Seems like there are a few fans here (I am one of them), and since Stranger Things has introduced her brilliance to new generations, I figured she might be worthy of her own dedicated thread.

I’ve been so happy to see her pop up on her website thanking fans for the recent chart success of “Running Up That Hill,” but BBC Radio 4 just released a rare treat—a new interview with her. Lovely to hear her voice in 2022:

 

Has anyone ever mentioned that Babooshka is the female version of Rupert Holmes' Pina Colada Song?

Babooshka lyric

She wanted to test her husband
She knew exactly what to do
A pseudonym
To fool him
She couldn't have made a worst move

She sent him scented letters
And he received them with a strange delight

 

Escape (Pina Colada)

 

I was tired of my lady
We'd been together too long
Like a worn out recording
Of a favorite song

So while she lay there sleepin'
I read the paper in bed
And in the personal columns
There was this letter I read

 

I was a teen in the 80s and NEVER EVER heard of her or her music until Stranger Things, how is that possible? LOL

42 minutes ago, j swift said:

Has anyone ever mentioned that Babooshka is the female version of Rupert Holmes' Pina Colada Song?

Babooshka lyric

She wanted to test her husband
She knew exactly what to do
A pseudonym
To fool him
She couldn't have made a worst move

She sent him scented letters
And he received them with a strange delight

 

Escape (Pina Colada)

 

I was tired of my lady
We'd been together too long
Like a worn out recording
Of a favorite song

So while she lay there sleepin'
I read the paper in bed
And in the personal columns
There was this letter I read

 

LOL I’d never made that connection. I see others have too. 

 

5 minutes ago, dragonflies said:

I was a teen in the 80s and NEVER EVER heard of her or her music until Stranger Things, how is that possible? LOL

She was never more than a cult artist here in the U.S., but RUTH did make the Top 30 in its original release. And of course she contributed to popular songs like Peter Gabriel’s “Don’t Give Up”:

I first learned of her in a Entertainment Weekly review in the ‘90s where the critic compared Jewel’s “Foolish Games” to Kate lol. I was a tyke in ‘80s so I didn’t have a deep knowledge of anyone beyond what I saw on MTV, BET, and VH1 or on the radio.

I always wanted to twirl through a forest like this:

 

This is also a good beginner’s guide to her via Reddit:

 

One simply cannot discuss Kate Bush without this.... 

 

4 minutes ago, I Am A Swede said:

One simply cannot discuss Kate Bush without this.... 

 

Have you taken part in one of these?

 

This was great, by the way:

 

Even though her concept albums would be great to see as a stage musical, I think it is her unique voice that heightens the excitement, so covers in a jukebox musical would not do her justice.

3 hours ago, j swift said:

Even though her concept albums would be great to see as a stage musical, I think it is her unique voice that heightens the excitement, so covers in a jukebox musical would not do her justice.

Oh god. I hate jukebox musicals. I’d rather see Kate create a completely new work if she were to involve herself in musical theater. Or do like Pet Shop Boys did with Closer to Heaven and use a couple of older songs as a jumping-off point for a mostly new work.

I think the actual performed/scripted components of her last live exhibition ("Before the Dawn") a few years ago - featuring her grown son, etc, which had actual characters and a narrative based on the Hounds of Love album, IIRC - are probably as close as anyone will get to a stage show and IMO that's for the best. Did they ever release Before the Dawn as a filmed DVD/Blu-Ray? They definitely released it as an album.

 

Edited June 22, 20223 yr by Vee

9 minutes ago, Vee said:

I think the actual performed/scripted components of her last live exhibition ("Before the Dawn") a few years ago - featuring her grown son, etc, which had actual characters and a narrative based on the Hounds of Love album, IIRC - are probably as close as anyone will get to a stage show and IMO that's for the best. Did they ever release Before the Dawn as a filmed DVD/Blu-Ray? They definitely released it as an album.

 

I would have given my left whatever to be in the audience for that.

41 minutes ago, Faulkner said:

I would have given my left whatever to be in the audience for that.

I tried! I'm just grateful they released the entire live album in HQ.

I had no idea Kate did a series of Fruitopia jingles (all in this playlist, which can't be embedded).

AFAIC Kate is up there with Prince - the incredibly layered, innovative and avant-garde soundscapes they created then, particularly in the various phases of the Hounds of Love album, were and are decades ahead of their time, still today.

Edited June 23, 20223 yr by Vee

3 hours ago, Vee said:

I had no idea Kate did a series of Fruitopia jingles (all in this playlist, which can't be embedded).

AFAIC Kate is up there with Prince - the incredibly layered, innovative and avant-garde soundscapes they created then, particularly in the various phases of the Hounds of Love album, were and are decades ahead of their time, still today.

It’s great that Kate and Prince had such mutual love and respect. Their collaborations were very fascinating. Game recognized game:

 

A Kate cover of “The Long and Winding Road” I posted this weekend for McCartney’s 80th birthday: