Alan Murphy et al.; etc.

[IEDSRI@aol.com]

Chris writes:

 > She is singing "Smurf". It was a nickname for Alan 
 > Murphy, the guitarist. He died of AIDS shortly after
 > recording _Rocket Man_.

And Wieland agrees:

 > It IS Smurf.
 > Al Murphy was known to her as Smurf.

IED doesn't know where these two usually authoritative 
Kate Bushologists got their information from, but, on 
the contrary, the lyric sheet clearly has " 'S Murph", the 
contraction almost certainly referring either to "It's" 
or to "There's".

 > Teddy was a nickname for one of her engineers (sorry, 
 > but I forget his name).

Was it John Barrett?

Len rightly praises Murphy's talent as a guitarist; 
but it should be mentioned that some of the solos 
from the tour were the work of the other guitarist 
in the KT Bush Band (and another very longtime Kate
Bush associate, who contributed the guitar work on 
"Hello Earth" and elsewhere), Brian Bath.  

Ian Bairnson deserves a mention, too, as a Kate guitarist 
(virtually all the guitar parts on TKI and Lionheart) 
with a milder style but a wonderful melodic gift.
It was a thrill to see his one-off guest appearance
during the second '89 L.A. concert, when he contributed 
several devastating solos (the live "unplugged" dual-guitar 
re-working of "Warm and Soothing", with just Kate Bush 
and Bairnson together on 6- and 12-string, respectively,  
will not soon be forgotten).

Violet reminisces:

 >  But I notice it didn't wear her out too much keep her 
 > from having that torrid, less-than-discreet affair with
 > then-married Peter Gabriel during the three-month UK 
 > leg of the tour!

IED cannot dispute the account of Kate's deplorable pre-HoL 
days with Waits, but the above rumor remains entirely 
unsubstantiated. 

-- Andrew Marvick (IED)
    S                R             I