# The #1 song on iTunes is Kate Bush 🤯 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [May 30, 2022, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-1-song-on-itunes-is-kate-bush/965373 "2022-05-30T18:48:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2022, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-1-song-on-itunes-is-kate-bush/965373/21 "2022-06-01T06:40:59Z")
Kate Bush is like the Velvet Underground in a way - even if you don’t like _her_, you doubtless like [someone](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kate_Bush#Influence_and_legacy) who lists her as a major inspiration. Well, unless you only listen to classical or jazz or C&W. This is my favourite Kate Bush cover: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/gkeCNeHcmXY/maxresdefault.jpg "Maxwell - This Woman's Work (Official Music Video)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkeCNeHcmXY) ---
**Author:** ![BigDfromLA](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8491ac/32.png) [@BigDfromLA](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigDfromLA)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2022, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-1-song-on-itunes-is-kate-bush/965373/22 "2022-06-01T07:03:31Z")
An old song by Gerry Rafferty titled Right Down The Line charted a few months ago when it was used on the Season 2 premier of the show Euphoria. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2022, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-1-song-on-itunes-is-kate-bush/965373/23 "2022-06-01T15:45:38Z")
> [@TroutMan](#): > > Sorry, but if you think there’s a lack of creativity in modern music, that says something about you, not music. There is amazing and creative music being made today, mixed in with the formulaic crap - just like there was in the 80s and 90s. True, but you won’t find this exciting music in the charts, or on the radio (at least where I live). ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2022, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-1-song-on-itunes-is-kate-bush/965373/24 "2022-06-01T15:48:57Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > One of my many college roomates was obsessed with her, so I know much about her, David Gilmour’s contributions included. I’m sure you know that, but David Gilmour was the one who “discovered” her and spotted her talent when she was fifteen. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2022, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-1-song-on-itunes-is-kate-bush/965373/25 "2022-06-01T16:16:24Z")
Ahhhhh, that explains so much. For the last year or so my 18yo daughter has been bringing me songs she thinks we might both like (which is the most delightful thing, I must say), and a couple of weeks ago she shared that one…I was mystified how she found it, but I know she watched Euphoria, so there you go. ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2022, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-1-song-on-itunes-is-kate-bush/965373/26 "2022-06-01T21:03:56Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > True, but you won’t find this exciting music in the charts, or on the radio (at least where I live). It’s pretty trivial to dig a little deeper. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2022, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-1-song-on-itunes-is-kate-bush/965373/27 "2022-06-01T21:10:46Z")
> [@Yookeroo](#): > > It’s pretty trivial to dig a little deeper. I know, I do it almost every day, my point was that by only casually listening to modern music you miss the goods. ---
**Author:** ![Toxylon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f05b48/32.png) [@Toxylon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxylon)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2022, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-1-song-on-itunes-is-kate-bush/965373/28 "2022-06-01T21:17:09Z")
I’m not surprised at the Kate Bush putdown here. She’s in my Top 5 of all time, though. Wildly original and incredibly moving, with an immensely powerful discography. ---
**Author:** ![Dag\_Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dag\_Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dag_Otto)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2022, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-1-song-on-itunes-is-kate-bush/965373/29 "2022-06-02T17:54:46Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > I know, I do it almost every day, my point was that by only casually listening to modern music you miss the goods. And if you are like me, you dig a little deeper and never listen to the popular modern stuff. I’m finding plenty of good new music, it’s certainly there. But I am utterly clueless for the most part on what the kids are listening to these days. I loved Hounds of Love when it came out and still do. I remember a friend giving me a hard time for liking Kate Bush and not listening to his favorites Billy Squire and Asia. Pretty sure he’s still listening to shitty music. ---
**Author:** ![Ashtura](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ashtura/32/2963_2.png) [@Ashtura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashtura)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2022, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-1-song-on-itunes-is-kate-bush/965373/30 "2022-06-02T19:10:22Z")
I was 14 years old when this song came out and I swear I’d never heard it before Stranger Things. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2022, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-1-song-on-itunes-is-kate-bush/965373/31 "2022-06-02T20:55:25Z")
If you’re in the US, that’s not surprising. I only ever heard it on the local New Wave station in NY. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2022, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-1-song-on-itunes-is-kate-bush/965373/32 "2022-06-02T21:01:25Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > I only ever heard it on the local New Wave station in NY. I was a DJ at our college radio station in Wisconsin when her _Hounds of Love_ album came out. We had it on our “suggested albums” list (the DJs had a lot of leeway on what we could play), and after a suggestion from a friend of mine, who was a Kate Bush fan, I played “Running Up That Hill,” and some of the other songs from that album, on my show. But, at that time, we were the only thing approaching an “alternative” radio station in Madison; the other stations were top-40 pop, classic rock, or light rock. I don’t think I ever heard “Running Up That Hill” on the pop station in town, though I do remember seeing the video on MTV a few times. ---
**Author:** ![Pavelb1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/439d5e/32.png) [@Pavelb1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pavelb1)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2022, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-1-song-on-itunes-is-kate-bush/965373/33 "2022-06-03T12:43:38Z")
You thought Laraine Newman climbed up onto the piano and sang while Paul Shaffer played “The Man with the Child in His Eyes”? https://player.vimeo.com/video/520471712?h=09cf65ed87&app_id=122963 ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2022, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-1-song-on-itunes-is-kate-bush/965373/34 "2022-06-04T18:25:19Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > If you’re in the US, that’s not surprising I don’t see why this is any excuse - I was in cultural-embargo 80s South Africa, where the airwaves were saturated by absolute dreck, and I managed to hear it just fine. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2022, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-1-song-on-itunes-is-kate-bush/965373/35 "2022-06-04T18:36:07Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > I don’t see why this is any excuse - I was in cultural-embargo 80s South Africa, where the airwaves were saturated by absolute dreck, and I managed to hear it just fine. See my post 32 – I think she simply didn’t get a lot of airplay on most of the commercial radio stations in the U.S. at that time, though she did (as I remember) get some play on MTV. Unless you (as a U.S. resident in the mid '80s, not you, personally) were fortunate enough to have an “alternative” or college radio station in your town, and/or were serious enough about exploring music that you sought out artists that weren’t getting played on the usual radio formats of that time (top 40, classic rock, adult contemporary, and country, for the most part), it’s not at all surprising to not have encountered an artist like Kate Bush at that time. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2022, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-1-song-on-itunes-is-kate-bush/965373/36 "2022-06-04T19:21:45Z")
It makes a huge difference where you are located. Just compare the British and American music charts over the decades. It’s very common for a song that was a smash in one part of the English-speaking world to be utterly unknown in another. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2022, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-1-song-on-itunes-is-kate-bush/965373/37 "2022-06-04T19:35:40Z")
Before the internet, if an artist wasn’t played on the radio in your country, there was a good chance you’d never even know they existed. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2022, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-1-song-on-itunes-is-kate-bush/965373/38 "2022-06-04T19:49:59Z")
> [@Dag\_Otto](#): > > I loved Hounds of Love when it came out and still do. So do I. However Kate Bush is one of those somewhat anomalous artists where it was one and done for me. I’ve poked around the rest of her catalogue and nothing else ever really grabbed me. Of course this was literally a generation ago, so my tastes may have broadened enough for it to be worth me taking another deep dive some day. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2022, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-1-song-on-itunes-is-kate-bush/965373/39 "2022-06-04T20:39:41Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > I think she simply didn’t get a lot of airplay on most of the commercial radio stations in the U.S. at that time, > [@Alessan](#): > > Before the internet, if an artist wasn’t played on the radio in your country, there was a good chance you’d never even know they existed. I think this is the disconnect - I’ve _never_ moved in music circles that relied on radio airplay as the main source of music. But especially heavily-censored, conservative early 80s South African radio We primarily got music info from the music magazines (NME, Melody Maker) and record stores that did imports. Oh, and club DJs and 'zines. Radio was for _old_ people. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2022, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-1-song-on-itunes-is-kate-bush/965373/40 "2022-06-04T20:44:28Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > I think this is the disconnect - I’ve _never_ moved in music circles that relied on radio airplay as the main source of music. But especially heavily-censored, conservative early 80s South African radio > > We primarily got music info from the music magazines (NME, Melody Maker) and record stores that did imports. Oh, and club DJs and 'zines. Radio was for _old_ people. One of the few advantages of oppressive systems - people in countries with decent radio and and an open music scene could find decent stuff without looking very hard, so they often don’t. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-1-song-on-itunes-is-kate-bush/965373.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-1-song-on-itunes-is-kate-bush/965373.md?page=3)