Record Recipes #40

Forever Kate

Since last summer, I’ve enjoyed the exercise of sharing my record collection with you through a series of curated recipes. Analog recommendations for your listening pleasure, in the gathering rebellion against our digital overlords, toward a renaissance of physical media and intentionality. Still with me?

For the final record recipe (for now), join me under the ivy for a tour of my Kate Bush collection. And should you feel so inclined to contribute to my record fund, here’s how to do that:

• The Kick Inside - 1978

After the party
You took me back to your parlour
A little nervous laughter
Locking the door
My stockings fall onto the floor
Desperate for more
Nobody else can share this
Here comes one and one makes one
The glorious union
Well, it could be love, or it could be just lust
But it will be fun
It will be wonderful

- Feel It

• Lionheart - 1978

Rehearsing in your things, I feel guilty
And retracing all the scenes of your big hit

Oh, God, you needed the leading role
It wasn't me who made you go, though
All I want to do is forget you, friend

Hammer Horror, Hammer Horror
Won't leave it alone, yeah
The first time in my life, I keep the lights on
To ease my soul (Ooh)
Hammer Horror, Hammer Horror
Won't leave it alone

- Hammer Horror

• Never for Ever - 1980

(What could he do? Should have been a rock star)
But he didn't have the money for a guitar
(What could he do? Should have been a politician)
But he never had a proper education
(What could he do? Should have been a father)
But he never even made it to his twenties
What a waste, army dreamers
Oh, what a waste of army dreamers

- Army Dreamers

• The Dreaming - 1982

I see the people happy
So can it happen for me?
'Cause when I am unhappy
There's nothing that can move me

Some say that knowledge is something that you never have
Some say that knowledge is something sat up in your lap
Some say that heaven is hell
Some say that hell is heaven

- Sat In Your Lap

• Hounds of Love - 1985

Oh, come on, baby
Oh, come on, darlin'
Let me steal this moment from you now
Oh, come on, angel
Come on, come on, darlin'
Let's exchange the experience

- Running Up That Hill

• The Red Shoes - 1993

I don't know if I'm closer to Heaven but
It looks like Hell down there
These streets have never been paved with gold
Welcome to the loneliest city in the world

It's no good for you baby
It's no good for you now
Keep looking up for the ladder

I don't know if you'll love me for it
But I don't think we should suffer this
There's just one thing we can do about it

Take me up to the top of the city
And put me up on the angel's shoulders

- Top of the City

The only people I know with real need of vinyl singles are DJs and real meticulous collectors. I’m neither, however when my local spots send up the flare that someone has parted with their KB collection, the impulse takes over.

Kate Bush has not performed live since 2014, and I live with the sadness that I may never get to hear her sing live, to exchange the experience in a room full of other Kate worshippers.

When Stranger Things sent Running Up That Hill back up the charts a few years ago, I got a lot of inquiries about gatekeeping the fandom. I have never fathomed this attitude; here is an artist I have elevated to something like a saint, a North Star of my own creative process and evolution. That a new generation has even learned her name is a positive swell in her legacy, and I only hope that the needle drop leads them to an even deeper dive into this extraordinary catalogue. There’s Room for the Life.

Entering a season of study and synthesis, in growth and gratitude.

Keep listening. Keep learning. Keep growing and sharing and please, please, please, don’t give up.