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Date: Sat, 27 Sep 86 16:43 PDT
From:
IED0DXM%UCLAMVS.BITNET@WISCVM.WISC.EDU
Subject: KBC Newsletter
A new KBC Newsletter was received by IED today, and he forthwith relays news of the utmost importance to the world at large.
First and foremost, Kate has recorded a vocal of the title song to Terry Gilliam's film "Brazil". Although it was not in the film itself, it does appear on the album.
Incidentally, any L-H who has not seen "Brazil" is strongly advised to do so without delay. When IED saw it (twice in a row) in Paris last year he was overwhelmed, and could see its affinity to Kate's work in countless details.
Date: Sun, 6 Apr 86 11:59:38 est
From: Joe Turner <cutter%umass-boston.csnet@CSNET-RELAY.ARPA>
Subject: Quick! Call British Airways!
COMIC RELIEF, the organisation set up last year to help African famine problems and to assist young people here at home, is presenting three benefit shows at London Shaftesbury Theatre on 4, 5, and 6 April.
[list of comedic perform-ers]
...
Music is provided by Howard Jones, Kate Bush, and Alison Moyet. Seats range from L7.50 to L50, with standing at L2, and there's a special L5 ticket for UB40 holders. The shows are being filmed by BBC-TV for a special edition of "Omnibus" on April 25. [From New Musical Express 29 March 86]
Save your parity bits for big cash prizes!
Joe
Date: Sun, 6 Apr 86 23:56:23 EST
From: nessus (Doug Alan)
Subject: Re: Quick! Call British Airways!
What???????????????????????????? I missed Kate perform live!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh, my life is over. I can't go on! Someone give me a gun, please! Sob, sob, sob, sob, sob, sob, sob, sob.
Date: Mon, 7 Apr 86 09:39:25 est
From: Joe Turner <cutter%umass-boston.csnet@CSNET-RELAY.ARPA>
Subject: Kate does Komedy
I spoke with a friend in England earlier this morning. He reports:
`Yeah, I went to Comic Relief. The comics weren't too good, but the music was pretty satisfactory. Howard Jones was a little limp, but Kate Bush was amazing! From what I understand, she did different numbers each of the three nights. The night I was there, she did "Sat in Your Lap" and "The Big Sky". "Sat in Your Lap" was OK; "The Big Sky" brought the house down. Literally. They were screaming in the aisles. It was the most incredible moment of the evening. I hope she did it like that when the BBC were there.'
I think we missed something great. Sigh. Maybe this could mean a tour?
Save your parity bits for big cash prizes!
Joe
Date: Mon, 7 Apr 86 21:11:53 EST
From: nessus (Doug Alan)
Subject: Re: Kate does Komedy
You guys better find a new person to maintain this mailing list. Right now I'm trying to figure out the slowest and most painful way to do myself in. Anyone have any suggestions? Hanging? Boiling myself in lead? Planting bamboo sprouts in my stomach? ...
Hey, I got it! The slowest most painful way.... *living*.
"Why kill time when you can kill yourself?"
Doug
Date: Tue, 8 Apr 86 17:17:24 EST
From: nessus (Doug Alan)
Subject: Komic Kate
I talked to Peter Morris, the editor of "Homeground: The International Kate Bush Fanzine", on the phone today, and he told me that he saw the Friday Comic Aid thing. He said Kate performed one song, "Breathing", alone on an electric piano (the very same kind Peter Gabriel used to do "Here Comes The Flood" on Kate's '79 Xmas special). At first, she seemed pretty nervous (this is probably the first time she's performed live since The Prince's Trust benefit in '83), but soon became more confident and did a wonderful job. Peter Morris was surprised to hear that she did something different on Sunday.
Joe, did you get any info out of this friend in England what kind of arrangement she did with "Sat In Your Lap" and "The Big Sky". "The Big Sky" hardly seems like something you could do solo on an electric piano.
"How I wish you were here"
Doug
Date: Wed, 9 Apr 86 15:31:01 est
From: Joe Turner <cutter%umass-boston.csnet@CSNET-RELAY.ARPA>
Subject: Komedic Kate
The dude I talked with in London saw the Saturday evening Comic Relief. I guess Kate was comfortable enough after Friday to do something different. Who knows. I'll try and have my friend tape the April 26 broadcast, but I can't promise anything.
Joe
Date: Wed, 23 Apr 86 06:17:42 EST
From: nessus (Doug Alan)
Subject: Breathing
The *Homeground* newsflash:
We're sorry we couldn't let you all know the details of Kate's part in the Comic Relief shows, but everything happened so fast. In fact Kate performed BREATHING live (very live in fact) and also performed a comic duet with Rowan Atkinson. The highlights from the shows can be seen on BBC1 on 25th April -- but we don't know how far Kate will feature in this. A live LP of the shows is also scheduled for release by WEA shortly after.
Date: Fri, 25 Apr 86 10:29 PST
From:
IED0DXM%UCLAMVS.BITNET@WISCVM.WISC.EDU
Subject: Breathing, Comic Relief
Thanks, Doug. I hope this gets through. So flustered now I haven't got much new to say, but I'll be making up for that soon. Just got my copy of the new Newsletter (#18 by my count). Major production values in the past two issues, but also an unfortunate absence of interview sections, such as appeared in earlier issues. Also missed by me are the contributions of fans, which were common during the first two years. Although I follow the discussion on early vs. late Simple Minds et al., I will comment only on matters KT, since that subject frequently seems in danger of being omitted altogether from daily digests.
The latest issue of Record Mirror (I think) included a snap of Kate performing a duet with some young comedian (a Young One, perhaps? I ask ignorantly) during the Comic Relief show. Apparently there will not only be a BBC edited broadcast of the show (who knows how much of KT will be included), but a live LP as well. Kate performed "a very live" Breathing, whatever that means.
Date: Sat, 26 Apr 86 14:52 PST
From:
IED0DXM%UCLAMVS.BITNET@WISCVM.WISC.EDU
Subject: Rowan Atkinson
KT update: The guy's name is Rowan Atkinson. If that rings a bell with anyone, could he/she explain? Kate sang "Breathing" solo, accompanying herself on the piano. She indicated that she had no song about hunger, but felt that the theme of "Breathing" was related in spirit; then sang a "very silly" duet with "lots of naughty words". The live Comic Relief album is scheduled for release on Monday (a rush release if ever there was one, since the shows date from April 4 or so), and it is my understanding that both of Kate's contributions will be included. It is immensely re-assuring to know that everyone who reads this agrees upon the incalculable importance which this news bears on our lives.
From: ma3166ay <think!harvard!cmcl2!lanl!unmvax!unmc.cc!ma3166ay>
Date: Tue, 29 Apr 86 00:46:57 mdt
Subject: Who is Rowan Atkinson?
> KT update: The guy's name [with whom Kate sang at Comic Relief UK] is Rowan Atkinson. If that rings a bell with anyone, could he/she explain?
Rowan Atkinson is one of the members of "Not The Nine O'Clock News", a now-defunct (I believe) British satire program which, incidentally, was the inspiration for HBO's "Not Necessarily The News". "NTNO'CN" is arguably a good deal better than "Not Necessarily. . .", which says a lot. RA was responsible for the many of the show's satire rock-videos, including "I Like Trucking", "Ayatollah, Don't Come Any Closer", and the classic "Nice Video, Shame About The Song".
Atkinson apparently has some background in both mime and music, so it's only natural that he and Kate pair up at Comic Relief UK. I would give a good deal to get my hands on a tape of that performance, as Kate is my favorite British musician and Atkinson is my favorite British comedian.
If you want to see more of Atkinson's stuff, "Not" can be found on many PBS stations. He also appeared in The Secret Policeman's Other Ball. Any other "jot" fans out there?
"Vote for me, I'm cute!"
.rne.
Date: Thu, 1 May 86 20:08:23 EDT
From: nessus (Doug Alan)
Subject: Breathing
I talked to Peter Morris (in Kent, England) on the phone today. He runs "Homeground: The International Kate Bush Fanzine". Joe Turner's "friend" who claims that Kate performed "Sat In Your Lap" and "The Big Sky" at the Saturday Comic Relief show has his head up Madonna's wazoo! She didn't. Every night she performed "Breathing" alone at an electric piano, and sung in the comedy duet. The Comic Relief show broadcast on TV did not contain "Breathing", but it did contain the duet. The Comic Relief record does in fact contain both "Breathing" and the duet.
From: Scott Telford <s.telford@ed.ac.uk>
Date: Wed, 18 Dec 1991
10:58:03 -0800
Subject: "Do Bears Sha-La-La" lyrics
To change the subject....
I bought the "Comic Relief Utterly Utterly Rude Video Live" video a couple of weeks ago. This (for those who don't know) is a video of the Comic Relief charity show KaTe appeared in 1986. It includes KaTe performing "Breathing" on an electric piano and also a comedy duet with Rowan Atkinson (of Blackadder etc.) called "Do Bears Sha-la-la". Since I don't think anybody's done it, I decided to have a go at transcribing the lyrics. If somebody has, then at least it improved my touch-typing...
The melody is a typical "boring-70s-love-song-ballad" sort of tune, and both KaTe and Rowan sing in an American crooning sort of voice, which sounds quite unlike KaTe's usual voice(s). The Curtis in Curtis/atkinson is (I think) Richard Curtis, the co-writer of the Blackadder comedies, which explains a lot...
Do Bears Sha-La-La
Written by Curtis/atkinson
Performed by Rowan Atkinson and Kate Bush
at the Comic Relief charity shows 4-6 April 1986.
(Rowan)
For years I thought I'd have to live alone
I never got a letter - had
to disconnect the phone
The only girls I ever saw were on TV
But now
I've got a Venus who's sitting next to me
(both)
Do I love you?
Do I want you?
Would I give my life to you? - if
I could
Do birds fly?
Do fish swim?
And do bears sha-la-la-la
in the woods?
(Rowan)
I met her in the first-class lounge of a jumbo jet
It was love at
first sight - Romeo and Juliet
(Kate)
He looked pretty rich and I was down on luck
So I charged him a
fortune for a flying fu...
(Rowan)
...for crying out loud!
(both)
Do I love you?
Do I want you?
Would I sacrifice my life to you?
- if I could
Is the Pope Catholic?
Is Luxembourg small?
And do
those hairy bears sshhh... in the woods?
(Rowan)
I introduced her round my friends - she was ace
I was no longer on
earth, but in a better place
(Kate)
He's a utter creep and he drives me round the bend
To allieviate the
boredom, I sleep with his friends
(Rowan)
Ho-ha-ho!
(both)
Do I love you?
Do I want you?
(Rowan)
Would I tear out both my eyes and fry them? - if I could
(both)
Is the Bible fiction? Is true love a contradiction? And do bears sha-la-la-la in the woods? Do I desire you? Do I adore you?
(Rowan)
Would I cut off all my toenails and put them into an envelope
- with
my feet?
(both)
Is ... godhead? [?]
Is chairman Mao dead?
And do those bears
sha-la-la-la (sha-la-la-la-la)...
Do those bears sha-la-la-la
(sha-la-la-la-la)...
Do those bears sha-la-la-la...
On Main
Street...
Date: Fri, 26 Aug 94 00:18 CDT
From: chrisw@fciad2.bsd.uchicago.edu
(chris williams)
Subject: Godhead
>Sunday evening, I played "Do Bears" for a friend. It's now a little after noon on Wednesday, and any time the industrious hum in my head gets a little quiet, I can hear bits of that song.
>What's the line before "Is Chairman Mao dead?"--who's head?
It's: (as far as I can tell)
Is Reagan Godhead?
Is Chairman Mao dead?
I'm not sure exactly what a Godhead is, but I have heard the phrase elsewhere.
From: IED0DXM@aol.com
Date: Mon, 29 Aug 94 18:25:56 EDT
Subject:
Godhead
IED believes the line is indeed "Is Reagan Godhead?" The listener was correct that the word sounds more like "Dreagan", and if he/she listens further it will become clear that Mr. Atkinson nearly forgets the line, and begins the word with this slight error of pronunciation.
-- Andrew Marvick (IED)
Date: Wed, 23 Apr 86 06:17:42 EST
From: nessus (Doug Alan)
Subject: HG KB news
The *Homeground* newsflash:
We can now bring you more details of the Kate and Peter Gabriel duet we told you about in HOMEGROUND 22. The song is called *Don't Give Up*, and is a track from the new Peter Gabriel album called SO, due out in May.
The song is a haunting ballad that will send a shiver up your spine. It is possible that the song will be either the second or third single off the Gabriel album, following the debut single *Sledgehammer* out this week.
Date: Thu, 15 May 86 16:01 PDT
From:
IED0DXM%UCLAMVS.BITNET@WISCVM.WISC.EDU
Subject: PG on KT
Interviewed in Record Mirror, May 10, p. 27, Peter Gabriel was asked about Kate's work on his album, So. Here is the relevant passage, written by Mike Gardner:
"Don't Give Up" -- probably a future single and a duet with Kate Bush --is a look at relationships under the stresses and strains of unemployment. The song features allusions to the American dustbowl and has gospel and country influences. In fact, a country singer {NME alleges Dolly Parton} was first mooted for the female vocal until he {Gabriel} again picked Bush -- a collaborator on "Games Without Frontiers" and "No Self Control" on his third album.
"Kate did a great job. I'm a great fan of her singing and her voice. I think she sang on that track very differently to how she sings on her own records -- in a very sensitive way. There are similarities in the way we work. She works as slowly as I do -- with is reassuring."
Date: Sat, 24 May 86 16:01 PDT
From:
IED0DXM%UCLAMVS.BITNET@WISCVM.WISC.EDU
Subject: PG on KT
The June issue of Blitz Magazine (glossy trend-oriented monthly alot like The Face) has printed an interview with Peter Gabriel, in which the interviewer was understandably (though not necessarily correctly) disillusioned by what he/she saw as the disposability of So.
He/she also said that the vocal contribution by Kate (whom he/she calls "our only genius") was the best thing on the album, and was frustrated to find that, when told this to his face, Gabriel just smiled and "appreciated" that point of view.
Date: Sun, 25 May 86 17:18 PDT
From:
IED0DXM%UCLAMVS.BITNET@WISCVM.WISC.EDU
Subject: LA Times
The L.A. Times gave So a rave review, singling out Kate Bush's singing on "Don't Give Up" as one of the highpoints. Only "Big Time" was criticized as too simple a funk/r'n'b arrangement, with a protest theme too obviously presented. Everything else was seen as great. Hmmmm...
Date: Sat, 7 Jun 86 23:20:01 EDT
From: nessus (Doug Alan)
Subject: The British music press is at it again.... Blitz + MM
Sometimes I think that someone should just off the entire British music press.
I just read two disgusting articles on Peter Gabriel and one on Kate Bush. The two articles on Peter Gabriel, one in Blitz and one in Melody Maker, were both written by this jerk named Jim Shelley. I realized they were by the same person by the inane writing style. In both the articles, he is extremely petty. He spends most of the time talking about how pathetic Peter is because when Peter talks he pauses and says "er..." a lot. The fact that he thinks Kate Bush is "our only genius" does not redeem him. In fact, his articles seem like parodies of all those awful articles several years back on Kate Bush, where they spent all their time attacking her because she'd say "wow" and "amazing" all the time.
Date: 06 Jul 86 12:31:17 PDT (Sun)
From: tsung@aerospace.ARPA
Subject: Don't Give Up
One day this song came up when I was thinking about a friend of mine. He went through the same college as me and was having lots of pressures, doubts, frustrations. I don't mean to sound like a hypocrite but when I put myself in his position this song suddenly affected me very much; every word I could identify with; even the KB parts which I previously thought were too long/repetitive all rang with a simple truthfulness.
Whatever may come, whatever may go,
That river is flowing
Fu-Sheng
Date: Thu, 10 Jul 86 01:37:50 EDT
From: nessus (Doug Alan)
Subject: HG KB News
Well, the latest issue (#23) of *Homeground*, "the International Kate Bush Fanzine" arrived a few days ago and there's some new news:
And these are some reviews of "Don't Give Up":
Melody Maker: The stand-out track is "Don't Give Up"... set against his sombre narrative... comes Kate Bush's imploring counterpoint, begging him to believe in himself the way his family and friends do. Her fragile anguished performance gives the piece almost unbearable emotional impact...
Sounds: "Don't Give Up", the worst song on the album, is a complicated analogue that winds up sounding like a James Taylor poem...
- Doug "Apocalypse Soon" Alan
Date: Wed, 22 Jul 87 19:22:30 EDT
From: hanna@GVAADG.DEC.COM (ZAYED
HANNA, DTN: 821-4284)
Subject: KT guest appearance with PG at Earls Court
in London
[from LH-lost+found --|>oug]
Kate Bush appeared on stage yesterday night (June 28th) during the Peter Gabriel concert to perform "Don't give up" with PG.
This was the last of four PG concerts at Earls Court in London. Although PG played pretty much the same set during these nights, he usually sang KT's parts himself.
Last night I think the audience was holding their breath when "Don't Give Up" started. The first part was sung by PG and when he came to KT part we heard her voice before the lights picked her up walking down the steps to the center of the stage. The whole stadium FREAKED OUT !!
They did the piece together, both seated at the steps of the stairs that lead up to the back of the stage.
There was some ad-libbing towards the end bit of the song, crowd goes bananas again, PG thanks KT and she dissapears backstage.
She later appeared at the close of the concert to line up with PG, the musicians and Youso N'dour's group.
What a surprise !! It was a great concert.
Zayed Hanna (Back in Geneva)
From: KNIGHT%MAINE.BITNET@MITVMA.MIT.EDU (Michael Knight)
Date: Thu,
31 Dec 87 00:56:46 EST
Subject: New Kate Bush Interview (Earls Court)
Here is [an excerpt from] the interview from the new Kate Bush Club newsletter.
Q. You also appeared at Peter Gabriel's live concert at Earls Court...
A. Yes, it was very much a last minute decision.. Peter had asked me and I wasn't sure if I was brave enough to perform unrehearsed in front of such a large crowd.. it is such a beautiful song to sing but the reception from the audience was overwhelming.. I couldn't hear what I was singing.. so if anyone reading this was there that night.. sorry if I was a bit out of tune and if you were one of those people.. thanks for an incredible experience, I don't think I'll ever forget that welcome. It was a fantastic concert and I am again very honoured to have been involved in Peter's work.
Date: Sun, 2 Dec 90 20:14:45 PST
From: ed@das.llnl.gov (Edward
Suranyi)
Subject: Sinead on Kate (Q)
From Q, an interview with Sinead O'Connor, talking about a concert for Amnesty International in which she appeared with Peter Gabriel: "He's a weirdo but I think he's lovely. We sang that song Don't Give Up with him at the end. I did the part that Kate Bush -- who I *love* -- did originally. I was thrilled to be Kate Bush but inevitably I made a complete balls of it. But then I couldn't hope to do it anywhere near as well as Kate Bush because she is a Goddess."
Isn't that an incredible quote? And to top it off, this paragraph is right across from a full page ad for the box set!
From: nitehawk@cca.ucsf.EDU (Alex Gibbs)
Date: Thu, 28 Mar 91 0:48:10
PST
Subject: Gabriel about KT on Don't Give Up
Two days ago I happened to catch Up Close with Peter Gabriel on KFOG here in San Francisco. "Happened" is the right word since I misssed the first 15 minutes or so. I began taping it because I had to do some other things. He did mention Kate Bush, but at that very moment the tape ended and I turned it over. (ARGH!!!) I didn't have the radio on at the time; it was just recording. Perhaps some of you out there heard the same program. If not, then here is what I DID catch:
Host: "The album [ So ] also features a beautifully stirring vocal from Kate Bush on `Don't Give Up'."
PG: "I wasn't sure at first whether to have a man or... [End of tape] ... so I was naturally sympathetic. And I think when I decided to put the woman's voice in as well, I wanted someone who could give it sensitivity and compassion and I think Kate has done a great job."
Date: Mon, 14 Dec 92 03:16 CST
From: chrisw@fciad2.bsd.uchicago.edu
(chris williams)
Subject: PG in re KB on MTV:
Chris here,
Someone else's post may beat this one but here goes:
Peter Gabriel guest-hosted Empty-Vee's 120 Minutes this evening. A string of guest hosts have replaced the hated Dave (insert nickname here) Kendall. This would be a Good Thing if the host had any input into the selection of the music, but sadly the host just introduces the same lame stuff that would be played otherwise.
Returning from a break we were treated to a snippet of Peter's duet with our beloved, Don't Give Up . He had this to say about the experience of making this video, which consists entirely of one shot of Kate and Peter slowly rotating, as they hug and caress one another -
"Sometimes you really have to suffer when making videos. Kate Bush, who you just saw there, is believed to have an album out in late spring - and if you believe that you'll believe anything because she's actually one of the artists who's slower than I am, and it's reassuring to know that they exist."
A few fun facts about this video; it was made by the groundbreaking team of Godley and Creme, formerly one half (the smart half) of 10cc. Godley and Creme, along with a couple of other directors like Tim Pope, lifted the music video from the morass of "band-in-a-box" that was MTV in the early 1980s. G&C had explored rapid editing in the video to Rob Junklas' Boy's Town , and had taken it to the extreme in the video to Wang Chung's Everybody Have Fun Tonight , editing on every single frame. Realizing that they had wrung the art of editing dry, G&C decided to make Don't Give Up without any edits at all. One continuous shot, slowly zooming in and back, with close-ups handled by rotating the preformers. The result is moving and simple, but the record company, accustomed to rapid-fire editing and wiz-bang effects were baffled. So completely lost that they commisioned a *second* video made from footage that looks like an out-take from Fleetwood Mac's Gypsy .
If you look closely, you can see that, in order to hug Peter properly, Our Kate is standing on a *very discreet* box, almost but not quite, covered by her long skirt.
Chris Williams
From: Robb McCaffree <NSRJM@NURSEPO.MEDCTR.UCLA.EDU>
Date: 14
Jun 1995 07:01:26 GMT
Subject: the Earls Court live recording
Wieland Willker wrote:
> TWW Vol."live" has several live recordings including the unexpected live appearance at the Peter Gabriel Concert in London 1987 with overwhelming applause.
I have this CD and I must say this particular track is hilarious. When Kate appears singing 'Don't Give Up' she only gets the word "Don't" out before being engulfed by surprised applause and enthusiastic 'whooping!' It was obviously recorded, somewhat poorly, by someone in the audience.
Robb
Date: Mon, 19 Jun 1995 10:03:42 +0200
From:
willker@chemie.uni-bremen.de (Wieland Willker)
Subject: P. Gabriel concert
1987
Hi,
it was asked about the date of Kate's unexpected appeareance at the Peter Gabriel concert. It was on Sunday, 28th June 1987.
This is Homegrounds comment on it:
". . . then from out of the darkness came Kate's voice, as she slowly stepped into the spotlight. It was a purely magical moment. The audience went totally and utterly mad. Dave nearly fell over the balcony . . ."
Yeeaah
Wieland
Date: Mon, 19 Jun 1995 12:01:06 -0700 (PDT)
From: "Karen L.
Newcombe" <kln@crl.com>
Subject: Kate at PG concert
Andy Marvick was kind enough to stop by the other day and play part of This Woman's Live Work for me, including the audience recording of Don't Give Up. It was quite something to hear Kate's voice with that first "Don't" and then as the audience realized it WAS her the commotion was deafening.
Sigh, if only we could all have been there . . .
Karen Now desperately seeking TWWLive.
Date: Mon, 24 Nov 86 15:10 PST
From:
IED0DXM%UCLAMVS.BITNET@WISCVM.WISC.EDU
Subject: Three guesses...
KT NEWS BULLETIN:
Kate will appear on the next LP by Go West. She contributes vocals to the track "The King is Dead". The LP is due to be released in January.
All Love-Hounds will rejoice with IED in being able to anticipate no fewer than THREE forthcoming Kate Bush recordings: the themes to "Brazil" and "The Castaways", and this new bit of session work. Truly our humble group is blessed by the generosity of the muses...
Date: Tue, 25 Nov 86 00:22:15 EST
From: nessus (Doug Alan)
Subject: Go West????????
Glrphgh... I think I need I couple very strong drinks...
Date: Sat, 07 Mar 87 14:46 PST
From:
IED0DXM%UCLAMVS.BITNET@wiscvm.wisc.edu
Subject: delayed release
KT news:
Furthermore, the lead singer (?) of Go West fell seriously ill a while back, thus delaying the duo's concert schedule and consequently the release of their new record (which features a duet with Kate).
-- Andrew Marvick
Date: Sun, 05 Apr 87 12:45 PST
From:
IED0DXM%UCLAMVS.BITNET@wiscvm.wisc.edu
Subject: Go West
Those wishing to understand how Kate could associate herself with Go West, here is the most likely reason: Alan Murphy, a highly sought-after guitarist who has worked very very often with Kate over the years, is practically a third member of Go West, according to the duo. He co-wrote three of the songs on their new LP. If Murphy asked Kate to help with the record, Kate might very well have agreed for friendship's sake.
Kate's track on the LP, "The King Is Dead", is the stylistic exception from the rest of the album's ultra-high-tech pop formula, being a "slower, jazzier" ballad, with percussion derived from a jazz-brush-on-snare-like sound produced originally by rubbing pants-legs together in a broom-closet.
This has got to be the most colossal waste of talent ever condoned by a film company. --IED
Date: Sat, 06 Dec 86 21:15 PST
From:
IED0DXM%UCLAMVS.BITNET@WISCVM.WISC.EDU
Subject: ied just reKords iT and
puts it into his machine...
Speaking of "The Magician of Lublin", perhaps Doug has deciphered some of the lyrics sung by Kate in the movie? That is the one KT track which IED cannot stand to listen to -- not because of the song, but because that damn Alan Arkin is yelling his foul dialogue over it, and it's impossible to follow the music. This has got to be the most colossal waste of talent ever condoned by a film company: why get Kate Bush to sing your theme song if you're going to drown it out in loud, surly Americanese?
Date: Wed, 01 Jun 88 11:13 PDT
From:
IED0DXM%UCLAMVS.BITNET@MITVMA.MIT.EDU
Subject: The Twa Magicians
Heeding a Love-Hounds request, IED has transcribed the lyrics to the old Irish folksong The Twa Magicians. Actually, this song has variants all over Europe, and its English and Irish versions are not the earliest. The following version is the one that Kate probably learned as a child, since it is the work of A. L. "Burt" Lloyd, one of the fathers of the English and Irish folkmusic revival of our century, and a great favourite of Kate's. IED transcribed as well as he could from the recording of the song by Martin Carthy (the album, which also includes an a cappella rendition of "The Handsome Cabin Boy", is called Martin Carthy with Dave Swarbrick, on Topic, 12 TS 340 --1977).
The Twa Magicians
A lady sits in her own front door
As straight as a willow wand,
And by there come a lusty smith
With a hammer in his hand, and he said
Bide, lady, bide,
There's nowhere you can hide,
For the lusty smith will be your love
And he will lay your pride.
"Well may stand you, lady fair
All in your robe of red,
But
come tomorrow at this same time
I'll have you in me bed," and he said
Bide, lady, bide,
There's nowhere you can hide,
For the lusty smith will be your love
And he will lay your pride.
"Away, away, you coal-blacksmith,
Would you do me this wrong?
To think to have me maidenhead
That I have kept so long!
"I'd rather I was dead and cold
And my body laid in my grave,
Than a husky, dusky coal-blacksmith
Me maidenhead should have!"
So the lady she held up her hand,
And she swore upon her soul,
That she'd not be the blacksmith's love
For all of a box of gold.
But the blacksmith he held up his hand
And he swore upon the Mass,
Saying "I'll have you in me bed, young girl,
For the half of
that and less.
Bide, lady, bide,
There's nowhere you can hide,
For the lusty smith will be your love
And he will lay your pride.
INSTRUMENTAL BRIDGE
So the lady she turned into a dove
And she flew up in the air,
But he became an old cock-pigeon
And they flew pair and pair, crying
Bide, lady, bide,
There's nowhere you can hide,
For the lusty smith will be your love
And he will lay your pride.
So the lady she turned into a hare
And she ran across the plain,
But he became a greyhound dog
And he ran her down again, crying
Bide, lady, bide,
There's nowhere you can hide,
For the lusty smith will be your love
And he will lay your pride.
So she became a little mare
As dark as the night was black,
But
he became a golden saddle
And he clung on to her back, crying
Bide, lady, bide,
There's nowhere you can hide,
For the lusty smith will be your love
And he will lay your pride.
So she became a hot griddle
And he became a cake,
And every move
that poor girl made
The blacksmith was her make.
So she became a full-dress (?) ship
And sailed upon the sea,
But
he became a bold captain
And aboard of her went he, crying
Bide, lady, bide,
There's nowhere you can hide,
For the lusty smith will be your love
And he will lay your pride.
So the lady she went into the bedroom
And she changed into a bed,
But he became a green coverlet
And he gained her maidenhead.
And watch ye how (?) he held her soul,
And still he bad her bide,
And the lusty smith became her love
For all her mighty pride.
From: David Durand
Date: ?? [sorry. --WIE]
The Twa Magicians is Child # 44. It is not Irish but Scots. Child himself was not impressed with the ballad, calling it a "base-born cousin of a pretty ballad known over all Southern Europe and elsewhere." Child prefers the French versions but mentions other versions ranging from Catalan to Serbian. Child cites folk tales as the origin of the ballad. Although he mentions many such tales, my best estimate is that the song is derived from one of the shape-shifting contests in the Arabian Nights and may very well have been derived directly from the tale rather than from a translation of the French. Child has nothing to say on this point, nor does he try to date the ballad.
I am inclined to think that the ballad, although not in its current form may be fairly old. Much of the magic dropped out of the surviving versions of ballads in England and Scotland, and in general the more magic, or magical connotations the older the version. The Arabian Nights came to England after the Crusades, and there is earlier shape-shifting in the Welsh material surrounding Talesein. This is all speculation on my part, based on a lot of reading in this area.
There is an American version of the Twa Magicians. There is not sufficient evidence to date it. The song is quite similar. A stanza in the American version that does not occur in the Scots version is:
She turned into a fly,
A fly all in the air,
And he turned into
a spider bug,
And he fetched her to his lair.
The chorus is:
Hello, hello, hello, hello, you coal black smith,
You've done me no harm.
You never shall have my maidenhead that I have
kept so long,
You fusty, dusty, lusty coal black smith,
Maiden I
shall die.
However the chorus is changed after the last stanza to:
Hello, hello,
hello, hello you coal black smith,
You've done me the harm.
You have
taen my maidenhead that I have kept so long,
You fusty, dusty, lusty coal
black smith,
Do it once again.
Date: 19-JUN-1986 12:16:30
From: SSUD3%UK.AC.SUSSEX.VAX2@AC.UK
Subject: Record Mirror June 21st 1986
Here's the latest news from today's new issue of RECORD MIRROR (June 21):
1) The new Big Country album, entitled "The Seer," which is to be released on Monday (June 23rd), contains a Kate Bush duet on the title track. (I'm pretty pissed that the KBC didn't send out a notice about this...)
Date: 25-JUN-1986 14:38:10
From: SSUD3%UK.AC.SUSSEX.VAX2@AC.UK
Subject: The Seer
The new Big Country album (oh no...) just got a rave review by Melody Maker, which specifically pointed out "Kate Bush's ATHLETIC warbling" and it's celtic/folk influences and overall progression from the earlier albums. Nyah Nyah Nyah....
Date: 27-JUN-1986 15:24:49
From: SSUD3%UK.AC.SUSSEX.VAX2@AC.UK
Subject: Big Country The Seer
OK, I'm going off 'round Europe for a bit, so you won't have to worry about much more KT trivia postings anymore.
However, as a parting shot, here's some stuff from the latest Record Mirror:
(The "Big Country" interview they're on the cover):
"....and the title track features a duet with Kate Bush. Stuart says he's been a Kate fan for a long time.
`The Central character of the song "The Seer" is a woman, so I though (thought) it would be good to get a woman's vocal point of view. I have a lot of Kate Bush albums, and I like her voice. She varies it so much. There's a lot of variety and texture in the way she sings, and she's always coming up with something different. She's a perfectionist; she won't give up until she's absolutely satisfied with what she's done. She has a lot of dedication.' "
-Stuart Adamson
Date: Sat, 19 Jul 86 19:04:33 EDT
From: nessus (Doug Alan)
Subject: Re: Is IEDreaming or what?
> From IED:
> IED agrees that there is no intrinsic merit in Big
Country, only ancillary interest stemming entirely from their association with
KT. Whether their music is good or not is immaterial. It is enough that they
have worked with the greatest living human being.
Kate Bush the "greatest living human being"??? That's ridiculous. Dear Love-Hounds readers, I implore you, please let us keep things in the proper perspective. Kate the "greatest living human being"???
Kate is no mere human being, she is a God! Please try to keep this in mind before you speak heresy.
Kate saves,
Doug
From: Neil Calton <nbc@vd.rl.ac.uk>
Date: Fri, 6 Mar 87 16:00:38
GMT
Subject: The Seer
I came across the following interview with Big Country in a freebie mag from HMV. Their comments on 'The Seer' track from the album of the same name may be of interest to collectors of Kate trivia.
"We'd done the song and one of our mates, a guy called Davy Duncan who used to play and sing in a band called The Shaking Pyramids, put down Barrad which is a sort of ethnic Scottish-Irish type hand-held drums - and it gave it a sort of folky feel, along with the mandolins and the sitars. We thought 'this song needs girl vocals on it' and Stuart immediately thought 'why don't we get Kate Bush?' We said there's only one way to do it and that's phone her management. They said that Kate would do it but she'd like to hear a cassette of the song first. So we sent a cassette there and she liked the song and she worked out her parts for the song, orchestrating them really well. Then she came to the studio and did them, it took her about twelve hours to do and it was just great, it was fantastic.
I think the woman is just a complete genius. She was very shy. I think we were quite awestruck as well when she walked in. Tony was like 'Oh, hello Kate, would you like a cup of coffee, would you like a glass of orange juice?', running about saying things like that. I think we were quite shy, she was quite shy as well. But she was good fun, she's got a good sense of humour as well. She's got a very 'Comic Strip' type of sense of humour which we immediately identified with and after that it was a great time."
From: ***SEMPSY*** <cmh205@cck.coventry.ac.uk>
Date: Thu, 21 May
1992 03:42:53 -0700
Subject: Utah Saints
I've had the misfortune of hearing the Utah Saint's new single (read the last Homeground if you're unsure what I'm going on about!)
Something Good Is Going To Happen is sad and pathetic, and shows really what the current music scene is like. I'm sure Kate wasn't asked by EMI when they gave permission to Utah Saints to use the sample from Cloudbusting. Oh well such is life!!
From: Scott Telford <s.telford@ed.ac.uk>
Date: Fri, 22 May 1992
04:03:55 -0700
Subject: Re: Utah Saints
Well, as all of KaTe's stuff (since On Stage) is (C)opyrighted and (P) (anybody know what the P stands for?) by her (or Novercia to be precise), I don't think it would be up to EMI to give permission. Actually, the pop column in my local newspaper (written by a local radio DJ) a few weeks ago claimed that KaTe actually *liked* "Something Good"!. How she (the DJ) would know that, I really don't know....
From: Scott Telford <s.telford@ed.ac.uk>
Date: Mon, 8 Jun 1992
05:42:34 -0700
Subject: Worse....
"Something Good" is now up to #6 in the UK Gallup chart. The video was on the ITV Chart Show on Saturday. They've stuck bits from the Cloudbusting vid in between Utah Saints concerts shots, thus creating a video of even more incoherence than your average one 8^).
What's worse is that according to the Chart Show "Not only did Kate allow them to sample "Cloubusting" there are also rumours of a collaboration!"
Oh yeah, just like Prince, I'll bet....
From: Scott Telford <s.telford@ed.ac.uk>
Date: Mon, 15 Jun 1992
04:08:20 -0700
Subject: More Utah Saints....
From the showbiz page of our local newspaper:
"We hadn't a clue how Kate would react when we sent her a tape of the track", says singer Jezz Willis."Especially since we'd nicked the strings and drums of Cloudbusting as well as the vocals. We didn't want people to think we were taking the piss. We wanted it to sound cool rather than quirky. Kate even agreed to sell us a 30-second clip of the Cloudbusting video. The only trouble was that we had to edit Donald Sutherland out. If we'd kept him in, it would have cost us an arm and a leg."
Oh, and they're not from Utah, and they're not saints. Hence the name 8^)
They're British, and used to be called "Massive Dance Music Alert"....
From: FJ!!<fjvwing@cs.vu.nl>
Date: Fri, 26 Jun 1992 05:46:00
-0700
Subject: Reworking the clouds
I just saw a very interesting thing on one of the staellite channels over here. It was a music video by a band called 'the Utah Saints' with a song called "Something Good.' The main hook was a sample from the Godess' 'Cloudbusting' "I just know that something good is going to happen" and it was layered with all kinds of bass and guitars and a funky rythm. It was wierd to watch, especially since, mixed through footage of the band playing in some club, they had some video-samples from 'Cloudbusting:' the rain-machine, Kate as a nine-year-old boy, etc.
This means, according to me, that Kate must have aproved it, she owns the copyrights to the original video, doesn't she?
Kate meets Funk. Wierd.
FJ!!
Date: Tue, 15 Sep 92 17:59:21 +0200
From: Ulrich Grepel <uli@intellektik.informatik.th-darmstadt.de>
Subject: Kate on Super Channel
Hi all,
I always knew that SuperChannel is better than MTV, at least in their musical taste. I flipped through the channels and saw Kates 'Rocket Man'. If it weren't the case that I already have 'RM' from MTV (and as such in stereo), I would be a little bit angry because my VCR wasn't ready... but, after the 'Rocket Man' video there was an interview with one guy of the Utah Saints. They talked about sampling in general and especially from Kate and Annie Lennox, two people who never before sanctioned using samples from them. Utah Saints always work like they have worked with Kate: they do their song and then approach the artist. The guy said that it would technically easier to take another Kate song to get a sample, e.g. 'Wuthering Heights', but the line 'Something Good...' would fit best into their song. The guy also said that Utah Saints were performing about 50 gigs in the past year or so. I don't think that I really have to tell you what video was played next: 'Something Good'. That's one-and-a-half Kate Bush videos in a row, like half a 3 from 1...
Uli
P.S. One of the Editors of 'All Mixed Up', the programme on which the above appeared, is called 'Dave Bush', might this be the reason for the Kateacceptance you can see on that programme?
written by Love-Hounds
compiled and edited
by
Wieland
Willker
Sept 1995 June 1996