Sat In Your Lap
Opening song on the album The Dreaming.
This song is also listed in the Discography section.
Saturday Night Live
A late-night television program on the American network NBC which was highly regarded in the Seventies for presenting new music. Kate appeared on the show 9 December 1978 (after all these years, still her only performance especially for American television) having been invited by that week's guest host Eric Idle. Mick Jagger and Paul Simon were reputedly in the audience. Receiving a heartfelt, enthusiastic introduction by Idle, Kate performed the songs Them Heavy People and The Man With The Child In His Eyes -- the former with full band, the latter sitting atop a piano played by Paul Shaffer. She can also be seen in cameo appearances at the very beginning and end of the show.
The number of American fans who now claim to have been in the studio audience for the broadcast is slightly greater than the population of Norway.
Saxophone Song
Originating in a demo session produced by Dave Gilmour in June 1975, this song was included on the album The Kick Inside.
This song is also listed in the Discography section.
Scares Me Silly
Also known as Really Gets Me Going; see that entry for more details. This is a provisional title given to a demo version of a song which was never released.
This song is also listed in the Discography section.
Sceaping, Adam
An early music expert who played viol and arranged strings (with Jo Sceaping) on the song The Infant Kiss.
Sceaping, Jo
An early music expert who played lironi and arranged strings (with Adam Sceaping) on the song The Infant Kiss.
Scott, Roger
(d. 1990) A disc jockey and interviewer on BBC Radio One who interviewed Kate twice. Kate is said to have considered them to be possibly the best interviews she ever did.
Secret Policeman's Third Ball, The
A benefit concert for the Amnesty International organization held on 28 and 29 March 1987. Kate performed the songs Let It Be and Running Up That Hill with Dave Gilmour. The concert was filmed and released theatrically in Europe; a record featuring Kate's performance is also available.
Seer, The
Kate provided backing vocals for this song on the album of the same name by the group Big Country.
Seiko
Kate did a television ad for this Japanese watch manufacturer in June 1978. This is the only commercial endorsement she has ever made, although her music has been used in other advertising; see Fruitopia.
Sensual World, The (album)
The sixth album by Kate Bush.
This album is also listed in the Discography section.
Sensual World, The (song)
Opening song on the album The Sensual World, inspired by a chapter from the novel Ulysses by James Joyce (1882 - 1941), published in 1922. The song was originally intended to include text from the chapter called Penelope, an internal stream-of-consciousness monologue by the character Molly Bloom. Objections from the Joyce estate prevented this, so Kate devised new text which evokes the original without infringement of copyright. A brief sample of the original:
"...I was a Flower of the mountain yes when I put the rose in my hair like the Andalusian girls used or shall I wear a red yes and how he kissed me under the Moorish wall and I thought well as well him as another and then I asked him with my eyes to ask again yes and then he asked me would I yes to say yes my mountain flower and first I put my arms around him yes and drew him down to me so he could feel my breasts all perfume yes and his heart was going like mad and yes I said yes I will Yes."
This song is also listed in the Discography section.
Sensual World, The (video)
A collection of the videos for the songs The Sensual World, Love And Anger, and This Woman's Work, interspersed with interview footage.
Set In The Snow
This is a provisional title given to a demo version of a song which was never released. It is available only on bootleg recordings; see the Phoenix section for more information.
Seventh Tokyo Song Festival, The
On 18 June 1978 Kate performed the song Moving before an audience of 11,000 at the Nippon Budokan -- with a television audience of something like 35 million watching at home. Kate shared the Festival's Silver Prize with an American rhythm-and-blues group called The Emotions, popular at the time for their hit single Best Of My Love, now all but forgotten.
Sexual Healing
A cover version of the song by Marvin Gaye, recorded with folk musician Davy Spillane for his solo album A Place Among The Stones. The song was dropped from that album when Spillane's management decided it did not fit in with the more traditional folk material on the album. However, the track is not lost: Kate holds the rights to that recording and intends to release it at some point, possibly as a b-side.
The Moments section contains further discussion of this song.
Shaffer, Paul
A former keyboard player on Saturday Night Live, who has since gone on to fame as musical director and comedic foil for American television host David Letterman. Shaffer told one interviewer that Kate's 1978 appearance on Saturday Night Live -- singing The Man With The Child In His Eyes while perched cross-legged on top of his piano -- was the strangest moment of his career.
She's Having A Baby
A 1988 film written, produced, and directed by John Hughes, starring Kevin Bacon, for which Kate composed the song This Woman's Work. Other artists on the soundtrack included XTC, General Public, Kirsty MacColl, and Bryan Ferry.
She's Leaving Home
Kate performed an abridged version of this Lennon-McCartney tune from the album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band on 23 June 1978, for a Japanese television show called Sound In S. The following year, during an appearance on the BBC Radio Two program Personal Call,, she played a cover version of the song recorded by Bryan Ferry.
Sheahan, John
Whistles on the songs And Dream Of Sheep and Jig Of Life, fiddle on the songs Jig Of Life and The Sensual World.
Sheikh, Esmail
Drum talk on the song Get Out Of My House.
Shell, Ray
Kate provided backing vocals on this artist's cover version of Them Heavy People.
Shoedance
A ten minute dance remix of the song The Red Shoes available on a special 2 CD set derived from the album The Red Shoes, and on a 4 song EP called Eat The Music. The remix includes snatches of dialogue from The Line The Cross And The Curve.
Shop Assistance
During this AIDS fundraising event in Covent Garden on 30 July 1988, Kate worked for a day as a sales assistant at the men's clothing boutique Blazer's. While there, she was presented with a birthday cake; the day was also her thirtieth birthday.
Show A Little Devotion
A song released as a b-side on the US single version of Rubberband Girl and on the UK 4-song EP Moments Of Pleasure.
Sidwell, Neil
Playing alongside his brother Steve, Neil Sidwell plays trombone on the songs Rubberband Girl, Constellation Of The Heart, Eat The Music, and Why Should I Love You?
Sidwell, Steve
Playing alongside his brother Neil, Steve Sidwell plays trumpet on the songs Rubberband Girl, Constellation Of The Heart, Eat The Music, and Why Should I Love You?
Silk Cut
According to journalists, Kate's preferred brand of cigarette.
Sing Children Sing
An all-star rerecording of a 1971 song by Leslie Duncan, with Kate, Pete Townshend, and Joe Brown providing backing vocals. Kate's voice is only somewhat distinguishable in the choruses. This new version of Duncan's song was released in November 1979 to benefit the United Nations Year Of The Child fund.
This song is also listed in the Discography section.
Singing Bowls
An instrument played by Paddy Bush on the song Lily.
Single File, The (collection)
A boxed set of singles from the first four albums by Kate Bush, released in 1984.
Single File, The (video)
A collection of promotional videos for the first four albums by Kate Bush, released in 1984.
Sister And Brother
A song by Midge Ure on his 1988 album Answers To Nothing to which Kate contributes backing vocals.
Sitar
A very long-necked plucked Indian lute with a gourd resonator, melody strings, sympathetic strings, drone strings, and moveable frets. Thanks to George Harrison, the instrument came to symbolise psychedelia for an entire generation. The sitar is played by Paddy Bush on the song Delius.
Skidmore, Alan
A former member of John Mayall's Bluesbreakers who also played with the likes of Georgie Fame and Alexis Korner, Skidmore played saxophone on Saxophone Song, recorded in June 1975 by producer Dave Gilmour and ultimately released on the album The Kick Inside.
Sky
This group, consisting of John Williams and Kevin Peek on guitar, Herbie Flowers on bass, Tristan Fry on drums, and Francis Monkman on keyboards, recorded their second album Sky 2 at Abbey Road Studios at the same time as Kate and company worked on the album Never For Ever. There was apparently much creative cross-pollination between the two, to judge from the liner notes of the finished albums. Francis Monkman had already played keyboards on the album Lionheart; John Williams later played classical guitar on the song The Morning Fog.
Smurph
This reference to the late Alan Murphy in the song Moments Of Pleasure is the subject of some controversy -- it is entirely possible that someone named Murphy might be nicknamed "Smurf" (after the Belgian comic strip characters) but the lyric sheet for the song says the lyric is actually "S'Murph" -- a contraction of "It's Murph." Kate's intention is known only to her.
Soft
Also known as So Soft. This is a provisional title given to a demo version of a song which was never released. It is available only on bootleg recordings; see the Phoenix section for more information.
This song is also listed in the Discography section.
Someone Lost At Sea Signalling A Plane For Help
This piece and its companion, A Plane At Night Searching For Someone Lost At Sea, were the two works of art which brought the highest sale price at a charity art show and auction organized by Brian Eno for the Terrence Higgins Trust, an AIDS charity organization. The images, two small canvases of black velvet in traditional frames, each punctuated by a blinking red light emitting diode, are among the few works of visual art which Kate has shown to the public. Others include a recurring comic strip featuring her cats Pyewacket and Zoodle, and a few drawings which appeared in early issues of the Kate Bush Club Newsletter.
Somerville-Large, Bill
Engineer at Windmill Lane Studios, Dublin, on sessions for the album Hounds Of Love.
Something Good
A single by the Utah Saints which prominently features a sample from the song Cloudbusting. In addition, the video for Something Good includes about 30 seconds of the video for Cloudbusting video. The FAQ informs us that Kate likes the Utah Saints and everything has been approved by her.
Something Like A Song
This is a provisional title given to a demo version of a song which was never released. It is available only on bootleg recordings; see the Phoenix section for more information.
This song is also listed in the Discography section.
Song Of Solomon, The
A song on the album The Red Shoes.
This song is also listed in the Discography section.
Spillane, Davy
A member of the group Moving Hearts with Donal Lunny, as well as a solo artist in his own right, Spillane plays Uillean pipes on the songs The Sensual World and Rocket Man, and plays the whistles on the song The Fog. Kate has also recorded with Spillane a cover version of the Marvin Gaye song Sexual Healing which has yet to be released.
Spirit of the Forest
For an international television special called Our Common Future, an all-star group gathered under the name Spirit Of The Forest to sing a song entitled Spirit Of The Forest.
Besides Kate, the list of celebrities included: Chris Rea, Debbie Harry, XTC, Fish, Joni Mitchell, Ringo Starr, Belinda Carlisle, Olivia Newton-John, Mr Mister, Bonnie Raitt, David Gilmour, Brian Wilson, Little Steven, Jon Anderson, Escape Club, Sam Brown, Iggy Pop, Donna Summer, Kim Wilde, Thomas Dolby, Louise Goffin, Richie Havens, the B-52's, Big Country, David Clayton-Thomas, Afrika Bambaata, The Plasmatics, Lenny Kravitz, Johnny Warman, It Bites, Michael de Barre, Bruce Foxton, The Ramones, Rita Coolidge, Was (Not Was), Taylor Dayne, Lucy J. Dalton, Brother Beyond, Fleetwood Mac, LL Cool J, Marc Jordan, Shikisha, Amy Sky, Lisa Bonet, Raging Hormones, Dolette McDonald, Jungle Brothers, Andy Fairweather-Low, Gilberto Gil, Sandra de Sa, Ivan Lins, Renato Russo, Gal Costa, Ney Matogrosso, Marisa Monte, Rita Lee, and Djavan.
More details are available in the FAQ.
Spong, Paul
Trumpet on the songs Rubberband Girl, Constellation Of The Heart, Eat The Music, and Why Should I Love You?
Sport Aid
In aid of this charity effort to assist famine relief in Africa, Kate ran in a mini-marathon at Blackheath in South London on 25 May 1986. We are sure she completed the course, but do not know what her time was.
St. Joseph's Convent School
An all-girl Roman Catholic school in Abbey Wood. Kate Bush attended St. Joseph's from 1969 to 1976.
See also Amahl And The Night Visitors.
Steely Dan
A progressive rock-slash-jazz group formed by Walter Becker and Donald Fagen, two friends from Bard College in New York, and a slew of deluxe session musicians. (The group name comes from a sexual appliance described in the novel Naked Lunch by William Burroughs.) After their 1972 debut with the album Can't Buy A Thrill, Steely Dan songs came to define American FM radio in the late 1970s, including such ubiquitous hits as Do It Again, Reeling In The Years, Rikki Don't Lose That Number and Peg. Becker and Fagen parted ways in June 1981, six months after the release of the album Gaucho, which had been delayed by numerous technical difficulties and financial disputes with their record label. The pair reunited for other projects five years later, finally reforming Steely Dan for a successful concert tour in 1995, after which a live album documenting the tour was released.
In spite of their relative lack of success in England, Steely Dan clearly had a great influence on Kate -- perhaps mainly in their combination of catchy if unconventional melodies with lush arrangements and sophisticated musicianship. She has chosen their songs to be played during her various radio appearances as a guest DJ, and in 1980 told Paul Gambaccini:
"I think they're very underestimated. They're the most incredible musicians. This is it. They are here -- a musician's band. I mean, all the musicians in this country just rave about them technically, and as songwriters. But you know, they're not really played on the radio, but they're just incredible."
Some years later, Kate named Gaucho as her favorite album by the group, saying, "For me, each album got better, and I wish they hadn't split up."
The Steely Dan song Peg is said to have strongly influenced Kate's own song Why Should I Love You?
Stephenson, Pamela
A British-based comedienne and actress, originally from Australia, who portrayed Kate on the BBC comedy program Not the Nine O'Clock News, singing the parody song England My Leotard.
Stivell, Alan
Celtic harp on the songs The Fog and Between A Man And A Woman, also providing backing vocals on the latter. On Stivell's album Again, Kate provides backing vocals for the song Kimiad.
Stranded At The Moonbase
Also known as Keep Me Waiting or Keeping Me Waiting. This is a provisional title given to a demo version of a song which was never released. It is available only on bootleg recordings; see the Phoenix section for more information.
This song is also listed in the Discography section.
Strange Phenomena
A song on the album The Kick Inside.
This song is also listed in the Discography section.
Strumento de Porco
An instrument played by Paddy Bush on the songs Kashka From Baghdad and Egypt.
Sunsi
This is a provisional title given to a demo version of a song which was never released. It is available only on bootleg recordings; see the Phoenix section for more information.
This song is also listed in the Discography section.
Superbear Studios
A recording studio located in Nice, France, where the album Lionheart was recorded.
Surrender Into The Roses
This is a provisional title given to a demo version of a song which was never released. It is available only on bootleg recordings; see the Phoenix section for more information.
This song is also listed in the Discography section.
Suspended In Gaffa
A song on the album The Dreaming.
See also Gaffa.
This song is also listed in the Discography section.
Sutherland, Donald
(b. 17 July 1934) A very highly regarded Canadian actor (of Scottish decent) with over 80 films to his credit. Sutherland portrays Wilhelm Reich in the video for the song Cloudbusting -- with Kate portraying his nine-year-old son Peter.
Symphony In Blue
Opening song on the album Lionheart. The title is a play on the composition Rhapsody In Blue by George Gershwin.
This song is also listed in the Discography section.
Synclavier
A digital sampling synthesizer manufactured by New England Digital Corporation. Kate has never played the Synclavier on a recording, but Dave Lawson used one on the songs Suspended In Gaffa and There Goes A Tenner.