She's always been considered a little weird, totally eccentric, but fully independent of the typical boundaries of the recording industry. Maybe it was because all of this that Kate Bush was able to carve out her own niche in pop music becoming popular among the likes of all who came before and after her.
In 1978, she found herself creating a demo with the help of Pink Floyd's own David Gilmore. It was with this tape that she would be signed to EMI records, and by the age of nineteen had her first UK Top Forty hit, Wuthering Heights from 1978's The Kick Inside). The track, which was initially protested by the label, would spend four weeks on the charts. All of this would also be noteworthy in the history books of music, as Bush would become the first female artist to have a number one single, written solely by the artist.
Despite the success, she would fail to garner any attention in the US, which Bob Mercer, managing director of EMI, blamed on the lack of any type of outlet for her style of music to be heard. Despite this, Bush would utilize the success of her first album to set up her own managing and publishing company in an effort to seek full control over her music. Though this would eventually come in 1982, she first set about the recording and release of her second album, Lionheart (also released in 1978). At the insistence of her label, she would then set out on her first tour to heavily promote its release.
Though she would release, and help produce the 1979 EP, On Stage EP, it wouldn't be until 1980 that Bush would return to the studio to produce her third official album, Never For Ever. The album would be a departure from the initial sound established in her prior works, incorporating synthesizers and drum machines, something she was introduced to when working with Peter Gabriel.
She would receive several accolades upon its release, such as being the first female British artist to achieve a number one record, and the first female artist ever to enter the album chart at number one. Sounds like a pretty good album, doesn't it? So, let's pause here, and fire it up for today's Retro Spin.
Kate Bush is definitely an acquired taste. Despite starting strong with the track, Babooshka, which is coincidentally the song I bought Never For Ever to get, things quickly tapered off for me. At times, I felt like I was listening to a Broadway music play, and this wasn't really working for me.
However, right around the middle mark, things picked up, and my interest was piqued by the back to back songs, The Wedding List, and Violin. Unfortunately, from there, things returned to the overly artsy style which was dissuading my interest before. Things circled back with the final two tracks, Army Dreaming, and Breathing, which got my attention.
Overall, I wouldn't call Never For Ever a great or terrible album. Like I said above, Bush is an acquired taste. I'm intrigued enough that I want to hear more, and this is mainly driven by my opinion that when it's good, it's good. Hopefully, as I dive deeper in, that outweighs the overall passable tunes.
With 1982's hounds of love, the singer would fully gain her independence of her label, being left to her own devices to produce the albums she wanted. This would kick off with that year's release, The Dreaming, and eventually lead to her breakthrough in the USA with 1985's Hounds of Love. The lead single, Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God), would provide a resurgence of popularity for her in 2022, when it became one of the focal points for the hit show, Stranger Things.
Bush would release a final album in the 80's, 1989's The Sensual World, and then take a four year break before returning to the studio to release 1993's The Red Shoes. She would be one of the few prior decade artists to continue to reach platinum status in a decade overdosed on grunge. She would return three more times to the studio for 2005's Aerial, 2011's Director's Cut, and again that year for 50 Words for Snow. In 2023, she released her newly remastered catalog, but hasn't released any new albums since 2011.
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| THIS WEEK ON THE CHARTS April 26, 1980 |
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| THIS WEEK ON THE CHARTS April 26, 1986 |
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