It was more like rediscovering Kate

[Barry SR Gowing]

Of course I heard Kate doing "Wuthering Heights" on the radio in 1978 and I loved it. I got 'The Kick Inside' sometime after than and thought it was rather super, and then loved subsequent singles such as 'TMWTCIHE' and 'Hammer Horror' (don't remember 'Wow' as a single in Australia, but I suppose it was), and of course 'Babooshka'. But then, 'The Dreaming' came out and got a lot of bad reviews (that said nasty things about Kate) and then I saw 'The Dreaming' video which as you can imagine got played quite a bit in Australia and thought 'ew, I don't like this at all'. So I became estranged from Kate. Silly me.

Although I saw the 'RUTH' and 'Cloudbusting' videos, and liked them, it was only quite recently when I heard (almost by accident) the song 'The Sensual World' that suddenly everything 'clicked'. Suddenly the true genius of Kate hit me all over again, and now in very short time I've caught up and got the albums from 'The Dreaming to 'Aerial' (since I had the older ones) and now I'm discovering great new songs all the time, and reappreciating the older ones too.

I still don't like that 'The Dreaming' video much though!

--Paul--

[Adey]

barrysrgowing said:

..although I saw the 'RUTH' and 'Cloudbusting' videos, and liked them, it was only quite recently when I heard (almost by accident) the song 'The Sensual World' that suddenly everything 'clicked'. Suddenly the true genius of Kate hit me all over again, and now in very short time I've caught up and got the albums from 'The Dreaming to 'Aerial' (since I had the older ones) and now I'm discovering great new songs all the time, and reappreciating the older ones too..
--Paul--

Like Al with a his Saturday Night live experience, I 'got' Kate straight away. Admittedly, I was lucky enough to be her contemporary and a keen observer of pop music at the right time, but my Kate Bush epiphany was entirely painless. I have spoken to several people who found the way to Kate Bush to be hard going and I can easily see why this can be. But often there is always a moment when Kate's work collides with a particular frame of mind - or an openess - for the someone who can see the potential but has yet to make the connection. It only takes one lyrical connection, or maybe a notable musical hook to bridge the gap. When it happens, it feels like a revelation of sorts..

[rosabelbelieve]

My own Kate conversion, if you will , was as I said elsewhere much more gradual than this, but I do think I understand the wonderful sense of revelation that can accompany hearing her work. I get it every time I listen with real attention to one of her songs. I did like her right away, it just took a while for me to recognize how truly breathtaking and deep her art is, and how worthy it was of the time to listen and assimilate some of the 'weirdness' and intensity of it. And I would also say that she has really changed my music taste in general.

It's interesting to hear everyone's experiences with discovering Kate's music.