Strange Phenomena: The Music of Kate Bush

We’re continuing into the Ninth Wave with the third track on side two. After the tense atmosphere of Under Ice, we enter another nightmare, this time at a witch trial in the truly frightening Waking the Witch. Performed live for the first time in 2014 in the Before the Dawn shows, Waking the Witch incorporates … Continue reading S05E08 – Waking the Witch Learn more about your ad choices. Visit meg...

Come skate past the trees with us as we discuss the second track on side two of Hounds of Love, the minimalist Under Ice. The song may only last two and a half minutes and have few instruments in the production, but what Under Ice does in that time will make you feel like you’re … Continue reading S05E07 – Under Ice Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ready to dive in to the Ninth Wave portion of the album? We hope so! This week, we’re talking about the first song on the second side of Hounds of Love, the piano-driven song And Dream of Sheep. Not only is this an oft-covered song, but it contains many beautiful elements that make it a … Continue reading S05E06 – And Dream of Sheep Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Five years ago this week, in August 2014, a huge event happened in Kate Bush fandom: the beginning of Kate’s London residency, Before the Dawn. It wasn’t just another rock music gig. In the way that only Kate can do it, Before the Dawn was a theatrical experience like none other and, most importantly, it … Continue reading Bonus: Before the Dawn – Five Years Later Learn more about your ad choices....

This week we’re marching in time to the beat of the tender but urgent Cloudbusting. The second single from Hounds of Love and a UK Top 40 hit in late 1985, Cloudbusting is more than just an insanely catchy sing-a-long. There is an intriguing and strange backstory, touching lyrics, and….. Donald Sutherland? We have two … Continue reading S05E05 – Cloudbusting Learn more about your ad choices. Visit...

Hounds of Love produced four hit singles, all of them from the first side. The only song not released to radio was Mother Stands for Comfort, the fourth track from Hounds of Love, and an often overlooked song, even by our host. It’s also one of the most skeletal songs on this album. With only … Continue reading S05E04 – Mother Stands for Comfort Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm...

Are you ready to jump and leave with the big sky, honey? I hope so! All the folks for this week’s episode certainly are too! This week, we’re talking about the exuberant third track, and final single, from Hounds of Love, The Big Sky. And what a discussion this has turned out to be! Our … Continue reading S05E03 – The Big Sky Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you thought running up a hill was difficult, try running away from dogs chasing you. Specifically, hounds of love. Get ready for some more running as we go into a discussion of the third single from the Hounds of Love album, the energetic title track. To discuss this song this week, we have two … Continue reading S05E02 – Hounds of Love Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adcho...

The year is 1985. And all over the radio in the last summer is the first bit of new music from Kate in a very long time. Three years, to be exact. Not only is it something new but it’s the first single for a new album! Running Up That Hill turns out to be … Continue reading S05E01 – Running Up That Hill Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Time to go running up that hill from the hounds of love under the big sky while mother stands for comfort as we’re cloudbusting, daddy. It’s Hounds of Love, Kate Bush’s best-selling fifth album, and the work that many consider her masterpiece! Hounds of Love was the first of Kate’s albums to be recorded in … Continue reading S05E00 – Hounds of Love Album Introduction Learn more about your ad choic...

Welcome to a special episode of Strange Phenomena. This week is another mailbag episode! The show is reaching more Kate Bush fans and that means more e-mails and Facebook messages with thoughts on songs and corrections! So this week, we get to hear from YOU, the listeners! Perhaps the most important message of all came … Continue reading Bonus: Let The Weirdness In #2 Learn more about your ad choi...

We’re coming through the night like a cat to bring you an episode about one of Kate’s most mysterious songs, the beautiful French-language original Ne t’enfuis pas, which means “don’t flee.” (often translated as “don’t fly away.”) Cecilee gets to bring out her inner French nerd with this song as she discusses Ne t’enfuis pas with Dani Llamas, who you … Continue reading S04E12 – Ne t’enfuis pas Lea...

Welcome to the first of only a few episodes of the b-sides/collabs part of The Dreaming season. This week, we’re discussing a song that Kate didn’t write, so this marks the first officially released cover song in Kate’s repertoire! The famous 1960s folk singer Donovan (known for hits like Sunshine Superman, Catch the Wind, and … Continue reading S04E11 – Lord of the Reedy River (Donovan song) Lear...

Unlike Kate in this song, we will let you in to show you all about the clattering and downright scary Get Out of My House, the last album track on The Dreaming. And what a closer this is! If you thought Breathing from the last album was epic, this one is even more so! To … Continue reading S04E10 – Get Out Of My House Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s an epic episode about an epic love story: Bess and Harry Houdini! Our song this week is Houdini, the ninth track from The Dreaming and what a song it is! There’s Broadway singing, there’s light, pure vocals, and of course, the famous screams in the chorus! And mystery! Can’t forget the mystery either (don’t … Continue reading S04E09 – Houdini Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone....

This week’s song title may have the word “love” in it, but there doesn’t seem to be much love for this song. No discussion of it either on gaffa.org or….. much of anywhere! Time to fix that! Zoey P has joined us again for an extensive discussion of the album track All The Love, the … Continue reading S04E08 – All The Love Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Come with us on a hired plane, with no names mentioned, for a fun ride through the seventh track on The Dreaming, the Irish-tinged/power ballad hybrid Night of the Swallow. In one of our most enthusiastic episodes yet, we have our good friend of the show, Zoey P, for whom this is her ABSOLUTE FAVORITE Kate Bush … Continue reading S04E07 – Night of the Swallow Learn more about your ad choices. Visi...

Time to flip the record over and start the second side of The Dreaming! On now to the title track, a dark and mysterious song with dense production and even more dense discussion of the song’s themes. To dissect this week’s song, three guests have joined the show. We have input from Tomer Feiner, a … Continue reading S04E06 – The Dreaming Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoi...

We can tell you what we’re letting in: a new episode of Strange Phenomena! This week, we’re talking about track five on The Dreaming, the strange and compelling Leave It Open. Christine Kelley, the author of Dreams of Orgonon, the Kate Bush blog, joins us for a discussion of this song this week. Listen as we discuss … Continue reading S04E05 – Leave It Open Learn more about your ad choices. Visit...

Can you believe we’re almost done with the first side of The Dreaming? This week, we’re talking about a song that was released as a single in continental Europe, the lively but thoughtful Suspended in Gaffa. To discuss one of the more lively and, admittedly, more accessible tracks on an otherwise very experimental album, we have … Continue reading S04E04 – Suspended in Gaffa Learn more about your...

On to the third track from The Dreaming, the dense, jungle-scented Pull Out the Pin. An album track that stands out for its atmosphere and percussion, Pull Out the Pin continues in the vein of Kate songs that are told from a character’s point of view. This time, we as the listeners are transported to a thick, humid jungle in Southeast Asia … Continue reading S04E03 – Pull Out the Pin Learn more ab...

No need to wait any longer for a new episode of Strange Phenomena! This week, we’re continuing into The Dreaming with a discussion of the second track, the one single that didn’t even chart (what???), There Goes a Tenner. Released as the second single in the UK, with the French-language original Ne t’enfuis pas on the b-side, There Goes a Tenner is a … Continue reading S04E02 – There Goes a Tenner...

Sat In Your Lap could be summed up in one word: bombastic. Isn’t it fitting then that the episode about that song is jam-packed with guests? Of course! What a way to start off Kate’s (now) beloved fourth album The Dreaming, than with five different guests this week from many different parts of the world! And they all have … Continue reading S04E01 – Sat In Your Lap Learn more about your ad choices...

Woohoo for the start of another album season! Welcome to the fourth season of the show, which will be all about the weirdly wonderful (and fan favorite) The Dreaming. Regarded by the artist herself as her “she’s gone mad” album, The Dreaming is the work of someone working in the explosive computer technology of the time … Continue reading S04E00 – The Dreaming Album Introduction Learn more about y...

This week, we’re not talking about just one song but rather a bunch of songs! Specifically, the sort of songs that Kate Bush doesn’t want us to hear, but which we’ve heard anyway. This is the week of the Cathy/Phoenix Demos, which were recordings Kate made of her songs when she was a teenager before … Continue reading Bonus: Cathy/Phoenix Demos Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/...