The Kate Bush Fan Podcast

In Part Two of Seán's three-part conversation with the legendary guitarist and songwriter, Brian Bath, he discusses being there for Kate's stunning debut with Wuthering Heights, leading her band for TV appearances, working on demos and helping build her first demo studio at the farm, playing on the Lionheart album and the incredible experience of playing guitar on the 1979 Lionheart tour! We also hear a couple of excerpts from never-before-heard acoustic demos. Such an honour to have spoken to the lovely Brian Bath, once again!

In this episode of the Kate Bush Fan Podcast, Seán introduces Darrell's chat with Pat Martin, bass guitarist with British band Unicorn. Because of his close association with Dave Gilmour of Pink Floyd, he was asked to play for the young Cathy Bush's first ever recording at the age of fifteen in 1973. Pat can be heard on ‘Passing Through Air' from this session which was released as a B-side to ‘Army Dreamers' in 1980. The late, Ricky Hopper is also discussed. It was through him that Kate's music was heard in the first place, championing her relentlessly. We get to hear how Pat was invited to this session at Gilmour's house, and his fond remembrances of the young and shy Cathy. He knew there was something very special and that here was an artist, sure and confident about her craft. We also get to hear wonderful stories about Pat's involvement with Unicorn, and the amazing artists they worked with, including Patti Smith, Fleetwood Mac and Linda Rondstadt among many otters. Unicorn's song 'Ooh Mother' was recently played in the USA TV drama ‘Paradise'. It has resulted in the song being streamed 115k times on Spotify. It's worth a listen.

Seán introduces an exclusive interview between Darrell Babidge and Govert de Roos. Dutch photographer, Govert de Roos was Kate's European photographer. Many of the photos that were taken of Kate in 1978 and were posted on many a bedroom wall were taken by Govert. In this interview we get a glimpse into his work with Kate Bush, as well as the rock and pop stars of the 70's and 80's. We also find out more about his work during the Efteling Special in Amsterdam and taking photos of Kate's Tour of Life concert there. Other artists he worked with include Grace Jones, Queen, ABBA, Debbie Harry, Tina Turner, Prince and many more. In this interview we hear about some of his work with these other great artists. We also get to hear a great story about when he was 15 years old, sneaking into the Hilton Hotel in Amsterdam with a fake ID and taking the iconic photos of John Lennon and Yoko Ono. We hope you enjoy this chat with Govert de Roos.

Seán gives a suitable wintry introduction to this short chat between Darrell and Paul Simmons of design team Timorous Beasties about his recent work on Kate's illustrated vinyl version of 50 Words For Snow - The Polar Edition. Look out for even more conversation between Darrell and Paul about their work with Kate over the last decade in the new year. 

Paul and Darrell from Bush Telegraph reminisce over their first reactions to Kate's videos and film work from her 1980 album 'Never For Ever'. Ultimately, Kate created stunning visuals for 50% of the album, and they were so different to anything else that was around at that time. We also get to hear Kate and Paddy's own words from the Kate Bush Club newsletters about the making of 'Breathing', 'Delius' and 'Army Dreamers'. Paul (who lives in the UK) and Darrell (who now lives in the States) also banter about their trips together to the record shops and reactions to the artwork and photos from each 'Never For Ever' single.      

In this new episode of the Kate Bush Fan Podcast, Seán talks to Leah Kardos, author of the new book about Hounds of Love which is part of the acclaimed 33⅓ book series which examine key albums from music history. Leah is a musician, a senior lecturer in music at Kingston University in London, co-founder of that university's Visconti Studio (with producer Tony Visconti) and is also author of Blackstar Theory: The Last Works of David Bowie. A very enjoyable chat in which she discusses what made her pitch Kate's fifth studio album to the book publishers, her experience of writing the book as we emerged from a pandemic, the challenges of producing a smaller sized book like this and why it was important to her to emphasise Kate's pioneering production work and barrier-breaking career achievements. I highly recommend this excellent little book as the perfect Christmas stocking filler for the Kate Bush fan in your life!

In this minisode Darrell from Bush Telegraph chats with Alan Skidmore, the saxophonist on Kate's 1975 'The Saxophone Song', recorded when she was only 16. Alan talks about his recording session and briefly meeting the young Cathy in the studio. Alan, known as Skid in the jazz world, has had a prolific career working with all the jazz greats. His amazing playing is not only highlighted on Kate's song in the podcast, but we also get to hear another phenomenal track he plays on.

Seán is joined in Dublin by Irish songwriter and musician SJ McArdle to have an enjoyable in-depth discussion on how Kate's love of Irish music and deep connection with the country of Ireland has infused so much of her work throughout her career. We discuss Kate's Irish family connections, the famous Irish traditional musicians who Kate has worked with down the years, in particular the great Donal Lunny, and chew over the Irishness inherent in recordings like Army Dreamers, Night of the Swallow, Jig of Life, The Sensual World, Mná na hÉireann and many more! Archive clips featuring Kate, Del, John Carder Bush and Donal Lunny help to illustrate this fascinating and enduring aspect of Kate's work.  Listen to the wonderful work of Seán's guest SJ McArdle at his Bandcamp page here:  https://sjmcardle.bandcamp.com/ More from SJ McArdle at his official site: https://sjmcardle.com/  

Bush Telegraph have an exclusive interview with Stewart Avon Arnold, Kate's longtime dance collaborator. Stewart chats with Paul and Darrell about his first experience with Kate on the Tour of Life in 1979, where he and Gary Hurst danced with Kate for many of her songs from ‘The Kick Inside', ‘Lionheart' and ‘Never For Ever'. Stewart's work with Kate spanned many years and albums, right through to ‘Rubberband Girl' on ‘The Line, the Cross and the Curve'. His reminiscences of his special collaborations with her are wonderful to listen to, and there are a new things to discover about Kate's catalogue of visual work. We also get to hear about his work on videos such as ‘Breathing', ‘Sat In Your Lap' and ‘Love and Anger'.

Seán hosts a shorter mini episode all about Kate's beautiful and unexpected short animation, Little Shrew! Apologies for the sound quality on this one - I was away from usual set up! With thanks to Tristan for production support!

Seán celebrates 10 years since Kate's incredible Before The Dawn concerts by introducing audio memories sent in by fans from all over the world who were lucky enough to attend.

Paul and Darrell talk all things related to Kate's videos. They reminisce about the first time they saw these videos, glued to their TV sets, hoping that she would appear. What were their first impressions and what set Kate apart from other artists promoting their music at that time? They still stand the test of time today. Let's delve in to the years of 1978 and 1979 to start off this series.

Paul and Darrell interview the iconic dancer and choreographer, Anthony van Laast. Anthony was the choreographer for the Tour of Life in 1979, after having featured opposite Kate in the 'Hammer Horror' video and European TV appearances. His incredible work with Kate on tour, and subsequent work on the BBC 'Kate Show' are discussed in this interview, including his work on the making of 'The Wedding List' film. Anthony has been the leading choreographer on many movies and stage works, including 'Mamma Mia' and the Royal Variety performances. What was it like to work with Kate, as well as other icons, including Meryl Streep, Cher and Barry Humphries, to name a few. Tune in and find out on the latest Bush Telegraph podcast...

Paul in the UK, and Darrell in the USA, continue their album anniversary podcast chats and reminiscences. Paul and Darrell have been life-long fans of Kate, and from school friends to the present day, they have much to chat about. Here they discuss Kate's seventh album 'The Red Shoes', celebrating the 30th anniversary of this iconic album. We get to hear about their first responses to the album in 1993, and how they feel about it today. We also get to hear about Paul's experience of going to the film premiere of 'The Line, The Cross, And The Curve', Kate's visual companion to the album. Journal reviews are discussed and radio clips are played, bringing us right back to where it all started with this most personal of Kate's albums. That and whole lot more. Enjoy!

Darrell, co-host of Bush Telegraph had the rare opportunity of chatting with Andrew Powell, producer and arranger of Kate's first two iconic albums, The Kick Inside and Lionheart. Listen in as they discuss the very first time Powell met Cathy Bush as a 16 year old, and the songs they eventually chose and recorded together. We also get to hear how Kate's vocal and piano playing with a live orchestra for 'The Man With The Child In His Eyes' was recorded all in one take - still at this incredibly young age. Many new things are revealed and discussed. What David Bowie song did Kate cover when Powell worked with her in Japan? What songs did not get included on the published albums? And what was it like for Andrew Powell to hear 'Wuthering Heights' for the first time played by Kate in his flat? These questions and a whole lot more are revealed in this podcast with iconic producer, arranger, composer, conductor and musician, Andrew Powell.

A very special episode! Few people have more of an insight into Kate Bush's very earliest career and rise to fame than her bandmate and friend, the wonderful guitarist and songwriter, Brian Bath. In this episode of the Kate Bush Fan Podcast, Seán talks to Brian about his growing up in London in school bands with his friend Del Palmer, befriending and making music with a young Paddy Bush in 1970, visits to the Bush family home, forming bands with Vic King and Charlie Morgan and ultimately forming The KT Bush Band in 1977 with Del, Vic and Kate to briefly take the London pub and club scene by storm before Kate recorded her debut album! Historic stuff. And this is only Part One of our conversation! p.s. Listen out for some never-before-heard audio treats too.

In this new episode of the Kate Bush Fan Podcast Seán chats to Dave Cross from HomeGround about the upcoming Fish People reissue of Kate's catalogue as she switches distribution to The State51 Conspiracy and how she has taken that opportunity to also release gorgeous independent record store colour vinyl editions of her albums, extraordinary new vinyl and wall art presentations of Hounds of Love, and more! We also discuss the new short film pieces Kate has written and directed, who she has been working with, why all this is happening now, and what nuggets we can glean from Kate's lovingly reimagined new website. We round off with a brief chat about Kate's induction last week into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame – a busy episode! Thanks as ever to Dave for his knowledge on all things record industry (and on all things Kate Bush!)

Bush Telegraph EXCLUSIVE! Darrell interviews Gered Mankowitz, the prolific Rock and Roll photographer who worked with Kate Bush, as well as other music legends - The Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix and Marianne Faithfull, to name only a few. This is a deep dive into how Gered started his career (thanks in part to actor/comedian Peter Sellers!) and how he eventually worked with Kate on the iconic photos from The Kick Inside and Lionheart era. Every photo session is talked about in detail. The stunning album cover of Lionheart was his creation, and we get to hear interesting details that have never been revealed before. Paul and Darrell also reminisce about the heady days of 1978 and 1979 when these photos were first published and seen.

Today it was announced that Kate has finally been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, so we catch up on this news and other recent exciting developments in the world of Kate Bush music - including her Fish People rebrand and new partnership with The state51 Conspiracy plus Seán discusses the new paperback edition of How To Be Invisible, Kate's recent award nominations and we remember the late guitarist, the brilliant Ian Bairnson.

In January this year the katebushnews.com website turned 25 years old! Seán celebrates this hard-to-believe milestone by asking some fan friends to cherry-pick their choice of news stories, both obscure and momentous, from the site archives which date back to 1998! An enjoyable, eclectic chat with guests Dave Cross, Paul Thomas and Darrell Babidge.

This is the third and final installment, celebrating the 40th anniversary of The Dreaming - arguably, Kate Bush's most forward-thinking album. Paul and Darrell introduce this episode, and then Darrell chats with Nick Launay, Kate's prolific engineer at Townhouse Studios. His collaboration with Kate created a synergy of ideas that ended up on this iconic album. Exclusive stories are heard on this podcast, where we get an expanded view of how these almost operatic tracks were produced, including more details of the title track. As an added bonus, we also get to hear how 'Lord Of The Reedy River' (b-side to the first single 'Sat In Your Lap') was recorded next to a dank pool under the studio floorboards. And if that doesn't whet your appetite, which we're sure it will, find out who Kate nearly recorded a duet with. Thanks again to Nick Launay, also known for his work with other great artists such as Nick Cave, Public Image Ltd., Lou Reed, Talking Heads and Arcade Fire.

Bush Telegraph duo (Darrell in the States and Paul in the UK) continue to discuss Kate's fourth album The Dreaming, in their second installment celebrating the 40th anniversary of this iconic album. As school friends, they bought the album on the day of its release, and the next day met Kate at the album signing in London. We hear more snippets of their experiences in 1982, but the major part of this podcast is Darrell's interview with Teri Reed, senior engineer at Advision Studios. Teri talks about his collaboration with Kate, as Advision was one of the studios she used for The Dreaming. We find out, not surprisingly, what a generous and warm colleague she was, as well as the extraordinary levels she went to, to get the right sound for a track. For example, why was Teri coaxed into a car park to find a specific sound she needed? All will be revealed. That, and a whole lot more. The final and third episode to follow will be an interview with Nick Launay, another collaborator with Kate. Enjoy!

In the second part of Seán's conversation with Kate's brother John Carder Bush, John talks about his involvement in Kate's career, the 1979 tour, his famous video set and album/single cover photos, poetry and photo books he has published, his collaborations with Vivienne Chandler, the re-grouping of the Salatticum Poets in the 21st century and his return to the Jig of Life narration for Before the Dawn!

40 Years Of ‘The Dreaming' - Reminiscences. Darrell and Paul (The Bush Telegraph Podcast) have a three-part series all about ‘The Dreaming', as we celebrate its 40th anniversary. In the first episode they discuss the excitement of its release when they were young teenagers, including the first time they met Kate at the Virgin Megastore album signing. Each track is discussed, as well as quotes from Kate about the album and reviews from the press.

In this very special episode, Seán chats with Kate's eldest brother, the poet, writer and photographer, John Carder Bush at his home in South East London. A dream come true! In this first part, we talk about John's early life, how he developed his writing, his days playing in folk bands in London (with a young Kate taking notes), forming the Salatticum Poets with his great friends Tony Buzan and Jeremy Cartland, the story behind “Nicholas Wade” and so much more! 

In this detailed new episode of The Kate Bush Fan Podcast Seán packs an hour looking back over all the amazing landmark events of Summer 2022 when Kate's song Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God) was featured on Stranger Things and became her biggest ever global smash hit – all the summer chart news, the reaction from Kate, the media and the fans! A souvenir of an extraordinary few months.

Friends for over 50 years, Darrell (in the US), and Paul (in the UK), known as the Bush Telegraph Podcast, try and wrap their heads around the resurgence of Kate's 1985 ‘Running Up That Hill', and the global phenomenon it has become because of the new season of ‘Stranger Things'. Fans from the beginning, they often take us down memory lane. This time they open up the ‘time capsule' of the release of ‘Running Up That Hill' the first time it was unleashed to the world when they were teenagers themselves. What is their reaction to it getting to No. 1 in many countries throughout the world today? We also get to hear how Darrell met Kate a week before it came out, and the extraordinary experience of being gifted the single before it was in the record shops! Also, how did Paul and Darrell meet her a week later? Let's sit back and enjoy as we go back in time to 1985…

A HUGE episode to celebrate Kate's unprecedented global chart success with Running Up That Hill! Seán chats to fans all around the world about what this momentous time for Kate Bush fans means to them in this extraordinary moment.

As Kate Bush continues to storm the charts across the world with Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God), Seán chats to performer Danimay Palmer who has gained a following recreating Kate's looks and performances on social media – a chance to check in with someone who represents the younger generation of fans Kate is gathering worldwide! A great chat between two very excited Kate Bush fans.

Seán recorded a quick episode of the Kate Bush Fan Podcast to discuss the huge success of Running Up That Hill being featured on the phenomenally popular Stranger Things and to welcome the new fans discovering Kate's music!

This is the final instalment of Bush Telegraph's interview with Preston Heyman. Here we get a further glimpse into the workings of the Tour Of Life and the special camaraderie that existed on tour, as well as the fun antics that happened offstage. Preston also remembers musical highlights and special moments with Kate during the show. Darrell and Paul mention their first meeting with Preston and the band at the 1980 Convention as young 13/14 year olds (being the youngest ones there), and fun memories of that meeting are remembered. Find out what other antics Preston and guitarist Alan Murphy got up to at the recording of the 'Kate Show' a few months after the tour. These memories and a whole lot more are revealed in this packed episode.

Being the 10th anniversary of both ‘Director's Cut' and '50 Words For Snow', Bush Telegraph chat from either side of the Atlantic, and reminisce about their individual experiences of listening to the albums for the first time and their reviews of both albums. Kate surprised her fanbase by releasing two albums in one year, and although fans have divided opinions about these albums, they are solid works that fit perfectly in her prolific recording catalogue.

Michael Byrne, the co-creator of the new coffee table book, Finding Kate, which visually explores Kate's songs is interviewed by Seán to discuss how the pandemic, and a successful Kickstarter campaign, lead to this stunning book being realised. This is the first of two Kate Bush Fan podcast episodes we'll have for you this week, so you'll have plenty of KB chatter to have on in the background as you prepare for the holiday season!

Paul and Darrell dive further into Preston's collaboration with Kate. We find out how he first got to work with her on the 1979 tour, and their incredible meeting of minds. We also get some fascinating and humorous stories involving his work on her third album 'Never For Ever', as well as his experience on the filming of the 'Breathing' video.

Darrell and Paul talk all things ‘Sat In Your Lap' as they celebrate its 40th anniversary. They reveal an exclusive interview with Preston Heyman, who played the iconic drum pattern on the single. Preston is a brilliant and revered drummer in the music industry, and here we get to hear how he collaborated with Kate on this special and unique song. ‘Sat In Your Lap' would catapult Kate into the progressive singer/songwriter that we know and love today, and this interview shows how incredible and special her approach was. As book-ends to the interview, Bush Telegraph reminisce about the day it came out, when they rushed to the record shop to see what the cover looked like and listening to the single and B-side ‘The Lord Of The Reedy River' on the turntable for the first time. They also talk about the demo, the Roundtable radio reviews, and a whole lot more!

Seán explores Kate's one and only promotional trip to Japan in June 1978. A highly memorable two-week schedule in which Kate performed in a song contest in front of 35 million viewers, sang many songs on another Japanese variety show, charmed the Japanese media and even shot an ad campaign for Seiko watches!

The Bush Telegraph have another Christmas special, covering all things 'December Will Be Magic Again', which celebrates its 40th anniversary this month. Paul and Darrell, chatting transatlantically, reminisce about the classic Christmas song from Kate. On this podcast we get to hear the first version, as well as a live version from the 'Kate Show' in 1979. The lads also reminisce about rushing out after school to get the single, and they discuss reviews and chart stats. There is also a great cover of this song on the podcast. For a Christmas 'bonus', we also get to hear the two jingles Kate sang for Capital One and Radio 1.

Bush Telegraph cover all things ‘Never For Ever', celebrating 40 years of the first album to reach number one by a British female solo artist. Six of the ten songs had been seen as videos or costumed performances in the previous 9 months on TV. These and other performances are discussed, including Darrell seeing Kate sing ‘Wedding List' live in 1982. We hear Kate being interviewed on Radio 1 about the album, as well as reading Kate, John and Paddy's takes on the recording process from the KBC Newsletter, and reviews of the album from the music mags of the day. This and much, much more!…

Paul quizzes Darrell on the ‘Nicholas Pegg's Kate Bush Emoji Quiz', followed by the ‘Would You Rather' game. Then both reminisce about misheard lyrics that will bring a smile to your face. To end the podcast, Darrell's teenage son is grilled again on Kate songs, and the pièce de resistance is a Radio 4 exclusive on the best Kate tribute band that ever existed!

Seán introduces a Top 10 countdown of the most FEEL GOOD moments of Kate Bush's career! He reads out contributions from Kate fans around the world describing their own personal joyful moments from Kate's decades of output.

Somewhere In Between 'The Sensual World' And 'The Red Shoes' - Sometimes the gaps between Kate Bush albums can seem like an eternity but the years between Kate's 6th and 7th albums were full of treats for us fans. In this podcast Bush Telegraph - aka, Darrell and Paul discuss Kate's contribution to 'The Comic Strip Presents' series including the track 'Ken'. They also play a Kate song that was never commercially released. They also discuss the release of the 1990 Box set anthology 'This Woman's Work', the 1990 Convention and Kate's cover of 'Rocket Man' released in 1991 including a short radio interview from the time. We also get a bonus feature where Darrell's teenage son is given the ultimate Kate song test!

Seán reflects on Kate's remarkable decade from 2010-2019: two studio albums released in a single year, her first live shows in 35 years and the launch of her own record label with Kate's entire catalogue remastered on CD and vinyl - WOW!

Seán introduces Bush Telegraph celebrating 30 Years of ‘The Sensual World', Kate's beautiful 6th studio album. Paul and Darrell reminisce over the release of ‘The Sensual World' in 1989, and how their views of it have changed over the years – with re-workings on ‘Director's Cut' in 2011 and the incredible remaster in 2018. They also remember further visits to Wickham Farm during that time, and an unexpected call from Kate herself at a wedding that Paul was at. One of Darrell's daughters also gets a brief cameo in the podcast. 

Seán meets up with his old friend Mike to shoot the breeze about Kate with someone who isn't necessarily a hardcore fan. Pouring over the remastered box sets, we make selections from Kate's catalogue to listen to and chat about, and it lead to a most enjoyable evening!

In this episode Seán introduces Paul and Darrell (aka Bush Telegraph) discussing the KT symbols and where to find them on every Kate Bush album. Darrell obsesses over a mysterious face only he can see in the “Aerial” cover. There is a discussion about the messages Kate herself inscribed into the vinyls of her earlier releases and what they could be referring to. There is also another song by Ron and Cyril, an early tribute act who take on “Babooshka”, slightly rewritten from the point of view of the husband. This podcast should carry a government geek warning….if there was such a thing.

What are Darrell and Paul's Top 3's from all of Kate's albums, and what single, album, video and b-side would they take on a desert island? In this podcast, for the first half we get the rare glimpse of hearing Darrell and Paul chatting together in the same place, as opposed to Skyping transatlantically. Plus, Ron and Cyril get another spin with a Kate cover!

Kate's work with the exquisite, breathtaking, Trio Bulgarka from Bulgaria remains one of the most outstanding collaborations of her career to date. Seán explores how Bulgarian singing started to be discovered by the world in the 1980s and how Kate met and recorded incredible music with Yanka, Eva and Stoyanka on two of her albums!

Bush Telegraph (aka Darrell and Paul) chat with Darrell's brother and put him to task to see if he can answer a Kate Pop Quiz! Russell remembers hearing Kate through the bedroom wall constantly, and here he is interviewed to face the trauma it caused him one more time! Darrell and Paul also find a rare recording of the very first Kate tribute act. Not to be missed.

As Kate's 12″ Cloudbusting picture disc tops the UK vinyl singles chart for a second week running, Seán devotes this episode of the Kate Bush Fan Podcast to discussing the origins and history of Kate's glorious, classic song, along with the iconic promotional film co-starring Donald Sutherland. 

What did Glenys get up to with Kate in Paris? What was Glenys's favourite song to sing, and favourite song to watch Kate perform? What synchronicity did Kate, Glenys Groves and Liz Pearson share? Part 2 of the Glenys Groves interview is here!

Darrell and Paul talk about 1979 and their disappointment in not being able to see Kate perform live on the ‘Tour Of Life'. To celebrate the 40th anniversary of this legendary tour, Darrell has an exclusive interview with Glenys Groves, who was one of the two backing vocalists on the tour. This is Part 1 of the interview.