Long player: Kate Bush gave it all in a moment or two

Few knew what to make of Kate Bush on first introduction. Had she not picked Wuthering Heights as her leadoff single, the job of pigeonholing might have been made a tad easier. But there she was, undeniably novel and immediately perplexing.

The 1978 megahit topped the charts in the UK, France, Belgium, Italy, Australia and New Zealand, propelling the 19-year-old Bush to stardom through its curious mix of barely decipherable lyrics, shrill singing, romantic imagery and dramatic melody. In the promotional video the raven-haired Bush danced through a carpet of dry ice, all wan and witchy, a bit scary and, frankly, a bit sexy.

When debut album The Kick Inside soon followed, we learned that there was substance to this spectral figure. Wuthering Heights was no one-off; this precocious talent whose career had been given a fatherly push by Pink Floyd's Dave Gilmour had a bank of songs she'd been stockpiling through her teens.

She played piano with a dainty touch while writing of things that made her bandmates blush. Her vocals swooped between needle-sharp soprano and belly-warming alto. She appeared aloof yet embraced interpretive dance with the unabashed enthusiasm of a tree-hugging hippie.

The album carries not only the song for which she will forever be loved or loathed, but also several other noteworthy tracks.

The Man With The Child In His Eyes is a ballad of such depth it's unnerving to consider it came from the pen of a 13-year-old. L'Amour Looks Something Like You and Feel It are similarly provocative, especially when framed against the notoriously Lolita-like promo photo of Bush in a tight pink top.

Kite, James And The Cold Gun and The Heavy People are quirky slices of theatrical rock, not one of them following the pop-radio template. But then, this was an era when we were curious and brave enough to make Bohemian Rhapsody a chart-topper. We used to enjoy a challenge.

 

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