Musings on the 25th anniversary of Hounds of Love

Yesterday marked the 25th anniversary of the release of Kate Bush's Hounds of Love, and while I certainly didn't expect any sort of 25th anniversary of Thriller or 20th anniversary of The Joshua Tree type hoopla, it did get me wondering.

Is Kate Bush the artist whose relative obscurity in the US the most out of whack to the massive influence her work has actually had? Other obscurities to the average Yank like Joy Division, Gram Parsons or Kraftwerk at least get spoken of with reverence amongst hipsters, but Bush seems to not even really get her due there, though Big Boi from Outkast at least name-drops her as a huge influence on him.

At the very least, Bush is easily the one whose stature worldwide (or at least in the UK) is most ludicrously out of proportion to the US's relative indifference to her.

She's definitely been hugely influential, but at the same time no one sounds like her...Florence Welch (of Florence and The Machine) and Marina Diamandis (of Marina and The Diamonds) come the closest to my ears:

[www.youtube.com]

[www.youtube.com]

Thankfully, both seem to be taking things in their own direction, however.

Anyway, regarding your original query, I think Paul Heaton (The Housemartins, The Beautiful South, solo) is not a well-known commodity in the US, but I think you can hear a healthy dose of his influence in Stars (major way), The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Billy Bragg, Stornoway, Belle & Sebastian, The Airborne Toxic Event, Trashcan Sinatras, Camera Obscura, David Gray, Vampire Weekend, among others. Plus, Carry On Up the Charts, the first Beautiful South hits compilation, is supposedly in 1 in 4 homes in the UK or something.

(Edited to add the following reference points)

The Housemartins:
[www.youtube.com]
[www.youtube.com]

The Beautiful South:
[www.youtube.com]
[www.youtube.com]

Paul Heaton:
[www.youtube.com]
[www.youtube.com]



Post Edited (09-17-10 16:24)

I still have the cutest little yellow pin that says (in black letters):

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THE HOUSEMARTINS
QUITE BIG IN BELGIUM

Kate Bush? I think you could frame an argument that Sinead O' Connor took away some of her market back in the day ... and when she went south, that audience moved on and never came back to Bush. It's just a theory.

All I ever owned was the LP with the key in her mouth and a 12" single of "Cloudbursting."

The B-Side ("My Lagan Love") is a real classic heart breaker.

...

Edited to include a bit about being "In a garden with my Hounds of Love ... sitting lonely on a plastic chair ..."



Post Edited (09-17-10 22:59)

Out of proportion between UK and US?

Paul Weller

There are times where I wonder if Bush isn't sticking pins into a Tori Amos doll, amongst much grumbling.
Has there been any (or rumors of any) "deluxe edition" 2-CDs reissues of any of Kate Bush's releases (you would think that at the very least "Hounds of Love" would rate such treatment).



Post Edited (09-19-10 19:13)

There was a deluxe reissue of The Hounds of Love in the late '90s. It included six extra tracks (remixes and B-sides). I don't know if there's much more available.

> There are times where I wonder if Bush isn't sticking pins into a Tori Amos doll, amongst
> much grumbling.

I'd find it easier to believe the other way around. Not based on comparative success or acclaim, but simply on public persona.

i dunno...there seem to be a lot of K.Bush fans around here...i run into them every so often

often, people who know nothing about indie music in general

which brings me back to one of my fave topics:
why was bjork so revered for awhile but now you can't find any fans?

When I'm listening to "The Dreaming" I think: "THIS is Kate Bush's masterpiece." Until I listen to "Hounds Of Love." Still can't decide.

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why was bjork so revered for awhile but now you can't find any fans?

Hmmm, is that really so?

Although in my case, everyone I knew was aware of Bjork, and not a one of them had one of her albums.

I am a big Bjork fan, although her more recent stuff has been less of interest to me. And there is no way I'm going to buy all her various live albums and remixes. I also think Hounds of Love is Kate Bush's best.