ARTICLES

University Observer a écrit:
KATE BUSH

Kate Bush burst onto the music scene in 1978 with her bizarre brand of experimental pop music with her debut single ‘Wuthering Heights’. Before long, Bush, who was then only nineteen years old, saw her debut single shoot to number one in the UK, where it remained for four weeks. Her debut album The Kick Inside was easily one of the most exciting albums to make it into the mainstream in the latter part of the seventies. On it, she went from the vivid storytelling of ‘James and the Cold Gun’ to her candid and invigorating approach to female sexuality on ‘Feel It’. In a time when female sexuality was still largely oppressed, Bush sang: ‘Feel your warm hand walking around, I won’t pull away. My passion always wins. So keep on a-moving in. So keep on a-tuning in.”

This musical ingenuity continued throughout her career. Her 1985 album Hounds of Love still regularly makes lists of the best albums ever recorded for her groundbreaking use of the Fairlight. The second half of the album, titled The Ninth Wave is a concept album that tells the story of a young woman lost at sea. From the eerie ‘Under Ice’ to the Irish trad-influenced ‘Jig of Life’, Bush did things with music that few have done since, and few would want to even attempt for their sheer complexity.

Pierre a écrit:Je n'ai pas l'habitude de relayer les articles généralistes la concernant, mais celui-ci résume assez bien ce que je pense. Je m'étonne cependant de l'absence d'autres grandes figures féminines (Patti Smith, Björk, Siouxsie, Suzanne Vega...) qui elles aussi apportèrent un renouveau dans la pop.

Emma a écrit:
Lyra mieux classée que The Dreaming ...

Cela laisse rêveur

Happy Birthday, Kate.

SDE would like to wish Kate Bush a very happy birthday. She’s a sprightly (whisper it) 58 today. We love Kate, even she also annoys us by not reissuing ANYTHING and continues to sit on the audio and video recorded during her Before The Dawn run in 2014…

Talking of which, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but some enterprising journalist has looked into Kate’s company’s accounts and worked out that she made ‘just’ £1.7m from her Before The Dawn gigs back in 2014. This has turned into a tabloid story of how Kate (“the Wuthering Heights Hitmaker”) turned her back on ‘tens of millions’ (“Gig Mistake”) by choosing not to tour big arenas, and stay put in the relatively cosy surroundings of Hammersmith Odeon.

I’m not quite sure how this is any kind of surprise to anyone. Kate ‘could’ do a lot of things to make money (reissues, update her 30 year old greatest hits compilation, release albums more regularly, go on TV, do more promotion, play live more etc.) but she chooses not to.

Lots of artists talk about their desire to live a ‘normal’ life, but still turn up at premieres and court publicity and attention to maximise their career and earnings. I don’t want to single her out, but an example is UK soul singer, Beverly Knight. She does (0r did) promotional work for Audi. I went to a launch event quite a few years back (where she performed) and the company openly called her a ‘friend of the brand’. No doubt she gets supplied with a flashy car, combined with retainer, and healthy appearance fees etc. Nothing wrong with this of course (it doesn’t make her a bad person) but the point is you probably need a will of iron to turn down a brand new R8 every year and all that flattery, attention and corporate cash – if it is offered to you. But it is exactly these kind of ‘sacrifices’ Kate makes. She doesn’t feel she needs to earn extra cash by wasting energy doing something that isn’t her ‘core’ activity – making music, and having a happy family life.

Obviously, even if you factor in 18 months of preparation, £1.7m is still pretty good money, so while I do admire Kate’s resolve not to be swayed by filthy lucre, she’s still doing alright!

Alexis* a écrit:

Bref ... elle fait partie des (rares) compositeurs/auteurs de ce monde dont la musique leur rapporte pendant qu'ils dorment.
Alors EVIDEMMENT, qu'elle ne va pas aller se foutre dans des pubs pour des voitures si elle n'en a pas besoin. Personne le ferait !

Renaud a écrit:
Le Telegraph a également publié un article mais il faut être abonné pour en lire l'intégralité.

Ludovic a écrit:Un long texte que je n'ai pas encore vraiment lu, mais qui semble assez intéressant…