The Questionnaire

[Magnus Stromgren <masstn95@student.umu.se>]

Is it to late? I hope not!

*1) Top twenty Kate Bush songs*

1. Cloudbusting
2. Night of the Swallow
3. Army Dreamers
4. Wuthering Heights 
[For the record, I prefer the 1986 version 
slightly.]
5. Running Up that Hill (A Deal with God)
6. Never be Mine
7. Oh England My Lionheart
[In my opinion, this is Kate's most successful 
ballad-like song. However, *perhaps* she should 
have lowered her range *a bit* in the chorus.]
8. Big Stripey Lie
[This avantgarde effort, in the vein of the The 
Dreaming album, is a true masterpiece.]
9. The Song of Solomon
10. Symphony in Blue
[Kate moves into the realm of mainstream melodic 
pop/rock, and the outcome is this terrific song.]
11. Rocket's Tail (For Rocket)
[Extremely powerful stuff, with the Trio Bulgarka 
used to great effect.]
12. In Search of Peter Pan
[Although Lionheart as a whole perhaps isn't as 
satisfying as her other albums, many individual 
songs are really good--and seem kind of under- 
rated. In Search of Peter Pan is among them. The 
haunting melody, the poignant lyrics and the 
excellent production makes for a tremendous song. 
Nevertheless, in the 1994 convention poll (top 
100) it ended up at place 72, far below even 
Reaching Out ;).]
13. Moving
[Typical of the early "literal romantic 
style"--and brilliant stuff.]
14. The Fog
15. And So Is Love
16. Get Out of My House
[Similar in style to Leave it Open, but more 
elaborate.]
17. Under the Ivy
[This beautiful non-album song is highly 
appreciated, and rightly so.]
18. The Infant Kiss
19. Playing Canasta 
[...Or whatever. But I can hardly imagine Kate 
christening this gem to Rinfi the Gypsy. And if 
so, why not Geoffrey the Gardener? ;).]
20. Constellation of the Heart
[Kate explores a (for her) new musical territory 
to great effect.]      

N.B. 1: The exact positions are somewhat 
arbitrary. However, these are my favourite songs.]

N.B. 2: What about The Ninth Wave? Well, seen as a 
whole, I would have placed it somewhere in the 
middle of the chart. Seen as indivudual songs (as 
I understand they must be considered in this 
poll--and that seems quite reasonable) none really 
make the top twenty. 

*2) Top three Kate Bush videos*

1. Cloudbusting
2. Running Up that Hill (A Deal with God)
3. The Sensual World

*3) Favourite Kate Bush album*

The Dreaming
[For some reason, this album appears to be greater 
than the sum of its parts. But had I been able to 
count Hounds of Love as one album, the decision 
had been much more difficult. (Thanks Norman for 
making it more easy for me ;).)]

*4) Question to ask Kate*

"What's 'the whole story' about your early, 
officially unreleased (but unofficially partially 
released) recordings?"

*5) Least liked Kate Bush song*

Reaching Out
[This is the only genuine misfire of Kate's 
glorious career. The song explores a theme similar 
to that in All We Ever Look For, but the result is 
far less satisfying. Between a Man and a Woman, 
that many doesn't seem to appreciate that much, 
does perhaps not represent one of Kate's better 
moments, but with Reaching Out it can compete. 
(Reaching Out doesn't fit in that well with the 
context of the album, either--at least 
musically.)]

*6a) Favourite song that Kate Bush has covered*

Lord of the Reedy River
[Unfortunately, I haven't heard Donovan's original 
version.]

*6b) Favourite Kate Bush album/single cover*

The Dreaming
[The cover of The Red Shoes is also pretty 
stunning.]

*7) Favourite Kate Bush guest appearance*

Don't Give Up 
[Caveat: I haven't heard that many.]

*8) How much to pay for attending a Kate Bush 
concert*

$100
[Me, a cheapskate ;)? Anyway, somehow I would have 
preferred seeing Kate in concert in an earlier 
stage of her career. On the other hand, I didn't 
know about Kate until 1992 ;).]

*9) Favourite Kate Bush line*

"Watching the whipers / washing the leaves away" 
(off Full House)
[I mailing this one, too; I don't bother to make 
two versions of the answer ;).]

*10) Other favourite artists, etc.*

Other artists: Tori Amos, Suzanne Vega, Peter 
Gabriel, Jane Siberry, Sarah McLachlan (why is 
Sarah's last name so often misspelled? ;) ), 
Laurie Anderson ... Queensrÿche, Iron Maiden, 
Mötley Crüe. 

Special mention: Irene Cara for the magnificient 
song "Flashdance ... What a Feeling", as heard in 
Adrian Lyne's movie "Flashdance", starring 
Jennifer Beals.

Actresses: Tracey Gold (Carol Seaver in the ABC 
sitcom "Growing Pains" (1985--1992)); Heather 
Langenkamp (Nancy Thompson in Wes Craven's modern 
horror classic (well, perhaps not ;) ) "A Night- 
mare on Elm Street" (1984)).         

TV: "Beverly Hills 90210"; "Growing Pains"; 
"Degressi Junior High"/"Degrassi High"; "Ready or 
Not".

Watching the Simpson trial (courtesy of Sky 
News--or is it *SKY* News?) was also great fun, as 
long as it lasted--and that was a while, wasn't 
it? Roll over, "LA Law"! (By the way, the 
translated Swedish title of "LA Law" is "The 
Angels of the Law".)

Authors: I mostly read non-fiction. Having said 
that, Gunnar Ekelöf is a great Swedish poet (whose 
works may be at least partially translated into 
English); J.R.R. Tolkien is a great storyteller. 
Carl Sagan's "Contact" (due to become film) is a 
great science-fiction novel.

Well, that's it!

_________________________
Magnus Stromgren
(masstn95@student.umu.se)
Umea, Northern Sweden

[I'm in the process of setting up my own WWW home 
page. It'll be really fun to include it (i.e. its 
address) in my signature (file). Unfortunately, 
it's not much to speak about yet.]