No, not Kate, although I owe everything good in my life to her (for instance, I met my husband of almost 30 years because we were both fans, and so all of the other good things that came to me from knowing and being with him), have traveled to England twice for fan conventions, have Kate Bush posters in my front hallway, the first thing people see when they walk through the door, and did 95% of the html and graphics for the biggest (and one of the oldest) fan sites. Ok, that sounds obsessed, but I’m not really. She’s my favorite artist, but she doesn’t need me as an active vocal fan, she has tons of fans and fame.
It’s this artist. What I wrote got longer and longer so I’ve put it into spoiler tags so people can skip the details. [spoiler]I’ve been a fan for 23 years and she does need me. Well, not her personally, rather, fans and potential fans do. She’s very obscure but is a world-class artist (phenomenal voice, great music, interesting lyrics) with a worldwide cult following. I discovered her music 2 years after she started releasing music (she has 11 albums now) and I’m sort of the keeper of the flame on the internet, so to speak. We are friends and she’s very fond of me (and no, I’m not being delusional) but I don’t do what I do for her for friendship or money or to make a name for myself. It’s strictly from a deep love of the music and a belief in her unique talent. She doesn’t make music anymore but I want to make sure the music she has released will never be forgotten.
And in the context of this thread, all that sounds weird and obsessed, but I’m harmless, and very useful. I’ve been a great help to other fans and that’s satisfying. For instance, my husband and I traveled across country several times to see her live and my husband videotaped her shows. Now that YouTube exists, other fans who never got to see her perform live (and probably never will since she doesn’t tour) can see these valuable one-of-a-kind old clips and shows, for her voice/music (like this, and this, and this, and this, and this), her wonderful sense of humor (like this, and this, and this), plus her wonderful covers (like this, and this,and this, and this) and dozens and dozens more. I’ve done lots of other things too, such as putting all of her albums up on streaming audio and on YouTube as audio-only tracks to make it available*.
Reading the comments on the videos (and the fan page Guestbook and other places) is my biggest reward. It feels like giving a special gift at Christmas and watching people’s faces light up with delight as they unwrap it.
My god that sounds corny as hell. But her music my bliss. Making sure it’s all available on the internet for current and future fans is my hobby.
And, hey, it’s healthier than being a crack addict, cheaper than collecting first edition books, and doesn’t take up as much space as collecting tractors and steam engines (my dad’s passion).
- in case anyone wonders, everything I do is done with her permission and blessing, since she hates self-promotion. It’s not done for money for her or me. Most of her albums are out-of-print, and I don’t get paid and wouldn’t ever want to get paid. I accept direct-to-ISP donations to keep my web sites up and running, but there are no ads on any of my pages and never will be.[/spoiler]