A new topic under the tag "Pop and Rock Music": I'll highlight some of my favourite artists and bands, presenting my three favourite albums, three favourite well-known songs with videos, three less known gems, and three special articles or videos (live recordings, interviews etc). Kicking off with Kate Bush.
Kate Bush (1958) is a British singer/songwriter, who in 1978 topped the UK Singles Chart for four weeks with her debut single Wuthering heights. Many hits (singles and albums) followed. She is generally seen as one of the greatest influences on a generation of female pop/rock artists who came after her.
Three favourite albums
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| Hounds of Love (1985) |
- Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)
- Hounds Of Love
- The Big Sky
- Mother Stands For Comfort
- Cloudbusting
- The Ninth Wave:
- And Dream Of Sheep
- Under Ice
- Waking The Witch
- Watching You Without Me
- Jig Of Life
- Hello Earth
- The Morning Fog
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| The Sensual World (1989) |
- The Sensual World
- Love And Anger
- The Fog
- Reaching Out
- Heads We're Dancing
- Deeper Understanding
- Between A Man And A Woman
- Never Be Mine
- Rocket's Tail (For Rocket)
- This Woman's Work
- Walk Straight Down The Middle (CD bonus track)
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| Aerial (2005) |
A Sea Of Honey
- King Of The Mountain
- π
- Bertie
- Mrs. Bartolozzi
- How To Be Invisible
- Joanni
- A Coral Room
A Sky Of Honey
- Prelude
- Prologue
- An Architect's Dream
- The Painter's Link
- Sunset
- Aerial Tal
- Somewhere In Between
- Nocturn
- Aerial
Aerial is the eighth studio album by the English singer-songwriter and musician Kate Bush. It was a twelve years wait, but it was worth it: for me this is her best album since Hounds of Love. Although the total run time is just under 80 minutes, the lay-out is in two CD's, each with a separate title. The first CD has seven separate songs in typical Kate Bush mode - the very long break from recording did not really affect her style. The best songs for me are King Of The Mountain, the unlikely π, the weird Mrs. Bartolozzi, and especially one of her most gorgeous songs: A Coral Room. The second CD is basically one long suite, a romantic meditation on the passing of a day, and should really be experienced from start to finish: it is 42 minutes of exquisite beauty.
Three favourite well-known songs and videos
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| The man with the child in his eyes |
The deceptively simple ballad The man with the child in his eyes is the real gem of her 1978 debut album The kick inside. Her voice, so immature in the big hit Wuthering heights (in fact, she decided to re-record it for a greatest hits compilation), has just the right character in this peculiar love song, which she wrote at the ripe old age of fourteen - the mind boggles! A fan once aptly described it as "a song so perfect you could stick a nail in it and hang it on the wall." It was a surprising choice for the second single, but did well in its own right, reaching the UK top 10.
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| Running up that hill (A deal with God) |
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| Cloudbusting |
Cloudbusting was the second single drawn from the amazing 1985 album Hounds of love. It will always be linked to the fantastic video clip featuring Donald Sutherland as her father and Kate in a short-haired wig as a little boy. Musically, it is a well-rounded masterpiece, with original instrumentation (cellos rhythmically dominating), a beautiful melody and great lyrics telling the tale of father and son from the child's perspective ("just saying it can even make it happen"). Kate was inspired by Peter Reich's A Book of Dreams which told of his relationship with his father Wilhelm. The video and song actually tell the true tale of Wilhelm eventually being arrested by the government and imprisoned for his ideas. He died behind bars.
Three less known gems
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| Mother stands for comfort |
With so many fantastic songs on the album Hounds of Love, it is very easy to neglect the beautiful masterpiece which is Mother stands for comfort. It is a slightly mournful ballad telling the tale of a murderer who suspects his mother "knows that I've been doing something wrong", but "she won't mind me lying". In some ways the most conventional track of this unconventional album but a great one nevertheless.
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| The Fog |
The fog is a track from the 1989 album The sensual world. This track continues the mood of the previous album's The ninth wave, with interspersed text samples from her father and a truly amazing violin solo by classical music's superstar Nigel Kennedy.
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| A Coral Room |
A coral room is a track from her 2005 double album Aerial. It is a beautiful solo piano accompanied ballad of the type that she should have a patent on, a very personal sharing of her feelings upon the death of her mother.
Three special articles or videos
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| Efteling Special |
On 12 May 1978, the Dutch broadcaster TROS broadcast a 20 minute Kate Bush television special, recorded at the Dutch amusement park Efteling. On 10 May 1978, Efteling was ready to open the Haunted Castle, the most expensive attraction it had ever constructed, and they wanted to promote it as much as they could. Ton van der Ven, who designed the castle, appeared in a popular talk show and in April a documentary featuring the Haunted Castle was made by filmmaker Rien van Wijk, who was eager to shoot in the latest attraction before it officially opened. Kate, who just had a big hit with Wuthering Heights, was approached for a television special that would promote both Efteling and her songs. The special was filmed in April, a month before the official opening of the castle. Text taken from the video information.
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| Christmas Special |
The complete 1979 Kate Bush Christmas Special (from BBC Four's rebroadcast in 2009), with Peter Gabriel as special guest star. That's 44 minutes of pure bliss.
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| The Sensual World Interview |
One of the best interviews with Kate Bush - after her 1989 album, "The Sensual World".
