# Kate Bush -- Musical Genius **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 7, 2006, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kate-bush-musical-genius/347447 "2006-03-07T23:30:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2006, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kate-bush-musical-genius/347447/121 "2006-03-10T23:51:56Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > Well, except that, for every theoretical \*practical \*reason for her lack of commercial success in the US, after proving her commercial viability everywhere else, you seem to be bending over backwards to “disprove” them. 😕 I already said I accepted the"lame distribution" reason. Some of the other reasona given, I disagree with to some extent or another. > [@lissener](#): > > To minimize the significance of her unconventionality, or whatever, by mining the infinitesimal sampling of exceptions that do far more to prove the rule than to disprove it. The implication seems–to me–to be that you’re trying to knock down every possible theory beyond “I guess she just sucks.” Disagreeing with some of the theories posited doesn’t imply that I hold to any specific alternate theory. > [@lissener](#): > > That you’re not really willing to concede that there might, in fact, be external market factors … I thought I’ve been conceding that all over the place 😕 > [@lissener](#): > > … that popularity can’t possibly be a reflection of anything but artistic quality … I don’t think this at all – note my response to the “Britney Spears and Black Eyed Peas” post above. > [@lissener](#): > > After all, if Don McLean can have an unconventional hit, then Kate Bush should be able to make Madonna her chart bitch. If Anne Murray can top the charts, Kate’s got no excuse. I realize that many factors were out of her hands. What I was disagreeing specifically with was that compex lyrics made commercial success (not necessarily chart success) impossible. If no one said “impossible”, then OK. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2006, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kate-bush-musical-genius/347447/122 "2006-03-10T23:58:14Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > You know what one of my personal godwins is? When the only response someone has can be translated as “There’s an exception to every rule,” I figure they’re pretty well done. When “_Americans are a conservative lot_” elicits no response beyond, “_Well my Aunt Gwendolyn’s chaffeur voted Democratic in 1972, and he’s an American,_” I figure the discussion has pretty well run its course. Specifically, we disagree on the rarity of unconventional music getting exposure in the U.S. Truth be told, the argument is sort of academic now, because Kate Bush is nowhere near as underground as I thought going into this thread. I, personally, was largely unexposed to her music (except for one song) … so I was wondering “what am I missing, and how did I miss it?” That’s what I’ve been hashing out here. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2006, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kate-bush-musical-genius/347447/123 "2006-03-11T00:13:26Z")
> [@bordelond](#): > > What I was disagreeing specifically with was that compex lyrics made commercial success (not necessarily chart success) impossible. If no one said “impossible”, then OK. For that to be the case, Americans would have to give a shit about lyrics. In general. There’s an exception to every rule. Two wrongs don’t make a right. When you assume you make an “ass” out of “u” and “me.” Where was I? Got distracted by the disclaimers. Oh yes. The relevance of her lyrical complexity is simply that, as one of her strengths, it’s largely irrelevant in the American market. (Insert boilerplate.) The fact that her songs tend to have complex, literary lyrics INSTEAD OF “soundbitey” little hooks certainly counts against her. The songs you mentioned all had complex lyrics, yes, but they ALSO had–this is largely what made them exceptions–an imbedded hook. How many people, of the millions that made “American Pie” a hit, were more attracted by the verses’ complexity than by the catchy “Bye-bye” of the chorus? How big a hit do you think it would’ve been WITHOUT that hook? How many people think “Every Breath You Take” is a tender love song? Or that “Born in the USA” is a patriotic anthem? Lyrical complexity may not necessarily count against a song, but I can’t think of a single instance in which complexity alone \*sold \*a song to the public. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2006, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kate-bush-musical-genius/347447/124 "2006-03-11T00:16:14Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > Time to scrounge some breakfast, after being up for 10 hours with nothing but coffee. Homeground? ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2006, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kate-bush-musical-genius/347447/125 "2006-03-11T00:19:30Z")
> [@Biffy the Elephant Shrew](#): > > Homeground? Bwahahaha! You saw me coming for miles. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2006, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kate-bush-musical-genius/347447/126 "2006-03-11T00:31:31Z")
> [@bordelond](#): > > Specifically, we disagree on the rarity of unconventional music getting exposure in the U.S. I do think it’s still rare, though your point about rap music is a pretty good one. I know that not all rap songs are about bitches and ho’s. I don’t particularly care about rap, but I do realize that lyrics are far more complicated and interesting than your average pop song. > [@bordelond](#): > > Truth be told, the argument is sort of academic now, because Kate Bush is nowhere near as underground as I thought going into this thread. I, personally, was largely unexposed to her music (except for one song) … so I was wondering “what am I missing, and how did I miss it?” That would be “Running Up That Hill”? Do you have an idea of where you heard it? The main ways that Americans have been exposed to Kate generally fall into one of these categories: 1. Friends playing her for them 2. College, alternative or community radio 3. Late night TV in the '80’s: Several videos were played on MTV, though not always because she was on their playlist. The first time I saw the video to “Sat In Your Lap” was on MTV. Duran Duran were Guest VJs and played it. Peter Gabriel played something…can’t remember what, as a Guest VJ. She was interviewed **in-studio** by J.J. Jackson at the time of the Hounds of Love release. Also during that trip to NY in 1985, MTV interviewed Kate in her hotel room. The interview was about an hour long and is still one of the best interviews I’ve ever seen. But, it’s only ever been seen as a bad-quality bootleg, because less than 10 seconds of the interview was ever broadcast, on MTV News, with Martha Quinn. Adam Curry was a huge fan and gave her some exposure too. The MTV show “120 Minutes” played videos from The Sensual World and she topped their Modern Rock charts for weeks. Also in the mid-80’s, a show called “Night Flight” on USA Network showed videos and played the “Live at the Hammersmith Odeon” concert video a few times. 1. Peter Gabriel’s “Don’t Give Up.” 2. Songs used in movies, such as “This Woman’s Work” from **She’s Having A Baby**. Songs have been used in smaller, independant movies, such as “Be Kind To My Mistakes” from **Castaway** (not the Tom Hanks movie), and “The Sensual World” in Atom Egoyan’s Felicia’s Journey. Kate even has an [IMDB page](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0124165/)! I’m sure there are other ways, but my mind is blanking. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2006, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kate-bush-musical-genius/347447/127 "2006-03-11T00:41:40Z")
OH! Duh. 1. (though it should be #1) Saturday Night Live ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2006, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kate-bush-musical-genius/347447/128 "2006-03-11T00:49:23Z")
> [@Equipoise](#): > > Several videos were played on MTV, though not always because she was on their playlist. The first time I saw the video to “Sat In Your Lap” was on MTV. I remember seeing the “Dreaming” video on MTV during their regular programming, circa 1983. ---
**Author:** ![supervenusfreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@supervenusfreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/supervenusfreak)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2006, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kate-bush-musical-genius/347447/129 "2006-03-11T02:32:28Z")
> [@Biffy the Elephant Shrew](#): > > I remember seeing the “Dreaming” video on MTV during their regular programming, circa 1983. That was when MTV played music videos. I saw several of her videos played back then, usually late at night. MY first exposure to Kate was “The Dreaming”, and at the time, I thought she was a really crazy whacked out chick. I have since come to appreciate her amazing talents as a singer, songwriter, and producer. “The Sensual World” album is one of my all time favorites. ---
**Author:** ![Mac\_Guffin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/2bfe46/32.png) [@Mac\_Guffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mac_Guffin)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2006, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kate-bush-musical-genius/347447/130 "2006-03-11T11:19:49Z")
I was fortunate enough to have been stationed in the UK between 1984-84 in the USAF. It was there, as an 18+ year old youngun, that I discovered Kate Bush. When I came back, I turned my highschool buddies on to her and her wonderous music. Now I am 40, and still a fan. Kate rocks. This Womans Work still causes a lump to form in my throat… ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2006, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kate-bush-musical-genius/347447/131 "2006-03-11T11:27:22Z")
> [@Biffy the Elephant Shrew](#): > > I remember seeing the “Dreaming” video on MTV during their regular programming, circa 1983. Lucky you! We used to tape MTV in hopes of seeing Kate. We missed that. > [@supervenusfreak](#): > > T hat was when MTV played music videos. I saw several of her videos played back then, usually late at night. In the early days of MTV, before they became a cultural whatever and people started making videos _specifically_ for MTV, they were scrounging to get videos to play. They used to fill blocks of time with animations when they didn’t have either videos or local commercials to fill the time (I have several of them). Kate was a video icon in England (though I didn’t see one of her videos until a couple of years after I became a fan) and had plenty to choose from. MTV could have played her far more than they did. That they did at all still surprises me. Holy moley, I just went to [http://www.youtube.com/](http://www.youtube.com/) and typed in Kate Bush. They have tons of Kate video. Many are dodgy-quality, diehard fans-only stuff, and many are great-quality, diehard fans-only stuff, but others are very very worthwhile for the casual curious person. Any interested parties should go watch them quick, before YouTube is shut down. I’d recommend things that look like official videos before the one-off live performances (some of which are lip-synced) and WAY before the parodies. You won’t get the parodies if you haven’t seen the originals anyway. The “Cloudbusting” video is there, as well as “The Dreaming” video, though I wouldn’t recommend that one. The song deserved a visit to the Australian outback to film the video, but I guess they didn’t have the money, so it’s done in a studio. While I love the song and looking at her, I like the mini-movie images in my head better than the images in the video. I love seeing the “Cloudbusting” video again, I haven’t seen it for a while. My husband and I met Kate when she came to New York in 1985, right after the release of the 12" of that song. The sleeve had a picture of her from the video, but we didn’t know what the song was about, we hadn’t heard the background (regarding Peter and Wilhelm Reich), nor had we seen the video at the time and didn’t realize that the picture was from the video. I was a right royal doofus, and the only thing I could think to say, standing there looking at her beautiful long brown hair, was “I thought you cut your hair” which just made her laugh. She was very sweet. Meeting idols when you’re an inarticulate fool is not recommended. Musically, the “Cloudbusting” video is longer than the single or album version. More instrumental was added for the scenes showing Wilhelm and Peter interacting in the lab and the feds coming to arrest Wilhelm. And, uh, no, Kate is not the greatest actress in the world. She has flaws. She’s a human being. Damn. 😉 There are some things there at YouTube that I’ve never even seen, like the VH-1 documentary (broken up into 7 parts, wow). I can’t imagine why I’ve never even heard about it, since my husband and I have a huge collection of Kate video. Hours and hours and hours. It boggles my mind that it escaped our attention. YouTube even has the opening credits to **Castaway** where “Be Kind To My Mistakes” plays. I love it because, besides being a good song, Kate wrote it specifically for the movie, so the lyrics have everything to do with what happens in the movie. It and “This Woman’s Work” are the only songs she specifically wrote for films. Both should have been nominated for Oscars, IMVBO (In My Very Biased Opinion). She didn’t write “The Magician” used in **The Magician of Lublin** (I believe Maurice Jarre wrote it). The video to “This Woman’s Work” (directed by Kate) is up there too. It’s nice, but I prefer the scenes as the song is played in the movie. I’d also recommend (not going to link because I don’t know if it’s permitted) “The Sensual World” video. Oh my lord it’s so beautiful! The red dress she wears in that video is the same one that actor Guy Pierce (LA Confidential) bought for his wife at a charity auction (he’s a huge fan and was involved in the fandom at one time). ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2006, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kate-bush-musical-genius/347447/132 "2006-03-11T13:02:19Z")
Looking for something entirely unrelated I came across this in reviewing _Aerial_: \*\*Mojo \*\* Kate Bush is the greatest living British artist in song and this is her masterpiece. [Dec 2005, p.96] ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2006, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kate-bush-musical-genius/347447/133 "2006-03-11T14:12:44Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > Oh yes. The relevance of her lyrical complexity is simply that, as one of her strengths, it’s largely irrelevant in the American market. (Insert boilerplate.) The fact that her songs tend to have complex, literary lyrics INSTEAD OF “soundbitey” little hooks certainly counts against her. The songs you mentioned all had complex lyrics, yes, but they ALSO had–this is largely what made them exceptions–an imbedded hook. > > Lyrical complexity may not necessarily count against a song, but I can’t think of a single instance in which complexity alone \*sold \*a song to the public. And lyrical complexity explains Kate’s penetration into the Japanese market how? Lyrical complexity usually works towards selling a song because the US consumer is as sick of “I love her/she loves me” songs as everyone else. I’d say that Kansas’ “Dust in the Wind” was just as literary and pretentious as a Kate Bush song, and it sold like gangbusters. Heck, I’m all about lyrical complexity in songs – I listen mostly to acoustic singer/songwriter types. And I’m all about stylistic female vocalists – I loved Renaissance back in the 70’s and they could give Kate some pointers on arty and literary. I just plain \* did not like many of Kate’s songs \*. Simple as that. It may be fun to denigrate the American listening public and dismiss them as a bunch of parochial yahoos, but I think you just have to accept that Kate’s vocal and performance style (which some describe as warbling and screeching) is not everyone’s cup of tea. (After all, to appreciate literary complexity, you have to be able to understand the words, and that’s not always easy in a Kate Bush song.) ---
**Author:** ![CBCD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc348/32.png) [@CBCD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CBCD)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2006, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kate-bush-musical-genius/347447/134 "2006-03-11T16:21:07Z")
> [@supervenusfreak](#): > > That was when MTV played music videos. I saw several of her videos played back then, usually late at night. > > MY first exposure to Kate was “The Dreaming”, and at the time, I thought she was a really crazy whacked out chick. I have since come to appreciate her amazing talents as a singer, songwriter, and producer. “The Sensual World” album is one of my all time favorites. You know what? She \*is \* a really crazy whacked out chick, and I mean that in a good way. I once heard Kate Bush referred to as ‘The most stoned woman in England.’ That still makes me laugh out loud. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2006, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kate-bush-musical-genius/347447/135 "2006-03-11T21:10:34Z")
> [@Finagle](#): > > And lyrical complexity explains Kate’s penetration into the Japanese market how? > > Lyrical complexity usually works towards selling a song because the US consumer is as sick of “I love her/she loves me” songs as everyone else. I’d say that Kansas’ “Dust in the Wind” was just as literary and pretentious as a Kate Bush song, and it sold like gangbusters. > > Heck, I’m all about lyrical complexity in songs – I listen mostly to acoustic singer/songwriter types. And I’m all about stylistic female vocalists – I loved Renaissance back in the 70’s and they could give Kate some pointers on arty and literary. I just plain \* did not like many of Kate’s songs \*. Simple as that. > > It may be fun to denigrate the American listening public and dismiss them as a bunch of parochial yahoos, but I think you just have to accept that Kate’s vocal and performance style (which some describe as warbling and screeching) is not everyone’s cup of tea. (After all, to appreciate literary complexity, you have to be able to understand the words, and that’s not always easy in a Kate Bush song.) Dude, you are just not paying attention. People are discussing a wide variety of various factors that makes Kate Bush not your average easily assimilated American-style artist. No one has said any of the things that you are arguing against. As you are far from the first person in this thread to point out, lyrical complexity in no way precludes commercial success. As far as Japanese success, who knows? We’re waxing theoretical about the American market, not the Japanese market. Discussions of why something DID happen are always going to utterly different from discussions of why something did NOT happen; one has real, concrete issues to examine; one is totally theoretical. The larger discussion here is why does ANY artist become popular? This is ultimately unanswerable. So the question of why an artist does NOT become popular is doubly so. In any case, Kate got a lot of marketing support in Japan, and zero in the US. And any cursory glimpse at Japanese charts will show you that the Japanese market has musical tastes that couldn’t possibly be more different from the tastes of the US market. So still we have people unfathomably emotionally invested in promulgating the argument that the ONLY possible reason Kate Bush was no Britney Spears in the US charts was because she sucks end of story what part of sucks don’t you understand. (Although, to be frank, you lost me at “Dust in the Wind.” That and your other comparisons make it pretty clear that your discussion of Kate is purely theoretical, and you haven’t heard very much of her; just enough to know you don’t like her voice and don’t want to hear any more. Whatever, you’re not alone. But as difficult it is to “prove a negative,” especially in an aesthetic discussion, it’s even more difficult depending on how intimately familiar you are with the work of the artist under discussion.) ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2006, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kate-bush-musical-genius/347447/136 "2006-03-11T21:19:41Z")
> [@Equipoise](#): > > Holy moley, I just went to [http://www.youtube.com/](http://www.youtube.com/) and typed in Kate Bush. They have tons of Kate video. The live performance of “Running Up That Hill” with David Gimour on guitar is pretty cool. ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2006, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kate-bush-musical-genius/347447/137 "2006-03-12T04:18:32Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > Dude, you are just not paying attention. > : : : > So still we have people unfathomably emotionally invested in promulgating the argument that the ONLY possible reason Kate Bush was no Britney Spears in the US charts was because she sucks end of story what part of sucks don’t you understand. > > (Although, to be frank, you lost me at “Dust in the Wind.” That and your other comparisons make it pretty clear that your discussion of Kate is purely theoretical, and you haven’t heard very much of her; just enough to know you don’t like her voice and don’t want to hear any more. You know, I’m getting fairly tired of people on the Straight Dope using “You’re not paying attention” (or “You don’t know how to read”) as a rhetorical argument. Especially when they use it as shorthand for “I’m losing this argument”. That said, you’re not paying attention. I recommended “The Whole Story” in the fifth or sixth post of this thread. A clear-thinking person would assume (correctly) that I own, have listened to it, and like it I bought “Never For Ever” 25 years ago and did my best to like it. Really, I tried. It came highly recommended. It had really cool cover art. Just didn’t care that much for it. I’ve got “Hounds of Love” and like it although I don’t think I’ll be loading “The Ninth Wave” onto my iPod anytime soon. I’ve got “The Kick Inside” and liked it not so much. So – does “largely theoretical” mean “own and have listened extensively to four of her albums”? I don’t think so. The strongest thing I’ve said about KB is “not everyone’s cup of tea”. That’s a long way from “suck”. I think you should stop taking it so hard if everyone on the planet doesn’t adore an artist who you happen to idolize. Because it should be clear by now that one person’s genius is another person’s “meh”. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2006, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kate-bush-musical-genius/347447/138 "2006-03-12T05:18:56Z")
Thanks. Interesting that you only responded to the “soft” part of my post, wherein I was making WAGs about your listening history, etc., while ignoring the part of my post were I was actually responding to your previous post. I actually thought, while I was writing that last couple paragraphs, that it was stupid of me to do so; that I was just handing you something to focus on to ignore the substantive part of my post. You even go so far as to excise the only parts of my post that were actually germane to the conversation. Thanks for not disappointing. The “not paying attention part” was because the points you thought you were making have either been made and remade several times in the thread, or were “responding” to things that have not been said. It was very clear from you post that you have not, in fact, been paying attention. (But that’s a freebie, so you can write a post entirely about the “paying attention” part, and continue to ignore the substantive parts of my last post.) I’ll reiterate them, just in case, since you cut them out of your last post: > [@](#): > > People are discussing a wide variety of various factors that makes Kate Bush not your average easily assimilated American-style artist. No one has said any of the things that you are arguing against. As you are far from the first person in this thread to point out, lyrical complexity in no way precludes commercial success. > > As far as Japanese success, who knows? We’re waxing theoretical about the American market, not the Japanese market. Discussions of why something DID happen are always going to utterly different from discussions of why something did NOT happen; one has real, concrete issues to examine; one is totally theoretical. > > The larger discussion here is why does ANY artist become popular? This is ultimately unanswerable. So the question of why an artist does NOT become popular is doubly so. In any case, Kate got a lot of marketing support in Japan, and zero in the US. And any cursory glimpse at Japanese charts will show you that the Japanese market has musical tastes that couldn’t possibly be more different from the tastes of the US market. ---
**Author:** ![Hippy\_Hollow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hippy_hollow/32/4841_2.png) [@Hippy\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hippy_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2006, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kate-bush-musical-genius/347447/139 "2006-03-12T06:47:47Z")
> [@](#): > > I was fortunate enough to have been stationed in the UK between 1984-84 in the USAF. It was there, as an 18+ year old youngun, that I discovered Kate Bush. > > When I came back, I turned my highschool buddies on to her and her wonderous music. Similarly, my dad was stationed in the UK and we lived there from 1975-1986… during that time I heard Kate doing “Wuthering Heights.” I saw her as well. Yeah, I’m a fan. But not obsessive - I don’t own most of her music, and there are definitely songs I don’t like of hers (e.g., her cover of “Rocket Man”). But when she’s on, she’s on. My favorite songs are Cloudbusting, Babooshka, Wuthering Heights, Running Up That Hill. Kate also has exquisite tastes in musicians - she hired the late Alan Murphy (Go West, Level 42) to play on many of her records. I think the coda in WH is one of the most beautiful moments in music. I have The Whole Story on VHS. She is very much a multimedia artist, and some of her videos are a little challenging. Cloudbusting is great though. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2006, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kate-bush-musical-genius/347447/140 "2006-03-12T07:16:54Z")
> [@CBCD](#): > > I once heard Kate Bush referred to as ‘The most stoned woman in England.’ That still makes me laugh out loud. I think that came from people who can’t imagine such a vivid imagination coming from someone not on drugs. Peter Max got that. Frank Zappa got that. Picasso probably got that. If she ever liked to toke, good for her, I’m sure she got the best stuff, but it’s never been proven or confirmed in any way. As far as being a “Most,” she does have a claim to fame. I have no cite for this, but before Princess Diana came along, Kate was the most photographed woman in England. The pictures section at Gaffaweb only scratch the surface. > [@lissener](#): > > As far as Japanese success, who knows? We’re waxing theoretical about the American market, not the Japanese market. Her song “Moving” was enterered in the Tokyo Song Festival and she performed it live on TV in front of 35 million people. That kinda helped. She came in 2nd to, I think, Al Green. > [@Hippy Hollow](#): > > there are definitely songs I don’t like of hers (e.g., **her cover of “Rocket Man”** ). But when she’s on, she’s on. > > …Kate also has exquisite tastes in musicians - she hired the late **Alan Murphy** (Go West, Level 42) to play on many of her records. I think the coda in WH is one of the most beautiful moments in music. I can’t talk you into liking a song of course, but I think “Rocket Man” is a wonderful cover. It’s too bad you don’t like it if you’re an Alan Murphy fan, because that was the last track he worked on with her before he died (as far as I know). The video is a fun little number with Kate playing ukelele and conducting fireworks. She’s not always the [frown, intense stare] **serious artist** [/frown, intense stare], and has a wicked sense of humor. Other band members appear in the video, but she didn’t just hire a guitarist to pretend to play in the video. There’s a poignant moment when, during the guitar solo, an empty chair with a guitar on it is shown, in tribute to Alan. I love that. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kate-bush-musical-genius/347447.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kate-bush-musical-genius/347447.md?page=8)