BBC Radio 2 Transcript

["Craig R.P. Heath" <craig@sco.COM>]

[one or two interesting snippets - hope I don't get my wrists slapped
 for copyright violation :-)]

"I Write the Songs" - Don Black (BBC Radio 2, 4th July 1996)

Good evening, I'm Don Black, and in this series I intend to take a
closer than ever look at the singer-songwriter.  I have chosen six very
different performers; some seasoned ones and some pretty new ones, but
all very individual.  This is not intended as a forensic study of
songwriting skills, more a light-hearted analysis of their particular
crafts.

Without songs there would be no music business - no artists, no
producers, no nothing.  The song is the source; everything stems from
the melody and the lyric.

Tonight I'm going to look at the career of a unique talent; a very
private person, her albums are so infrequent that when they are finally
released they become more of an unveiling.  She sings, she writes and
she produces her own records.  She has only toured once in 18 years.
When asked why, she said "I just don't like all that attention".

Well whether she likes it or not, the spotlight this week falls on -
Kate Bush.

[plays The Man with the Child in his Eyes]

There is a strong poetic element in Kate's work; she usually contructs
the music and writes a general idea of the lyric, and then goes away
and spends ages polishing the words.  She's passionate about getting
those words right, and a lot of her ideas come from real-life scenarios.
She read that, in Victorian times, a wife would send her husband a love
letter, but she wouldn't sign it.  She would write it in a flirtatious
and provocative way, as if she was his mistress - well, a very dangerous
thing to do, but what a great idea for a song...

[plays Babooshka]

Ah yes, Kate Bush.  Her most famous record shows just how brilliant she
is.  She takes an enormous book, [perhaps not, and it's not particularly
enormous anyway - Craig]  and in a few minutes condenses the story in
such a concise and mysterious way, that you want to hear it time and
time again; and every time you do, it still sounds fresh.

[plays Wuthering Heights]

I met Kate just a few weeks ago - she told me that she had only seen
one musical in her life, that was Godspell some twenty years ago, so I
arranged for her to see Sunset Boulevard; the reason I mention this is
because I was amazed that she was so amazed by it - not just the show
but the orchestra, the lights, the costumes...  We automatically assume
that stars are used to opening nights, fancy parties and hobnobbing
with sophisticated friends.  I think I can say that Kate is one of the
most normal, ordinary megastars I have ever met.  The is no "side" to
her at all - no showbusiness veneer.

When I got home that evening, I wanted to remind myself of her talent,
so I played some of her records, which just seemed to prove to me that
her everyday exterior must belie deeper feelings; how else could she
write so poignantly about loss, and the memory we leave behind.

[plays Moments of Pleasure]

I said that Kate is very normal, but there is nothing normal about her
creativity.  She seems to have her own signature on all her songs; no
one else writes like her or sings like her; maybe that's why her songs
aren't covered by other artists [very often - Craig] - her versions are
the definitive ones.  The next record is an interesting one, because
Kate didn't write it - George and Ira Gershwin did.

[plays The Man I Love]

I asked Kate if she had a favourite singer, and she said her favourite
is the blackbird, and her second favourite is the thrush - well I told
you she was different! [ask a stupid question... - Craig]  I also asked
her which one of her records she particularly liked, and she said
Running Up That Hill.  In the song she says to her lover: I wish we
could make a deal with God and get him to swap our places; only then
would you know how I feel...

[plays Running Up That Hill]

I hope we don't have to wait too long for another Kate Bush album;
meanwhile it's comforting to know that no matter when the song was
written, or the record made, it never gets old - in fact it improves
with every hearing.

'til next week, this is Don Black saying goodnight.

[plays Wuthering Heights again - fades at second verse]

		- Craig @ SCO near London.