various

[stevev@greylady.uoregon.edu (Steve VanDevender)]

The two main threads of discussion lately have been tales of when
we all discovered Kate, and debate over which are her best and
worst albums.  For me, my history of knowledge of Kate and my
appreciation for her albums are related in an interesting way.

Once, long ago sometime not long after _Hounds of Love_ was
released, I saw the video for "Cloudbusting".  (Interesting
synchronicity:  I'm listening to it right now, not quite by
plan.)  Unfortunately, I can't remember much of that first
experience, except that I must have been impressed and that it
had a lasting effect.

Some time later (I think about a year or so) a friend of mine and
I were discussing musical interests and I happened to pick up
his copy of _The Whole Story_, at which point he admitted that he
worshipped Kate and I admitted that I had some strong interest as
a result of seeing "Cloudbusting".  So he made me a tape of
_Hounds of Love_ and _The Whole Story_, which I ended up
listening to quite a bit.  In particular I found _The Ninth Wave_
side of _Hounds_ fascinating, especially because I like
incomprehensible music (I of course like Laurie Anderson too).
However, even at that time I wouldn't have claimed Kate as my
favorite artist.

The timeline becomes more definite in the summer of 1989, when I
was browsing through the list of USENET newsgroups and I saw
"rec.music.gaffa".   "Gaffa?" I thought, "what the hell is
gaffa?"  My first guess was that it was some kind of reggae group
(god knows why I even thought "gaffa" might be related to reggae,
now).  So out of curiosity I entered the group, read the
messages, and noticed that Kate was mentioned a lot.  One of the
first posts I remember seeing was IED's annotated lyrics to
"Watching You Without Me" (guess what's in my headphones now?),
and reading it began my journey toward true dediKaTion.  The
discussion of _The Ninth Wave_ of that time really showed me the
depth and complexity of Kate's music, and it wasn't too long
before I had borrowed another friend's Kate Bush albums to check
them out.

What I find most interesting is how my tastes have changed over
time.  I was exposed to the albums in roughly this order:
_Hounds of Love_, _The Whole Story_, _The Dreaming_, _Never For
Ever_, _Lionheart_, _The Sensual World_, _The Kick Inside_.  When
I first heard _TD_, I couldn't stop playing it--I remember that
first moment when "Sat In Your Lap" had ended, and "There Goes a
Tenner" started, and I heard the first song of _TD_ that I hadn't
heard before on _TWS_, and I was entranced.  I remember that
every time the helicopter sound on "Pull Out the Pin" started,
I'd jump--for some reason I kept thinking it was outside.  But
_Never For Ever_ and _Lionheart_ didn't interest me much at all
at the time.  I liked a few songs on _NFE_, but much of _NFE_ and
all of _Lionheart_ seemed too shrill to me.  Then I got _TSW_,
and liked it, even though it lacked the amazing power of _TD_ or
_HoL_.  Then I got _TKI_ and found it surprisingly likable, even
though it was in what I called "Kate's shrill period."  The album
which most recently hooked me is _NFE_, which I finally got
around to listening to after I bought it as a KaTemas present to
myself last year.  I can't believed I missed "The Infant Kiss"
the first time I listened to it.

Just a few weeks ago, I went out and got the _Live at
Hammersmith_ video, and it finally erased my tendency to class
Kate's early albums as shrill.  Now I want to get _Lionheart_
just so I can hear "Oh England, My Lionheart", "Don't Push Your
Foot on the Heartbrake", and "Hammer Horror".

So for all of you who think that you don't like some of Kate's
albums now, wait a few years--you might be surprised.

As for me, I have yet to decide whether I want to get the box set
or not.  Deep down, I really do, but I have yet to take any
concrete action.  However, all the recommendations for "Under the
Ivy" are piquing my curiosity, and the possibility of hearing "Un
Baiser D'enfant" is hard to resist--"The Infant Kiss" is
devastating in English, and I'm looking forward to the French
version melting my brain.

Steve VanDevender 	stevev@greylady.uoregon.edu
"Bipedalism--an unrecognized disease affecting over 99% of the population.
Symptoms include lack of traffic sense, slow rate of travel, and the
classic, easily recognized behavior known as walking."