Thursday, October 9, 2008

Kate Bush: The Biography, by Rob Jovanovic


Ms. Bush did not agree to be interviewed for this short 200 page biography, not that I can imagine she would have had anything more to say than she has in media interviews over the past 30 years (well, you could probably minus a decade or so for her silent patches inbetween albums.)

I’m quite partial to these pop music biographies where the author stands back and prefers to let the extensive quotes speak for themselves.

Bush has of course led a very private life, the opposite ambition of most young up and coming ‘artists’. Indeed, the opening track of her long awaited 2005 album Aerial was about the vanity of fame. I loved that line, ‘why does someone fill up their house with priceless junk’.

The reality is her day-to-day life is probably quite uneventful, like most people. She was in a long relationship with bassist Del Palmer, which ended amicbly. She had a son, Bertie, with whom she is especially smitten, and now enjoys her time as a mother. What other biographical details could we possibly find out about Kate Bush?

Hence most of this book is really a biography of Bush’s albums. To this reader, it's very interesting for that alone.

This is not a knockout biography, but for its modest aims it does very well. It’s nicely written and doesn’t fawn over Bush’s oeuvre.

If you’ve recently taken an interest in Kate Bush’s music, or have dabbled in her discography over the years, then I’m sure you’ll find this a fascinating read of a fascinating artist. If you’re a hard core Bush fan, who know the artist’s career back to front, you may find only a few of your gaps filled in.

No comments:

Post a Comment