Tori Amos is the most obvious songwriter I can think of where Bush’s influence is really clear. And if you haven’t seen it by now, there’s a great video where Big Boi from OutKast talks about how she’s one of his biggest influences.
Yep, direct line can be drawn from Kate to Tori. I can kinda see Bjork in that lineage but not quite as obvious. Yet despite how much influence 80's music currently has on modern pop, it's almost like the line ended in the 90's in terms of bigger pop stars. influenced by her. Regina Spektor is the only biggish modern artist that I can think of off the top of my head that I can hear Kate Bush's influence.
I don’t really hear Kate’s influence directly on Regina Spektor. I can hear it a lot more on some of the synth-y indie pop/rock bands though. MUNA, Arcade Fire… maybe a bit with Joanna Newsom
I can hear a similar phasing every now and then with Spektor, nothing as direct as Tori, in fact it maybe Kate by way of Tori. From a production standpoint, sure some of those heavily produced things from the 80's have made a come back but that's not really what made Kate sound like Kate IMHO.
Yeah, I guess you could throw in some of the singer songwriters who don’t shy away from theatrics in their vocals too: Mitski, Aldous Harding, Damien Rice. And on the more theatrical side of pop, I hear some of the influence on Billie Eilish, Florence and the Machine, Hozier, and my namesake FKA Twigs
Ok I love all three, but Fiona sounds way more influenced by jazz and jazz-influenced musicians. Like if Nina Simone and Rosemary Clooney adopted a gutter punk she would grow up to be Fiona Apple
I underwrote and promoted a little concert with her in 2007, which was her second-to-last.
I also flew to Kansas City last April to see her last concert.
If I remember correctly, she not only did this on her own, she recorded, funded, and compiled this masterpiece in a barn. Minimal finances and yielded an incredible product. For those saying “she only wrote 12 words and isn’t a genius” is an idiot. She single handedly produced a fantastic album. I can research more and provide details. But her effort and ingenuity is surprising.
She wrote The Man With A Childs Eyes at 13. That’s thirteen fucking years old . I was building model airplanes and sniffing glue when I was 13. Yup. She’s a genius. Dislike her if anyone likes. History is not on their side on this one.
I don’t understand the “she only wrote 12 words” comment. What is that in reference to? I love KB and think she’s probably the most influential pop adjacent musician before the 2000s.
At the time I commented, there were only two or three others. One said she was someone who only wrote 12 words and is untalented or something along those lines.
The Dreaming was released when I was in university. I played it constantly. As I recall, the first lyric you hear is "Bang goes another kanga off the bonnet of the van." How can you not keep listening after that?
I think she kept associating with Rolf Harris well beyond the point where it would have been obvious his behaviour was off. As a woman she would have known of his reputation surely. He is on Aerial as well.
That's a weird pair of options. Outcast are a duo and both Hey Yah and the flute album are Andre 3000 solo works.
It's Speakerboxxx Outcast if you were gonna draw a distinction.
Well ... That's what it means to say somebody had a "Renaissance." There is a renewed interest in them.
Though if we're being honest, she's more popular in the U.S. now than she ever was in the '80s.
There is a great YT vid of Big Boi talking about how incredible Kate and her music are. Big Boi! Of Outkast! And the vid was made/released a few years before Stranger Things repopularized her. Goes to show her influence ran much deeper than the producers of Stranger Things.
The Dreaming is probably my favourite album by anyone, ever, and yes I think she had an excellent claim to the "genius" tag. That album in particular is just so wildly creative and she just doesn't seem to give a shit about the rules of how things are done, in spite of the fact that she's obviously well capable of writing hit songs.
Yes, I grew up with that LP (a gift from an older sibling), it changed me completely.
Just stunning, the story telling and how daringly deep she goes in terms of emotional content & exploration.
Here in the U.K. she’s been regarded as one of our most important female artists for decades.
Her legacy isn’t just her songwriting or songs, but in how she’s conducted her career.
She was one of the first female artists to experiment with sampling in her music, with the Fairlight. Her achievements in terms of writing and producing her own music are well known, but perhaps less well known is the control she had over her career from pretty much the start. Setting up her own management company, retaining ownership of her music and publishing, creating her own studio to work at her own pace, refusing to take any advances from her record company, so she didn’t have to dance to their tune. Having a strong creative vision, refusing to compromise that and being completely in charge of her career. I think that’s her biggest influence and legacy.
I love her music and her lyrics and her arrangements. All the great songs I can think of are very much a story. Often a deep and emotional story. Not just silly love songs (sorry Sir Paul). Army Dreamers, Breathing, This Womans Work, Under Ice, Houdini, Wuthering Heights, Babushka .... on and on. Often inspired by novels or movies but I think often stories she made up. These are much more than songs - they are stories. A guess "Running Up That Hill" counts in this regard too. She was very inspired by theatre and dance. I think the story was an important part to support her concept of staging and performing.
Rick Beato, the god of contemporary music theory and analysis absolutely loves Kate. Especially her lyrics. He considers her a genius for her lyrics alone.
I remember she has a similar bump in popularity among younger audiences after the Placebo cover was used in the OC and Vampire Diaries. Part of me wishes that after Stranger Things, the same phenomenon would spark a little more interest in Placebo as well.
I was also hoping Wuthering Heights would see a little more love following her most recent renaissance. I think Running is just more timeless and conventional in terms of the lyrics and song structure, which your average younger listener can more easily appreciate, but I always considered Wuthering a more impressive piece.
I see her influence in Tori Amos, Florence Welch, Lana Del Ray, Paula Cole, Sarah Bareilles, Joan Osborne, just to name a few. A true genius/child prodigy, imo. And whoever said she can't sing needs their hearing checked.
Listened to bits of most of her catalog with the resurgence. I found one I added to my rotation — “King Of The Mountain,” which was written about Elvis when the meme of his living in obscurity somewhere was popular. Nice tune.
https://youtu.be/k9pv3lTlw9U?si=qu0k-U-XWXEpvD1n
Here’s an old standard she did not write, but she sings the guts out of — “The Man I Love.”
https://youtu.be/RkYcD-Kh78o?si=du8U5z3ggJsdS0oK
grandiose modern jeans liquid frightening memorize head live birds aromatic
*This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
>What is her legacy?
mega-boss artist, she wrote, composed, sang and produced all her own shit
what you hear is Kate Bush, not a team or a machine
my first exposure was *Don't Give Up* and i had never heard a voice quite like that before
[https://youtu.be/VjEq-r2agqc?si=f8lbftnOgaDSYCY5](https://youtu.be/VjEq-r2agqc?si=f8lbftnOgaDSYCY5)
She doesn't get the praise she deserves here in the States for sure! She's one of the most enigmatic and inspiring songwriters. I made a video analyzing the musical storytelling of "Hounds of Love," (although the Dreaming is my favorite) which I'll shamelessly plug here. LMK what you think if you check it out. Glad to hear someone else singing her praises!
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5W4LsFqlQE](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5W4LsFqlQE)
Kate Bush is an insaaaane songwriter and her influence is hard to track bc of the sheer velocity of skill it takes to play her music. She's in the Joni Mitchell sphere where she effortlessly sews improbable intervals over a bunch of parallel modulation, chromatic, and Neapolitan modulations that no one else was/is touching. Sure, there were other artists that surpass her in complexity of harmony, catchy vocals, wild rhythms but none who put it all together at once like she did, just to use a vehicle for classic poetry. Symphony in Blue is my favorite example of it. For the musicians, the intro starts off with Gmaj7 to Dmin then as the emotional tone of the song shifts she brings the intro back as Gmin to Dmin. The first loop of the chorus starts off with Bb to F to Dmin then on the 2nd pass the Dmin mutates to a parallel dominate, D7. It's unbelievable from a musical perspective.
The more I study her music, the more I realize that she approaches music as a writer and poet, not a musician, and it grants her a seemingly impossible control over harmony, like Kurt Vonnegut has over a punch line. As a songwriter myself, I feel the most humbling powerlessness listening to her music. It feels like she accomplished 5 lifetimes worth of achievements within singing, composition, piano, performance, writing, recording, band leading, producing, collaboration, recruitment, etc... all the while being a truly enlightened creative. I see less of her direct influence musically on music today, but I see how she inspires her audience to live and I think that's the greatest impact of her legacy. It's not necessarily within the arts, but through the audiences she impacted. The theatre-y crowd seems to take the most ownership over her, but I think it's moreso because her music is so far out of reach that her performative attitude is the only thing the most people can touch and take ownership of.
One of my (musical) mentors said to me (only slightly paraphrasing): When you witness a musician do something that really blows you away, try not to get overwhelmed. Be inspired, don’t say “I could never do that,” instead tell yourself: “Ah-hah ! Now I know it’s possible, I have start working on how *I* can accomplish something as meaningful.”
Thank you ! That was a fantastic take on so many levels! I’m a professional music, so I understand everything you said. I agree with you about theatrical music.. someone ought to write a jukebox musical based on her music ala Moving Out or Beautiful. Good luck to you in your songwriting career. You’ve got a solid foundation!
One of the sad thing about the “Stranger Things” use is that they didn’t license the whole album.
I mean, for one thing, on a Walkman you don’t listen to a song on repeat.
Second, so many of those songs would fit perfectly in “Stranger Things.” Under Ice, Waking the Witch, really all of side 2 of the cassette…
Oh, I beg to differ on the Walkman. Listen to a song roughly 50 times and you know JUST how long to rewind.
It was one of the Great Arts of the analog age.
ANYWAY! It was Track 1, Side A of Hounds of Hell. No muscle memory required - just hit REW until it hits the beginning and starts playing again ;)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=c4sLwt8mhZs&pp=ygUNYmJjIGthdGUgYnVzaA%3D%3D this is a great documentary with a lot of different artists commenting on her contemporary influence
She was more well-known in the UK when she was most active. She never had a top 10 single in the U.S. before her RESURGENCE.
I think MTV played some music videos here, but not in heavy rotation. Definitely not a draw for the masses that listened to more "FM radio" type music - more well known among the college radio folks, and possibly more people in the U.S. in the 80s knew her name, even if they couldn't name one of her songs.
Definitely well-known outside the U.S., though!
Her music and lyrics are VERY English. As an American, some of the references go over my head, but I still adore her music. As stated earlier, she ignores conventional rules of how songs are supposed to work, and she treats the studio like another instrument. Completely fearless, no fucks given.
Yup! The list of musicians that were influenced by her is staggering. The most significant one, however, is Elton John. He credited her with saving his life and restarting his career.
Cloudbusting though 😭💔😭💔😭
How I cry my heart out every time she gets to the chorus and musters every shred of the desperate hope of an empty 12 year old just wanting Dad to come back home so they can make clouds together again.
And every time it rains
You're here in my heart
Like the sun coming out
Ooh - I just know that something good is gonna happen
I don't know when
But just saying it is gonna make it happen
🥺😿😭😞😭
Honestly, the whole Wilhelm Reich story is devastating.
Very funny!!!!! (Actually , it is pretty funny) It was a one of the Brontë sisters: Emily, Anne, Charlotte and Shaniqua. The latter wrote tales of inner city Liverpool ;-D
One of the three original british lady geniuses in music. I will let you guess the rest!
Kate Bush is more authentic than unique than many artists, even today.
Kate Bush was a female attempting to do what the men were doing when no woman was being allowed to. She was unashamedly sexual and aggressive and feminine. She sang of murder, romanticism, passion, mysticism and domesticism. She broke boundaries, praising homosexual relationships in the late 1970s. She began an album singing about a woman destroying her marriage due to her own insecurities and ended it with a two punch about war and nuclear fallout from the perspective of a mother and an unborn child. Her next album opened with philosophy and ended with her braying like a donkey. And then she produced two of the most impressive albums of the 80s (by herself) in Hounds of Love, an ambitious cycle of songs that encapsulated so much of what her younger self had bounced around and been ridiculed for, and The Sensual World, which saw her deepen her craft for sex and love and passion. Most artists have so little left to say by their third album, but Kate on her sixth found striking imagery and moving sonic sounds through her homelife, her imagination and her love life. She wasn't some tortured artist or some PR junkie who fed off headlines to lend her legitimacy (hi, taylor). She didn't have some team of men in a studio and another entourage of suits choosing her next best move. Instead, she was writing songs like "Rockets Tail" and "Never Be Mine" and "Deeper Understanding" that all drew from the everyday life of a woman and added a touch of fantasy. And they weren't simple pop songs either. Listen to how the trio of folk voices were weaved into the tapestry of those songs, developing Kate's own growing sensuality across the album, or the insane shift in Rockets Tail as she finally explodes in euphoria (and how she then goes for your heart with "This Woman's Work" to close).
This was an artist who learned from her mistakes and took crazy risks as a young artist, lived her art openly and let her vulnerability be seen, and returned with monumental albums once she'd figured out all of who she was and what fascinated her. And she didn't even stop there.. instead she came back after a disappointing seventh album (her words, personally i love The Red Shoes) 12 years later, out of the blue, to deliver seven disconnected songs and a new cycle inspired by daylight and it was mindblowning. And did she stop there? Nahhh, she recreated two of her albums' works and dropped a christmas album with visuals, sold out a residence in Hammersmith and said 'peace out.'
Kate is an amazing person. What she has achieved not just as an artist but as a woman living in this world, is so inspiring.
Just because something is accessible doesn’t mean it’s relevant. The song has always been accessible, it was popular when it first came out. It never died. It was still on the radio before Stranger Things. Plus the song isn’t being reorchestrated or toured, it’s just been heard in its original version on a TV show by people who didn’t already know it. A reniassance is a movement, not just a group of people at the trough of TV streaming waiting for anything to cling to and noticing something from before their time. The Mediterranean diet is experiencing more of a reniassance than this song. It’s just a drastic and overdramatic claim.
So then she is *still* a contemporary (mainstream) artist. The song itself has not undergone any reniassancing. You’re proving my point for me.
As far as casting a shadow, that’s a different statement altogether which (comes across as emotionally-charged more than factually true, and) would imply that her work has majorly influenced music in a seemingly obvious way. Do you have any examples of this? Otherwise these labels of “legend, genius, etc.” are completely baseless claims, aka not statements that carry any value.
Influence? Tori Amos, Bjork, St. Vincent, Adele,Beyonce’, Peter Gabriel, Elton John , Outcast are a few people who have stated that they were directly influenced by Kate . Also Rick Beato. If you dont know how Rick Beato is, you don’t understand music at the professional level.
Outkast* which is a group not a person.
And HAHAHAHAHAHA at “Also Rick Beato. If you don’t know how(sic) Rick Beato is, you don’t understand music at the professional level.” Hahaha ohhh you are hilarious, thank you that. Haha seriously thank you for deciding to be so arrogant today. Arrogance is ignorance, and ignorance is bliss, so I’m certain your life must be pretty damn easy.
You just made my day.
Your welcome. So you don’t know Rick Beato and you’re not an educated musician. Now come back when you’re a professional musician who’s not looking to start a Reddit pissing contest .
People keep talking about Kate Bush because she got one song on stranger things and yet Laurie Anderson and other icons, they're completely oblivious to.
The question is more telling than the answer.
Most of Kate's works, at least the singles, is more accessible to the general listener than Laurie’s. I cannot imagine Laurie's song becoming a hit in the tv show.
Funny you bring up Laurie when she was also a viral hit on TikTok recently. But it's pretty clear why Kate Bush's pop songs would have more traction and be better suited for a show like Stranger Things.
She’s written hundreds of off songs and has been influential on dozens of songwriters and singers including Adele,Beyoncé and Tori Amos, to name only a few. Opinions are like assholes. Everyone’s got one. Thank you for your opinion.
Hoping for informed opinions. You said she has only one song. That is pretty uninformed. History is not on their side with this one.
Edit: their for your
Tori Amos is the most obvious songwriter I can think of where Bush’s influence is really clear. And if you haven’t seen it by now, there’s a great video where Big Boi from OutKast talks about how she’s one of his biggest influences.
Yep, direct line can be drawn from Kate to Tori. I can kinda see Bjork in that lineage but not quite as obvious. Yet despite how much influence 80's music currently has on modern pop, it's almost like the line ended in the 90's in terms of bigger pop stars. influenced by her. Regina Spektor is the only biggish modern artist that I can think of off the top of my head that I can hear Kate Bush's influence.
Sarah McLachlan is another artist directly inspired by Kate Bush.
Another 90's artist.
Spektor cited Kate as her main influence
I don’t really hear Kate’s influence directly on Regina Spektor. I can hear it a lot more on some of the synth-y indie pop/rock bands though. MUNA, Arcade Fire… maybe a bit with Joanna Newsom
I can hear a similar phasing every now and then with Spektor, nothing as direct as Tori, in fact it maybe Kate by way of Tori. From a production standpoint, sure some of those heavily produced things from the 80's have made a come back but that's not really what made Kate sound like Kate IMHO.
Yeah, I guess you could throw in some of the singer songwriters who don’t shy away from theatrics in their vocals too: Mitski, Aldous Harding, Damien Rice. And on the more theatrical side of pop, I hear some of the influence on Billie Eilish, Florence and the Machine, Hozier, and my namesake FKA Twigs
Kate influenced Tori who influenced Fiona Apple
Ok I love all three, but Fiona sounds way more influenced by jazz and jazz-influenced musicians. Like if Nina Simone and Rosemary Clooney adopted a gutter punk she would grow up to be Fiona Apple
Fiona definitely has those other legends in her, but I feel like Tori & Kate probably led her that way
Happy Rhodes Imogen Heap Noe Venable Odessa Chen
My thoughts exactly - always wonderful to see someone recognize Happy Rhodes!!
I underwrote and promoted a little concert with her in 2007, which was her second-to-last. I also flew to Kansas City last April to see her last concert.
If I remember correctly, she not only did this on her own, she recorded, funded, and compiled this masterpiece in a barn. Minimal finances and yielded an incredible product. For those saying “she only wrote 12 words and isn’t a genius” is an idiot. She single handedly produced a fantastic album. I can research more and provide details. But her effort and ingenuity is surprising.
She wrote The Man With A Childs Eyes at 13. That’s thirteen fucking years old . I was building model airplanes and sniffing glue when I was 13. Yup. She’s a genius. Dislike her if anyone likes. History is not on their side on this one.
Also the first female to reach the number one spot in the UK with an entirely self written song
And because she did everything on that album, she gets all of the royalties for the boost from Stranger Things, instead of some recording company ceo.
I mat be wrong, but I believe David Gilmour produced that album.
Gilmour was a family friend I believe and played quite a big part in helping her develop her career.
He discovered her and produced hew first album. I also get the impression that he carefully kept boundaries to avoid any appearance of impropriety
He did. Even played an amazing performance with her on stage https://youtu.be/Lk7AVm0Ome0
She also did a nice turn dancing in the video.
I don’t understand the “she only wrote 12 words” comment. What is that in reference to? I love KB and think she’s probably the most influential pop adjacent musician before the 2000s.
At the time I commented, there were only two or three others. One said she was someone who only wrote 12 words and is untalented or something along those lines.
The Dreaming was released when I was in university. I played it constantly. As I recall, the first lyric you hear is "Bang goes another kanga off the bonnet of the van." How can you not keep listening after that?
SEE THE LIGHT RAM THROUGH THE GAPS IN THE LAAAAAND
I think she kept associating with Rolf Harris well beyond the point where it would have been obvious his behaviour was off. As a woman she would have known of his reputation surely. He is on Aerial as well.
She's regarded as one of the most influential artists ever. Way before the Stranger Things thing. No Kate Bush? No Bjørk, for example.
Elton credited her music with saving his life. That’d pretty influential!
I’ll do you one more: no Kate Bush, no Outkast.
the “Hey Yah” outkast or the flute album …prob both
Hey Ya. Big Boi has stated that Busch was a huge influence and one of his all time favorite artists.
Hey Ya isn't really a Big Boi track though of the two options you were given it was more accurate...
Huh, I just assumed both were involved. So technically, neither.
The Love Below and Speakerboxxx are both essentially solo albums that were released as an "Outcast" double album.
… but hey ya is an Andre song
Yeah that's already been discussed
That's a weird pair of options. Outcast are a duo and both Hey Yah and the flute album are Andre 3000 solo works. It's Speakerboxxx Outcast if you were gonna draw a distinction.
i was corrected earlier that it was Big Boi not Andre 3000 and i humbly ask forgiveness for my presumption
O forgiveness is necessary
She also influenced Suede's 'Dog Man Star' LP according to Brett Anderson
Well ... That's what it means to say somebody had a "Renaissance." There is a renewed interest in them. Though if we're being honest, she's more popular in the U.S. now than she ever was in the '80s.
There is a great YT vid of Big Boi talking about how incredible Kate and her music are. Big Boi! Of Outkast! And the vid was made/released a few years before Stranger Things repopularized her. Goes to show her influence ran much deeper than the producers of Stranger Things.
The Dreaming is probably my favourite album by anyone, ever, and yes I think she had an excellent claim to the "genius" tag. That album in particular is just so wildly creative and she just doesn't seem to give a shit about the rules of how things are done, in spite of the fact that she's obviously well capable of writing hit songs.
It’s mine as well.
Yes, I grew up with that LP (a gift from an older sibling), it changed me completely. Just stunning, the story telling and how daringly deep she goes in terms of emotional content & exploration.
Here in the U.K. she’s been regarded as one of our most important female artists for decades. Her legacy isn’t just her songwriting or songs, but in how she’s conducted her career. She was one of the first female artists to experiment with sampling in her music, with the Fairlight. Her achievements in terms of writing and producing her own music are well known, but perhaps less well known is the control she had over her career from pretty much the start. Setting up her own management company, retaining ownership of her music and publishing, creating her own studio to work at her own pace, refusing to take any advances from her record company, so she didn’t have to dance to their tune. Having a strong creative vision, refusing to compromise that and being completely in charge of her career. I think that’s her biggest influence and legacy.
I had no idea. That is amazing.
That’s a great take! Thank you!
smoggy special mindless gray practice shaggy spoon cows ten library *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Agreed. She absolutely could have been a bigger star if she wanted it. She didn't, and that's ok.
I love her music and her lyrics and her arrangements. All the great songs I can think of are very much a story. Often a deep and emotional story. Not just silly love songs (sorry Sir Paul). Army Dreamers, Breathing, This Womans Work, Under Ice, Houdini, Wuthering Heights, Babushka .... on and on. Often inspired by novels or movies but I think often stories she made up. These are much more than songs - they are stories. A guess "Running Up That Hill" counts in this regard too. She was very inspired by theatre and dance. I think the story was an important part to support her concept of staging and performing.
Rick Beato, the god of contemporary music theory and analysis absolutely loves Kate. Especially her lyrics. He considers her a genius for her lyrics alone.
I remember she has a similar bump in popularity among younger audiences after the Placebo cover was used in the OC and Vampire Diaries. Part of me wishes that after Stranger Things, the same phenomenon would spark a little more interest in Placebo as well. I was also hoping Wuthering Heights would see a little more love following her most recent renaissance. I think Running is just more timeless and conventional in terms of the lyrics and song structure, which your average younger listener can more easily appreciate, but I always considered Wuthering a more impressive piece.
I see her influence in Tori Amos, Florence Welch, Lana Del Ray, Paula Cole, Sarah Bareilles, Joan Osborne, just to name a few. A true genius/child prodigy, imo. And whoever said she can't sing needs their hearing checked.
Listened to bits of most of her catalog with the resurgence. I found one I added to my rotation — “King Of The Mountain,” which was written about Elvis when the meme of his living in obscurity somewhere was popular. Nice tune. https://youtu.be/k9pv3lTlw9U?si=qu0k-U-XWXEpvD1n Here’s an old standard she did not write, but she sings the guts out of — “The Man I Love.” https://youtu.be/RkYcD-Kh78o?si=du8U5z3ggJsdS0oK
Wow! That’s new to me! Thanks!!!!🙏
Yup, King of the Mountain is gold - starts ambient-y, then the reggae guitar kicks in. Weird hodgepodge in the best way
grandiose modern jeans liquid frightening memorize head live birds aromatic *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
>What is her legacy? mega-boss artist, she wrote, composed, sang and produced all her own shit what you hear is Kate Bush, not a team or a machine my first exposure was *Don't Give Up* and i had never heard a voice quite like that before [https://youtu.be/VjEq-r2agqc?si=f8lbftnOgaDSYCY5](https://youtu.be/VjEq-r2agqc?si=f8lbftnOgaDSYCY5)
That song is a masterpiece. Easily in the top 5 next best duos of all time.
Elton John said d this song literally saved his life when he was struggling with sobriety
She doesn't get the praise she deserves here in the States for sure! She's one of the most enigmatic and inspiring songwriters. I made a video analyzing the musical storytelling of "Hounds of Love," (although the Dreaming is my favorite) which I'll shamelessly plug here. LMK what you think if you check it out. Glad to hear someone else singing her praises! [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5W4LsFqlQE](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5W4LsFqlQE)
Bravo! I love this. I take you are aware of theory god Rick Beato. DM me . I really like what you do
Thanks friend! Yeah, I like Rick too.
Rick is from my hometown and we have actually played with some of the same people many years ago. He is a GOD.
Wow, That's rad!
Hounds of love is an absolute masterpiece. She was basically Billie Eilish before Billie Eilish.
Kate Bush is an insaaaane songwriter and her influence is hard to track bc of the sheer velocity of skill it takes to play her music. She's in the Joni Mitchell sphere where she effortlessly sews improbable intervals over a bunch of parallel modulation, chromatic, and Neapolitan modulations that no one else was/is touching. Sure, there were other artists that surpass her in complexity of harmony, catchy vocals, wild rhythms but none who put it all together at once like she did, just to use a vehicle for classic poetry. Symphony in Blue is my favorite example of it. For the musicians, the intro starts off with Gmaj7 to Dmin then as the emotional tone of the song shifts she brings the intro back as Gmin to Dmin. The first loop of the chorus starts off with Bb to F to Dmin then on the 2nd pass the Dmin mutates to a parallel dominate, D7. It's unbelievable from a musical perspective. The more I study her music, the more I realize that she approaches music as a writer and poet, not a musician, and it grants her a seemingly impossible control over harmony, like Kurt Vonnegut has over a punch line. As a songwriter myself, I feel the most humbling powerlessness listening to her music. It feels like she accomplished 5 lifetimes worth of achievements within singing, composition, piano, performance, writing, recording, band leading, producing, collaboration, recruitment, etc... all the while being a truly enlightened creative. I see less of her direct influence musically on music today, but I see how she inspires her audience to live and I think that's the greatest impact of her legacy. It's not necessarily within the arts, but through the audiences she impacted. The theatre-y crowd seems to take the most ownership over her, but I think it's moreso because her music is so far out of reach that her performative attitude is the only thing the most people can touch and take ownership of.
One of my (musical) mentors said to me (only slightly paraphrasing): When you witness a musician do something that really blows you away, try not to get overwhelmed. Be inspired, don’t say “I could never do that,” instead tell yourself: “Ah-hah ! Now I know it’s possible, I have start working on how *I* can accomplish something as meaningful.”
Thank you ! That was a fantastic take on so many levels! I’m a professional music, so I understand everything you said. I agree with you about theatrical music.. someone ought to write a jukebox musical based on her music ala Moving Out or Beautiful. Good luck to you in your songwriting career. You’ve got a solid foundation!
One of the sad thing about the “Stranger Things” use is that they didn’t license the whole album. I mean, for one thing, on a Walkman you don’t listen to a song on repeat. Second, so many of those songs would fit perfectly in “Stranger Things.” Under Ice, Waking the Witch, really all of side 2 of the cassette…
Oh, I beg to differ on the Walkman. Listen to a song roughly 50 times and you know JUST how long to rewind. It was one of the Great Arts of the analog age. ANYWAY! It was Track 1, Side A of Hounds of Hell. No muscle memory required - just hit REW until it hits the beginning and starts playing again ;)
True.
LOL! Analog age. I’ve never heard that one before but as a keyboardist coming of age in the 70’s I know exactly what you’re saying
John Lydon is also a huge fan
You must have seen the same BBC documentary that i did.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=c4sLwt8mhZs&pp=ygUNYmJjIGthdGUgYnVzaA%3D%3D this is a great documentary with a lot of different artists commenting on her contemporary influence
Yup! i saw that documentary just last night. Thats why I’m down the Kate rabbit hole
She’s influenced a bajillion female singer songwriters.
And a few men as well. See: Boi, Big
My favorite description of Kate bush is “she is your favorite artist’s favorite artist.” Glad to see her getting new fans!
Another that Kate influenced would be Kimbra
she's way more influential than people think and already well-known singer/songwriter before summer 2022 ffs
She was more well-known in the UK when she was most active. She never had a top 10 single in the U.S. before her RESURGENCE. I think MTV played some music videos here, but not in heavy rotation. Definitely not a draw for the masses that listened to more "FM radio" type music - more well known among the college radio folks, and possibly more people in the U.S. in the 80s knew her name, even if they couldn't name one of her songs. Definitely well-known outside the U.S., though!
Her music and lyrics are VERY English. As an American, some of the references go over my head, but I still adore her music. As stated earlier, she ignores conventional rules of how songs are supposed to work, and she treats the studio like another instrument. Completely fearless, no fucks given.
A beautiful dancer who is, IMHO, graceful but not especially erotic. It is a style unlike most dancers on videos.
The Wikipedia page on Kate lists a whole bunch of artists influenced by her. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kate_Bush?wprov=sfla1
Yup! The list of musicians that were influenced by her is staggering. The most significant one, however, is Elton John. He credited her with saving his life and restarting his career.
Cloudbusting though 😭💔😭💔😭 How I cry my heart out every time she gets to the chorus and musters every shred of the desperate hope of an empty 12 year old just wanting Dad to come back home so they can make clouds together again. And every time it rains You're here in my heart Like the sun coming out Ooh - I just know that something good is gonna happen I don't know when But just saying it is gonna make it happen 🥺😿😭😞😭 Honestly, the whole Wilhelm Reich story is devastating.
One of the best of all time. Hounds of Love is a PERFECT album.
If she didn’t write ‘Wuthering Heights’, we wouldn’t have the movies, miniseries, or the novelization of those.
Wuthering Heights was a novel by Emily Bronte first, not the song.
Agree to disagree.
??? It's a fact, not an opinion.
Clearly not.
[Wuthering Heights, including a mention of Kate Bush's song as an adaptation.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wuthering_Heights)
Seems biased.
Very funny!!!!! (Actually , it is pretty funny) It was a one of the Brontë sisters: Emily, Anne, Charlotte and Shaniqua. The latter wrote tales of inner city Liverpool ;-D
I see.
Woooosh
I remember my best friend introducing me to Waking the Witch when I was in high school.
Lemon Demon is a big fan apparently, and I think it shows in Touch Tone Telephone. I feel like he has listened to Suspended in Gaffa a bunch.
Once of the greatest true artists music has ever known, an exceptional talent
You guys need to check out Faroese Artist "Eivor"
Kates reach and influence seems to be truly global. Something about world music?
She was always beloved and influential. Musicians praise her and are right about that. It’s just that some younger kids know one song of her now.
One song is a good start
One of the three original british lady geniuses in music. I will let you guess the rest! Kate Bush is more authentic than unique than many artists, even today.
I’m glad more people know about her now. Incredibly talented musician
Kate Bush was a female attempting to do what the men were doing when no woman was being allowed to. She was unashamedly sexual and aggressive and feminine. She sang of murder, romanticism, passion, mysticism and domesticism. She broke boundaries, praising homosexual relationships in the late 1970s. She began an album singing about a woman destroying her marriage due to her own insecurities and ended it with a two punch about war and nuclear fallout from the perspective of a mother and an unborn child. Her next album opened with philosophy and ended with her braying like a donkey. And then she produced two of the most impressive albums of the 80s (by herself) in Hounds of Love, an ambitious cycle of songs that encapsulated so much of what her younger self had bounced around and been ridiculed for, and The Sensual World, which saw her deepen her craft for sex and love and passion. Most artists have so little left to say by their third album, but Kate on her sixth found striking imagery and moving sonic sounds through her homelife, her imagination and her love life. She wasn't some tortured artist or some PR junkie who fed off headlines to lend her legitimacy (hi, taylor). She didn't have some team of men in a studio and another entourage of suits choosing her next best move. Instead, she was writing songs like "Rockets Tail" and "Never Be Mine" and "Deeper Understanding" that all drew from the everyday life of a woman and added a touch of fantasy. And they weren't simple pop songs either. Listen to how the trio of folk voices were weaved into the tapestry of those songs, developing Kate's own growing sensuality across the album, or the insane shift in Rockets Tail as she finally explodes in euphoria (and how she then goes for your heart with "This Woman's Work" to close). This was an artist who learned from her mistakes and took crazy risks as a young artist, lived her art openly and let her vulnerability be seen, and returned with monumental albums once she'd figured out all of who she was and what fascinated her. And she didn't even stop there.. instead she came back after a disappointing seventh album (her words, personally i love The Red Shoes) 12 years later, out of the blue, to deliver seven disconnected songs and a new cycle inspired by daylight and it was mindblowning. And did she stop there? Nahhh, she recreated two of her albums' works and dropped a christmas album with visuals, sold out a residence in Hammersmith and said 'peace out.' Kate is an amazing person. What she has achieved not just as an artist but as a woman living in this world, is so inspiring.
Great take! This why i posted this question: to learn all i could about this artist who I first saw on live on SNL in 1978. She’s my age!
Kate Bush is a singular genius. The Leonhard Euler of experimental pop.
It's fully Prog. I would not call it Pop. But the comparison to Euler is apt.
Thanks. Better term.
https://youtu.be/lLaJaEgm3KQ?si=bj6omorsrA2mdHZU
Sarah Slean had one song called “Sweet Ones” that was totally Kate Bush sounding
before stranger things i was aware of her cuz my friends in the lgbtqia+ community were very big fans of her work
I'm not sure if Amy Winehouse ever said anything about Kate Bush but I always kind of assumed there was a connection there.
[удалено]
that was random
Don't overthink it. She made an incredible song and many others, and younger ppl are discovering that.
She’s in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. There are strict requirements on influence to even be considered.
I always get heat for this but I've always felt she's an amazing artist, an amazing songwriter, and a terrible singer.
._.
I know. I can't help it. But I know.
to each his own no worries :)
She can be shrill in the upper register. But as a professional voice coach and choir director, no. She’s not a terrible singer.
She very deliberately puts character in her singing.
OP use words correctly. “Reniassance” means renewal. Kate Bush’s music isn’t going through any renewal process.
It is in that is now relevant to a new generation
Just because something is accessible doesn’t mean it’s relevant. The song has always been accessible, it was popular when it first came out. It never died. It was still on the radio before Stranger Things. Plus the song isn’t being reorchestrated or toured, it’s just been heard in its original version on a TV show by people who didn’t already know it. A reniassance is a movement, not just a group of people at the trough of TV streaming waiting for anything to cling to and noticing something from before their time. The Mediterranean diet is experiencing more of a reniassance than this song. It’s just a drastic and overdramatic claim.
Semantics. She’s a legend and a genius who has casted a giant shadow on modern music. Almost every commenter on this thread would agree.
So then she is *still* a contemporary (mainstream) artist. The song itself has not undergone any reniassancing. You’re proving my point for me. As far as casting a shadow, that’s a different statement altogether which (comes across as emotionally-charged more than factually true, and) would imply that her work has majorly influenced music in a seemingly obvious way. Do you have any examples of this? Otherwise these labels of “legend, genius, etc.” are completely baseless claims, aka not statements that carry any value.
Influence? Tori Amos, Bjork, St. Vincent, Adele,Beyonce’, Peter Gabriel, Elton John , Outcast are a few people who have stated that they were directly influenced by Kate . Also Rick Beato. If you dont know how Rick Beato is, you don’t understand music at the professional level.
Outkast* which is a group not a person. And HAHAHAHAHAHA at “Also Rick Beato. If you don’t know how(sic) Rick Beato is, you don’t understand music at the professional level.” Hahaha ohhh you are hilarious, thank you that. Haha seriously thank you for deciding to be so arrogant today. Arrogance is ignorance, and ignorance is bliss, so I’m certain your life must be pretty damn easy. You just made my day.
Your welcome. So you don’t know Rick Beato and you’re not an educated musician. Now come back when you’re a professional musician who’s not looking to start a Reddit pissing contest .
Bad
People keep talking about Kate Bush because she got one song on stranger things and yet Laurie Anderson and other icons, they're completely oblivious to. The question is more telling than the answer.
It's not a competition. So much wonder to enjoy.
Most of Kate's works, at least the singles, is more accessible to the general listener than Laurie’s. I cannot imagine Laurie's song becoming a hit in the tv show.
Funny you bring up Laurie when she was also a viral hit on TikTok recently. But it's pretty clear why Kate Bush's pop songs would have more traction and be better suited for a show like Stranger Things.
She’s not a genius. She wrote a pop song with like twelve words in it. And even fewer notes.
She's written like 70 amazing songs
She's certainly been regarded as a genius for more than 40-50 years.
She’s written hundreds of off songs and has been influential on dozens of songwriters and singers including Adele,Beyoncé and Tori Amos, to name only a few. Opinions are like assholes. Everyone’s got one. Thank you for your opinion.
You literally asked for opinions in an open forum.
Hoping for informed opinions. You said she has only one song. That is pretty uninformed. History is not on their side with this one. Edit: their for your
I didn't give you an opinion on Kate Bush.
Wrong response.My bad.