50 Words For Kate: # 48 - Kicking

When Kate Bush began writing songs as a young teenager she had one simple ambition: to make an album. She wasn't interested in fame and fortune, didn't care about chart positions and celebrity status, she just wanted to hear her music professionally produced and pressed into grooves on a piece of black vinyl. Her wish came true and The Kick Inside stands as one of the most individual and remarkable debuts in the history of pop.

It was a different time, the road to stardom for young artists did not lie in a gargantuan queue for an X Factor audition. EMI signed Kate at 16, alerted to her talent by Dave Gilmour, but chose to let her develop as an artist rather than thrust her into the spotlight at such a tender age. Can you imagine that happening today? This wise investment would pay huge dividends, as Kate amassed a vast number of songs to choose from and honed the dance skills that would have such an impact on how she presented her material to the world.

One of the joys of Kate's music is the weird and wonderful places she takes you to through her songs. She has a magpie ability to steal inspiration from a myriad of sources, from the everyday mundane to the deeply spiritual. A big misconception about Kate is that she is a creature of fantasy, when her songs are firmly rooted in the reality of our own world; it's just that Kate sees it in her own special way.

On The Kick Inside we move with whales, hang out in a seedy Berlin nightclub, fly high as a Kite, plead with gunslingers and drop our stockings on a parlour floor. Each song is perfectly crafted, every melody distinct and unique and unorthodox. Every lyric is honed, succinct, elegant. Kate's voice is at turns ethereal and visceral, she is channeling rather than singing.

The title track closes the album and is a touchstone of Kate's special talents. Kate plays the part of Lizie Wan, from the traditional ballad about an incestuous relationship between brother and sister. The kicking she feels is their illicit baby, growing inside her. It is haunting and beautiful and deeply unsettling. This breathtaking performance was from a special filmed for Dutch TV.

Incest, Brontëan ghosts, strange phenomena... Kate had arrived and music would never be the same again.


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50 Words For Kate: #49 - Rolling

1978 was a big year for Kate Bush. The success of Wuthering Heights and her debut album The Kick Inside meant that she became a regular on the radio and TV, not just in the UK, but across the globe. She would later look back on the treadmill of promotion she embarked on with some frustration, as it was keeping her from what she really wanted to do: make music. Her alleged reclusiveness really stems from this feeling that the music can best speak for itself, and with each successive album Kate has done less promotion.

However, that moment hasn't arrived yet and we are still in 1978. Despite a chronic fear of flying, Kate traveled far and wide this year, ensuring her songs would reach the widest possible audience. This included trips all over Europe, to Australia, New Zealand and, to cap the year off, her only live appearance on US TV on the famed Saturday Night Live.

Kate was also big news in Japan, where she represented Great Britain in the Tokyo Song Festival. She also had time to make my favourite of her many TV appearances that year, on the Japanese music show, Sound In S. If your image of Kate is one of a mystical aloof genius, then I may be about to shatter your preconceptions...

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50 Words For Kate: #50 - Wuthering

Where else to start than with Kate's inimitable debut single, Wuthering Heights. The song is so indelibly stamped on the psyche of the British public that it is still common currency as a pop culture reference, 36 years after its release. Here are three things you probably know about the song: 

• It's based on Emily Brontë's novel of the same name, but Kate's inspiration was a scene from a BBC TV adaptation, rather than the book.
• Kate's performances of the song usually included interpretive dance moves that became as synonymous with her public image as her high soprano voice.
• It reached number one in the UK, Ireland, Italy, Australia and New Zealand, and was a substantial hit in many other territories (though not the USA).

Here are three things you probably didn't know:

• Kate had to fight her record company, EMI, to release Wuthering Heights as her first single. They wanted the more contemporary rock sound of James And The Cold Gun.
• Wuthering Heights is the first self-written UK number one single by a woman.
• She was 19 years-old when the single was released.

For many fans, and indeed Kate herself, the success of Wuthering Heights is both a blessing and a curse. It is wonderful that one of Kate's songs has had such a deep impact on people, but also frustrating that it sometimes overshadows her other work. As a precocious seven-year-old boy I just simply loved it. I plagued my mother endlessly until she bought me a copy and then I would spend hour upon hour playing it and perfecting what I could remember of the spooky dance moves I'd seen Kate perform. Here is Kate on Top of the Pops in March 1978, which if memory serves, was the first time I'd laid eyes on her.

Later, as I discovered more of Kate's work the song slipped down my list of favourites, no doubt tainted by over-familiarity. Recently though, I have tried to hear the song again with those seven-year-old ears, and appreciate the wonder and excitement it generated back then.

For better or worse, Wuthering Heights will be for many people the ultimate Kate Bush song. Good job it's so utterly brilliant then!


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50 Words For Kate: An Introduction

50 days from tomorrow, Kate Bush will step back on stage for her first headline concert in 35 years, entiled Before The Dawn. The surprise announcement in March sent the media into a frenzy and Kate's army of fans into meltdown. It was by turns the best and worst week of my life, as the euphoria of the chance to see my favourite artist perform live was balanced by a chilling terror that I might not be able to secure one of the precious tickets. I didn't get a good night's sleep the whole week before the tickets went on sale, with dreams of both success and failure toying with my subconscious mind.

The night the tickets went on sale I was at my computer at 2am waiting. This is not as mad as it sounds, as I'm living in Los Angeles now, and thanks to a difference of transatlantic opinion on when summer time starts, we were nine hours behind the UK rather than the usual eight. The tickets went on sale at 9:30am GMT. My hands shook, my heart was beating out of my chest and each second the computer hung motionless felt like an eternity. I got tickets in my basket, only for my credit card to be declined! This is the closest I have yet come to an aneurysm. Thankfully my back up card was accepted. I'd done it. I had tickets to see Kate Bush live. Finally the week of worry was over and the giddy joy could erupt unhindered. The adrenalin and endorphin rush ensured no sleep was had at all that night.

That hurdle over, it was now just a matter of waiting for the months to tick by. Thankfully, as a Kate fan of many decades standing, I have people to turn to for comfort and support who truly understood what this all meant . Both the legendary Homeground fanzine crew (now reborn online in conjunction with the excellent KateBushNews.com), and the more recent and admirably congenial Facebook community, FishPeople, gave fans a space to join and celebrate (and for those unlucky to miss out on tickets, sympathise and commiserate).

As you can probably tell, this is a big deal for me. This is not just another pop concert. This is a life event. The anticipation of the live shows has led me to reflect on my history with Kate and just why it is she means so much to me. In an attempt to explain to the bewildered, illuminate the curious and entertain the faithful, I have decided to put together a countdown to the return of Kate Bush: Live on Stage. Please join me as I count down the next fifty days and look back on Kate's career: the highs, the lows, the brilliant and the bizarre. Whether you're a paid-up member of the KT Bush Club or secretly stole your mum's copy of The Whole Story, I promise there will be plenty to enjoy.

See you tomorrow!


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Raw Like Sushi: the arrival of Neneh Cherry

I can still remember the first time I heard Buffalo Stance. Rarely has a record so instantly forced my attention and so quickly become entrenched in my music memory. The word "fresh" has a distinct connotation in the hip hop world, but this song and its performer were literally that: a blast of fresh sound and attitude in the dying days of pop's greatest decade. Central to the appeal was Neneh Cherry, who combined electric charisma with a confident, authorial vocal style. The debut album that followed, Raw Like Sushi, managed to live up to the promise of that extraordinary single and proved that Neneh was no novelty fluke.

The origins of Buffalo Stance are slightly peculiar. In 1986 a much touted pop duo, Morgan McVey, released their debut single Looking Good Diving to a less than ecstatic reception. It was a smooth cut of 80s boy pop (think Curiosity Killed The Cat), but to be fair was a bit more style over substance. Cameron McVey had got to know Neneh and asked if she'd provide a rap over the track for the B-side, Looking Good Diving With The Wild Bunch. If you've ever wondered what a Buffalo Stance is, it comes from the group of fashion trendsetters led by stylist Ray Petri and including Neneh and Cameron, who were known as the Buffalo group, hence a Buffalo stance is a particular type of fashion photography pose, made famous in the pages of the influential magazine The Face. Neneh would go on to become one of the magazine's key style icons.

The performance Neneh delivered transformed a humdrum pop song into an international smash hit, as the core ingredients of Buffalo Stance are all to be found in this extraordinary takeover. Morgan McVey were inevitably dropped after that one flop, but Cameron McVey knew that Neneh had raw talent and switched from pop star to producer and helped Neneh land a deal with Virgin. The two had also become an item and together they created the songs, style and sassiness that would make Raw Like Sushi an international smash. If you're looking for Cameron's credit on the album, he changed his name to the more hip hop-friendly "Booga Bear".

The magic touch in taking Buffalo Stance from B-side to worldwide hit was provided by producer Tim Simenon, whose own act Bomb The Bass was at the cutting edge of UK dance music. Simenon did not have to reinvent the song, just add the latest sounds and beats to make it current. The music video was a perfect introduction to Neneh as a performer; it was cool, cheeky and mesmeric.

Even better was her performance on the legendary UK chart show Top of the Pops, where Neneh rocked her very visible baby bump at a time when most still thought confinement was preferable for pregnant ladies. The single went to number 3 in the UK in December 1988 before going on to conquer the top ten in multiple territories, including number 3 in the US and number 1 in the Netherlands and her native Sweden.

There is a moment in Buffalo Stance that for me sums up the magic of Neneh Cherry. The song slows and Neneh sweetly sings:

Wind on my face, sound in my ears, water from my eyes and you on my mind...

That was when I fell.

That amazing debut was always going to be tricky to follow-up, but Neneh's next single would become one of my favourite songs of all time. Where Buffalo Stance was achingly trendy and insistent, Manchild was reflective and hypnotic. The song explores themes of masculinity under threat, not least from female empowerment, with the inherent truth of latent male immaturity laid bare. What makes it work though is the love in Neneh's voice. This is no lecture, it is a clarion call to men, willing them to overcome. The production perfectly sets the tone, providing a sensuous and lugubrious backdrop to Neneh's warm vocal, proving that Booga Bear had learned a great deal from hanging with the likes of Simenon. What makes the song for me though is the rap.

While Neneh was by no means the first female rapper to hit the pop charts, she was one of the first Europeans to do so and her style is markedly different from her transatlantic peers. There is an accessibility to Neneh's raps that make them almost conversational rather than confrontational. There is also a fluidity between her singing and her rapping which is rare in that genre, meaning that one flows into the other creating a single voice, not a competition. While the sung parts of Manchild are gorgeous and sensuous, it is the rap that is the heart of the piece. Instead of disrupting the song like many ubiquitous rap sections can, this rap is organically part of it, crystallising the essence of its message and speaking directly into your soul.

The music video was a stunning visual feast, featuring baby Tyson who had made an appearance since her Top of the Pops performance in utero and another electric performance from her mother. It was directed by the legend that is Jean-Baptiste Mondino and it perfectly captures his unique style. Mondino was also responsible for the iconic images of Neneh used on the album artwork and in The Face.

Manchild was another top 5 hit in the UK and across Europe, but somehow failed to make an impact Stateside. The third single, the poppy Kisses On The Wind did give Neneh another top ten hit in the US and helped the album into the Billboard Top 40. In the UK the album was an undisputed smash, peaking at 2. On tracks like Inner City Mama (the fourth and final single from the album) and The Next Generation Neneh explored the importance of motherhood and child-rearing, showing a thoughtful, connected and caring woman using her medium for more than creating radio-friendly hits. And there has rarely been a more compelling personal statement than the album closer So Here I Come.

It was pretty hard to avoid Neneh in 1989 (though why would you ever want to) and Raw Like Sushi was the soundtrack to my summer that year.Although Neneh's subsequent output has been sporadic, for a number of understandable personal reasons, nothing can detract from the enormous impact she made in her breakthrough year and the indelible impression of her debut album that showed Europe could produce female hip hop every bit as "fly" as the USA.

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Bowie's Best Kept Secret: Gail Ann Dorsey

This week saw David Bowie, one of pop's precious few innovators, release his new album The Next Day. Bowie's very welcome return was a surprise to many and a rare well-kept secret in the famously gossipy music world. While for many that was celebration enough, for me the real joy of Bowie's comeback is getting to hear the contribution of his long standing bass player and occasional guest vocalist, the quite marvellous Gail Ann Dorsey. I have been a devotee of Gail's since she launched a solo career in the late 1980s and to date she has released three simply stunning albums of her own. If you've maybe glimpsed Gail in one of Bowie's performances over the last two decades, or been lucky enough to see one of his live shows, then you are sure to have shared the Thin White Duke's own fascination with Gail that led him to seek her out for his band. So if you're interested in finding out more about Bowie's, if not music's best kept secret, then here is my guide to the some must-hear GAD tracks.

Where Is Your Love? (from The Corporate World, 1988)

Gail's debut album, The Corporate World, was chock full of wonderful songs, picking just two to recommend was like a musical Sophie's Choice. The album was potentially a tricky sell, with some unapologetically political attacks on everything from environmental destruction to nuclear proliferation. It also was risky preaching about corporate greed while signed to global behemoth Warner Bros. The reason the album succeeds is that the quality of the songwriting and the brilliance of Gail's performance make you unquestionably believe the sincerity in her messages and that the joke is really on the major label for allowing her to use their resources to push her leftist propaganda. Needless to say as a lefty boy I loved it!

The second single from the album was the hypnotic Where Is Your Love?, in which Gail questions where, in amongst all our mod cons and daily distractions, does love fit in to our busy lives? The track powers along with the verses landing like much needed "wake up!" slaps, only for Gail to hug you close with the irresistibly hooky chorus. Given this was released at the peak of 80s consumerism, it hit a nerve in many people who saw a growing divide between the "haves" and "have-nots" and very little compassion from the former to the latter. Now a quarter of a century later on this side of the economic collapse it seems prophetic. If only we'd listened Gail and found the love; it might all have been so different.

So Hard To Let You Go (from The Corporate World, 1988)

The album wasn't all politicking, Gail found plenty of room to address more comfortable subjects for pop records, like love and stuff. In fact the album contains three of the most beautiful ballads you could ever hope to hear. On the blissful end of the spectrum there's the gorgeous Carry Me Off To Heaven, which accomplishes just that for this listener. On the more wrist-slitty end there is the ache of separation on If Only You, which captures eloquently that feeling we've all experienced where you think you're the only person on the planet in such pain. But by a whisker I'm giving my recommendation to a classic tale of unrequited love.

While Gail is best known in the music world for her masterful bass-playing, not many people realise she also has one of the richest voices of her generation. Like all the greats, Gail does not sound like anybody else, her voice is unique and unforgettable. Her performance on So Hard To Let You Go is one of her best, the lyrics are full of sorrow, yet she beautifully underplays the pain, letting the subtleties of her extraordinary tone tell the story. If you haven't heard Gail sing, you know that feeling when the most delicious chocolate you've ever tasted melts onto your tongue and every taste bud you possess is in orgasm, that's what it feels like for your ears.

California (from Rude Blue, 1992)

For her second album, Rude Blue, Gail jumped ship to Island Records and delivered another strong set of songs. This time the production was pared back, leading to a rawer, funkier sound. Again picking favourite tracks is a challenge, but I'll start with a song that has changed its meaning for me recently. California paints the Golden State as the destination of escape from more humdrum environments. Though a recognisable meme, it has rarely seemed so attractive against the picture Gail paints of the alternative. The song has a great lyric, with clever insights like "time is a weapon, it used to be a gift" - think about it. The melody is pretty bitchin' too.

As a recent Californian immigrant this has become a bit of a theme song for me. Sure it's dripping with irony, but it's hard to get too cynical when the sun shines pretty much every day. As Gail says, "got to go west if you're looking for gold".

More Than I Can Give (from Rude Blue, 1992)

The standout track on the album is More Than I Can Give, which could be the thoughts of the unheard partner from So Hard To Let You Go. Here Gail is feeling overwhelmed by the demands of her lover, who wants and needs more than she is able to provide. If you've ever had to end a high maintenance love affair then you'll wish you knew this song existed. All you'd have needed to do was play the song to your pestering partner and, assuming they possessed even a little self-awareness, not only would they have known it was over, they'd most likely have apologised!

The song is so gentle and loving and the backing so perfectly spare that Gail's voice is allowed to truly shine, switching effortlessly from expressing love to repressing exasperation. The lyrics are pure poetry, it is one of the truly great break-up songs and for once you are unquestionably on the side of the dumper. As the needy, demanding type it also helped me mend my ways, for which I will be eternally thankful to Miss Dorsey.


Under Pressure (from Hallo Spaceboy, 1996)

Gail joined David Bowie's band in 1995 at his invitation for his co-headlining tour with Nine Inch Nails. David had seen her on TV in the UK plugging The Corporate World and had decided then and there they would work together when the right opportunity arose. Although Gail claims to have been understandably intimidated by Bowie at first, this was not apparent in their onstage chemistry and she soon proved to have been an inspired hire.

One of the highlights of that tour was when David and Gail duetted on Under Pressure, without question the funkiest pop song ever written by white guys. Gail gave real resonance to the lyrics, wisely choosing not to try and imitate Freddie Mercury, but instead creating her own uniquely soulful vocal take on the track. She also played the hell out of that iconic bassline, which frankly is just showing off! Happily the track was released as a B-side to Bowie's Hallo Spaceboy single, so this epic performance has been captured for posterity. Pure brilliance.


This Time (Barely Alive) (from I Used To Be..., 2003)

It was a long decade before Gail's third album appeared, but it was worth the wait. I Used To Be... is perhaps Gail's most cohesive album, freed from major label demands to sound "current" or "commercial", Gail is free to explore her sound and the result is something truly unique. A perfect example is This Time (Barely Alive), which could be read autobiographically as the story of Gail's career: "I'm not sure what I'll bring this time, I'm barely alive... I'm not sure what I'll sing this time..."

Gail's songwriting is spectacularly good, her lyrics are always fresh and riveting and she knows how to spin them into a layered melody. That this song can be read on many levels is testament to that, I like to see it as song of survival, despite the fact "the planets are aligned for indifference", talent like Gail's demands to be expressed and deserves to be heard. Gail, if you didn't already know, what you brought this time was perfection.

Whether You Are The One (from I Used To Be..., 2003)

Indecision is not the usual stuff of love songs, but on this sublime track that is what Gail treats us to. Given the choice whether to leap or leave is part of every love story, it's surprising there aren't more songs covering this phenomenon. This is another amazing lyric by Gail with the usual bevy of memorable lines, like "here I stand together, heart like a loaded gun". The track almost imperceptibly builds from a sparse intro to a multi-layered soundscape and Gail's vocal floats and twists within its lush boundaries. Though there is no clear resolution by the song's end, a feeling of completeness suggests that this love might not be "the one".

I Used To Be... is a real showcase for Gail's talents as a songwriter, bassist and vocalist, she really is a triple threat! I can't believe the album is now ten years old, it still sounds fresh and relevant. A new album has been rumoured for quite a while, but is yet to materialise. Until then I must make do with spotting her telltale touches on her many session appearances for everybody from Gwen Stefani to Lenny Kravitz. Oh, and there is that small matter of a new Bowie album to enjoy. For me though, nothing can match Gail solo, so if you've not had the pleasure, then happily I Used To Be... is available on iTunes. Buy it. Now.


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Oscar's Golden Girls

It was most fitting at last Sunday's Oscars that music was put front and centre in the ceremony. Film and music exist in such symbiosis that most of our iconic movie memories are tied to a particular theme or song. For diva fans, the show was an absolute dream. Jennifer Hudson showed why she won an Oscar for her role in Dreamgirls, by reprising And I Am Telling You, I'm Not Going, while Barbra Streisand gave a moving tribute to the late Marvin Hamlisch, singing his Oscar winning theme for The Way We Were. There were musical numbers from Chicago and Les Miserables. We even got a surprise rendition of Goldfinger by the ultimate Bond diva Dame Shirley Bassey, proving that at 76 she has lost none of her power. Then her heir apparent Adele delivered a perfectly tense rendition of Skyfall shortly before collecting her first Oscar for Best Original Song.

In a good year the awards for Best Original Song and Best Original Soundtrack might merit a passing reference in Oscar write-ups, but Adele currently rules music and she seemed to get more coverage than Daniel Day-Lewis and Jennifer Lawrence combined. Adele is not the first female artist to win that coveted award, although as it is given to the songwriters and not the performers, it is a select crowd. Here are my favourites of the other female artists that have a little shiny man in their lives.

Irene Cara - Flashdance... What A Feeling - 1983

Irene Cara had already been the performer of an Oscar winning song with Fame in 1980, but she got to hold the trophy when her iconic theme to the movie Flashdance conquered all three years later. Irene came to prominence with her role as Coco in the movie Fame, but she passed on continuing on the spin-off TV series, choosing instead to focus on her music career. Initially Irene was reluctant to team up with the legendary disco producer Giorgio Moroder to work on Flashdance, fearing she would be compared with Giorgio's main collaborator, Donna Summer. Luckily she took the risk and together with lyricist Keith Forsey they created one of the truly great movie theme songs. Irene's vocal on the track is fantastic, from the tentative, gentle opening, right through to the blistering dance anthem the song becomes, she shows the great range of her voice. Sadly this was to be the peak of Irene's career, as battles with her record label led to an under-promoted follow-up album and a prolonged absence from music. I have a major soft spot for Irene, so we'll leave it there for now, as I will be covering her career more fully in a future blog.

Barbra Streisand - Evergreen (Love Theme From "A Star Is Born") - 1976

Like Irene, Barbra had performed an Oscar winning song, The Way We Were, before writing one of her own. For her remake of the Judy Garland classic movie A Star Is Born, Barbra wrote the melody for a song, which lyricist Paul Williams then found just the right words to fit. Evergreen went on to become one of Barbra's biggest hit singles, as well as helping the film's soundtrack album to shift almost 15 million copies.

Carly Simon - Let The River Run - 1988

I know, I've already written about this one in my blog on Carly's many great songs for movies, Nobody Does It Better, but no rundown of my favourite Oscar winning songs would be complete without this theme from the movie Working Girl. This song is among Carly's crowning achievements, it absolutely works as a movie theme, but it also transcends that role and has, for many of her fans (myself included), become an almost spiritual piece. The lyrics pull off the difficult trick in pop of being true poetry while also accessible for the casual listener. The production is superb, the crashing drums, the soaring choir, it is a masterclass in creating an anthem. Carly revisited the song on her 2009 album of self-covers, Never Been Gone, creating a sparser, acoustic version, which is well worth a listen. That the song works both as a stripped back poem and a movie power ballad is a mark of the quality of Carly's songwriting.

Annie Lennox - Into The West - 2003

Annie has ventured into movie music a few times, probably most memorably when she and Dave produced the entire score for the movie version of George Orwell's 1984, released that very year. My personal favourite was her Love Song For A Vampire, written for Francis Ford Coppola's take on Bram Stoker's Dracula. However, it was her co-writing and performing of this achingly beautiful theme from The Lord Of The Rings: Return Of The King that caught Oscar's attention. Annie gives a suitably haunting vocal on this gentle track, that builds slowly to a gorgeous, swelling chorus. It provided a fitting end note to one of cinema's most epic film series.

So as you can see, Adele has indeed joined an elite group. While they may not be the most high profile awards, the Oscars given for Best Original Song and Best Original Soundtrack are an important recognition of the role music plays in bringing movies to life. And finally a Bond song won!


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