Running Up That Hill: 50 Visions of Kate Bush

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As someone who has read a fair few music biographies and tends to find them very repetitive in terms of structure, Doyle's decision to divide this book into 50 short chapters covering various topics within Bush's career and music was very satisfying to me. I would classify myself as a casual Kate Bush fan (know the hits, like pretty much everything I’ve heard) and this book can appeal to everyone no matter where they fall on the fan spectrum.

For those thirsting to understand her this is perfect, getting into her music, personnel and instrumentation in a respectful, useful way. This is the first time, in a very long time, that I've had a palpable feeling of sadness at finishing a non-fiction book. The book's earliest chapters made me particularly wistful; I was reminded that her homelife with her big, warm, creative family was exactly what I would've loved myself, and I do envy her that.You’ll come away admiring Kate’s intellect, her determination and her achievements, but the mystery that is Kate Bush remains, and I imagine that’s just how she likes it. And as she’s aged, her strength of character has continued to shine, with her quiet confidence and disregard for any desperate need to grab attention in our often silly times being hugely admirable. Bush continues to produce innovative music and is having something of a moment; her 1985 song “Running Up That Hill” was used in the series Stranger Things and became a 2022 hit, her first Top 10 song in the U.

He has crafted an affectionate and informative portrait of the woman behind some of the greatest music ever recorded. As a journalist and interviewer, his work has appeared in Mojo, Billboard, Q, Sound On Sound, The Guardian and The Times. It was well written but felt somewhat repetitive, with her need to be in control, her dedication to art above commerce, and willingness to spend as long as it takes, reiterated many times. By using the Web site, you confirm that you have read, understood, and agreed to be bound by the Terms and Conditions.And I’d be lying if I didn’t say that it all started with the teenage me - along with a generation of other teenage boys in the 70s and 80s – falling for the cute looks and leotarded curves. With Netflix’s Stranger Things inspiring a new generation of fans, Kate Bush has made an incredible resurgence in popularity and has broken new records. The challenge for rock journalist and fan Tom Doyle is that his subject is a secret society in her own right. As much a ground zero moment for pop as the Pistols were for the denim brigade, Wuthering Heights, a chart hit not in 4/4 time, sang about an eighteenth-century troubadour should have been an anomaly not a blueprint for a career that has now stretched out over nearly five decades and shows no sign of ending.

Of course, if you’ve been lucky enough to sit down and interview Kate in person, then you have a distinct advantage and that’s exactly what the author of Running Up That Hill: 50 Visions of Kate Bush – journalist Tom Doyle – got the opportunity to do in 2005, commissioned by UK’s Mojo magazine, a publication Kate had agreed to talk to, to promote her Aerial album. Each vision focuses on a song, album, a point in Kate’s career, an interview transcript or recollections. Especially with the almost meticulous breakdown of the meaning and stories within the lyrics of the vast majority of her songs - I feel like I see them in a whole new light now. Bush’s singularity makes fans feel like members of the biggest secret society in music, though it’s one they now share with the Gen Z-ers who discovered her last spring, when the 1985 single Running Up That Hill was featured on the Netflix series Stranger Things. All of the information comes firsthand from Kate herself, her life partners, her family of origin, her musical collaborators, her fans and the record companies.The ageing singer was now a mother and hadn't released any new music for some years and was, at the time of the interview, finalising a much awaited double album entitled Ariel. There are 50 relatively short chapters (visions) that cover key points in her professional life including fascinating details behind her iconic albums, lyrics, videos, and performances.

I didn’t see any reference to photos or illustrations which may come later in the production timeline but the book would really benefit from them!There’s a short chapter of Wuthering Heights media reviews (Record Mirror: “B-O-R-I-N-G”), and a longer one on cover versions of her songs. I hadn't heard much about her until I heard that the TV show "Stranger Things" used one of her songs so she became popular with the younger generation.