With Kate Bush’s recent resurgence in global popularity — thanks to Running Up That Hill becoming a cultural phenomenon via Stranger Things — her albums have been selling in ever-greater quantities, especially her magnum opus Hounds of Love. But today we’re going back to where it all began: her debut album The Kick Inside.
Released in 1978 when she was just 19, with some of the songs written when she was only 13, this remains one of the most remarkable debut albums of the 1970s. In the two years since punk had exploded and disco had taken over the world, EMI’s decision to sign Kate, nurture her talent, and then release such an unconventional debut, was a genuine gamble. Kate had actually been signed at 16, but EMI wisely chose to give her two years to develop her already obvious genius. It’s hard to imagine a record company doing anything similar today — now they want returns, and they want them yesterday. Credit where it’s due: EMI got this gamble right.
Kate (or Cathy, as she was known at the time) had apparently written over 100 songs by the time she was 15. Through a mutual family friend, her family managed to get some of these songs to David Gilmour of Pink Floyd fame. He immediately recognised her talent and, in 1975, personally funded studio time to professionally record several of her best songs. These demos were then played to record companies, leading to her signing with EMI. Two of those Gilmour-funded recordings — The Man With the Child in His Eyes and Saxophone Song — appear on The Kick Inside exactly as they were, without re-recording. It still amazes me that one of my favourite songs of hers, The Man With the Child in His Eyes, was written by a 13-year-old and performed by a 16-year-old. This is not a seasoned Carole King drawing on decades of life experience — this is a teenager writing with startling emotional depth.
The subjects tackled on this album are far from the usual fare of heartbreak, ex-lover tirades (looking at you, Adele), or generalised melancholy. The themes here are idiosyncratic, eccentric, and unmistakably Kate, just as we love her: gothic ghost stories, spiritual teachings, motherhood, affairs with older men, the dizzy rush of new romance and incest. You wouldn’t find these topics on a Bay City Rollers or AC/DC record in 1978.
Most people will know the track on the album Wuthering Heights, also her stunning debut single that introduced this ethereal, otherworldly figure to the world. But that track is merely the tip of the Kate Bush iceberg. Her staggering vocal performance (much of it sung in the fifth octave, for music scholars) was a bold statement of intent. She later admitted she hadn’t actually read the novel when she wrote the song; it was inspired by the 1967 BBC television adaptation she’d seen one night. She only read the book after finishing the song. When Wuthering Heights hit number one, it became the first chart-topping single written and performed by a woman.
My personal favourites on the album are the more intimate tracks, where Kate sings (in a lower register this time) mainly accompanied by her piano and strings: Feel It – a song about a sexual liaison with an older man, The Kick Inside, and of course The Man With the Child in His Eyes (again: 13!!). Kate never claimed to be an accomplished pianist, but her playing here is understated and perfect — exactly what the songs require. I couldn’t imagine Elton John or Billy Joel playing on this record without completely overwhelming it, and I say that as a big Elton fan.
Although the song The Kick Inside deals with a taboo subject — an intimate relationship between brother and sister — it is sung and performed with such delicacy that it becomes a quietly brave artistic statement, and not one that many other artists could pull off. Room for the Life offers another powerful message, celebrating a woman’s ability to create life as a strength rather than a burden, and urging compassion for man, who lacks that ability.
Upon release, The Kick Inside reached the top ten and made Kate a star. EMI, eager to capitalise on her success, pushed for a follow-up, and less than 11 months later she released Lionheart (my favourite Kate Bush album). This seems to be the only time Kate was rushed; from that point on, she released music entirely on her own terms, not at the behest of a record company. Again, credit to EMI for allowing her that freedom.
Kate is a conundrum. After touring only once during the era of her first two albums, she essentially stopped performing live for decades. Any other artist releasing albums without touring would likely see their work sink into the lower regions of the chart— but when Kate released Hounds of Love in 1985, it became a huge hit and her first number one album. Most record companies and artists would try and capitalise on this and release another album, but her next album The Sensual World didn’t arrive until four years later in 1989. Kate Bush albums are like tax rebates: you never expect them, but when one suddenly appears, you welcome them with open arms.
However, it was The Kick Inside that first introduced us to the conundrum that is Kate Bush. Artists are often described as unique, but I see Kate Bush as one of the few truly unique artists, up there with Bowie, Elvis & Dylan. I urge you to listen to The Kick Inside as soon, and as much, as you can. And preferably on vinyl!
Author: Jim, Customer Support
