Flaunt Weeekly
Kate Bush has long had an intimate connection with music. A prodigal talent, she was able to communicate complex ideas within the format of the pop song, helping to alter culture in the process. A child in the 60s, it’s little wonder that the Beatles – and John Lennon in particular – played such a key role in framing her imagination.
Invited to host a special broadcast on Radio 1 for New Year’s Eve 1980, Kate Bush was able to discuss some of her favourite songwriters, picking the right songs for her to wax lyrical on.
It remains a fascinating listen – only 22 years old at the time, she asserts herself with utmost confidence, a revelatory and eloquent talent.
Selecting the John Lennon solo cut ‘#9 Dream’ – from his 1974 ‘Walls and Bridges’ album – Kate Bush explored both the song itself, and the studio techniques used to bring it into being.
“For me, it’s just magic,” she said. “His voice; the production – it’s the most incredible production; the little backwards voices. They’re really things that I love. And just, the song and everything – it’s wonderful.”
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Later in the same show, Kate Bush explained that she felt ‘#9 Dream’ was “ahead of its time” – and ranks as one of her favourite ever songs.
“My all-time favourite single?” she said. “Very, very difficult question, it really is, because just trying to compare songs, you know, let alone trying to put one higher than all the others… I think I would say at this point in time John Lennon’s ‘#9 Dream‘ – for lots of reasons.”
She would add: “It was well ahead of its time, and didn’t really get the attention it deserved.”
The loss of John Lennon was palpable in the broadcast, with the Beatles icon having been murdered mere weeks before. “One of the dozen or so most important human beings of my lifetime so far: John Lennon… He’s left the biggest hole in the business that we’ve known yet, I think,” Bush said.
