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From: sre017%CCK. COV. AC. UK@mitvma. mit. edu
Date: Fri, 6 Apr 90
10:51:26 -0100
Subject: Daily Mirror by Lesley Anne Jones 21st March 1990
Hi everyone out there in Love-hounds land!! There now follows the Daily Mirror interview from Wednesday 21st March 1990, entitled
"In A World Of Her Own".
She looks a bit of a scruff, the pretty woman who answers the door. Wearing jeans, jumper and running shoes, and no jewellery-not even a ring-Kate Bush smiles shyly as she ushers you in.
There's no hint of the world-famous multi-millionaire star with the haunting voice, the sexy pop siren who turns grown men to jelly.
It is 12 years, incredibly, since her first hit, the unforgettably eerie Wuthering Heights.
Since then she has sold more than 10 million records in the UK alone. Her lalatest LP, The Sensual World, was praised by the likes of Peter Gabriel and Tina Turner. A single, Love And Anger, has just been released by EMI. But 31 year old Kate has never felt at ease with fame and fortune. And success has made her something of a recluse. Glitzy pop world parties are out-she prefers to stay home and watch telly.
Home is a modest Victorian house in South-East London she shares with her boyfriend of ten years, Del Palmer, a bass player and music engineer. In a rare interview shy Kate explains: "The showbiz life simply doesn't appeal to me. "
She says: "You find yourself being pulled in all directions by people who are trying to persuade you to behave differently. It's all very seductive. But not for me".
"At home Del and I just potter about, being ordinary-Mr and Mrs Boring! We have cuddles and we have rows, all that. "
"I like to cook, vegetarian stuff mostly, although we do eat fish sometimes now, and I'm always trying to give up smoking but can't. "
Homely Kate's sexy image is something she laughs off.
"I can accept that people might find my image sensual, " she says in that little-girl lost voice that makes men want to rush to her side. "But I'm certainly no sex symbol. Why should the way I look have any bearing on the way I sound? I was 14 when I started composing and singing seriously, and I never gave image a thought"
She says she has always been inspired by dance and she was known for her exotic performances. But nowadays fans have to make do with her videos. It is 11 years. since her one and only tour.
"People are always complaining about that, "she giggles. "I don't hate live performing. I loved it. It's just that touring takes so much out of you. And I can't delegate. I get obsessed with every last detail. I've got to be choosing what colour socks the dancers are wearing, or helping to change the light bulbs.
Besides, I get so tired of doing the same songs. I want to create music rather than recreate it night after night on stage. "
And what Kate wants-in her career at least-she usually gets. She is a shrewd business woman who has turned herself into a complete industry. She's managing director of her own company, writes and arranges her own songs, acts as her own producer, choreographer, record sleeve designer, costume director and make-up artist. But when dynamic Kate retreats behind her front door, it's a different story. She has done her best to recreate the secure environment she grew up in-a total refuge from the outside world.
"I'm from a very close family, and domestic security is very important to me," she says.
Kate's father, a doctor, played the piano, and her mother was a good dancer. With a photographer and a musician for brothers, there was endless creative inspiration when Kate was growing up.
"Now, she says, "I just love being at home. It's a haven from life, and your problems. But you can hardly call me a recluse because I stay in and watch telly a lot!"
Perhaps she'll get around to having babies?
"Mmm. . . perhaps. "She chews thoughtfully on a delicate finger. "Perhaps not. I suppose I am quite maternal, and it's something I'd like one of these days. Having a child is probably a lot like contemplating a world tour-mentally and physically exhausting. I'm not sure I'm ready for one yet. I think for now I'll just make do with one of my cats, thanks. "
In that warm and comfy world of her own.
Interview by Lesley Anne Jones.
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