Them Heavy People

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Rolling the disco ball, rolling the disco ball, rolling the disco ball to me...[/color] ;D

[tannis]

On Stage is a live recording of four songs performed on Kate Bush's tour in 1979. It was released on 31 August 1979 with "Them Heavy People" as the lead track, and peaked at number 10 on the UK Singles Chart. On Stage was recorded live at the Hammersmith Odeon on May 13, 1979. It is Bush's only official (non-bootlegged) live performance on vinyl.

Top Of The Pops 4th October 1979 Part 3
www.youtube.com/watch?v=glSDORQ6HLM
TOTP 4/10/79 Presented By Kid Jensen Featuring: Kate Bush - Them Heavy People (Legs & Co) from the KATE BUSH 'ON STAGE' EP.

On Stage (EP) Track listing
Side A
"Them Heavy People"
"Don't Push Your Foot on the Heartbrake"
Side B
"James and the Cold Gun"
"L'Amour Looks Something Like You"

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ROLLING THE BALL

KB: The idea for "Heavy People'' came when I was just sitting one day in my parents' house. I heard the phrase 'Rolling the ball' in my head, and I thought that it would be a good way to start a song, so I ran in to the piano and played it and got the chords down. I then worked on it from there.
Kate's KBC article, Issue 4 (Christmas 1979), "Them Heavy People"
www.gaffaweb.org/garden/kate4.html

Apparently, "Rolling the ball" is the name of a movement in Tai Chi. And, given the oriental sleeve design to TKI, Tai Chi could well be where KT took the phrase. However, her mime movements do not necessarily suggest the Chinese martial art...

Tai Chi Movements : Tai Chi: Step Back & Repulse Monkey Tips
www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JTO3SG_ai8

"So to continue with the idea of repulse monkey, there's different ways that you can look at this with the arms, is that you can also look at is if you're rolling a ball. So you're just rolling this ball, one side to the other. So as I step back, I'm rolling the ball. As I step back, I'm rolling the ball. The danger of this is letting the elbow rise. So you have to be very mindful as this back hand comes forward, just like in brush knee that you keep your elbow down. Another idea that's very helpful is really good for your hip joint health, is that when you step back, say I'm stepping back with my left leg, I want to turn my body to the right as opposed to turning in that direction. So I turn in the opposite direction that I'm stepping. This helps to wind me up giving me a lot of potential energy. So on a, in its extreme, is it can look all the way down to this point here. So I've got a lot of potential energy. This is really good for my hip joint. So now if I push with my source from my back, from my front foot, it can send the energy out through my hand."

How to Do Water Tai Chi : Rolling the Ball Form in Water Tai Chi
www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pZKK-SEuaQ

Kate Bush - Them Heavy People (1979 Xmas Special)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=_I6Ej9HJVEQ

[tannis]

The Kate Bush Mysteries: "Witch Bush" or "Mistress of Arcane Knowledge"

I must work on my mind...

One notable validated contact with New Age ideas was Bush’s transitory interest in the work of Armenian mystic George I. Gurdjieff (1877–1949) (25). This was seemingly initiated by her brother’s interest in his beliefs, as suggested by her song “Them Heavy People” (TKI) (26). Thereafter (possibly from the mid 1970’s onwards) Bush appears to have followed this up with some degree of personal study through reading his books – seemingly with some enthusiasm if certain early interviews are to be believed (26, 27). In one 1978 interview Bush stated: “(Gurdjieff is) the only religion I've been able to relate to - I don't really want to say much because I don't really have the knowledge… (27)”. However, by 1982 her attitude to his ideals had changed, stating… Well, Gurdjieff was really an influence in that I'd just read some of his books and really no more than that… I'd just found a lot of what he said interesting, but that's really as far as it goes… (his influence) .. was, yes (minimal) (28). These comments doubtless relate to the inclusion of Gurdjieff’s name in Bush’s 1978 song “Them Heavy People” (THP hereafter) (TKI). While generally regarded as a throwaway reference, it could be argued other lines within it also seemingly relate to his “Fourth Way” philosophy. The beginning alludes to a person hiding in their mind - reflecting Gurdjieff’s belief that the inner self is “buried” within the subconscious, accessible through an intensive training regimen termed “The Work”; the line "..work on my mind” also appearing later within the song. Another tenant of Gurdjieff’s approach was that "the Kingdom of Heaven is within” - a similar expression (“everyone of us have a heaven inside”) also appearing within THP. Gurdjieff’s ideology trisects the human self into aspects of mind, body and emotions, the song also referencing all three of these specific elements. There is also a reference to “dervishes”, notable as performance and sacred dance is a very significant factor within Gurdjieff’s “Work”. So, while Bush has stated THP is more concerned with her improvement as an artist than anything overtly mystical (and this is indeed valid to a notable degree) it nonetheless also incorporates various “Fourth Way” ideals (25, 29).

No further overtly Gurdjieff-inspired references appear in subsequent compositions; supporting Bush’s statement that his philosophy only had a “minimal influence” upon her output. Nonetheless, other songs allude to a struggle for knowledge of both the mundane world and “God”; most notably “Sat in your Lap” and “Suspended in Gaffa” (DRE), reflecting Gurdjieff’s notion that while the quest for God may ultimately be futile it is a nonetheless a worthy objective. Dervishes also feature in her main video for the 1989 song “Love and Anger” (TSW) (30). It is therefore possible lingering elements of Gurdjieff’s ideals retained a minor influence upon her musical output after 1978.

see more:
Confess to me, girl...
katebush.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=leaveitopen&thread=1998&page=6
The Delta Project ~ "THE KATE BUSH MYSTERIES: FACT OR FICTION?"
www.deltapro.co.uk/katebushm.pdf

[tannis]

The Picture of Kate Bush

I must work on my mind. For now I realise:
Everyone of us has a heaven inside...

“Each of us has Heaven and Hell in him, Basil,” cried Dorian, with a wild gesture of despair.
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

Kate has cited Wilde as an influence and favorite author on many occasions, singling out his story The Happy Prince as a special favorite. Wilde is named in the song "December Will Be Magic Again".

Light the candle-lights
To conjure Mr. Wilde
Into the Silent Night.
Ooh, it's quiet inside,
Here in Oscar's mind...

KT: And when I was really little, one of my favorite writers was Oscar Wilde and his fairy stories. And I actually think that they got in quite deep. I think his sense of tragedy and poetry is something that still moves me very much.
MTV, Unedited, November 1985
gaffa.org/reaching/iv85_m1.html

[tannis]

THEM HEAVY PEOPLE

BLACK BELT: Do you think women in the martial arts should engage in weight training?
PASIUK: Just before I came to this meeting, I spoke to Ruth Horan, the well-known judoka. She said she does not participate in any form of weight training.
RYAN: My wife is no slouch at the martial arts. She trains with weights and says it helps her to keep young.
HUDSON: It is more important for the woman, as well as the man, to learn techniques rather than rely on muscle power. When competing against a man, a female would always lose out on physical strength alone.
BLACK BELT: Is there a different emphasis on strength from one art to another?
HUDSON: In karate I've seen a lot of muscular black belts who are just too slow because they are weight lifters.
LEE: We have two different standards for light people to be very graceful and agile, while we do not expect this of heavy people even though both attain the same rank.
~ Black Belt, May 1970, pp.26-27.

When Kate first left school she knew she wanted to dance. She had tried Karate and not found it satisfying but after seeing an advertisement for Lindsey Kemp's 'Flowers' she was drawn to his classes.
Face & Figure, "Today's Style And Looks", 1979
gaffa.org/reaching/i79_faf.html

John Carder Bush writes poetry from an early age, and by the early 1970s has published several small volumes of his poems. He also studies law and becomes a student of kyudo and karate; and he takes up photography in his teens.
Kate Bush: A Chronology of her career
gaffa.org/archives/1990-13/msg00089.html

We have made up a game for letting off steam and providing good entertainment for anybody who might be watching it. It involves three people (although you can play it with just two) and will be a perfect indoor game for an martial-arts enthusiasts, as it will tone up reactions remarkably.
John Carder Bush's KBC Newsletter contributions 1, The Game of Utsu
gaffa.org/garden/jcb1.html

Running Up That Hill: The glove Kate is wearing is one used in Kyudo (Japanese archery), and it is included for its visual contrast with Kate and for its subtle colours; but the bow is being drawn longbow style. The arrow is a Ya, used in Kyudo, and was selected over a European one because of its length and beauty.
John Carder Bush's, KBC Newsletter contributions 3, Some of the Photographs
gaffa.org/garden/jcb3.html

The video of 'Running Up That Hill' features Kate and dancer Michael Hervieu wearing hakama, the traditional culotte-like garments worn in the practice of Kyudo, the Way of the Bow. Kyudo (Japanese: Kyu: bow. Do: a way or moral discipline) is the oldest of Japan's traditional martial arts.
www.heijoshin.com/

KATE BUSH - THEM HEAVY PEOPLE (REVOLVER- COMPLETE)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tMTbVgfaYA