ALBUM BY ALBUM

ALWAYS PACKED WITH MELODRAMA AND MELODY, THIS WOMAN’S WORK IS NEVER ANYTHING LESS THAN A SPELLBINDING EXPERIENCE

  MARK LINDORES

© Trevor Leighton

As debut albums go, few establish the identity of their creator in as concise a manner as The Kick Inside.

Released in February 1978, as punk and disco jostled for chart and cultural supremacy, the album completely eschewed what was popular at the time, heralding the arrival of a singular voice that revelled in its individuality and uniqueness across 13 tracks. Culled from a list of more than 200 demos accumulated in the 18 months since Kate had signed to EMI as an inexperienced, slightly naïve 17-year-old in 1976, The Kick Inside bristles with empathy and imagination.

A product of the diverse range of influences pop’s latest ingénue had been surrounded by growing up, the album’s ability to veer effortlessly from the bewitching melodrama of the title track to the quirky reggaelite of Them Heavy People, the haunting The Man With The Child In His Eyes (written when she was just 13 years old and included on the album in its original ‘demo’ form), to the rollicking James And The Cold Gun, is testament to Bush’s distinct style.

CULLED FROM A LIST OF MORE THAN 200 DEMOS, THE KICK INSIDE BRISTLES WITH EMPATHY AND IMAGINATION

Although Kate had wanted the KT Bush Band – the group she’d been fronting at pub gigs to gain live experience – to play on the recording sessions at London’s AIR Studios in the summer of 1977, producer Andrew Powell overruled her in favour of more experienced musicians which included guitarist Ian Bairnson, bassist David Paton and drummer Stuart Elliott.

Though initially nervous and intimidated by them, Bush’s prodigious talent flourished in the company of those tasked with making her ambitious ideas a reality.

The accomplished musicality of The Kick Inside is matched by its lyricism, which runs the gamut from the sensuous L’Amour Looks Something Like You and the almost giddy innocence of Kite to the title track, which tells the story of a girl contemplating suicide after she has fallen pregnant to her brother.

Of course, Kate’s knack for inhabiting characters is never more evident than on Wuthering Heights, her epic ode to the tragic protagonists of Emily Brontë’s classic gothic novel. Though the label favoured James And The Cold Gun as her debut single, Bush was adamant that Wuthering Heights should be released first. Vindication arrived for her when the single reached No.1, bestowing her with the achievement of becoming the first female artist to top the charts with a self-penned song.

The success of the single proved the perfect launchpad for the album which went platinum, reaching No.3 and going on to become the UK’s ninth biggestselling LP of 1978.

Despite being in the midst of a hectic promo schedule for The Kick Inside in the spring of 1978, EMI was already applying pressure on Kate for a second album –a move which marked the beginning of her frustration with the business side of the music industry, feeling it compromised the quality of her work. As her debut had been compiled from hundreds of songs she’d nurtured over time (in some cases years), Bush was reluctant to release something rushed and below par.