Options
Kate Bush documentary on BBC4 tonight
This has been mentioned on the Kate Bush appreciation thread, but for those of you who don't know much about Kate's music, or are curious to learn more, there's a new documentary - Running up that Hill - about Kate on BBC4 at 9.10pm tonight. Could be a good introduction to Kate's music. I'll be watching even though I probably won't learn anything new! It's followed by a Kate at the BBC special as well.
0
Comments
I'm not sure where you get that idea from. She always gets cited as one of the most influential female artists of all time. Hardly punished! LOL
If I was to draw up a list of the ten most underrated artists of all time, Kate Bush wouldn't be on it.
The programme was a little like an extended rave review. But it did a great job of bringing out the purely feminine side as well as the plain genius of her work.
Underrated? Maybe not but Kate is more than up with the best and I do think that her reputation is growing through time.
Yes in certain corners definitely rated and cited as one of the most original artist of all time. But take another innovator like Bowie who is known on a larger scale and by mainstream audiences she doesn't get all of the attention she deserves.
She talked about this in a US radio interview she did to promote 50 Words For Snow, saying she would love to release a DVD compilation, but record company opinion is that there isn't a market for this in the UK. Which I guess makes sense when you can watch anything you want on YouTube.
That's because she hasn't sold anywhere near as many records as Bowie worldwide. Bowie has sold hundreds of millions - Kate Bush isn't anywhere near that. Bowie became a huge star in America - especially with Let's Dance. Kate Bush never did in the same way. I think even Peter Gabriel had a bigger success in America than Kate Bush.
If you think Kate Bush is underrated because she's never sold as many records as she should have done, that's mostly down to her. She refused to tour to support the albums.
Coogan made a very cogent comment that liking Kate Bush makes people feel that they are clever. A bit like liking the Smiths and Morrissey. And to be fair, Sir Elton John appears on most of these kind of programmes.
I think they tend to stop at Hounds of Love because that was easily her most successful and critically acclaimed album and after that she became a lot less prolific, so it marked the end of her most creative phase.
with those bbc documentaries they usually film the folk for a while on a bunch of topics and then slot them into other documentaries. if you watch the ones on bbc4 about music you will notice a lot of the same faces all the time and if your memory is good or you've watched a few of them at once from your PVR you will notice they are wearing the same clothing. the bit when brett anderson mentioned kate at the start was a bit of a give away to this
I've noticed this before too.
Maybe....but what I meant was the variety of people who are fans. I knew about John Lydon, but Tricky and yon rapper fella were quite surprising
I found out that quite a few people I'd never heard of were fans of Kate Bush.
Especially considering all the comparisons and accusations levied at her. I think there are influences but she has carved enough of a niche of her own to be appreciated purely as Tori. I wish they had delved further into her legacy as Artists like Tori, Bat For Lashes, Bjork and all these avant garde artist have a debt to her and it would have been nice to have been explored. Her music is often talked about but never her impact on the industry as a whole
You need to check out her page on Wikipedia. There's a whole section on it:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kate_Bush#Influence
Influence[edit]
Bush has been praised by artists of many genres. Annie Lennox of Eurythmics said: "I really admire her, she is on her own and she is innovative."[150] Tori Amos said: "When I first heard her, I went, Wow, she does things that I’ve never heard anybody do, much less me. But I could hear a resonance in the voice where you’d think we were distantly related or something."[151] Björk praised Bush's production work, saying "I think it's really original and really feminine. [...] She created her own look and she produced her own sound."[152] As a teenager, Courtney Love of Hole listened to Bush amongst other artists.[153] k.d. lang cited Bush as one of her influences.[154] Dido bought The Hounds of Love at 13 and cited Bush's career as an example to follow.[155] At the 1998 Grammy awards, Paula Cole thanked several artists including Bush for inspiring her deeply.[156] Alison Goldfrapp of Goldfrapp said Bush was "beautiful and interesting, which is not a common combination. It seems very deep somehow.[...] There was a time during my teenage years when everyone was doing ecstasy and going out to raves, and I was at home listening to Kate Bush."[157] Katie Melua stated that she'd like to work with Bush.[158] At the release of her Glassheart album, Leona Lewis stated that "Bush was definitely an inspiration for some of the songs that are on this record in terms of the register she uses".[159] Nerina Pallot wanted to become a musician after "seeing Kate Bush do This Woman's Work on Wogan was a catalyst" for her.[160] Natasha Khan aka Bat for Lashes introduced herself as "definitely a fan. I think she is an amazing artist and her body of work is so incredible and she's had such a long career and has taken so many risks. I think as someone to kind of look up to, she's a real inspiration."[161] Happy Rhodes covered live "And Dream Of Sheep".[162] Kate Nash said that she found "somebody like Kate Bush, really amazing and really inspirational."[163] Little Boots introduced herself as "a huge Kate Bush fan; I love how involved she got with the studio side as well as the performance".[164] Anne Erin "Annie" Clark aka St. Vincent discovered Kate Bush in 2007. "she's so great. [...] I got a Kate Bush record, and I forget-- I think "The Dreaming" is on it, though I'm spacing on the name of the record. It has Kate Bush in this totally miraculous ascot, too, on the back [ laughs ]. She just went for it. It's so great. She totally went for it."[165] Marina Diamandis discovered Bush's music when people compared her music to Bush's. "I got mum to send me six songs of hers in the post. ‘Babooshka’, ‘Running Up That Hill’, ‘Wuthering Heights’.. I definitely fell in love instantly. An instant click, it felt like she was my sonic sister and in a very genuine way. Not because I had every tried to sound like her."[166]
Bush has been hailed by various bands and singers. Tricky wrote an article about The Kick Inside, saying: "Her music has always sounded like dreamland to me". [...] "I don’t believe in God, but if I did, her music would be my bible".[167] Suede front-man Brett Anderson stated about Hounds Of Love: "I love the way it's a record of two halves, and the second half is a concept record about fear of drowning. It's an amazing record to listen to really late at night, unsettling and really jarring".[168] John Lydon, better known as Johnny Rotten of the Sex Pistols, declared her work to be "beauty beyond belief" and labelled her "a true original".[169] Rotten once wrote a song for her, titled "Bird in Hand" (about exploitation of parrots) that Bush rejected. Rotten theorised that Bush thought the song contained insulting references aimed at her.[170] Antony Hegarty of Antony and the Johnsons discovered Bush at the age of 7. He said: "I was drawn towards her as a kind of big sister character.[...] I still listen to this album Kick Inside".[171] Bush was one of the singers that Prince thanked in the liner notes of 1991's Diamonds and Pearls.[172] In December 1989, Robert Smith of The Cure chose "The Sensual World" as his favorite single of the year, The Sensual world as his favourite album of the year and included "all of Kate bush" plus other artists in his list, "the best things about the eighties".[173] Tupac Shakur said he enjoyed Bush's music at the age of 18.[174] Ozzy Osbourne said in 2007 that he liked Bush.[175] Andy Bell of Erasure cited Hounds Of Love in his 5 favourite albums: "You get carried away in your imagination listening to some of her songs. [...] She’s been a major influence on a lot of Erasure’s album tracks."[176] Coldplay took inspiration of her to compose their hit single "Speed of Sound". They stated: "We were listening to a Kate Bush song called Running Up That Hill and we were really trying to recreate the drums on that song for this song, and the chords."[177] Big Boi of OutKast said that Bush became his favorite artist of all time. He admired her for "the style of music she was making, from the production side of it to the lyrics. It was kind of mind-blowing".[178] Placebo covered "Running up that Hill", stating: "We're fans of Kate Bush so, when it came to this track, we thought that the lyrics had a real depth and you can't really get that in the original because she's singing it so fast. We wanted to slow it down".[179] Hayden Thorpe of Wild Beasts stated: "I only discovered Kate Bush once people started saying that I sounded a bit like her. And that was quite a breakthrough for me to find her, because then I just fell in love straight away and bought all her albums. I think the great thing about Kate Bush is the more she pushes, the further she goes, the more outrageous it gets, the more you want. She's addictive."[180] Kele Okereke of Bloc Party said about "Hounds of Love": "The first time I heard it I was sitting in a reclining sofa. As the beat started I was transported somewhere else. Her voice, the imagery, the huge drum sound: it seemed to capture everything for me. As a songwriter you're constantly chasing that feeling. I learned that recording should be about capturing drama as succinctly as possible so it can be translated to other people".[181] When he was a teenager, Gustaf Karlöf of Niki & The Dove listened to Hounds Of Love by Kate Bush.[182] Rod Thomas aka Bright Light Bright Light said: Bush "is one of my favourite writers, singers, performers, producers ever and the Sensual World album is my joint favourite album ever".[183] In November 2006, the singer Rufus Wainwright named Bush as one of his top ten gay icons.[184] Outside music, Bush has been an inspiration to several fashion designers, most notably Hussein Chalayan.[185]
There's also a Mojo special on her this month.
http://www.mojo4music.com/
I'd say proof she gets plenty of recognition.
any major artist will have a variety of fans. but when i see people like tricky and big boi i just think they are mainly doing it to get airtime as their own careers haven't been going so well. i'm sure tricky would talk about britney spears or the spice girls if it put him on the telly
getting gilmour and elton were the real scoops, and even steve coogan as he doesn't normally do that kind of thing
That's a tad unfair. I can recall both those artists talking about Kate years ago when they were at their peak. Tricky's cohorts in Massive Attack also wanted to work with Kate back in the 90s.
Yes he likes his quirky singer songwriters - he collaborated with Bjork and Alison Moyet (who I know is associated with some rather bland solo songs but has actually done some strange experimental stuff herself).