Fanaticism

[peterw@mega.com.au (Peter Walder)]

Dear readers,

               I have been a big Kate fan for a long time now, and I have 
travelled down the road that leads to Collector, that mythical town where all 
of your Kate desires can be satisfied. That is to say that over the years I 
have amassed a large quantity of official releases and semi-rare unofficial 
releases, including many neat and wonderfully packaged items and a veritable 
truckload of posters  (Bear with me, this is all leading somewhere).
               Early last year, I left the sunny shores of Australia to go on 
a pleasure jaunt in Europe, and I was fortunate enough to be in London at the 
time of the Kate Bush Convention at the Hippodrome  (The Line, The Cross And 
The Curve blew me away). I had a little chat with Paddy as I purchased his 
BushTucker album, and found him to be a genuine, chatty and warm person, 
definitely high up in the humour heirarchy. And of course, I got to see Kate 
in the flesh for the first time ever. Later on in my travels, I managed to 
locate East Wickham Farm, and dropped in to have a chat to Dr. Bush, who was 
very kind to give a crackpot some of his time.
               What I am in fact getting to is that over the years, a 
realisation has dawned upon me - Kate Bush is not God. I can already hear 
everyone sharpening their knives, so let me make myself perfectly clear: I 
absolutely adore her music and think that she is one of the best musicians in 
my world. She has had a big effect on me during an important stage in my life 
(no new phenomenon), and I still listen to my collection of Kate music 
regularly.
               And yet, ladies and gentlemen, I feel that I need to say that I 
have moved on in my life to a point where I no longer NEED her. And so, like a 
child moving away from his/her/its parents, I walk off to new experiences. I 
am filled with gratitude for what Kate has done, and yet it got to the point 
where I realised that all of my hard-earned money was going towards buying yet 
another Kate Bush boot with slightly different packaging but the same songs 
that I already had, and I found that I could get so much more out of life 
spending that same money on a wide selection of artists. Music is still one of 
the cornerstones of my life, and Kate Bush is a part of that.
               I hope in my rambling way that I have made myself slightly 
clear - one does not have to be a rabid fan (I used to be) to fully appreciate 
the wonders of Kate Bush, and I recommend to all that you should not restrict 
yourself to one artist only (then again, situations and needs vary for 
everybody).
               Now that I am in the process of posting, I thought that I'd 
start a bit of a discussion with everyone regarding other music that you like 
(I know that this discussion and similar ones have been going on across the 
music fan net, but I want in on it too). At the moment, my main musical loves 
are (in no particular order, except maybe almost alphabetical):


          Tori Amos (sorry for mentioning it, I know it's a touchy subject)
          Kate Bush
          The Bushwackers
          Crash Test Dummies
          Corduroy
          Depeche Mode
          Exploding Daisies
          Green Day
          INXS (early stuff)
          Chris Isaak
          Billy Idol (especially Cyberpunk)
          Tom Jones (and in case you are wondering, yes, the early stuff)
          Living Colour
          Manowar
          Midnight Oil
          Pet Shop Boys
          Red Hot Chili Peppers
          REM (early stuff)
          Matthew Sweet
          Skunkhour
          They Might Be Giants
          Yello

Sorry if the list is a little on the big side, but I just adore music in 
general.

               Anyway, gotta run, I've got music to listen to. Take care all.

                                              Kind Regards,

                                                            Peter walder.