*** The Cathy Demos Article *****

[rhill@netrun.cts.com (ronald hill)]

        I hate to send this when we seem to be in digest only mode, but 
here goes.  After I get back from my trip, I'll toss together an article 
on all the different cathy demos _bootlegs_ 

  

THE EARLY DEMOS

        By Andrew Marvick (IED) and Ron Hill.

        This article was compliled by Ron Hill who takes responsiblity 
for any errors that may have occured.



THE SESSIONS

     Very little concrete information about Kate's early demo recordings 
has ever been made available to fans. The number of songs recorded, their 
titles, even their rough dates, remain obscure. Kate has only released 
one demo recording officially, the song "Passing Through Air"; and has 
played only a part of one other demo (a song known as "Maybe") on the 
radio. More will be said of these recordings below. 

        Kate first began writing simple songs from about 1969, when she 
was eleven years old. By 1971 she had written early versions of such  
songs as "The Man With the Child in His Eyes" and "The Saxaphone Song".

        1) 1972 Home Demos.  

        KATE: [Kate's brother friend, Nicky Hopper] had a friend who'd 
been in the record business for a couple of years.  He came around to 
listen to me.  I put twenty to thirty of my songs on a tape and he'd take 
it to record companies.  Of course there was no response; you wouldn't be 
able to hear a thing, just this little girl with a piano going "yaaaa 
yaaaa" for hours on end... (The songs) weren't that good.  They were OK, 
but...    
        I wondered how the artiste of the early days differed from the 
current one.    I could sing in key but there was nothing there.  It was 
awful noise, it was really something terrible.  My tunes were more morbid 
and more negative.  That was a lot of people's comment: they were too 
heavy.  But then a lot of people are saying that about my current songs.  
The old ones were quite different musically, vocally, and lyrically.  
You're younger and you get into murders...   (1978, Trouser Press)

        DAVE GILMOUR: Her home demos were of her sitting at a horrible 
piano, recorded with a very ancient tape-recorder, and her squeaking 
away.  I listened to them and I could hear the talent but wouldn't have 
dreamt of taking them to a record company.   (1990, Q)
        
        In the 1985 MTV interview Kate says she had "say like fifty songs 
that were all piano vocals", so it is unclear just how many songs were 
recorded.
        According to the book Kate Bush Complete, Kate's songs were 
rejected as "morbid", "boring" and "uncommercial".


        2) Dave Gilmour session at Kate's house.  1973?

        In the 1983 CHEZ interview, Dave said "I did some recording at 
her house, her parent's house, and then I had her up to my studio and 
recorded some things."  The first half of this sentence is the only known 
reference to this session, though it can probably be assumed this session 
happened fairly soon before the next session.  


        3) First Dave Gilmour studio session.  1973.

        DAVE GILMOUR: I knew the only way to do it was to tart them up, 
if you like.  We recorded her properly, with a proper producer and the 
best engineer, Geoff Emerick, arranger, and chose three or four songs out 
of about 50, and made a proper record [the 1975 sessions] and presented 
it to EMI.    (1990, Q)

        Could you, give us some more details about that very first 
session with Dave Gilmour in 1973, and do you know the actual date [??? 
inaudible]... 
        Someone here would probably know that better than me...
        [Laughter.]
        I'm terrible with dates....1973, my God, isn't that a long time 
ago?  No wonder people think I'm like, nearly fifty.
        [Laughter.]
        Well that was, uh, that was really the turning point, I suppose.  
That was the first time I was putting tracks down professionally.  Dave 
Gilmour at that time was trying to help a band called Unicorn, who were 
putting out their first album, and he was good enough to produce it.  And 
we went to Dave's for a day, basically.  And the bass player and drummer 
from Unicorn sat down and we just kind of put a few songs together.  I 
remember it was the first time I'd ever done an overdub with the keyboard 
- I put this little electric piano thing down, and I remember thinking, 
"Ooh! [laughing] I like this!" 
        [laughter from audience.]
        And, well, I mean really it was because of those tracks that I 
then went on [19 to do the tracks which were then used - two of which 
were used to go on the first album.  As far as I remember the tracks we 
did with this session in '73... There was a track called "Passing Through 
Air", which I think went on a b-side -" 
        "Army Dreamers"! 
        No, I hadn't written "Army Dreamers"... 
        B-side of "Army Dreamers"! 
        B-side... Oh - oh, was it? 
        [Laughter.] 
        The other track was, um... It had a couple of titles...
        "Maybe."
        Yes, it was, "Maybe".  There was an - "Humming", it was called, 
as well.  I see you've heard of all... But, I just can't believe how long 
ago it was.  My god!   (1990 Kate Bush Con)

        Kate played this version of "Maybe" on a radio program called 
_Personal_Call_ It is presumably the same version included in the "Early 
Years" LP (see below) and should not be confused with the "Cathy Demos" 
song called _While_Davey_Dozed_ (see below).
        
        Ed: Well actually Kate has very kindly brought us in a tape of a 
piece of music you recorded... how old were you with this one Kate? 
        K: Oh, I was about fifteen. 
        Ed: Do you mind if we play it for everybody? 
        K: [Laughs] I'll shut my ears, OK? 
        Ed: Will you, OK.  Would you like to introduce it? 
        K: Yeah, here it is! [Both laugh]

[A portion "Maybe" is played]

        Ed: Kate had a very wistful look on her face.  Why was that? 
        K: I was waiting for the flat note in the middle.  [Laughs]
        Ed: Ah, you mean we faded it just in time! 
        K: No, you caught it actually, I'm sure...
        Ed: I never noticed it. 
        K: Yeah. 
        Ed: But how soon after that was it that EMI found you and signed 
you up? 
        K: Um, it was about a year, year and a half after that.  
        Ed: Was it on the strength of that tape?  
        K: No, it wasn't.  It was on the strength of the tape that came 
after that. [The 1975 Demos]  But that song was actually on the tape that 
got me there. 


     Ten recordings from these early Gilmour sessions briefly appeared in 
the form of an album (possibly East or West German) known as "Kate Bush: 
The Early Years". Few people have actually seen this album, but Peter 
FitzGerald-Morris, while insisting that he does not own a copy, 
nevertheless did print the track-listing in his fanzine _Homeground_. It 
is important to remember that none of the titles in that track-listing 
has been authenticated by Kate herself. They are probably only make-shift 
titles suggested by words the producers of the album thought they heard 
in Kate's demo-vocals. In fact one title in the list is almost certainly 
incorrect. With that qualification duly made, I list the titles from the 
"Early Years" collection:  

        1. Something Like a Song. 

        2. Need Your Loving. <Clearly this is simply Passing Through 
Air.> 

        3. Davey. <See above>
 
        4. You Were the Star. 
        
        5. Gay Farewell. 
    
        6. Cussi Cussi. 
    
        7. Atlantis.  (Possibly this is _Organic_Acid_)
 
        8. Sunsi. 
    
        9. Disbelieving Angel. 
    
        10. Go Now While You Can. 
    
      These first Gilmour-produced demo recordings also failed to 
interest the labels. 


4) 1975 Dave Gilmour Studio Session. 

        In 1975, therefore, Gilmour arranged for and financed (again to 
his credit) another recording session, this time under fully professional 
conditions. Only three songs were recorded: "The Man With the Child in 
His Eyes", "The Saxophone Song" and a new version of the song known as 
"Maybe" (this version has never been heard by fans). The first and second 
of these three recordings were later incorporated, almost without 
changes, into Kate's debut album for EMI, "The Kick Inside". 
     This new set of three demos, together with Gilmour's personal 
backing, finally succeeded in obtaining a contract for Kate with EMI. In 
1976 Kate bought a modest piano for 200 Pounds and, according to the book 
Kate Bush Complete, began only then to "screech into existence her 
unmistakable voice." 


5)  1977 Demo Sessions. 

        Kate Bush Complete states that "during the first year of the 
[EMI] contract Kate makes two further demo tapes."  Whether these were 
piano demos, more fully produced demos, or both, is unknown.  


6) The Kick Inside Recording Sessions.  August 1977.

        The actual recording sessions for the album. 
 
        [PART II NEXT MESSAGE]

---
rhill@netrun.cts.com (ronald hill)
NetRunner's Paradise BBS, San Diego CA