Saturday Deluxe / 25 June 2022

72 thoughts on “Saturday Deluxe / 25 June 2022”

1. I don’t get all the fuss. RUTH isn’t THAT good a song.

2. There are so many musicians who seem to communicate most eloquently through their art. Perhaps Kate Bush is one of them. If so, then she’s certainly in good company. I don’t think I’ve ever listened to an interview with, say Paul McCartney or Mick Jagger in which they had much of anything to say about anything, but that certainly doesn’t detract from the lyrics either has managed to produce in tracks like ‘A Day in The Life’, ‘Eleanor Rigby’, ‘Gimme Shelter’, ‘Moonlight Mile’ or ‘Undercover of the Night’. For sheer gift of gab (and sense of humour to boot) we’ve always got (e.g.) John Lydon and Peter Hook. As to the current state of the interview and what now passes for journalism in general? To paraphrase Frank Zappa (who was always a great interview subject), ‘journalism isn’t dead, it just smells funny’.
   Rob (Toronto)

3. I’m currently in the midst of another read thru of Manufacturing Consent, one of my favorite books, and, despite very different subject matter, it’s striking how the model of journalists needing access to official sources to constantly fulfill the need for new content leading to journalists becoming the mouthpiece for the mainstream narrative rather than challenging it could apply even to entertainment news in its own way.

4. Bit harsh – it was woman’s hour not news night – I thought the build up by Caitlin Moran was quite entertaining. Good to hear Kates voice again

5. I consider whatever music she is working on, or not working on to be her private business.
   The obvious question of a musician is “any recording happening or tours planned?”
   It wasn’t asked, almost certainly by agreement.
   If she has ideas about either of those things but doesn’t want to talk about them, then agreeing those parameters ahead of an interview is 100% legitimate.
   And I have every respect for a journalist that sticks to that.
   We have zero ‘right’ to know what she’s doing in her private life, and she is under no obligation to share.

6. At the end of the day (Brian), we are in an age where journalists, whether political, sports or music are far too compliant, “friendly” and / or opinionated. Watching something like Question Time with Fiona Bruce is painful and Dimbleby Sr. , Robin Day and their ilk must be spinning. Paxo and Dimblebies Jr. would be too if they were not still kicking.

   True journalistic instinct would have made a really good journalist ask more, whether agreed beforehand or not. Otherwise you are never really reporting or investigating or being a true journalist. Maybe I am being harsh but otherwise Emma is nothing more than a radio presenter and she is better than that. In her heart, I would lay money on her being disappointed.

   Put it this way, I could have done that interview and I could barely have opened my mouth, no one would have learned anything less and surely Woman’s Hour and the like are almost pointless if we come away having learned nothing.

   You can still be one of the better ones of the modern crop whilst having a bad day at the office.

7. why have an interview at all, if you cant interview the person you are interviewing ?

8. Back in the day, I did a bunch of Radio and TV things, most involved pop stars and so on. Kate Bush was the only one that kept away from everyone that wasn’t the person interviewing her. We got to see her come in from the other side of the studio, do the interview (polite, etc, don’t remember much of what she said) and go.

   Obviously, that was disappointing, but some people are going to be uncomfortable in social situations like that, so I was cool with it.

9. A couple of years ago, a friend and I got to interview Howard Jones for a community radio station in Norwich where he was appearing locally. It was also the xth anniversary of New Song coming out.

   The phone line was set up and my friend quickly spoke to him before going on air. Imagine the horror when “he didn’t want to talk about the old stuff”.

   Nevertheless we started about the new stuff and managed to wangle in the old stuff when we had convinced him we were actually ok to talk to and ‘got it’

   We were not professionals but surely someone on Radio 4 could have done a bit more? Although, admittedly, we had nothing to lose.

   1. Howard got quite frosty with me when I asked him about the guy he co-wrote What Is Love? and a few other early hits with. Not that I’d been asked to not talk about it, but he clearly didn’t want to!!

10. I would just like to say McCartney was very deluxe last night shot voice and all. Fantastic gig with some bold song choices. Golden Slumbers as encore! most of the crowd did not know what they were ‘singing’ along to. Can’t wait to see him after his US tour.

    1. US tour just ended. I would expect some UK dates at Christmas if he wants to keep going

       1. That’s what I’m thinking.

11. I am also going to defend Emma Barnett. She is an excellent journalist who has given politicians a ‘Paxton’ like hard time for several years now. While struggling with Endometriosis she has carved a career because of her talents while becoming a figure head for spreading the word of the impact of said disease to a wider audience. Emma Barnett took over from Jenni Murray who was in effect thrown out of her job of 33yrs on Women’s Hour for daring to write a piece on trans women not being women. A fantastic presenter ‘sacked’ for quoting science. A difficult debate that on most websites I would have my comment withheld just for mentioning it. I run the risk of online abuse just by suggesting where my alegance lies. When Barnett started she had to tow the BBC (for me most of the time the premier broadcaster in the world) line but has slowly shown her own voice without getting removed. My point being an interview with Kate Bush is only as Kate wants it or it does not happen and because Emma did that perhaps Kate will trust her a little more on another occasion. What we had was a women talking to another women about her joyous success and that is good enough for me for now. I doubt Kate will ever open up.I believe Paul this is a very, very rare occasion where you needed a little more research before making a comment, a mistake I have often made in the past. I believe you are more careful and respectful than most journalists but would you have turned the interview down?

    1. I know Emma is a good journalist. That’s why the interview was so disappointing. Interviewing Kate is probably a once-in-a-career opportunity, so it’s very unlikely there will be “another occasion”. No, I wouldn’t have turned down the opportunity, but I’d like to think I would have found a way to sneak in a few questions of interest rather than just sticking to the Kate Bush script.

       1. The problem is, as Channel 4′ Krishnan Guru-Murthy found out when he asked Robert Downey Jr about his drug addiction and serving time, the interview is terminated. Also think football press conferences when managers are asked ‘tricky’ questions after a defeat.
          Emma likely had 30+ questions of which 3 or 4 were probably ‘approved’ by Ms Bush or her team. Having worked in live news for years the balance is the ‘exclusivity’ and then compromising the story to suit the A lister’s narrative. As you say’ it’s a shame when it turns out dull and uninspiring.

          Off topic, I did once tell Tony Wilson he was full of sh!te for claiming New Order invented electronic music!! Maybe he’d never listened to Kraftwork, Gary Numan, Can, Depeche Mode, Simple Minds or his own label’s OMD!!

12. This Kate ‘interview’ reminds me of The Stone Roses. When Squire and Brown were on ‘Transmission’ (long gone graveyard shift ‘indie’ show), they said virtually nothing, fidgeted and were just plain awkward. I have a soft spot for artists who don’t ‘play the game’ (Scott Walker, Steve Marriott, Vashti Bunyan, Gilbert O’ Sullivan). And as much as I loved the Roses as a band, their ‘silent’ interviews drove me crackers. So, I get what Paul is saying about this.

    1. I know that interview, it’s on the dvd of the big heavy box set.

       The interviewer basically asked a bunch of “So…X questions to prompt them into repeating stuff they had said in other interviews. None of the questions were worthy of an actual response.

       You have to do more than ‘light the blue touch paper” sometimes.

13. Still easily pleased, but this time due to indifference. 40 year old song tops chart, singer comments…ummmmm.

14. I’m going to defend Emma Barnett a bit here. She’s far from a “useless unprepared gushing journalist” but a very good interviewer. When she took over Woman’s Hour from Jenni Murray, there was an immediate improvement in the quality and vigor of the interviews and she was more than capable of putting her interviewees through the wringer when appropriate or if they weren’t answering the questions asked.

    As for whether the interview was a disappointment, well yes it would have been nice to have had more of an insight into what Kate has been doing, but we should also be well aware that this wasn’t going to happen. She will do what she wishes to – we all know that by now.

15. I need to quote Hall & Oates: Some things are better left unsaid. Kate Bush is in her own league (for good or for worse) and she should not have appeared on the BBC at all. However, she did and thus her interview may be scrutinized. Personally, I do not need to know everything but I get that others live for such things. To me it takes away the surprise moment. Just leave her be and enjoy her Body of Art. There are too many Claptons and Morrisons ostracizing with their personal opinions. Again, some things are better left unsaid.

16. Re Kate Bush & Glasgow… in the 80’s and 90’s she was a phenomenon on the gay scene (from someone who was there). I enjoyed the interview and doubt Kate is the ‘Wizard of Oz-esque’ media controller she’s being painted as.

    P.S. … and I’m not middle class either ;)

17. I can’t not agree with this. The defence I’ve seen used (“it’s just great to hear Kate’s voice on the radio”) really isn’t a big deal. She gave loads of radio interviews for Aerial, Director’s Cut, 50 Words and the album release of Before The Dawn (which was only 2016).

    However, there is speculation/rumours that there is more to this interview than was broadcast, and that when an official announcement is made of new music, the rest will see the light of day. It’s possible she’s not happy with Big Boi, who said a bit too much about his collaboration with her, so it’s made her more guarded than ever.

    All we really learnt is that she doesn’t have a smartphone and has been doing a lot of gardening. For someone once at the forefront of technology, she seems to have become a bit old-fashioned.

18. Disagree on the Kate issue. She clearly felt she had to speak because of the chart success, and that’s what was addressed. She wasn’t seeking to promote something, or to tell us what she was doing musically. Every interview doesn’t have to be an interrogation. Of all artists, Kate seems the least interested in “product”, and talking about what might be. She’s been like that forever.

    As a Kate fan, we’ve gotten used to tiny bits of information and years of quiet. It’s just the way it is. In this case, Kate was, I’m sure, simply answering a request for comment.

19. Emma B a real starf***er you either get a warm oil massage of an interview
    or if she doesn’t like you the full staffy routine . Caitlin Moran Emma b and Kate b
    tick all the boxes in the Glastonbury obsessed BBC so its going to be a lovefest of an interview.
    These national treasures (Noel ,Paulie macc , Elton, the stones etc rarely get anything that passes for journalism.
    Plus ca change i am afraid Paul .

20. Journalists are paid to ask questions. They are not paid (or they shouldn’t be) to just be the mouthpiece for anyone. The age of client journalism is not helping. Emma should have asked something even if it had been agreed that it wouldn’t be asked. What did she have to lose? No Interviews with Kate ever again? It’s not as if she is asking about Kate’s private life, Kate is there as a professional musician. And, as someone mentioned on Twitter, Kate has stonewalled seasoned Music journalists in the past who have struggled to get anything out of her….. But at least they asked! That’s their job. To ask. It’s up to Kate whether she answers but she should have had some kind of question answer moment. Even as simple as “What’s next for Kate Bush?”

    I think there was a touch of either hero worship or just minor cowardice in play here. Neither are good for a Journalist, particularly one who has been a journaist since 2007 (Telegraph, LBC and BBC). 15 years. So Emma doesn’t need to be cut a break. It was a failure to do her job. As many journalists / presenters sadly do these days. If Kate had thrown her toys out of the pram, how far is someone, who has done three interviews in 11 years, going to throw them?

    I get that Kate owes us nothing, but she is still a professional musician. She hasn’t announced her retirement and she wasn’t on the show to talk about flower arranging. What happened was a dereliction of duty. Poor journalism at best. And Emma is a journalist, not a presenter.

    1. Strongly disagreement. Journalism doesn’t have to be confrontational the whole time. We don’t know what was agreed before the interview, but if it helps – if she had been asked if she has a new record coming out, she’d of said nothing is planned right now. If she was asked if she would tour again, she would have said, “Maybe, you never know, but not right now.” If she was asked if she’s recording anything right now, she would have said, “I’m always doing something.”

    2. I’m afraid that’s not how this thing panned out. The terms of the interview were probably agreed above Barnett’s head between the BBC executives and Bush’s people.
       That was not a music programme, and Barnett is not a music journalist, and sure enough this is *precisely* the reason KB agreed to it.
       So I really don’t get what all the fuss is about.
       If anything, you could criticize the BBC for not hosting KB in a music programme, with a music critic, but chances are they DID try something of the sort, to no avail, and this is how things went instead.
       I honestly can’t see anyone to blame here…

       1. I agree. Of course, I suppose Woman’s Hour could have refused to conduct an interview unless they had the freedom to ask about future plans. But were I the producer, I would have concluded that my target audience probably wouldn’t be that bothered and would be happy with something akin to what they got.

    3. Couldn’t agree more with Paul or yourself Chris. I literally don’t read the UK MSM broadsheets as find the amount of bland opinion led pieces by journalists (as opposed to facts) is quite alarming.
       Granted that doesn’t quite equate to music led pieces although does hark back to the late eighties/early nineties NME or Melody Maker where the “journalists” considered themselves more important than the bands they were interviewing.

21. I heard a charming interview. Must have been a different one, only by accident with the same two women.

22. Apparently there is lots of money to be made in streaming. Between this news and Four Tet winning thousands in a streaming royalty lawsuit with his label makes me think we’re being lied to about streaming income.

    1. Sorry, but you seem to be out of the loop. Streaming is making plenty of money – FOR THE LABELS. The argument about lack of money is to musicians. Now, if you millions upon millions of listens, you might get a cheque worth cashing, but for most musicians, it’s pennies.

       1. Then this issue is with the labels not Spotify and streaming sites who seem to be paying the bulk of the profits back to labels. Yet it’s the streaming platforms constantly attacked as the greedy ones with an unsustainable model. Sounds like the labels are raking it in and giving none to the artist.

23. The fact that Kate probably asked not to be questioned about any new stuff does sort of suggest that she is working on something, plus she probably thought talking about anything new would overshadow what she was there to talk about which was Running Up That Hill.

24. I think looking at it/calling it an interview is the problem. It seems Kate just wanted to say thanks everybody ‘in person’ as it were. Could’ve been just as frustrating to hear non-answers as no answers. She’ll tell us when she’s ready and has something to say. Quite refreshing in an era of over-sharing.

25. Let’s all agree that now would be the perfect time to reissue The Whole Story on vinyl.

26. Is she really a national treasure Paul??
    Yes on SDE she has her mega fans!,,you and Chris,but I’m from Glasgow like yourself,and I don’t know anyone ( and I know lots of people) who have ever bought a Kate Bush record ( like most Americans) who are even the slightest bit interested in her!!
    Then again they tell you dawn french and Helen mirrin are treasures too
    So maybe she is,,,in the land of the middle classes and above, amen!!!

    1. An absolute national treaure. That’s nailed on. The greatest female artist this country has ever produced.

       1. I’m sure Cilla, Lulu and maybe Dua Lipa may disagree ;-)

       2. Shirley (Wales, I know), Dusty, Amy or other ladies who’s name ends with a Y :)

27. I have preordered the ‘George Michael: A Life’ biography by James Gavin. I look forward to reading it, as it will be a celebration of his work, but I also dread it as it will, inevitably, be very, very dark. That the end was not good, well, I do know that– and DJ Fat Tony’s recent autobiography has confirmed this – but I somehow still need to understand his story and him better and I hope this book will provide a proper and thorough overview (it’s 500+ pages long…) that the authorised documentary just doesn’t. So much lost potential – it’s heartbreaking – but sometimes life just gets in the way. He’s so missed.

28. That’s how she works, that’s how YOU ALREADY KNOW she works, and she’s not gonna change to please you or anyone. If she bends too much, she’ll be criticised for playing the game, if she doesn’t bend at all, she’ll be criticised for either trying to cultivate mistique or being barmy. She can’t win.

    What was her thinking? Probably that she should throw the media a bland interview to keep them off her back so that she can get back to her life. Fat chance of that.

    Leave her alone and move on, for heaven’s sake. Your fit of pique looks parasocial and a little bit creepy. She owes you nothing.

    1. “Leave her alone”? I’m not hanging around outside her house. I’m asking why the BBC didn’t ask her some decent questions and why Kate – apparently – is so controlling that she won’t allow them to. Please tell me who is going to criticise Kate for saying “I’ve recorded x number of songs for the new album which I expect to be released at some point next year”.

       1. You keep asking a question (‘why the BBC didn’t ask her some decent questions’) and giving yourself the answer (‘Kate – apparently – … won’t allow them to’).
          It’s as simple as that I’m afraid.
          That’s KB for you.
          She’s as elusive and mysterious as her music.

          1. I know it’s probably naive, but it would be refreshing if the BBC had said ‘no thanks’ if they had so little freedom to ask totally reasonable questions.

             1. One could look from the outside and reasonably accuse you of being either naive or disingenuous. Do you really think they’re going to pass up a worldwide exclusive with the notoriously press-shy author of the world’s current No.1 single?

                Paul: if you had an exclusive interview with KB on SDE are you seriously telling me that you’d knock her back if she get the same terms? I doubt it given the exposure you’d get.

             2. Well, I said it was probably naive, so you don’t need to “accuse me” of something I’ve already acknowledged. As Chris Squires said, Emma should have still asked a question outside of the agreement because a) such agreements are rather unreasonable and b) Kate wouldn’t have hung up because *that* would have been a much bigger story than ‘Kate admits she’s working on a new album’. Yes, they would have been annoyed at Emma/BBC but I’m sure all would be forgiven when the time comes to appear on Front Row the next time she wants to promote something.

          2. I’m surprised Kate decided to do any interviews at all after the Theresa May backlash a few years ago. She didn’t do any to promote the Remasters in 2018.

             1. It could have been worse, she could have said she’s a Boris supporter.
                I think her streaming sales would drop very rapidly at this point…

       2. You’ve already answered your own question though. If she’s like the majority of artists of her stature, whoever’s acting as her publicist would have been clear about KB’s no-go questions, and Kate herself would almost certainly have pulled the plug if they went there. The last time she was rash enough to offer an opinion about anything was when she passed comment about Theresa May’s premiership, and I’m sure she bitterly regretted it. The only time I can remember there been any pre-release chatter before a press release this century was when a new studio album was teased at the same time “Directors Cut” was released.

          I don’t even listen to her that much; my only interest is in how she’s managed her career.

    2. Also, saying someone doesn’t ‘owe’ you anything is a meaningless comment. Sting’s new album isn’t very good (“he doesn’t owe you a good album”). There’s no milk in my local Tesco (“They don’t owe you a supply of milk”). It’s raining outside (“God doesn’t owe you good weather”).

       1. Don’t get upset Paul, mark maybe overstepped the line by calling you creepy, but it just goes to show that free speech is flourishing on this forum and marks a top man,now IV just got some Tesco clubcard vouchers and it’s giving me 50p of a litre of milk,,,if I drive to sprinburn and they don’t have any milk I’m gonna be upset,I’m gonna tell the manager he owes me for my diesel costs!!

          1. Kate Bush at Number 1? Stranger things have happened. (There seemed a lack of love about today, thought I’d try to start a pun thread to get us e-hugging again).

29. I agree Paul, it was a bland interview that revealed nothing. In a way, I was expecting that, KB tends to speak through her music – but what really annoyed me were the witless warblings of Times hack Caitlin Moran, who as far as I know, is not an expert on Kate Bush, or anything else for that matter. Perhaps, realising that they hadn’t got much in the way of material, the producers drafted in Moran to fill up the dead air pre-interview. All in all, a real non-event and a wasted opportunity.

30. As her brother John said years ago, she doesn’t do the bullshit. Not sure what people were expecting, I guessed it would be a rehash of ‘Can’t believe it/wow thank you all, its amazing’ and love for Duffer Brothers. But Kate would never jump on any bandwagon with details of a new album, live show etc so no doubt this was confirmed. Dawn French has mentioned work on her new album, but her tweet was swiftly deleted. I guess we just wait.

    1. “Not sure what people were expecting”. I was expecting a conversation with Kate Bush, not someone reading apparently pre-authorised questions off a script.

       1. completely agree. Did you really expect her to answer questions in an interview Paul? I mean she’s Kate Bush she doesn’t “do” interviews. Uh..

          1. She does do interviews whenever she has a product to plug, which sadly is not that often. She did one with Mark Radcliffe on Radio 2 for Aerial in 2005. I’m pretty certain she did a Front Row interview around the same time. I can even remember her being interviewed by Jamie Cullum on Radio 4; I think it was for 50 Words For Snow in 2011.

31. Boy that interview really rubbed you the wrong way :)

    As you said, from what I know about Ms. Bush she probably established herself beforehand what the interview would be about… probably the questions were provided by her staff.

    So I don’t think it’s fair to take it out on the journalist, it was either this or nothing at all, I’m afraid…

32. Couldn’t agree more about this interview. It was truly embarrassing. Way below usual BBC standards and I can’t imagine it was very rewarding for Kate either. I was waiting for the question about new music, but of course it never came. Paul, is there any chance she could ever speak to SDE?!

    1. Not after this piece, I don’t think there is!
       ;-)

    2. The worst part is the interview came across as merely a reiteration of written interviews (practically word for word) that have appeared in various places recently.

33. The interview “succeeded” in preserving a mystery/enigma of Kate Bush but only due to it’s general uselessness and rather trivial information. Kate uses a laptop and enjoys gardening! Diehard fans may have already known that.

34. I am always perplexed by Kate’s deliberate or accidental devoid of information interviews or statements.In regards to this latest interview I am still not sure whether it was simply a very bad interview conducted by a useless unprepared gushing journalist or whether there is much more to it than this and Kate is actually a control freak who so dictates precisely what you can ask her that the interviews cannot go anywhere.What I do know is Kate is a very thoughtful,creative, intelligent and well- informed woman.Why she refuses to let us see this side of her in any interviews she ever agrees to do is a mystery!

    1. So let us in on the secret Ken99. How do you know that Kate Bush is “very thoughtful, creative, intelligent and well informed” Why is it that people think they “know” someone just because of fan worship?

       1. I know KB is ‘very thoughtful, creative, intelligent, and well informed’ because I’ve listened to her music.

          1. Maybe Ken has not only listened to her music, which obviously confirms Kate as someone with immense creativity. He may have read/listened to interviews/biographies/press articles over the last 44 years which certainly confirm the other traits. I would agree with him 100%. I don’t see why he should be attacked for stating a very reasonable opinion. Kate did leave school with 10 O Levels, to concentrate on her music career, so she was certainly no slouch academically. The way she has controlled her career on her own unique terms ever since shows she’s undoubtedly someone of strong character that follows her own path.

             1. Listened to and bought Kate’s music over the last 30 years and the only thing it’s told me is that she’s a good musician. Also listened to George Formby and that’s told me nothing about him as a person. As for qualifications…well we have a prime minister who went to public school and was university educated. It’s not what you’ve got it’s what you do with it. As for Kate’s videos……

       2. In 1988 I met Kate in the Kebab shop at The Haymarket, Newcastle at 3am after a night out in The Stage Door. Kate, who was paralytically drunk, tried to push in front of me and get a free Kebab – superstars eh! Anyway, after I told her off, the only question I asked was ‘Are you very thoughtful, creative, intelligent and well informed?” Imagine my surprise when she said “Yesh I am – hic – where’s my effing kebab? I want some free houmous – please”. Ken99 was stood next to me.

          1. Are you SURE it was THE Kate Bush???

             Additionally it was over 30 years ago, maybe her attitude has changed in the meantime.

    2. Here’s Kate being thoughtful, intelligent and well-informed back in a 1979 interview, pretty accurately predicting the music of the early eighties … https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1kMzJ1Pvlg

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