If judged
by its high production values and opening pages, it represents
a breakthrough in quality. Alas, a closer reading of its 150-odd 
pages of depressingly shallow and repetitive text reveals no fewer
than eighty completely false statements about Kate's life and career.
The book contains a few isolated bits of valuable new information,
and it includes a small collection of unfamiliar candid photos, 
but overall the biographical information is _not_ to be trusted.
(Love-Hounds Archives contains IED's detailed, page-by-page review
of the book.)
   The anonymous _To_Kate_With_Love_  reproduces interviews, reviews
and clippings from British music weeklies, etc., and is worth having, 
particularly if you are getting into Kate's music too late to find
the original relevant issues of _Melody_Maker_, _Sounds_, etc. 
Unfortunately, this collection of reprints--an eight-by-
eleven-inch glossy-covered, staple-bound paperback--is increasingly
difficult to find in its own right. 
   Of all the books about Kate Bush, the only one which IED is
willing to recommend (albeit with reservations--it _does_ contain
a few inaccurate statements) is the Cann & Mayes trade paperback,
_Kate_Bush:_A_Visual_Documentary_. Their style is unpretentious,
their attitude toward Kate is seldom patronizing, and their facts,
for the most part, are straight. Moreover _A_Visual_Documentary_
contains a wealth of unofficial photographs of and relating
to Kate Bush, her life, music and career. 
   Aside from the above books, you might want to remember that 
there are also a few Kate Bush sheetmusic-books. The notation in
all of these publications--all official EMI Music Publishing
books--is confined to basic piano parts (not at all like Kate's
recorded piano arrangements), guitar-chord indications and
simplified melody lines. The first of these books contains about eight
of the thirteen songs on _The_Kick_Inside_; the second, all ten
songs from _Lionheart_--as well as a few photographs from the 
album's photo-sessions; the third, a collection of songs from 
the first three albums, called _The_Best_of_Kate_Bush_ (this book
also contains one-line-long captions written for the collection by 
Kate to accompany each song in the collection; as well as some 
official photos); the fourth, a songbook of _Hounds_of_Love_
(including an exclusive poster); the fifth, a  bare-bones songbook
of _The_Whole_Story_ LP; and the sixth, a new, not very interesting
songbook of _The_Sensual_World_. There are also individual 
sheetmusic editions of most of Kate's single releases to date.
   For more published information regarding Kate Bush, new
fans are encouraged to seek out the _Newsletters_ of The Kate
Bush Club, the only official fan club. The Kate Bush Club has
published twenty-five _Newsletters_ to date, and although they
are sometimes frustratingly thin on penetrating analysis of 
the music and hard facts, they nevertheless make fascinating
reading for Kate fans--especially since they contain a number
of articles written by Kate, her brothers Paddy and John, and 
her boyfriend/bass-player/engineer Del Palmer. Warning: the 
_Newsletter_ now is published once a year--if that often.
   There are also more than a dozen currently active fanzines
devoted to Kate Bush, the oldest and by far the most important
of which is _Homeground_, edited by Peter FitzGerald-Morris,
Krystyna FitzGerald and Dave Cross. _Homeground_ remains 
independent from the Kate Bush Club, but it does occasionally
organize special events and merchandise sales with the KBC,
and it sometimes gains "inside" information on Kate's work.
One of _Homeground_'s greatest assets is Peter's continuing series
of detailed summaries of Kate's career, including listings of 
virtually every radio, press and video appearance made by Kate
since her rise to fame in 1977. 
   Among the other Kate Bush fanzines presently in operation are:
_Watching_Storms_/_Little_Light_ (Rhode Island); _Lone_Star_
_Lionhearts_ (Austin, Texas); _Still_Breathing_ (Vancouver, British
Columbia, Canada); _Cariad_Kate_ (Swansea, Wales); _Kate_ (Holland);
and _N'Abandonne_Pas_ (Paris, France).
   Other fanzines devoted to Kate, some of which may not still be
active, include: _Reaching_Out_ (U.S.); _The_Big_Sky_Forum_ (U.S.);
_For_the_Love_of_Kate_ (Seattle, Washington); _Break-Through_
(Manitoba, Canada--this defunct fanzine, of which there were about
eleven issues, is a classic, and still sets a standard for KT 'zines);
_Under_the_Ivy_/_Kate_ (England); _Blow_Away_ (Scotland); _The_First_
_and_Last_Forever_ (Italy); _Lionheart_/_Kate_ (Japan); and
_Dreaming_Fairies_(?--Germany).  
   Finally, but by no means last in importance and usefulness, there
is our own discussion group, the computer forum for Kate Bush fans
called _Love-Hounds_. 
   With the above information, IED wishes the new Kate Bush fan every
success with All We're Really Looking For...

-- Andrew Marvick