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Dialing up that hill

Cliff McLenehan - Record Mirror - August 02 - No 276.

I've got a bet with a friend. Who'll release a new album first, NY cult hero Tom Verlaine or UK cult heroine Kate Bush? After all, both are famous for being studio perfectionists. My wager's on the former, as I know he's got a couple of unreleased albums in the can - but my friend has gone for Ms Bush. Maybe he has more faith in the continuing rumours that a new Kate Bush album will appear in the not-so-distant future - but even if he's right, will anyone still be listening to her? Well, judging from her web presence, the answer is a resounding 'yes'. Sleepless nights and bated breath are the order of the day in cyberspace, as Kate acolytes are expecting a new album some time in the next 12 months.

The Kate Bush webmaster has a problem that the average site manager doesn't have to face: he or she can't do a huge gigography, as the lady has only ever done one tour (sorry, Bush babies, but I caught it at the London Palladium - and it was dire). Discography options are also limited by the relatively low volume of Bush's recorded output (nearly nine years since the last release). So they have to turn to other areas of the Kate Bush fan experience and to be a bit more imaginative. Fortunately, many of them succeed.

Here's a Screen Gems first: no one seems to know if an official Kate Bush website actually exists. Extensive searching produces links to closed-down EMI and Sony versions, while www.Katebush.com is a rather unusual page featuring breast and penis enlargement services. Instead, I recommend you surf directly to Kate Bush news and information. How can there be any news, when there isn't any, you may ask? Well, that's not strictly true. Kate Bush may be reclusive, but there are sightings here and there. If something interesting has happened, webmaster Sean Twomey will know about it. His last update was at the end of March this year (2002). Otherwise the site contains a worthy FAQ, a wide range of links and the 'Leaving Her Tracks' section - a useful guide to Bush's recorded output. I'll take this quote from 1988: 'A very quiiet year as Kate works on her new album'. Sadly, an oft-repeated refrain.

Gaffaweb is a site derived from the Lovehounds mailing list and is divided into chapters such as 'Phoenix' and 'The Garden', named after the Bush demos. 'The Garden' section is particularly informative, with a very good overview of the singer's recorded output, at least up until 1990.

A best of list posting is also pretty fascinating, featuring interviews, album comments and a lot of good old-fashioned opinions. Also worth reading is the section dealing with Bush's pre-fame Cathy Demos (the subject of an extensive investigation in RC 260). Gaffaweb is probably the most essential information-based site.

The same material on the Cathy Demos can also be found on another informative site, The Kate Bush Web: The Muse. Besides this the site contains a detailed chronology of Kate Bush's life and work from birth until August 1978. For someone renowned for not undertaking live work, she sure seemed to do a lot of it in South London during 1977. Hands up anyone who caught the Kate Bush Band at the good old Rose Of Lee in Lewisham? She probably did more live work in three months or so at that time than throughout the rest of her career. Has anyone got a recording of any of these shows?

Despite her relatively sparse recorded oeuvre, a substantial number of Kate Bush collectables, in a variety of formats, have appeared. The Kate Bush: The Single File (and more…) is similar, being more of a pictorial reference rather than a strict discography. I couldn't tell you which site is the better - both have their strengths. The Single File is particularly good for information on each release, even if it does include the dreaded 'interpretation'. Thankfully, none of them are too fanciful. There are also some more fun-based activities such as quizzes.

If you're after lyrics or MIDI files then head for Kate Bush Searchable Lyrics and MIDI Files. The site presentation is bare and functional, but on the other hand, it's easy to navigate. I listened to some of the MIDIs and, sorry, I have to say I wasn't impressed. I know some people spend a lot of time and energy working on these things, but so often the results are lacklustre. I listened to 'Running Up That Hill' and 'Breathing', and neither of them came anywhere close to capturing the dynamics of the original records.

While we're on the subject of dodgy music, there's also a site for a cover versions album named I Wanna Be Kate, that's very unfair of me, as the site doesn't appear to contain any sound samples, so I can't judge whether it's good or bad. What I do find particularly interesting is that all the bands appear to be American, even though Kate Bush has never had any substantial commercial success across the Atlantic and has always seemed to me to be a quintessentially English artist.

Cloudbusting: Kate Bush in Her Own Words has a clean readable layout and takes in a wide range of subjects directly from the horse's mouth, so to speak. Its sources are also more wide-ranging than the standard music or daily press, although I did see one disturbing quote on the site: 'Kate Bush is God -what else is there to say?' Somehow it's hard to imagine god coming from such a hellish place as welling.

Cloudbusting doesn't have the monopoly on hyperbolic statements, as Kate Bush The Fog contains the following introduction: 'You are now accessing the private world of the most talented, extraordinary and complete British artist from this century! - I assume we're talking about the 20th? And I can think of a couple of hundred other British artists who might wish to dispute that opinion. Anyway, the site is a pretty good reference guide, with recent news items, a discography, videography and bibliography. There's a bootleg sleeve image gallery, but no track listings for these releases. More information on bootlegs can be found at the Ran-Tan site. It's odd that for someone who has only done one tour, there are so many bootlegs. However, many appear to be different permutations of the Cathy Demos.

Another general Kate Bush site worth some of your time is the Kate Bush Home Page. It's got a nice collection of scans and bootleg reviews that are refreshingly, happy to call a piece of crap a piece of crap. There are also some interesting movie and rare audio files (nudge, nudge). Kate Bush @ Paradise Place is also worth a visit, as is Cathy, an online version of John Carders Bush's book.

One of the most imaginative websites I've seen is Hello Earth. It reminds me of a Pink Floyd site I came across a couple of years back. Among its contents are a series of games as 'Kate Seek-A-Word' and the 'Strange Phenomenon Oracle'. I won't spoil your fun by telling you what they involve. However, you'll need the latest browser plug-ins and a fast connection to enjoy the full benefit of the site. Besides all this it has an excellent links section, as well as other multimedia and desktop wallpapers.

I had real problems with Kate Worlds. This looked fascinating, using all the possibilities that the Internet offers. Basically, it' supposed to be an interactive site with live3D animations and sound. However, it seems that to view the site correctly a variety of VRML browser extensions have to be downloaded. The whole site appears to be configured for viewing with Netscape. I use Internet Explorer (as do the vast majority of internet users) and I had problems getting any of it to work - in the end I gave up. All I can say that it looked pretty imaginative.

Finally, fans from everywhere should visit Kate Bush Fan Gatherings ('Each year fans from all over the world celebrate Kate's birthday on a date near to 30th July, her birthday'). All the latest information of regarding this year's gathering can be found at this site. Past events have taken place at mystical Bush centres such as Glastonbury and Hayworth. This year's one occurred at Dragon Hill, where the 'Cloudbusting' video was filmed. No idea about 2003, though - but on the subject of next year, with regard to that bet I mentioned, I'm sure we'll both still be waiting at the end of it.