 Kate Bush Wandering dazed out of a record store recently, I was utterly perplexed to find an interview disc mixed in with the rest of my loot. Feeling a bit dirty that I'd actually purchased my first interview CD after who knows how many years of diligent and appropriate music buying, I immediately dropped the rest of my Rufies down the sidewalk drain, and made a vow to remain sober in record shops from this day forward. Something everyone can relate to, right, RIGHT? *coughs* Let's see … a Kate Bush "LIMITED EDITION" interview picture disc with two tracks – one from 1982 circa The Dreaming, and the other discussing the Hounds of Love album from 1985. Though I've listened to much Kate music for the past 15 years, it immediately hit me that I'd never heard her speaking voice before. Daydreaming over some of the hotter Kate pics from The Sensual World, I always supplanted a sexy low Sally Kellerman speaking back to me. Instead on the disc, they've substituted "my" Kate with a proper 9 year old English schoolgirl. Wait, is the CD on the wrong speed? The electric company delivering too much power again? The Dreaming-era interview seemingly takes place in the proverbial coffee shop, but at least there's a two-way conversation going on here, discussing tracks on the album, and what not. The "interviewer" on track 2 sounds more like a nervous president of the Kate Bush Australian fan club, clearly reading questions off a paper, and never following up on any of Kate's replies. It's all rather uncomfortable, and strangely enough, you do start to feel for any celebrity who's forced out on the promotional treadmill. Interviewer asks question, nervously laughs, Kate replies with a hint of auto-pilot, and nervously laughs. Wash, lather, rinse, repeat. I did find myself wanting to go back & listen to Hounds of Love again after the disc clicked off, though no revelatory info was necessarily expounded. In fact, Kate comes off a bit bored and boring during the proceedings, but you can't really blame her. The Dreaming conversation seems much more intriguing (relatively speaking), and admittedly made me a bit more interested in an album I've given countless attempts to listen to, and still don't get anything out of. For nerdy, diehard Kate Bush fans with no lives to speak of. Wait, I own this? Hmm, touché, I guess.
Review by Gracie "Slick" Jones |