Back to Dreaming E. MisK
Date: Thu, 13 Jul 89 20:17:19 PDT
From: keving@gaffa.wpd.sgi.com (Kevin Gurney)
Subject: Re: The Ninth Wave - Yet more KonTroversy
You mean "why all the dediKaTion?", don't you?
But seriously, as the biggest (ie looniest) KaTe fan at my place o' employment I am asked this question a lot, usually just after "Why is your machine named 'gaffa'?", "Who is the woman in all the posters on your wall?", and "Are you going to England again?" (just kidding about the last one).
KaTe is the only pop figure I've ever idolized. I don't like the term "worship", because its more religious connotations are also important to me.
So why the idolization? Well, for me, her physical beauty and sensuality are very strong attractors, but that's not why I'm so infatuated with her. The fact that she's a good poet and singer are also things that I consider "neat" to "great", but these aren't why I'd give my spleen to work with her either.
The primary reason I'm infatuated with Kate is because of her skill as a songwriter/musician/producer. I'm a musician myself (cello) and hearing Kate's detailed and spirited music just sends shivers up my spine. Her music isn't just "good" to my ears, it's important that I hear it and important that it be heard by everyone who cares about the craft of music.
She's also a real musical morale booster, in the sense that her music has evolved and she's explored such new territory in such a short time (although it DOES seem to be an un-naturally slow process when you're waiting for KBVI). If she can make these wonderul sounds, perhaps my own writing and performance can achieve something similar.
I guess you could say that I look at Kate as a sort of mentor.
Well, that's enough blather from me. What about other folks out there? Why all the dediKaTion to Kate?
Date: Sat, 15 Jul 89 13:28 PDT
From: IED0DXM%OAC.UCLA.EDU@mitvma.mit.edu
Subject: "dedicated"
> Now for a real controversial question: Why do people on this net worship this woman. I'll grant that she writes interesting music and poetry, and that she is attractive, but seriously, why all the dedication?
Dedication and worship are two very different things. There are very few people in this group who would seriously describe their interest in Kate Bush as "worship", though quite a few might say they are "dedicated" to her work, whatever that means. The fact that she is physically attractive to some people is greatly overplayed by those who haven't (for a variety of reasons) come to appreciate fully the scope of her artistic talent and achievement.
As for IED personally, "worship" is a word which he has often used in Love-Hounds, but he has always tried to make it at least a little clear that he did not mean to use the term literally. Actually, though, his zealous defenses of Kate's art and ideas in this and other fora do seem to indicate that he is at least partly smitten by a kind of quasi-religious conviction about the supreme value of Kate's work. If that is so, IED will not apologize for it.
Date: Mon, 12 Feb 90 16:34 PST
From: IED0DXM%OAC.UCLA.EDU@mitvma.mit.edu
Subject: Re "Odd Meters": some notes on the weird meters
of Kate Bush
Many of Kate Bush's songs feature anomalies of meter. Even those which seem to be--or sound as though they are--in simple 4/4 time frequently deviate from a basic 4/4 cadence at strategic points. Here are some of her more unusual song-meters:
All We Ever Look For (4/4 to 2/4 and back several times)
And Dream of Sheep (4/4 to 2/4 twice, with one measure in 5/4)
Army Dreamers (3/4)
Blow Away (a very tricky meter in 2/4, 4/4 and 3/4--creating the effect of 5/4 at times)
Breathing (2/4, 4/4 and 3/4)
Coffee Homeground (2/4 and 4/4)
December Will Be Magic Again (4/4 and 2/4)
Delius (4/4 and 2/4)
Don't Push Your Foot on the Heartbrake (in 4/4, 3/4 and 2/4)
The Dreaming (ostensibly in 4/4, but including a 6/4 counterpulse)
Egypt (4/4 and 2/4, with a 7/4 musical bridge and fadeout coda)
Feel It (4/4 and 2/4)
Full House (4/4, 2/4 and 3/4, with one additional bar in 3/8 )
Get Out of My House (4/4, with a 3/4-and-4/4--actually a 7/4--chorus)
Hammer Horror (4/4, but with one 3/4 bar in the pre-choral refrain)
Hello Earth (4/4, with occasional half-time bars)
Houdini (4/4, with occasional half-time bars)
The Infant Kiss (4/4, with half-time bars in the chorus)
In Search of Peter Pan (4/4, but with one beat removed from one bar in the pre-choral refrain <giving it one 7/4 bar>)
Kashka From Baghdad (4/4, with one beat missing before the chorus <giving it one 3/4 or one 7/4 bar, depending on how it's read>)
Kite (a typical early Kate Bush meter, with 3/4 bars interspersing the otherwise simple 4/4 meter, throwing in an odd propulsive movement to the rhythm in the pre-choral refrain; with an additional half- bar <one 2/4 measure> inserted just prior to the chorus)
L'Amour Looks Something Like You (ends with an odd extra two beats in the coda--2/4 time?)
Night of the Swallow (4/4, but the first pre-choral refrain <"I won't let you do it"> is in 3/4, and the second pre-choral refrain <"I won't let you go through with it"> is in 5/4 ; also, the chorus <"With a hired plane..."> is in 6/8 )
Ran Tan Waltz (3/4)
Room For the Life (4/4, but with a 6/4 measure in the middle of each verse)
Sat In Your Lap (3/4, with choruses in 4/4 and 2/4)
Saxophone Song (another typical potpourri of odd cadences: 4/4, with 3/4, 2/4 and 5/4 measures in the pre-choral refrains)
Suspended in Gaffa (3/4)
There Goes a Tenner (strict 4/4 time-- except for one 5/4 measure in each pre-choral refrain <"My excitement/Turns into fright...">)
Under Ice (repeated alternation between 4/4 and 3/4)
Waking the Witch (4/4, but with an extra beat in the "chorus")
Warm and Soothing (one odd 2/4 measure in the second verse <"For most of the winter we were strangers...">)
The Wedding List (4/4, but with several half-measures)
Wow (4/4, except for one 2/4 measure finishing each verse <"Hitting the Vaseline", for example>)
Wuthering Heights (Kate's most famous, and arguably most representative, use of multiple meters: It's in 4/4, but jumps to half-time <"I hated you, I loved you too," and "Leave behind my Wuthering...">; and its chorus skips between 4/4, 2/4 and 3/4--in a pattern so unusual in the field of pop music that even the drummer can be heard losing track of the backbeat in the complex rhythms of the coda. Listen to his snare during the last two minutes. He covers himself well, but it's definitely a screw-up.)
This is not a complete list--there are other odd shifts of meter in Kate's early songs (the so-called Cathy Demos). And there are also one or two unexpected patterns in The Sensual World, though Kate's trend in recent years has definitely been toward the use of unvarying 4/4 and 3/4 time signatures.
-- Andrew Marvick
"Here in the studio...
"How come they're scolding me?
"'Well, little thing, ah, you're looking lost!'"
-- Kate Bush, writing about her own early studio experience and perhaps recalling her own problems with handling the treacherous meters of songs like Wuthering Heights ?
Date: Tue, 13 Feb 90 09:36:14 -0500
From: jsd@GAFFA.MIT.EDU
Subject: Re: Re "Odd Meters": some notes on the weird
meters of Kate Bush
> Sat In Your Lap (3/4, with choruses in 4/4 and 2/4)
Are you sure it isn't 12/8 and 10/8? It sure is hard to count those verses as "one two three." Besides, I recall seeing the sheet music somewhere and I think it had something more exotic...
From: mailrus!gatech!mit-eddie!eddie.mit.edu!henrik@uunet.UU.NET
(Larry DeLuca)
Date: Wed, 14 Feb 90 01:21:45 GMT
Subject: Re: Re "Odd Meters": some notes on the weird meters of Kate Bush
> JSD sez:
> Isn't Sat In Your Lap written in more exotic meters?
Actually, it is written in the 3/4, 4/4, 2/4 in Kate Bush Complete, but these are all transcriptions of things she admittedly wrote mostly in her head w/o much reference to sheet music.
Her phrasing in the beginning strongly implies a six-counted six-eight, with 2 4/4 followed by 2/4 "Some say that knowledge is...". Musically, that's what makes the most sense to me, anyway, and that's how I transcribed it off the record. I was shocked to see the sheet music.
Of course, I've been reading sheet music more years than our beloved Miss Bush has been writing music, but all the same she's rich and famous and I'm still playing Green Street Station ;-)...
larry...
From: datta@vacs.uwp.wisc.edu (David Datta)
Date: 21 Feb 90 06:43:45 GMT
Subject: EM Survey 4 (Part 05 of 19)
Eclectic Music Survey #4 Results
Survey Posting February 1990
Kate Bush
"Hounds Of Love" is her best. Her new album "Sensual World" is patchy.
Buy The Dreaming. Listen to it. Over and over. Loud.
Certainly a dangerous, dangerous topic on the net. I, like many others, find her music beautiful and classy; some think she's... well, I don't understand what they think, naturally.
Ethereal, sensual, wacky, brainy cult heroine responsible for doggedly personal recordings heavily laden with emotions we'd often prefer not to talk about. Very inventive in sonics and production.
Geez, I love the woman, but I think THE SENSUAL WORLD was definitely *not* one of her best albums. A couple of good tracks but her sound on there is at once not cohesive enough and too uniform. .. huh. Pick up HOUNDS OF LOVE instead. ..
I've heard a few albums of hers, and I liked what I heard. Her musical style is fairly unique.
Never heard of her (ha ha just kidding). Used to be great - buy The Dreaming and Hounds Of Love, DO IT NOW - listen to the rest first, before you decide.
One weird chick.
The best female art-rock singer to ever grace the planet. Especially recommended: her 4th album, The Dreaming. If you listen to this album and don't like it, there's obviously no hope for you :-).
Very sensual (please, nobody call her sensuous -- that's a term reserved for inanimate objects), very well-developed music. I like the fact that she sings on a much wider variety of topics than the usual group.
Well the place I saw this survey was rec.music.gaffa.....
Who else has had at best one top 40 hit yet has a bulletin board section devoted to her. Love her voice, great range. Will leave it to everyone else to RAVE
Wonderful lyrics, bizarre (good) songs, just don't get fanatical about her or people will avoid you.
Date: Sun, 11 Mar 90 18:13:08 PST
From: ed@das.llnl.gov (Edward Suranyi)
Subject: Letter in Mar. 23 Goldmine
The following letter appears in the March 23 Goldmine :
Bush League
I'm just writing to say that I think it's time you did a comprehensive piece on Kate Bush. In my opinion, Kate is definitely the most talented female singer/songwriter to emerge from Great Britain. As a collector of her work, I know that Kate Bush records and memorabilia are highly sought after. With her new album out, I think it would be great and very much appreciated to read about this fantastic performer in your magazine. -- Mark Turchinetz Boston, MA
The editor replies:
Kate Bush has been featured twice in Goldmine since 1986. But we agree with you, so a third, more comprehensive look at Bush collectibles is on the way.
So we have yet another article to look forward to!
Ed
Date: Fri, 9 Mar 90 11:40:30 EST
From: woj <woiccare@clutx.clarkson.edu>
Subject: A Waste of Bandwidth (or "How woj Got Into KaTe")
Vickie says:
> I especially want to hear from: Hello Earth -- 2
Well, I'm one of 'em (whoever's the other, I'm interested in hearing about you too). One day, in high school, I was riding the bus home and one of the girls in the back started singing some song to herself. It was RUTH and although I had never heard that song before (and she couldn't remember who did sing it), somehow I *knew* that I had heard that song somewhere before. Still, I didn't think anything of it until later that same afternoon.
It was one of those dreary, gray days and I was laying on the floor of my room. It had only one window, facing west, so there was a weak light in the room that only added to the weirdness atmosphere already in the air. I was listening to WHRW, the local college station (which I might add is an excellent station) and it was 1985. Need I say more? They played this song and I was snared by it: choral voices droning in the background, a deep, yet remarkably ranged, voice singing about the Earth.
Although I missed the first few bars of it, I recorded what I could on my cheap Emerson compact stereo (and still have that recording somewhere) and listened to it over and over again. Then I made the connection to RUTH, later that night and the next day, I bought HoL. And played the cassette to death. The writing on the shell is gone and the tape is mucked up on "Cloudbusting", but I've still got it and listen to the original periodically (rather than the recent CD copy that cuts out on "The Morning Fog" where the tape runs out). I still look back at it kinda mystically actually...
woj
Date: Mon, 12 Mar 90 21:35 EST
From: Cynthia Loiselle <LOISELLE@cs.umass.EDU>
Subject: "Love and Anger - 1" says how she got into KaTe
Oooo, an invitation to tell my story of "how I got into KaTe!" Apologies to those I've already related this to individually, but I can't resist....
I'm "Love and Anger - 1" Sort of tickled me to be last on the list when I saw it posted. I guess that makes sense, though, as I am a *very* recent convert. So, here goes....
Last fall I read a review of The Sensual World in our local college newspaper. I had never heard of Kate Bush, but had recently started exploring music I wasn't familiar with and something in the review made me think, "I ought to check this out." A little while later I heard Love and Anger, and after a few more encounters with the song, the album made it to the top of my wish list. Fortunately, my husband bought it for me for Christmas.
It actually took me a while to get into it, but the album grew on me with each repeated listening. It can often take me quite a while to get "into" a new kind of music. Anyway, as I grew to like it more and more, another part of the aforementioned review stuck out in my memory. The Dreaming, it said. I forget the exact words, but I knew from what I had read that it had to be my next KaTe purchase. I think I got it on Feb. 16th.
I listened to it once. I listened to it again. I was on either the second or third time through, I think it was during The Dreaming -- WHAM!! My god! How could *anything* be doing that to me?! Lots of music has had profound effects on me in the past but *nothing* had ever come close to this. Instantly I knew that I was a Love Hound.
Clearly this was meant to be. I had found rec.music.gaffa a few weeks before buying The Dreaming. I had no idea what type of music "gaffa" could be about so I started reading. Wow, these people are really passionate about this singer, and I really like the one album I have, maybe I should hurry up and hear more by her....you know the rest.
So thank you Love Hounds, your appreciation has led me down a wonderful path. And a special thanks to Jon Drukman, whose review of The Sensual World in the UMass Collegian started it all!
Cindy
Date: Fri, 23 Mar 90 15:24 PST
From: IED0DXM%OAC.UCLA.EDU@mitvma.mit.edu
Subject: Keef and Del Palmer's engineering capabilities
> My question is this: Who is Keef?
Keef is the nickname and professional name (his company is called Keefco) of Keith MacMillan, one of the very first directors of promotional pop-music videos. Kate dropped him after the first two videos for The Dreaming , and hasn't looked back since, though she says she still thinks very highly of Keef, and is friends with him.
There has been some flippant criticism of Del Palmer's engineering capabilities, and IED would like to object. No less qualified a critic than the violinist Nigel Kennedy very recently praised Del specifically as a truly great engineer, and said that Del obtained the very best sound from Kennedy's violin that he had ever heard on tape, ever. Since IED also thinks that the complaints about The Sensual World 's engineering are utterly belied by the sound--which, at least on IED's Sony 507ESD player, is extremely brilliant and stunning--he recommends that those who have been so quick to cast aspersions on Del's expertise at recording sound spend a bit more time learning how to hear sound first.
-- Andrew Marvick
Date: Fri, 23 Mar 90 21:37:13 -0500
From: katefans@world.std.com (Chris'n'Vickie of Kansas City)
Subject: *Which* Kate?
Vickie here.
There's a phrase that's bandied about in Love-Hounds every now and then that I would like to talk about. This phrase seemed to be used a lot when TSW first came out (when we were reading but were not able to post to the net-how frustrating!) and I saw used again not very long ago.
This phrase is:
"...not the Kate we all know and love..."
Who's used it in the past, who used it recently and who will use it again in the future doesn't really matter. I would like to ask those people one simple question though....what do you mean?
As far as I know, there is only one Kate Bush (last time I checked she didn't have a twin sister) and I figure the Kate you know and love is the same one I know and love and the one I know and love has about 100 or so different characters within her.
There's the "Angry" KT in Get Out Of My House, the "Pensive" KT of All The Love, the "Cautionary" KT of Breathing, the "Maternal(sort of)" KT in Room For The Life, the "Cynical" KT of Warm & Soothing, The "Sleepy" KT of And Dream Of Sheep, the "Childlike" KT in In Search Of Peter Pan, the "Geriatric" :-) KT in Jig Of Life, the "Masculine" KT in Pull Out The Pin, the "Feminine" KT of The Sensual World, the "Cautious" KT of There Goes A Tenner, the "Jealous" KT of Babooshka, the "Wild" KT of Rocket's Tale, the "Abused" KT in Not This Time, and on & on & on & on & ON & ON & ON!!!
Lots of times there are many different KTs within one song. Yes, they're all characters, but those characters all came out of one brain (amazing!)
I would hazard a guess that the majority of Katefans like most of the different "Kates". There are those who specialize and if you ask them they'll give you as many comments as there are Katesongs. "I like the ballads best" "I find the ballads a bit boring, give me the wierd stuff" "I like Kate best when she totally rocks out" "I can't stand the rocky songs" "I like the love songs" "I like it best when she tells stories" "I like the B-sides" "The B-sides belong just where they are" "Loud-just like she says" "Quiet and intimate" "Just Kate and her piano, THAT's bliss" "The more complex and multi-layered, the better" and on & on & on & on & ON & ON & ON!!!
So anyway, please, the next time anyone feels a need to use the phrase "not the Kate we know and love", just replace the "we" with an "I", and explain just which Kate it is that she's not being. OK? Thanks!
Vickie
From: mtarr@eagle.wesleyan.edu
Subject: Deja-vu
Date: 24 Mar 90 16:55:58 GMT
Greetings...
Two weeks ago I took off for Spring Break, and stopped at a friend's house for the weekend before going home to sunny Florida. We went to rent some videos, and after coming upon Diva I checked out the Music section, just for the hell of it, I mean, who knows? The Whole Story might be there! And it was. I freaked, rented it, and made my friend drive home- FAST.
I can't believe I hadn't seen it before. The videos are great, and after seeing "Wuthering Heights" I now have a new respect for the original vocals. But the one that blew me away was "Sat In Your Lap". As I watched it, after about ten seconds the memory hit me like a train: I'd seen this before!!!
It was April vacation 1982, and I was in the 7th grade. I was in New Haven visiting my sister, who at the time had MTV, and I spent most of the week glued to it looking for Duran Duran videos (I was a teenie-bopper, so shoot me, it only lasted about 6 months). Anyway, lat one night I turned it on to see what was playing before I went to bed, and I saw a beautiful woman wearing a dunce cap, surrounded by people who looked like Klansmen, dancing around on roller skates. Then the image changed to the woman sitting on the floor moving her head to the strange, almost hypnotic beat, surrounded by court-jester type people. She was singing in an almost shrieking voice, and it was the most deeply weird thing I'd ever seen. My sister took one look and shut it off, so I never got to see who the perpetrator was. I had strange dreams for the rest of the week, and when I got back to school I asked people if they'd seen such a strange video, but no one had.
So, Ed, I guess my answer to your poll was wrong. THAT was my first exposure to Kate Bush, and it gave me nightmares! And to think that selfsame song would later provide me with my Senior Quote in my high-school yearbook...
Sometimes I really freak myself out.
Date: Tue, 03 Apr 90 11:35 PDT
From: IED0DXM%OAC.UCLA.EDU@mitvma.mit.edu
Subject: re meanings of her songs
Second, it is certainly not true that "Kate doesn't really know what her songs are about." With the exception of a single solitary song-- Love and Anger --Kate has not said that about any of her work. The fact is, Kate knows full well just exactly what her songs are about, and furthermore, she is very well aware of the secondary meanings which lie beneath the songs' surface content. The fact that Kate's public explanations of the songs' meanings tend to be a bit superficial doesn't mean that every possible nuance of alternative or secondary meaning in the song wasn't deliberately or at least consciously inserted by her at the time of creating her work.
From: jim%BILPIN.UUCP@mitvma.mit.edu
Date: Mon Apr 16 08:14:17 BST 1990
Subject: The Kate BiG Questionnaire
Well, is She or isn't she?
The Kate BiG Questionnaire aims to find out the truth.
The proposition is:- 'Kate Bush is God'.
The questions are:-
Do you consider this to be:
True
A fun thing to say
A joke :-)
A joke :-(
Sad
Creepy
False
Is Kate:
Omnibenevolent
Omnific
Omnipotent
Omnipresent
Omniscient
Omnivorous
An omnibush
Kate's music is:
The speech of angels
The harmonious voice of creation
Wild sounds civilised into time and tune
OK to dance to
Are you:
A Kate Bush fan
Napoleon Bonaparte
A teapot
Can you take a joke?
Yes
No
What joke?
Aaaaarrrggghhhhh!!!!!!!!!
Please select one or more options in each category. All responses, e-mailed or otherwise, will be collated and published at the millennium. Flames, death threats, parcel bombs, and Jive Bunny records >/dev/null
Another Fine Product from
JimG : Hatfield, England
Date: Fri, 11 May 90 13:57 PDT
From: IED0DXM%OAC.UCLA.EDU@mitvma.mit.edu
Subject: Kate's physical appearance
P.S.: To Meredith, who was so infuriated by IED's posting in re Kate's physical appearance: This "real Kate fan" has no quarrel with anything you said. He agrees with you that 1.) Kate's appearance is not in itself very important, and that 2.) Kate hasn't really gained more than a couple of pounds all told anyway! But IED doesn't appreciate being dismissed as one among some huge anonymous group which you refer to as "men who want their meat lean and tender". It's an insulting generalization. Not only are there a very large number of women who share "men"'s aesthetics of female pulchritude, but there are certainly a great many men who do not share them.
This is not to say that most people--male or female--living nowadays are not in some way and at least to some degree (however small) affected by the physical appearance of their fellow human beings--male or female. In short, although it's not a matter of great importance, it is a matter of at least some importance, and denying that fact is futile. It's not good, but it's unavoidable.
Also, IED would like to point out that Kate herself is not entirely guiltless in this matter. For at least the last seven years, and arguably since 1978, she has had great, and possibly total, control over the official EMI-UK imagery which is used to promote the sale of her records. Yet even in the most recent promotional posters and cover designs she has seen to it that great pains were taken to touch up the photos of her face and body such that she would look "her best". Special care has always been taken by Kate, her brother John, and whoever he gets to do the touch-up work after he takes his photographs, to soften Kate's jawline, the flesh beneath her chin, and the lines beneath her eyes. This is a fact which IED, at least, cannot conveniently blame on "men who want their meat lean and tender".
It is Kate's doing, and although IED is sure there is some pressure from her record company about the promotional images used to sell her records, he is equally sure that Kate has sufficient influence to see that they release only those images which she herself approves. She is therefore at least partly responsible for the continued promotion of an illusory image of Kate Bush the Celebrity, and as such IED doesn't think it's completely unreasonable of him to take that aspect of her work into account--at least in some small measure--when he enjoys or analyzes it.
Date: 11-MAY-1990 23:39:34.09
From: MTARR@EAGLE.WESLEYAN.EDU
Subject: Kate's physical appearance
Greetings...
God, I'm really on a roll this week, aren't I?
Throughout the history of Western society people have been forced to internalize the notion that outward appearance is everything-men as well as women. We do it totally unconsciously; hell, I don't like going to the beach and seeing elephantile women waddling around in bikinis either. My point is this: people do care about KaTe's looks, and obviously she does herself- she has a vested interest in it, for the simple reason that a large part of her fame has hinged on her beauty. I think this is sad: people should like her for her music first, because if she herself wanted to be famous only for her appearance, she could've become a model. And wouldn't the world be a sadder, quieter place for it?
Date: Sat, 12 May 90 02:25:13 -0400
From: katefans@world.std.com (Chris'n'Vickie of Kansas City)
Subject: As the people here get colder, I turn to my Olay as a
friend
Vickie here.
How can anyone NOT be totally blown away by Kate's extraordainary beauty? Of course I say something every now and then. The thing is though, a lot of it comes from make-up and photography. The Visual Documentary is proof enough that Kate can look just like a regular person, there are even very goofy photos of her in there. In everyday life Kate is interesting-looking and good-looking. The ONE thing that adds that extra touch of lovelyness to Kate's looks, no matter if she's Made-Up like a Chrismas Tree or walking around with no makeup at all, is:
Her *** INNER *** Beauty
One person might say "I don't think I'd like Kate as much if she wasn't so beautiful" and that's their problem.
I say "I know I wouldn't like Kate as much if she wasn't such a kind, decent, caring, sensitive human being".
There you have it. I know you think she's beautiful, of course you do. No one with eyes to see could argue the point. OK, they could but we wouldn't pay any attention, right? :-) But the music is most important to you, right? Of course it is. Meredith had the right idea. Someday Kate will be old and grey, someday she'll be dust and bones, but her music will live on forever and 100 years down the road some Katefan won't give a damn what she looked like. They'll have photos from all phases of her career and ages so the trauma of her growing older (a major concern of this newsgroup, it seems) will not be important. They'll be able to appreciate the music without any of that garbage roaming around their minds.
Her music will live forever and her inner beauty will shine just as brightly at 80 as it did at 10 or 20 or 30. IT'S A FACT OF LIFE!!
In an interview at age 21, Kate was asked "What will Kate Bush be like at 31?" and she replied "I don't know. A few more wrinkles, I imagine. I hope they're happy ones".
Yes, they're happy ones.
Vickie (one of Vickie'n'Chris)
Date: Tue, 15 May 90 09:13:15 EDT
From: JONES%RPIECS.BITNET@mitvma.mit.edu
Subject: Selling KT by the pound
Hello there fellow Love-Hounds--
Here I am to throw in my two cents' worth about Kate's "putting on weight". Basically, all I can say is: Leave the poor woman be! If she puts on a little weight, so what? It's pretty much a fact of life that your metabolism slows down as you get older, and if Kate isn't as involved with dance as she used to be, she's bound to put on a little weight. And personally, I don't know as I'd WANT her to stay as rail-thin as she was in her younger days (you can practically count her ribs in the Babooshka video, and several males have commented to me that they found her too thin...)
Anyway. As far as wrinkles go, I HOPE she has a wrinkle or two here or there! I mean, I'm pushing the big 3-oh myself, and I'm starting to develop crow's feet, and have a gray hair here or there. And I'm probably about 10-15 pounds heavier than I was when I was 18. Do you think I look at myself in the mirror every morning and say "Holy Christ, I've gone to hell in a handbasket?" Not me! To me (as some others of you have pointed out), what a person is like on the INSIDE is what makes them beautiful. If I feel happy with myself, I actually FEEL beautiful. It's what you carry around inside you that radiates your beauty on the outside, regardless of age. So if Kate gets those happy little laugh lines around her eyes, or gets a blush in those slightly chubby cheeks, so much the better. She's still our Kate. And to me, she's just as beautiful as ever. What say we just love her and leave her be? Okay?
All the best,
Deb Wentorf
From: datta@vacs.uwp.wisc.edu (David Datta)
Date: 21 Feb 91 06:28:59 GMT
Subject: Eclectic Music Survey 5 RESULTS now available.
As a teaser, here is the part about our beloved KaTe:
Kate Bush
I suppose my attitude about Kate Bush might best be exemplified by the fact that I consider her not just a songwriter but a composer. Some of the most imaginative, thought-provoking and just plain *good* music I've ever heard. She just gets better and better. She doesn't just use her voice as a voice; it is every bit as much an instrument as her Fairlight. Some of the sounds she makes, therefore, turn some people off, but not me. The well of Kate Bush's inspiration will never run dry. She really is, you know! :-)
-- (Susan Harwood Kaczmarczik)
The scariest song is "Under Ice" on Hounds of Love (one of the great albums of the 80's). Play it loud. Also highly recommended are The Dreaming, a good and raw album (play it loud), and Never Forever which has a good selection of really good songs, especially "Egypt" and "Breathing". Two videos worth checking out are "This Woman's Work" and "Experiment IV".
-- (John M. Relph)
Net-ravings aside, a friend of mine recently said that he had heard that Kate is into drugs. My response -- if this be drugs, then let me at 'em. The Dreaming is the kind of work that takes many many listenings to understand -- and with each listening, a new appreciation, and a greater enjoyment. But if you're not into that kind of dedication, you can enjoy other Kate works on other levels. She can be simply and straightforwardly beautiful, just a piano and a voice -- or she can tantalize you with her weirdness and then bonk you over the head with all manner of neat chords and changes. The Love-hounds aren't barking up the wrong tree; if you haven't already, check her out!
-- (Tony Shepps)
An incredible singer/writer/composer/ dancer/producer/ director/etc. Her albums are all incredible. My personal favorite is The Dreaming, which I play back to back often - no filler material here! The music stands easily on its own and she is also a fascinating person to watch - videos and concert - wow. One of my favorites.
-- (Michael Graham)
Probably the wrong place to say this, but WAY overrated. She has talent, yes, but her voice is somehow hardly ever quite right. And I can NEVER forgive her for ruining Peter Gabriel's "Don't give up".
-- (Greg Tzeutschler)
Now, I know I've heard that name somewhere before. Kate Bush... Um, yes, I know. She's God.
-- (Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen)
get The Dreaming
-- (Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen)
Hehehehe. Now what can I say that'll really whip the Bushies into a killing frenzy? Experience seems to suggest that anything short of total worship will result in my being beaten to death with This Womans Work. How about if I just told the truth and said that I don't like her voice?
-- (Al Crawford)
Mozart is God. Kate Bush is the Goddess. Does that answer your question? :-)
-- (Susan Harwood Kaczmarczik)
Incredible voice; ethereal, smooth and warm. Her songs invoke an a vast array of images and really take me to another place. Very moving music. Started out with her greatest hits CD The Whole Story and have since purchased Hounds Of Love and The Sensual World as well as The Dreaming. Her music is constantly changing and keeps things interesting, but as long as her voice stays as beautiful as it is, I'll always be a fan. Wow! Best album: Hounds Of Love.
-- <alchemy!bbs@ucrmath.ucr.edu>
"Hounds of Love"...well crafted music, blend of instruments...
-- (Slender Fungus)
She simply has the best female voice around. Her style of music is all her own, and she practically saved Gabriel's "Don't Give up" from being too silly. She blows away all her competition in song-writing, friendliness to her fans, ability to produce and engineer her own albums, and ability to convey emotions to the listener. The first album is a great start "The Kick inside," but watch for Bootlegs, you buy one, you'll buy them all, which get's expensive. She goes over much better with women, who can pick up on the vibes easier. If you like Aerosmith, most likely you won't get into this stuff, which sometimes is damned etheral...
-- (Gooch)
Kate Bush & David Gilmour
I guess that Gilmour was instrumental (no pun intended) in getting Kate signed to EMI after hearing some demos. He has played guitar on at least one of her songs "Love and Anger". Probably more, but I am not certain.
-- (Michael Graham)
One half guitarist and one half goddess. :-)
-- (Susan Harwood Kaczmarczik)
Date: Thu, 28 Mar 1991 00:18 EST
From: Peter Byrne Manchester <PMANCHESTER@ccmail.sunysb.edu>
Subject: Re: Deify Kate Bush?
> I just don't get it ...
writes Dave Neff in a post entitled "Why Deify Kate?"
> In this newsgroup it seems that Kate is more than a mortal, she is a venerated deity. People testify of "how they found Kate" as if she were some sort of religious conversion.
First part wrong (or at least I so recommend); second part, pretty close! Since mine was among the testimonials he perhaps is reacting to--and I do after all call her "God's sister"!--perhaps I might try a little clarification. Not to mix business with pleasure, it happens that theology is the field I work, teach, and write in.
There IS a tradition in this group in which from time to time someone seized by admiring enthusiasm will state outright, "Kate Bush is God!" More common is an oblique invocation of this flagrant piece of heresy, the phrase "She really is...", shared as a kind of "insider's" secret. I suspect that nearly all of the time, if the proposition were stared down in the cold light of day, its subscribers would admit that it is hyperbole. If I had to comment on the whole phenomenon at a professional conference (I promise not to!), I would probably surmise that a lot of the time, the hidden message is "there is no God" (or at least an "In your face!" to now-scorned modes of piety). There would be a whole riff one could do, that the theological establishment would eat right up, about how this is evidence that 'loss of faith' leaves this generation with a spiritual hole that needs filling, blah blah blah.
That kind of party line would be completely wrong, in my view, because my take on the many of us in this group (and the many others I know outside it) whose devotion to Kate gravitates toward such sentiments is that we have NEVER lost capacity for faith--just any hope for a worthy object of it. There is a lot to be said in defense of Dave's summation that discovering Kate was like a religious conversion for us: it wasn't just coming to like HER, it was discovering that the world and life itself were better than we had been assuming. Lots of individual variation there, of course: one discovers in oneself an unexpected capacity to be deeply moved by art; or one discovers that the water CAN rise again in the long-dry well of old and lost enthusiasm; or a particular lyric, or tune, or emotion can seem to have been sung or directed uniquely and privately for oneself, evoking a sense of wonder at the intimacy of human communication.
> Is there something about Kate being a woman (and an attractive one at that) which adds to this tendancy of some (generally men may I add) who venerate her person and material? I just don't get it ...
Thing is, I know several women personally whose sense of discovery with Kate is little different from my own. I especially remember one saying, about a song on "Never for Ever," that when she heard it she was SURE that it had been written and sung for her alone. New love-hound Judi is as effusive as any of us, and is far from alone. If there is something in her being female that is relevant (I expect there is), it is certainly not at the level of simple attractiveness--Kate doesn't work that way. Being female--a daughter, a sister, a woman--is a resource for her in her search for concrete human experience to draw from, but not the only one: she has not only regularly sought to take a male point of view, but even explored the reciprocity that makes this possible ("Running up that Hill"). Physical attractiveness is among tools for her work in dance and mime. It's always the work we are responding to.
For all these reasons, I myself maintain that KB is God's sister--by which I do NOT mean to deify her, since it is precisely in her humanity that I have learned something from her about the divine. I tried to bring this out in the last line of my letter to her, "Your aspiration is a kind of prayer." I don't know whether there is a God, or what 'is' is supposed to mean in such statements, but I do know something about what prayer would be if I were capable of it, and I very much admire anyone who helps me think I might be. "We humans got it all, we perform the miracles." ("Them Heavy People"). This is straight out of every authentic spiritual tradition--Meister Eckhart comes to mind for a start.
IMHO, I don't think any of us are deifying Kate Bush. But I think we HAVE felt some shadow of whatever 'the divine' might be in the intimacy and communion and reciprocity we have come to feel with her, as performer and audience, once we learned to hear her and trust her.
Peter Manchester
From: S89 <lawtonj@project4.computer-science.manchester.ac.uk>
Date: 28 Mar 91 13:28:12 GMT
Subject: Re: Why Deify Kate?
Actually I believe people in 200 years probably will investigate 20th century music - many people buy 50s blues recordings, while artists like Nick Drake in the 60s were merely recording old-style folk music which was already timeless. As long as continual critical works relating to the past are produced then interest will continue - I'm 19, yet many of favourite works come from the 60s & early 70s and I know many people younger than me investigating the same paths.
Whether contemporary music like Gabriel & Bush will survive is another matter -I suspect that interest will probably tail off in much of their work, as, as you rightly noticed, Kate survives by a cult of personality - the fact that until recently both these artists used the latest technology means the works will probably sound dated in 50 years.
I do suspect though that there will be some interest out there, somewhere. Kate's music affects many people to an obsessive degree, so obviously she touch's a certain kind of person, who I imagine would always be receptive to her music if presented with it.
Don't forget - popular recorded music is a modern form, in much the same way as cheaply printed entertainment novels were last century. I wonder how many people then thought that the Brontes would still be read, let alone be influential, in 200 years? (or Jane bloody Austen)
Julian Lawton
Date: Mon, 15 Jul 1991 14:46:00 -0800
From: IED0DXM%MVS.OAC.UCLA.EDU@mitvma.mit.edu
Subject: "magic"
IED considered your arguments very carefully, Vickie, and he personally shares your conviKTion that Kate's music contains a "magic" which defies verbal description but which is nonetheless real for that. Yet he cannot help but see a problem in your repeated assertion that the magic definitely exists within the music itself. To IED (and to you and to Ed Suranyi and to Larry Hernandez, and to many hundreds, thousands, of others) that magic is quite real. But so to many hundreds (thousands) of fourteen-year-old girls is the music of New Kids on the Block "truly" magical. And so to many other people is the music of Mozart. IED suspects, as you do, that the fourteen-year-olds may be suffering from a delusion, whereas Mozart-lovers and Katefans are on a surer path. But he cannot prove that such is the case, nor is he truly certain that there is no magic--of a kind which only fourteen-year-old girls can sense, but which is no less real in its way--in the artistic achievement of New Kids on the Block.
What IED thinks this "magic" really boils down to is a quality in some--even all--art to stimulate some--sometimes many--people's capacity for the experience of the "magic" (for want of a better word) which exists in all aspects of reality. IED's idea (though not his relatively vaguer explanation of it) is similar, he thinks, to that shared by Love-Hound Peter Manchester in a great article which Peter posted to Love-Hounds a few months ago. In that posting Peter explained eloquently the distinction between the false (or inaccurate, at least) concept of Kate Bush as God (and here God can be understood equally well as "magic") and the more precise notion that Kate Bush may act upon some listeners as a reminder to them of the possible existence of God (or of "magic")--that she may be a catalyst for belief in "magic", or a stimulus of the realization of the possibility of "magic", where belief as it has been traditionally understood no longer exists.
This means, for example, that New Kids on the Block, in their capacity to evoke some dim or nascent consciousness of "magic" in fourteen-year-olds, are in some measure "magical" artists. That they generally evoke such consciousness only in fourteen-year-olds is evidence that their "magic" is "weaker", or at least narrower in its scope and power, than the "magic" of Mozart, which has reached people of many age groups, in many cultures, over many years; or than the "magic" of Kate Bush, which seems to be on its way to reaching a very broad group of people, as well.
Unfortunately this way of defining the "magic" inherent in art doesn't address the intensity of the experience which different "magical" artistic forces induce in their receivers. Although more people respond to the "magic" of Elvis Presley than to that of Kate Bush, most Elvis enthusiasts probably respond in a relatively weaker way than do the people who respond to the "magic" of Kate; and, it can be argued, their response is limited by a relatively weaker capacity for the experience of the "magic" in music. Obviously, the issue is very complex, and the formula for the definition of "magic" in music--if one exists--eludes IED. Insofar as such a quality in Kate Bush's music exists, it can only be perceived and measured through the vehicle of the people who experience it; and because this is true, it may never be clear to what extent that quality is inherent in the music itself and to what extent Kate's listeners must bring their own capacity for the experience of "magic" to the listening experience.
From: gravende@epas.utoronto.ca (David Gravender)
Date: Wed, 17 Jul 1991 12:39:47 -0800
Subject: the magic that is KaTe...
Some words in response to Vickie's and IED's recent attempts at an articulate definition of what is so incommensurably special--so "magical"--about the music of Our KaTe, in itself and in relation to other real or imagined transcendencies to be found in the work of others.
First of all, it seems to this humble correspondent that the estimable IED has caught the scent of the right trail (he is a love-HOUND after all! ' ~) towards treeing a definition of "magic." I would, however, respectfully offer some qualifications and (as i hope) clarifications to his musings, towards a clearer undrstanding of the question and eventually its 'answer'.
What i think we want once we've 'agreed' that "magic" in Art has somthing to do with being a "reminder... of the possibility of God" (as IED quoted peter manchester as writing) is a way to measure the extent to which any given art or artist achieves such a state. In other words, i think we are wanting some basic (as in fundamental) aesthetic criteria, or at least aesthetic notions. There seems to me a quite distinct difference between Kate and, say, the New Kids on the Block which makes me think that the "experience of Kate" is and can be shown to be different in quality from the "experience of the New Kids"--that is, to be perhaps more clear about it, that there exist objective critical (i.e. aesthetic) standards which can show the one "magic" true (i.e. well-grounded) and the other a delusion (insofar as it purports or is purported to be a "magic" of the first-order, which is the kind we are concerned with here).
At this point, we might consider the following words of matthew arnold, the 19th century English poet & critic, which i think throw some helpful light on the question (he is talking about poetry, but i think the general idea is applicable to all art; and in any event, kate's music does involve some poetic use of language):
"We naturally take pleasure, says Aristotle, in any imitation or representation whatever: this is the basis of our love of Poetry: and we take pleasure in them, he adds, because all knowledge is naturally agreeable to us; not to the philosopher only, but to (hu)mankind as well. Every representation therefore which is consistently drawn may be supposed to be interesting, inasmuch as it gratifies this natural interest in knowledge of all kinds. What is not interesting is that which does not add to our knowledge of any kind; that which is vaguely conceived and loosely drawn; a representation which is general, indeterminate, and faint, instead of being particular, precise and firm.
"(But)...more than this is demanded. It is demanded, not only that is shall interest, but also that it shall inspirit and rejoice the reader: that it shall convey a charm, and infuse delight. For the Muses, as Hesiod says, were born that they might be "a forgetfulness of evils, and a truce from cares": and it is not enough that the poet should add to the knowledge of men, it is required of him (or her) also that (s)he should add to their happiness. 'All Art,' says Schiller, 'is dedicated to Joy, and there is no higher and no more serious problem, than how to make (people) happy. The right Art is that alone which creates the highest enjoyment.'"
It is the presence in Kate's music of these 2 qualities to which it is, i think, we have all responded, and greatly and rightfully prize. The "magic" then is not insubstantial or vague, but exists to the degree that her music (or anyone's art) interests us--captivates us--by its achievement of an accurate, precise representation of an action or mood or thought, AND its conveyance of charm, its infusion of delight, through the "proper" (i.e. well-suited), "high" or serious choice of theme and treatment.
We may have all been at first attracted to KaTe's music by its unusual SOUND, but that is not what has kept us attracted, nor deepened nor enhanced our interest. It is the intelligence and talent and what i can only imprecisely term 'innocence' or 'sympathetic sincerity' BEHIND that sound--the bases for WHY it is as it is--tht has won our hearts and ears, and has made that sound all the more intriguing and inspiring. These are all fairly general reasons (though to a particular point!), but not i hope the lesser-deemed for it--for indeed it is in KaTe's peculiar "generality" that her greatness lies. She writes Music that defies categorization, and has a more organic character to its structure (while working within the bounds of traditional structure) than does most (all?) of the other music it is classed with in stores these days.
What we have all responded to then in our first encounter(s) with Kate and her music, if i am right, is, beneath the CONSIDERABLE stylistic felicities of her art--her voice, the instrumentation, etc--the presence of True Art, the awareness of Beauty in something approaching its timeless aspect. It is a music that while as entertaining in tune or beat as anyone's has yet something more, the certain HEFT or weight of something that will last by virtue of exceptional craft and spirit--it creates its own world which can & does to some degree transform our own.
And with that thought in mind, i'd like to finish and leave you with part of a poem by Wallace Stevens, "An Idea of Order at Key West", which struck both me and my friend Kim as quite suggestive of the effect of KaTe on us (and by extension, other listeners/fans)--we were so struck, we even sent the following 'edited' version to KaTe as part of our birthday message:
She sang beyond the genius of the sea.
* * * *
It may be that in all her phrases stirred
The grinding water and the gasping wind;
But it was she and not the sea we heard.
For she was the maker of the song she sang.
The ever-hooded, tragic-gestured sea
Was merely a place by which she walked to sing.
Whose spirit is this? we said, because we knew
It was the spirit that we sought and knew
That we should ask this often as she sang.
* * * *
It was her voice that made
The sky acutest at its vanishing.
She measured to the hour its solitude.
She was the single artificer of the world
In which she sang. And when she sang, the sea,
Whatever self it had, became the self
That was her song, for she was the maker. Then we,
As we beheld her striding there alone,
Knew that there never was a world for her
Except the one she sang and, singing, made.
oo KaTe! :)
Date:Fri, 2 Aug 1991 06:00:23 -0800
From:Jeff Tucker <R3JMT%AKRONVM@vm1.cc.UAKRON.EDU>
Subject: Instruments
The following appears in Little Light, Summer 1991, published by The American Association of Them Heavy People, PO Box 221, Cuyahoga Falls OH 44222-0221. Replies are welcome, as are letters to the editor and other discussion.
BULLROARER
"The Instruments" is a series of articles, by various authors, covering the various instruments Kate has used in her music. Little Light assumes no responsibility or liability for injury or damage caused by following the instructions in this particular installment.
We all know Kate uses some unusual ethnic instruments in her songs, but this is the only one you could properly call dangerous. In view of this fact, this article should probably be called how NOT to make a bullroarer. For example, don't use weak string. Don't use near windows likely to break if the string snaps (or rather, when the string snaps). But I'm ahead of myself.
In one of the KBC newsletters, Paddy Bush (Kate's rather unique brother) gave a simple recipe for bullroarer production. Take a string, he said, put it through the end hole in a ruler, and tie. Then swing it about your head like a maniac.
Well, it works, I can't deny it. But the weight of the ruler and the thickness of the string does effect the performance of your instrument, and using Paddy's formula might give you a silent aerophone.
As a rule of thumb, you want to use the smallest but heaviest piece of wood you can (it's best to stay between six and 18 inches in length) combined with the thinnest but strongest string. Don't use fishing line, this snaps pretty easily when twisted (besides it can cut your hands pretty easily). A braided kite string works well.
If you want to get fancy, you can carve your wood to a proper bullroarer shape. Traditional bullroarers are a rhomboid, knife-blade shape. The shape and surface imperfections of your wood will give it a distinctive tone.
After making several bullroarers, you will notice that the smaller the piece of wood you use, the higher the pitch. You might also notice that if you don't attach your string to a handle, it can chew up your hands pretty badly (even if you don't use fishing line). You will realize that when your string finally snaps the bullroarer becomes a formidable projectile, usually seeking out a window or spectator with uncanny accuracy (do NOT play your bullroarer in doors). Finally, you might observe (usually amidst swearing) that after marathon bullroarer performances, the little ones can get HOT!
Kate used bullroarers in "The Dreaming", you can hear them at the end. The aboriginal word for bullroarer is "ma ma li," and it is used in ritual music. Ironically (for Kate), women are not allowed to look at bullroarers, and custom is to put them to death if they do so (though this rule does not hold amongst "civilized" aborigines). In a typical ceremonial song, the bullroarer might represent the voices of ancestors or the call of animal spirits.
Though Kate's bullroarer is associated with Australian aborigines, the bullroarer's area of distribution is wide. It was known in Paleolithic Europe, ancient Greece, central Asia, Indonesia, Africa, Central and South America, Australia, the South Seas, and in modern Europe and America as a toy.
The bullroarer here, as a toy? Indeed, one of our staffers has one as a relic of her childhood. After a couple of weeks with your own bullroarer (and after getting to know your local glass window installer) you might wonder why they sell this sort of thing to children....
Date: Tue, 1 Jun 93 00:27 EST
From: KROVETZ@cs.umass.EDU
Subject: Unusual Instruments
Kate's music has had a number of unusual instruments (at least in part due to her brother's influence). Does anyone know what the following instruments are like?
Celeste (Wuthering Heights)
Fender Rhodes (Symphony in Blue) [a kind of guitar?]
Strumento da Porca (Kashka from Baghdad) [slight description in Cloudbusting; is it like a hammer dulcimer?]
Joanna Strumentum (Kashka from Baghdad)
Harmonium (Hammer Horror)
Banshee (Violin)
Koto (All We Ever Look For)
Lironi (The Infant Kiss)
Viol (The Infant Kiss)
Prophet 5 (Egypt) [a kind of synthesizer?]
Synclavier (There Goes a Tenner) [a kind of synthesizer?]
Balailaka (Running Up That Hill) [the only place I had heard of this before was on "Back to the U.S.S.R"]
Valiha (Love and Anger)
Tupan (Deeper Understanding)
Date: Tue, 1 Jun 93 03:12 CDT
From: chrisw@fciad2.bsd.uchicago.edu (chris williams)
Subject: Re: instruments in Kate's music
Bob Krovitz askes:
>Kate's music has had a number of unusual instruments (at least in part due to her brother's influence). Does anyone know what the following instruments are like?
>Celeste (Wuthering Heights)
Chimes played by a keyboard. Most church organs have this.
>Fender Rhodes (Symphony in Blue) [a kind of guitar?]
A brand of electric piano. It doesn't really sound much like a piano, but it's a very popular sound never-the-less. You may have seen it being played by Ray Charles and cocktail lounge pianists.
>Strumento da Porca (Kashka from Baghdad) [slight description in Cloudbusting; is it like a hammer dulcimer?]
This appears in the "Kate Bush On Tour" documentary. Paddy is asked what it is, and he replied "It's a Strumento da Porca, or at least that's the name Plitorious (sp?) gave it..." It looks quite a bit loke a Hammered Dulcimer, the kind with two interweaving sets of strings.
>Joanna Strumentum (Kashka from Baghdad)
No idea.
>Harmonium (Hammer Horror)
A foot-pedeled organ-like keyboard with reeds (like a harmonica) instead of pipes. The Penguin Cafe Orch. has a wonderful song called "Music on a Found Harmoniua" written on the keys that still worked.
>Banshee (Violin)
No idea.
>Koto (All We Ever Look For)
The Japanese stringed instrument in the most recent United Air Lines commercial?
>Lironi (The Infant Kiss)
>Viol (The Infant Kiss)
Aren't these members of the cello family?
>Prophet 5 (Egypt) [a kind of synthesizer?]
Yep. Digitally-controlled analog. Drukman knows more about this one.
>Synclavier (There Goes a Tenner) [a kind of synthesizer?]
Used here as a sampler.
>Balailaka (Running Up That Hill) [the only place I had heard of this before was on "Back to the U.S.S.R"]
Russian and guitar-like. 4 strings I think.
>Valiha (Love and Anger)
>Tupan (Deeper Understanding)
No idea. Paddy's degree is in "Furniture Building" and he's constantly searching through old books looking for interesting instruments to build.
From: mudws@sunvis1.vislab.olemiss.edu (Warren Steel)
Date: 1 Jun 93 14:33:20 GMT
Subject: Re: instruments in Kate's music
KROVETZ@cs.umass.EDU writes:
>Kate's music has had a number of unusual instruments (at least in part due to her brother's influence). Does anyone know what the following instruments are like?
May I suggest a reference book like:
Marcuse, Dictionary of Musical Instruments
Baines, The Oxford Companion to Musical Instruments
The New Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments?
Most of your list should be in these books; one or more of the books should be in UMass or any other library.
>Celesta (Wuthering Heights)
metallophone (like xylophone, with metal bars) played by keyboard.
>Fender Rhodes (Symphony in Blue)
electric piano (actually an amplified keyboard metallophone.
>Strumento di Porco (Kashka from Baghdad)
a large psaltery (zither), named from its shape (a pig's nose).
>Harmonium (Hammer Horror)
a free-reed organ, activated by bellows that *blow*, providing delicate and immediate volume control; as oppoed to the American reed organ, activated by suction.
>Koto (All We Ever Look For)
Japanese long zither of 13 silk strings, descended from the Chinese zheng.
>Viol (The Infant Kiss)
not of the "cello family" but a "viola da gamba," a bowed instrument with fretted fingerboard, usually six strings
>Balailaka (Running Up That Hill)
Russian long-necked lute with triangular body, three strings
>Valiha (Love and Anger)
bamboo tube zither from Madagascar (wonderful instrument!)
>Tupan (Deeper Understanding)
Balkan drum of Turkish origin, played with stick
Don't forget dijeridu (Australian wooden trumpet) in The Dreaming and elsewhere; and uillean pipes (Irish bellows-blown chamber pipes, another eternally cool sound) in The Sensual World and elsewhere.
Warren Steel
Date: Tue, 1 Jun 93 12:19:18 PDT
From: spudboy%dlsun87@us.oracle.com (Jon Drukman)
Subject: Re: instruments in Kate's music
Bob Krovetz asks about Kate's unusual musical instruments. Chris Williams covered most of them.
>Banshee (Violin)
i think this refers to the real "screamy" background vocals.
>Koto (All We Ever Look For)
japanese stringed instrument.
>Prophet 5 (Egypt) [a kind of synthesizer?]
chris called it "digitally controlled analog" but it isn't. it's an analog controlled analog. nice beast.
>Synclavier (There Goes a Tenner) [a kind of synthesizer?]
a sampler & sound editing system.
>Valiha (Love and Anger)
>Tupan (Deeper Understanding)
the valiha is that weird stringed thing that Paddy is playing in the video - it hangs around his neck and sticks out in a somewhat phallic manner. the tupan is some sort of ethnic drum, i believe.
--Jon Drukman
From Fiona McQuarrie@sfu.ca Wed Jun 2 23:42:04 1993
Date: Wed, 2 Jun 93 20:41:43 -0700
Subject: Defending Fender
(sob) Chris, how could you say that a Fender Rhodes sound is used by "cocktail lounge pianists". Fender Rhodes are CLASSIC keyboards. They have a lovely bell-like sound that Ray Charles has indeed used to great effect (as in "What'd I Say"). Supertramp has also used them extensively ("Dreamer", "Hide in Your Shell").
Might I note in defense of this fine instrument that many synthesized keyboards with pre-programmed sounds have a "Fender Rhodes" or "electric piano" sound.
Cheers, Fiona
From: phil@sonosam.wisdom.bubble.org (Phil Verdieck (x246))
Date: Fri, 25 Feb 1994 14:54:34 GMT
Subject: Tenets of Kate
Here is a little something I made up during the height of TRS discussion, because it is not always easy to say why you like a Kate song, or how you can describe one...
(The following is being provided in the hope that it will assist in the numerous Kate discussion/arguments, etc., present not only on Gaffa/Love-Hounds, but throughout the globe wherever the enlightened reside and possible converts exist.)
In order to assist in understanding the music of Kate Bush, there are several common elements which should be recognized. They assist in analyzing and discussing the Wonderful music of Kate, providing common labels and units of measurement. In addition they can also illuminate, providing direction in the classification of the music of Kate Bush. They are known as the Tenets of Kateness (ToK). There are, however, so many diverse attributes to Kate Bush's music that they should not be considered exclusive. It is quite doubtful that any individual could fully enumerate them. It is envisioned that this list will be continually amended to as we continue enjoy the music of Kate Bush, be it the discovery of new music, or the rediscovery of the existing music.
The first 4 tenets enumerate the most common facts of Kate music. Tenets 5 through 14 describe the numerous attributes of Kate Music, with examples included to illustrate. Since many Kate songs combine various attributes they are listed more than once. Again, by no means should the examples be regarded as exclusive.
THE TENETS OF KATENESS
(By Philip Verdieck - phil@sonosam.wisdom.bubble.org)
Date: Mon, 28 Feb 1994 13:19:23 +1200
From: dyer_pd@kosmos.wcc.govt.nz
Subject: "Booze, fags, blokes, and me." Kate in Q
I've just bought a copy of the December issue of Q (yes, I know its almost March but that's what happens when you live on a tiny island at the ass end of the world) and I was very suprised at the way she felt about her earlier albums. The interviewer asks:
"Which of your old songs make you wince?"
To which Kate replys:
"My God, loads. Absolutely loads. Either the lyrics not thought out properly or its just crap or the performances weren't well executed."
One of my favourite Kate songs is Oh England (a view shared by the reporter) but Kate describes this song as making her "just want to die".
Many of you enjoy Kates earlier albums especially The Dreaming, understandably, however Kate does not share your point-of-view. Of The Dreaming, Kate says:
"I look back at that record and it seems mad.I heard it about three years ago and couldnt believe it. Theres a lot of anger in it".
Kate seems to feel that her earlier albums (TKI & LH) don't work as albums because of Kate's innocence and naivity as a writer at the time these albums were produced. However I believe that it is exactly this youth and vitality that gushes out of these albums that will forever keep them fresh and new and will stop them becoming second-rate and old-hat.
Kate cannot use this excuse for the next two albums (NFE and TD) as even then she was becoming more the business woman in control of her career and less the gigling school girl getting borne along on the tidal wave of her own success. these albums show a great deal of courage and experimentation and the raw feelings that are expressed through these albums seems incredible compare to the drab, recycled cliches of todays pop music. However Kate herself seems somewhat embarrassed when it comes to this creative period of her life. I have to ask myself why? Has she forgotten why she wrote these albums. Has she forgotten the feelings and emotions which drove her to write these powerful lyrics and create such wonderful imagery through her music. I wonder does she REALLY feel uncomfortable about her earlier work or does she think that she SHOULD feel uncomfortable about it in the light of todays wishy-washy, un-confrontational music.
From: nessus@mit.edu (Douglas Alan)
Date: 26 Jan 1995 19:18:56 GMT
Subject: Artists and the meaning of their work
Morton) writes:
> Do artists such as Kate Bush deliberately attempt to obfuscate meaning of their work? I think the answer instead is that perhaps even she doesn't know the real meaning - or, perhaps, that unconsciously she knows it and doesn't want to deal with it.
I asked John Carder Bush this very question and he wrote me back saying that artists are apertures for God and are therefore not necessarily conscious of all the meanings that exist in their work. The more layered meanings there are, the better the aperature. Kate, he says, is quite the conduit.
Me, I think I might explain it more in terms of the incredible complexity of the subconscious human mind. Some might call this complexity God.
This is not to say that Kate isn't actively coy about her intent.
> Now I've been trying to get this out of the song, and finally realized that this is hopeless. It seems plain to me that the song is about an adult desperately trying to regain the innocence of safety, the childhood sense that everything is or will be fine. Argument? Speculation?
In this interview Kate told me that the song was about two people sneaking out back to make love. When I asked her why the song was so sad she said because this was something the two people had done innocently as children, but now they had to sneak around to do it. It sounds to me as if everything you say is in the song is there, according to Kate, and more. Sexuality is something that to children is innocent. It is our screwed up society that makes it dirty. The song is sad because the characters long for the innocent sex of their childhood.
From: IEDSRI@aol.com
Date: Fri, 27 Jan 1995 12:27:21 -0500
Subject: Re: Artists and their work
> Do artists such as Kate Bush deliberately attempt to obfuscate meaning of their work? I think the answer instead is that perhaps even she doesn't know the real meaning - or, perhaps, that unconsciously she knows it and doesn't want to deal with it. Argument? Speculation? -- Lisa
This is an excellent question. IED believes that both have been true in the past. In the interview to which you refer (our founder |>oug /\lan's official Love-Hounds interview, from November 1985), Kate -- for whatever reason -- was clearly ducking serious consideration of her songs' meaning. She made a few wonderful remarks about GOoMH and a couple of other things, but generally she was suggesting that many of her songs had little deep meaning, including UtI. She called "Burning Bridge" (if IED is remembering accurately) "quite trivial", and implied that all the HoL b-sides could be judged the same. Ridiculous, of course, as these are all recordings of peerless genius, and constitute an important part of the canon of Western civilization's greatest achievements. . .
On the other hand, she has also on occasion admitted that she had not been conscious of a song's meaning when she wrote it: Love and Anger is an example. She has on occasion conceded that an interviewer's interpretation of a Kate Bush song might be accurate, even though she herself had no such meaning in mind when she wrote it: Under Ice is an example, and this attitude is visible in Peter Swales's great 1985 "Musician" interview with Kate, Paddy and Del. For what it's worth, Kate's brother John Carder Bush has also agreed that various interpretations of Kate Bush's songs may be correct, even if Kate didn't consciously intend that they should carry such meanings. IED believes his point was that someone of Kate's education, background and interests might well bring a multitude of associations to her writing, so that even an apparently superficial bit of verse might in fact carry valuable symbolic meaning.
Regarding Walk Straight Down the Middle: remember that this song was not part of The Sensual World. It was intended by Kate to be a b-side. Only when EMI requested a "bonus" track for the CD did Kate agree to add WSDtM. You'll notice that there's an unusually long pause between the end of TWW and WSDtM (at least on IED's copy).
The song is NOT, however, a "mistake". It is a supreme masterpiece, and a moment of almost holy, redemptive beauty for our generally shameful and disgusting century.
-- Andrew Marvick (IED)
S R I
From: Steve Berlin <stev0@chaco.com>
Date: 31 Jan 1995 02:00:49 GMT
Subject: artificial snow/glitter
Ulrich Grepel asks:
> Just watched a Kate video again, and re-found something that did escape me with that one. This something inspired a good quiz question:
- how many Kate Bush videos feature some artificial snow/glitter kind of stuff?
Easy! All of 'em! That's her trademark, like Hitchcock's trademark of a brief non-verbal walk-on, or Russ Meyer's trademark of women with Very Large Breasts. Admittedly, you can't SEE the glitter/snow in a lot of the videos, but the stagehands were throwing it around backstage, and "It really looked marvelous, even though you couldn't see it on camera. It leant such a festive mood." (From an interview in Trouser Press last year)
From: Lance Day <lday@access.digex.net>
Date: Mon, 2 Oct 1995 15:39:53 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: Re: kate's studio equipment
In the November 1993 issue of 'Future Music', on page 22 there's an article titled 'Del tells what Katie did', where Del Palmer describes (song by song) the engineering that went into The Red Shoes.
At the beginning of the article, there's a little sidebox titled 'KB's home studio - the gear'.
I'll quote bits of it that describe the equipment.
' ... an automated SSL desk...'
'Monitoring is via Meyer HDL speakers for recording and Acoustic Research AR18s for mixing..."
"Monitoring is driven by a Yamaha power amp..."
"Studer A80 analogue multi-tracks were replaced during the sessions for The Red Shoes by Sony 3324A digital machines..."
'... but as an alternative we have Urei limiters.'
"Kate never gets rid of equipment from the studio, and the effects mainstays are AMS digital delays and reverbs. Also in constant use are:
Lexicon 480 reverb with LARC
Lexicon 244 reverb with LARC
Lexicon 224
Yamaha REV 5
Yamaha REV 7
Yamaha SPX90
Quantec Room Simulator
Eventide H2000 SE Harmoniser
Yamaha analogue reverb
Roland Dimension D
Roland Chorus pedal
Sony M7 multi-effects."
"... Del comments: "You can never really have enough toys when it comes to mixing!..."
"In terms of keyboards,the armoury is more limited, although additional instruments can be brought in as required:
Fairlight Series III (replaces Kate's original Series IIX)
Yamaha DX7
Fender Rhodes electric piano
Acoustic Grand Piano
Hammond B3 organ."
Hope that helps a little!
Regards, Lance Day
On to Kate inspired music/poems
written by Love-Hounds
compiled and edited
by
Wieland Willker
Sept 1995 June 1996