CLASSIC ALBUM
THE KICK INSIDE
FOR KATE BUSH, HER DEBUT ALBUM CHANGED EVERYTHING. IT BECAME THE NINTH-LARGEST SELLING LP OF 1978, WENT PLATINUM, AND INCLUDED WUTHERING HEIGHTS – THE FIRST SELF-COMPOSED SONG BY A FEMALE VOCALIST TO TOP THE UK SINGLES CHARTS…
IAN RAVENDALE
Produced and arranged by Andrew Powell, The Kick Inside is Kate Bush making her mark as a singer-songwriter quite unlike any other. The Man With The Child In His Eyes (about men’s capacity to retain an inner simplicity throughout their lives) and The Saxophone Song (a fan letter to the instrument) are taken from the 1975 session that was executive-produced by Bush’s patron David Gilmour, but the majority of the album was recorded in July and August 1977.
Lyrically and musically, the album covers a very wide spectrum. Kate namechecks philosopher and mystic George Gurdjieff as well as thanking Gilmour for all the help he’d given her by “rolling the ball to me” in Them Heavy People. Strange Phenomena tackles premonition, while Feel It explores sexuality. Brothersister incest leading to suicide makes up the subject matter of the song The Kick Inside, while other left-field topics are liberally sprinkled throughout the rest of the album.