Re: Potty Cathy

[Julian Shaw <julian@dragonfire.demon.co.uk>]

In article <325ea506.1316478@post.demon.co.uk>, Steve ZPJ
<zpj@huskbeat.demon.co.uk> quoted the following from the Sunday
Mirror...

>Heathcliff! It's me, it's Cathy, I've gone potty.
>
For those outside the UK who may not know, 'potty' in this context is a
slang expression for 'mad'. If I might utilise another slang expression
I would just like to say that I think the journalist's opinion is total
bollocks.
(Non-UK readers: Look it up. :-) )

>It was the song that shot her to stardom in the seventies. But now
>Kate Bush's obsession with Wuthering Heights has gone beyond a joke.

How come there are no other songs that she has recorded that refer to
Wuthering Heights? You would think, logically, that there would be if
she was obsessed by it.

>Shrill-voice Kate, 38, is living as a virtual recluse ..and she's
>taken to calling herself Catherine Earnshaw, the tragic heroine in the
>Emily Bronte novel.

This may or may not be true, but does this mean that changing names is a
definition of madness? Hmmm, interesting. Elton John had better watch
out for the men in white coats then.
...and David Bowie, and Cliff Richard, and Michael Caine, and....(etc.)

>The once-sexy singer - who has lost her slim, good looks

It is quite obvious from the article that the journalist has not seen
Kate, much less interviewed her, so how does he know what she looks
like?

>                                                         - has long
>admitted
       
Observe the use of language here. 'Admitted' implies that it is
something which she prefers to keep secret, whereas 'has often said'
would be factual, but doesn't sound dramatic.

>          she is fascinated by the story of love-crossed Cathy and the
>novel's romantic hero, Heathcliff, portrayed by Laurence Olivier in
>the 1944 film Wuthering Heights.

Well, I'm fascinated by Tolkien's 'Lord of the Rings'. I guess that
means that I secretly want to be a hobbit, does it?

>And as her career faded,

ROFL. This is the best joke I've heard all year. God, what I would give
to have a career as 'faded' as hers!

>                         her Wuthering Heights obsession has grown. A
>friend said last night;

Some friend!

>                       "Kate used to just use the name occasionally,
>but it's coming out more and more now. She has even signed herself
>Catherine Earnshaw on a voter's register."

Really? Well, one thing for sure is that Kate isn't stupid - and it
would be pretty stupid to do this as it's illegal to register for voting
purposes under an assumed name. So the only way she could have done this
legally would be if she had changed her name by deed poll. This is
something that can be checked, although whether it's worth bothering or
not is debateable. I don't care *what* she calls herself, so long as she
is alive, happy, and well.

>Wuthering Heights was Kate's first single in 1978. It was Number One
>in the charts for four weeks. In it, she uses her legendary
>high-pitched voice to sing: "Heathcliff, it's me, it's Cathy, I've
>come home."

Gasp - some *facts*!.....

>The erotic image made her into one of the most drooled-over sex
>symbols of the time.

Yes, I was wondering when sex would come into it. Sells a lot more
papers you see.  <sarcasm> Probably not a good idea to mention how
popular her music is of course. That's obviously got nothing to do with
her worldwide appeal. </sarcasm>

>But the GP's daughter now lives her life behind
>closed doors. Her 500,000 pound home, just a few miles from where she
>was brought up in Bexleyheath, Kent, is shrouded by trees.

Yeah, well it would be - it's in the countryside. (Note the use of the
word 'shrouded'. Sounds a lot more *mysterious* than saying 'her home
has a lot of trees nearby'.)

>The huge wooden gates are guarded by security cameras and an intercom
>system.

Well, she *is* a major, international, well-known, much-loved, recording
artist, you know? People in her position *do* have to take precautions
against unwanted visitors. (Like prowlers, stalkers, journalists....) 

>Neighbours say they rarely see or hear the woman 

Assuming that they *were* actually asked, of course. In any case, if
she's a private person then it's not surprising that the neighbours
don't see her very often - and who said she was under any obligation to
associate with them anyway?

>                                                 once hailed as the
>best British female singer ever.

Obviously a printing error here. The word 'once' should read 'still'.

>
><END QUOTE>

>Steve responded to the article by saying:
>
>[snip]... Kate has always been a recluse. What happened to her house in
>Reading??
>We all know Kate's hate for politics, so couldn't the voter's register
>have been a joke to show her dislike for them?
>What superstar wouldn't guard their house when they are as
>internationally famous as Kate, especially when that house's location
>is known by every one of her fans?? I  know I would take precautions.
>Nobody says the Queen is mad because she has such high security!! :)

Quite so. Well said.

I was tempted to say only that 'the article appeared in the Sunday
Mirror, so what do you expect?', but people outside the UK probably
wouldn't appreciate the relevance of this comment. For their benefit it
is the Sunday version of a tabloid daily, which - in my opinion -
concentrates mainly on gossip and sensationalist reporting. Similar
style papers are The Sun and the Daily Star. I don't pay much attention
to any of them.

Reading between the lines it seems we have one _potential_ fact (that
Kate is using a different surname) and a whole heap of speculation. If
we accept that the name change is true, we could *all* speculate
endlessly as to why, but at the end of the day it's her own business.
One would have thought that if an obsession of Wuthering Heights was the
reason for changing her name then she would have changed it long before
now - after all, the song was released *eighteen* years ago!!

When you think about it, there isn't really much of story from the bare
'fact', so my guess is that the journalist asked Kate for an interview
and she declined - so he retaliated by writing something bad about her
anyway.

>-- Anyone who can stay sane in this world must be mad --

I'm inclined to agree. :-)

Julian

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