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Warners to release a CD single of Kate Bush’s Running Up That Hill

First time as a CD single for RUTH

By Paul Sinclair

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77

Everything you've always wanted to know about Kate Bush's 'Running Up That Hill' but were afraid to ask

In a surprise move, Kate Bush’s Running Up That Hill is being made available as a CD single.

The 1985 hit has enjoyed incredible success this year on streaming services thanks to its high-profile inclusion in Netflix’s sci-fi drama, Stranger Things. The song topped the UK charts and in America is still at number five in the Billboard Hot 100, having reached as high as number three.

‘Running Up That Hill’ wasn’t  issued on CD in 1985, since the earliest commercial CD singles (at least in the UK) didn’t appear until 1986 (Kate’s first UK CD single as a solo artist was 1989’s ‘The Sensual World’). However, it was Kate’s first single to be remixed for a 12-inch vinyl single.

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02 Jun 22

Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Kate Bush’s Running Up That Hill*

A listing for the limited edition CD single has appeared on Rhino’s US D2C store. Presumably it will become available in the UK and elsewhere. It would be strange if that didn’t happen. The label say the “CD single stays true to the original, featuring period correct artwork”.

While it’s great news that RUTH is being issued as a CD single, it’s disappointing to note that only the standard seven-inch/album version and the B-side ‘Under The Ivy’ feature, echoing he original seven-inch. Two other cuts were issued at the time of the original release: the excellent (slightly) extended 12-inch remix and an instrumental version. The instrumental has NEVER been issued on CD, and there was no physical version of the ‘Running Up That Hill’ single (in the UK) that featured all three variants and the B-side, so this new CD single is one to fill under ‘missed opportunity’!

The ‘Running Up That Hill’ CD single is released on 2 September 2022, according to the Rhino site.

Tracklisting

Everything you've always wanted to know about Kate Bush's 'Running Up That Hill' but were afraid to ask

Running Up That Hill Kate Bush /

      1. Running Up That Hill
      2. Under The Ivy

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77 Comments

77 thoughts on “Warners to release a CD single of Kate Bush’s Running Up That Hill”

  1. I’m more interested in the Stranger Things 4 soundtrack CD in particular will it include the different sounding mix featured in the show? Of course the sound mixer may have just overdubbed certain things over the track to give it a more orchestral/dramatic take than the original. However the track timing is listed as 5:00 on the soundtrack which makes it sound like the version on The Whole Story. The digital version is already out but I can only preview snippets which sound better quality than The Whole Story version but can’t see any difference although granted I can only preview say a minute or so.

  5. Nice to see anything released as a CD single. Ordered a copy today from the US Rhino store and there is free shipping within the US so it was only $5.30 including tax.

  7. Totally pointless release. Supermarket fodder for the less than casual buyer. I actually did my own needle drop digital version of the instrumental – and very good it is too.

  9. A theme for the Now team could be a compilation of rare or newer released instrumental / dub versions e.g. Running Up That Hill, Girls On Film, Radio Ga Ga etc.

    1. It would cost them a bit to license but “Now that’s what I call Unreleased” would be a belter. One or two vault tracks from 30 top 80s artists would go down a storm.

  10. What a total nothing burger. No extended and instrumental version. Once again, it’s clear that fewer artists care less about what their fans want than Kate Bush, although Duran Duran comes close. I did see Duran & Chic live last night in Madison Square Garden, both totally brought down the house. Simon’s voice is still crazy good and they played some tracks I have never seen them play like Union Of The Snake and Hold Back The Rain. HBTR in particular turned MSG upside down. 5 star concert.

  11. Sadly, this is nothing but a blatant cash in. Slightly surprised that Kate approved its release
    Instrumental version – I think I played this once and wasn’t impressed.
    I love the extended 12″ version
    However, nowadays I find my preferred version is the live 1987 version with David Gilmour and Tony Franklin. Now that would be a CD single that I would buy. In its absence, I’ll keep playing my homemade one….

  13. On the plus side, some more than welcome exposure for Under The Ivy, an absolute jewel in the crown (my favourite piano-dominant song of hers, just ahead of The Man with the Child in his Eyes).

  14. Like a lot of others here, I can’t get too excited about this. 7″ and 12″ single reissues would interest me more. If this thing has an interesting package, I would be interested a little at least, but so far it sounds like a pretty standard CD single in a dull plastic case.

    Can’t please us all, I guess.

  15. This is being made for the casual listener, the American audience, who only got aware of Kate Bush through Stranger Things and who will not make an effort to listen an album. It will not create a further interest in Kate´s music as it is probably too “weird” for the listeners over there. So after the end of the series and the all the hype, these CD-Singles will tragically go into the bargain bins.

  17. Big fan of Kate here, but unfortunately… yawn.

    I had the 12″ back in the day. Sorry to contradict Paul, but the extended version was only fair. Her remixes never were particularly great; they were most interesting in that you’d occasionally hear alternate vocals. Her best was Hounds of Love, which was literally named “Alternative Hounds of Love.”

    As for the instrumental version, I hadn’t heard that in years until recently when over on burningtheground.net DJPaul posted a rip of the single. This version should be considered a backing track rather than instrumental, since the backing vocals are still present. Not indispensable, but it should have been included in the This Woman’s Work box.

    1. I’m with Paul on this one. I’ve always thought the 12″ version was excellent. I’ve always regarded it as more of an alternative version rather than an extended mix. I think I actually slightly preferred it over the original. Love the “c’mon, c’mon baby…” section near the end.
      I do agree that Alternative Hounds Of Love was probably the best.

      1. I feel remixes should uphold the integrity of the original song. They may be fractured, rearranged, disassembled, but ultimately the song is still there. I don’t feel that way about this mix. It’s slightly extended, much of the lead vocal is removed, and a few sections are repeated. It seems like an experiment in cutting and pasting rather than an attempt to create a cohesive extended mix.

  18. Over at KateBushNews.com there is a special 40th anniversary 134 page special edition of the Homeground fanzine available to download for free. Looks really nice.

  19. My question is Kate remastered her “entire” collection yet where is Ken, and the Frutopia commercials music? I liked Ken and thought it fit right in with the music she released at the time.
    As for super deluxe editions – DON’T HOLD YOUR BREATH. Outakes and alternates are very rare to find, we are lucky to have the Kathy Demos and some live material.
    I would much rather they release a dvd, blu-ray, and or 4K edition of the Before The Dawn concerts from London a few years ago. Amazing reviews, critical acclaim, yet no video release.

    1. On a slight tangent, can we get an official release of the Fruitopia jingles from the Cocteau Twins? Two 30 second excursions into pure bliss.

  20. Hmm. I don’t watch Stranger Things, but my 11 year old daughter does. She was already aware of Kate Bush before the use of RUTH as part of the soundtrack. It was wonderful to hear this being played again by young people who may have no idea who Kate Bush is, but they listen on crappy mobile phones etc and won’t appreciate listening to this in all it’s sonic glory on cd or vinyl. This release won’t appeal to these people and it doesn’t meet the expectations of those who still hanker for a physical release so come on Warner, please give us a reason why you are even bothering with this release, especially now that interest has dropped off the charts? I’d say that there is something fishy going on, but Warners aren’t affiliated with the Fish People label so that’s a pun wasted!

  22. Hmm I wonder. Bear with me. What if….. there are plans afoot for some super deluxe editions? What if there is an SDE in the pipeline for The Hounds of Love and they didn’t want to give anything important away in a CD single that might form part of the SDE?

    Wakes up to find Patrick Duffy in the shower………… Oh, it was all a dream.

    1. With a Steven Wilson Atmos mix on blu-ray included – one can only dream (of sheep).

      A totally pointless release IMO – a waste of time, money, paper, and oil resources. But no doubt people will snap it up, encouraging similar, pointless releases – reissues of the original 7″ or 12″ releases anyone?

      I’ll crawl back under my rock.

    2. I’m in.

      The next SDE, Surround-Sound Series offering: “The Hounds of Love.” C’mon Kate. No one is a bigger fan than Paul Sinclair. He’s expanded my musical palette over the last decade. Let Paul and “Steven” share you with the masses via a hirez, Blu-ray 5.1+
      (Physical Music) offering!

      Pretty please?

      Thanks in advance, Kate. ;)

    1. I’ve got a feeling it isn’t even on the show soundtrack CD which is absolutely ridiculous.
      Although because they featured the song in several different episodes perhaps the original and this TOTEM mix I keep hearing about both featured.

  24. You get the feeling they do this on purpose, or is it really down to a lack of interest in putting these extra tracks on the CD single?

    1. Luckily Kate Bush retained most of the rights on her music, so at least if it happens the funds will mostly being going to the artist and not The Machine.

  28. I’m also voicing my disappointment. It’s a bargain and has free shipping IF YOU LIVE IN THE USA.

    I looked into ordering it this morning, and it’s $20.97 to buy it from the UK.

    Why, oh why didn’t they also include the 12″ mix, instrumental and the 2012 mix? And they’ve not even stated if it’s a jewel case, j-pack or just a cardboard sleeve.

    Also, when I watched the Stranger Things clip on YouTube, that also sounded like an alternative mix. (Is it – or do my ears not work?)

    I’m hoping we get access to this in the UK. (Yes, I know we already technically have “access” to it, but nearly $21 for a two-track CD is a bit steep.)

    1. ST version of RUTH is actually RUTH Totem remix. They made it available to listen (not to buy/download) for about 24h, then removed it. Perhaps they will include that version on the soundtrack album.

  29. Appears nobody at the record label wanted to do any work!So they just duplicated the past release as it involved the least effort .This is a really lazy release done by very lazy staff.I bet they are all just working from home and just could not be bothered to change the artwork or locate other material to put on the release.A few emails and a few phone calls and voila they have arranged a cd for sale that nobody at the label had to do any work on.This release has probably involved less than one hour’s work from the folk who work for the label!With staff this lazy it is no surprise artists are queuing up to get out of their contracts and leave these major labels that seem to care nothing for them.

  31. I was only listening with half an ear when it was on, but isn’t the Stranger Things version heavily overdubbed with strings? Almost a new arrangement? Wouldn’t it make sense to stick that on the CD single? To give the Stranger Things people/arranger some well deserved due for this odd hit?

    1. RUTH is still in the Top 5 of the singles chart in the USA – and would still be Top 5 in the UK if it wasn’t for the “accelerated chart ratio” rule which robs it of nearly half it’s sales total each week.

      1. It’s gone back up to #4 in the USA though. Amusing to think that the ‘accelerated chart ratio’ impeded it at the beginning, then Warners successfully asked for it to be removed, but now it applies again (and there’s no case for removing it this time.

  36. I suspect they would have reissued the 12″ as well, if there was not such a production back-up with vinyl. But this is the least amount of effort put in here. Including the other versions of RUTH would have added a lot of value to this.

  37. I recently discovered the instrumental version and I found it exciting. The 12″ extended version is different and less appealing to me. The impact of the song is diluted.

  38. Shoddy.
    Disgraceful.
    Waste of time.
    No reason at all for not including the 12” version…… and would have loved the instrumental on CD.
    KATE! SORT IT OUT!

  39. I can see we’re all moaning about the record company missing an opportunity here but isn’t it up to Kate to approve this disc ?
    Maybe she didn’t want the other tracks on it?.

    1. That is of course a distinct possibility, although why she would care about it is anyone’s guess. She created the remix and included it in ‘The Other Sides’ collection from 2018. It’s not as if there is any jeopardy – she’s not picking the first single from an album!

  40. I suspect this is merely a “testing of the waters” product that will lead to some over-priced box set further down the line to capitalise. Maybe then all the desired mixes etc would be included?

    1. They know they’ll sell boatloads of these to Stranger Things fans, that’s the only reason for this release. They’re not releasing it so Kate fans can complete their collection. They’ve seen the stuff selling for stupid prices on ebay and want a piece of it.

  43. Fortunately the b-side is there, because the recent CD single releases (Ed sheeran, Abba) had only track included. I heard an excellent dance remix on the local radio, something like dub instrumental. This masterpiece needs a maxi CD like the 90s- 00s that had 6-7 remixes with an hour running time. That would be a no brainer for me.

  44. Very disappointing. The 12″ version (better than the standard version in my humble opinion) is a no brainer on a CD single, and personally I would have liked to see a 12″ vinyl re-release too. When you see so many re-releases these days that don’t make a lot of sense other than to fleece fans, this would have been the perfect opportunity for a proper re-release of a classic song that has been introduced to a whole new generation.

  46. Not only that, but the 12″ version features vocals not used on the standard track, not just extended instrumental secions. Massive fail. There is also a “Video Mix” of “Cloudbusting” that featured on the CD single of “Moments of Pleasure” that features extra vocals which hasn’t been issued on any subsequent KB reissues. If it’s ‘period correct’ at least make the reissue “12” period correct” because if there had been CD singles in 1985 all three versions of RUTH would have been on the CD single. I’d like to see ‘period correct’ reissues of so many acts from the 80s but it would end up being a ‘paying for the packaging’ if they all just replicated the 7 inch model.

    1. Cloudbusting Video Mix is on The Red Shoes CD single. Its one of the versions of December Will Be Magic Again on the Moments Of Pleasure CDS.

    2. “if there had been CD singles in 1985 all three versions of RUTH would have been on the CD single.”

      Not necessarily. Many CD singles – particularly in the early days – matched the 12″ tracklisting so the 7″ mixes were often excluded.

      1. Ah yes, stand corrected. I have both. Yeah, the 7″ mix is ubiquitous so maybe unneccessary, but if you’re buying this because of Stranger Things etc. as a new fan, maybe necessary.

    3. Thankfully I kept all my CD singles as no matter how good future box sets are – or bad in some cases – there’s always a few tracks omitted and have disappeared into the ether.

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