In my experience, having been a teenager and then college student in the '80s â what you describe is pretty much what I described in my previous post as being someone who was, in the U.S. in the 1980s, a serious and adventurous music fan, and who was willing to (even eager to) do those things in order to explore a broader range of music from what was being played on the radio and on MTV.
There absolutely were people like that in the U.S. (I was friends with several like that when I was in college), but that likely wasnât the typical way that most young people listened to and explored music.
The only people I ever knew who were aware of her were the people I had personally introduced her to. I git my first record store job in 1982 because of her. By which point Iâd already been a fan for four years.
Lets not forget that HoL was her 5th studio album.
If youâre not familiar with her work then Hounds of Love and the album before it, The Dreaming, are the only ones likely to GRAB you. Im a HUGE KB fan and the two after Hounds of Love took a while to grow on me, but her last, 50 Words For Snow, is still impenetrable for me.
I fell in love with her through her video âThe Man With the Child in His Eyes.â Ironic given its like the only song on the album where sheâs singing in a normal register. Then I bought Lionheart and loved it and bought The Dreaming and was blown away.
Her first two albms werent even released in the U.S. And the singles from the third had no label or cover art. But her fourth album, The Dreaming, was such an astonishing masterpiece that it, finally, got some college airplay. But zero commercial radio interest. I hand delivered a copy of The Dreaming to the XRT dj manning the booth at 1982 Chicagofest. He said âWe already have this record.â I said he better double check because it pretty sure sounded like they didnât. I was 19.
RUTH got some play in the clubs, but only because I handed out twelve-inches to every club i visited.
For the benefit of readers who may not be familiar, WXRT was, at that time (and still is), the primary âalternativeâ station in the Chicago market, and has traditionally played songs and artists that likely arenât heard on any other station in the market (except maybe the college stations).
So, if @lissener wasnât even hearing Kate Bush on XRT, she wasnât getting much airplay here.
Me too. She had had some hits before in Germany, âWuthering Heightsâ debuted at #11 and âBabooshkaâ was a big hit, but after the success of the singles of âHounds Of Loveâ, I got interested in her back story and bought âThe Whole Storyâ in 1986 (when I was 18). Kate Bush never was considered an Indie act here, but firmly in the mainstream presentation-wise. She appeared on TV shows (in her earlier career) and her videos were often played.
Oh yes, Babooshka! Kate Bush was not really my style, but I appretiate(d*) her because she was so weird. Like Nina Hagen (only saner), or die EinstĂźrzende Neubauten, when they were still bonkers.
For context: I was more of a punker back then, and I am 3 or 4 years older than you.
* Havenât listened to her for a loooong time, enjoyed it when she came in Stranger Things. They have a knack for intriguing references to my youth.
I was too young to really be a punk, but I was at least punk-leaning (in the Punker/Popper divide, I was FIRMLY in the Punk camp! I hardly can stand bands like Duran Duran or Wham! until today ). But I always have been open to different kinds of music, and Kate Bush always was a kind of mysterious singer who appealed to me.
Political correctness, I reckon. My guess: there will come a time, somewhere in the distant future, where they will produce series of the 2020âs in high school without any guns at all.
). But I always have been open to different kinds of music, and Kate Bush always was a kind of mysterious singer who appealed to me.