December Will Be Magic Again.
2022 has very much been Kate Bush’s year with the monumental eruption of Running Up That Hill enjoying worldwide success after being included on the soundtrack to series 4 of Strangers Things. It’s no mean feat that an artist who is largely absent from public life spent three weeks at number 1 in the U.K. chart and a host of other countries around the globe. Bush also scored her biggest hit in America with the song reaching No.8 on the Billboard Hot 100. There was something about the song’s eerie, wild and romantic power that spoke to a new generation after the global dread of the pandemic.
San Diego-based band Baby Bushka have brought Kate’s theatrically charged performances to life in a new show that has drawn large crowds in Edinburgh back in 2019 and in 2022. It is hoped they will return to the capital city next year for the 2023 Festival Fringe. Natasha Kozaily is the band’s leader who brought the much-loved show that has toured the world to life.
Known as Boss Bush, the gifted musician and performer explained her thoughts about the current Bush phenomenon. “It’s wonderful, I have a friend whose daughter is ten, she has become a big fan, and why not? I think Kate Bush is a true gift to the world. I understand some fans are concerned, I know that feeling of something you love being distorted by mass media but I don’t think that could ever happen with Kate because she is so eccentric and strange. I think new fans will have fallen in love with this track only to dive in and discover a beautiful world”.
For vinyl fans, Baby Bushka recorded an album of their favourite Kate Bush songs including Running Up That Hill after taking advice from Del Palmer who enjoyed a long working and personal relationship with the singer. “It was like he gave us licence, after having someone so close to Kate suggest that we should record, we wanted to do it right. I got a friend to record it in analogue so it feels very close to the spirit of Kate’s early work.”
The record also features the late band member Leilani Deering (Dark Bush) who tragically died in a car crash during the pandemic. I was fortunate to be part of the Edinburgh audience when she performed Kate Bush’s classic track This Woman’s Work, it was an intense swirling of emotions with a potent vocal which left the audience left in raptures. We had witnessed something dramatic and divine. Anyone lucky enough to see her raw talent on the stage will have a memory they are unlikely to forget.
“She was like no one I have ever met before” explains Natasha. “She was a beautiful enigma and a fascinating person who lived life so fully, she burned the candle at both ends, I loved her so much. She knew she wasn’t going to live forever and would talk like that often, on her birthday she would say: ‘I can’t believe I’m still here’. She was on her way to my house when she was involved in the crash (that took her life)”.
It was a difficult decision to make when Natasha considered if Baby Buska should split in the wake of Nina’s death, with a tour cancelled due to the pandemic and the departure of other members Natalie considered this wasn’t the way to end the band’s story.
“We really didn’t want that to be the end of the band, after Nina’s death I processed a lot of grief when helping put together a website in her memory. I helped the family with the funeral and spent a good three months of my life going through her things and collecting Nina’s music and art. She was an amazing songwriter and poet, that all helped me process the grief. It was after that I reached out to the band again”.
Baby Bushka have enjoyed focusing on The Dreaming along with a selection of obscure b-sides and even unreleased bootleg tracks. Hardcore fans of Kate Bush have a deep love for the band and many of those close to Kate have given their seal of approval. “There’s a whole new second act in the show, we have looked more at later work such as Sensual World.”
For fans who can’t wait for Baby Bushka’s return in 2023, a new book by Laura Shelton will keep them going. Kate Bush: A Visual Biography features some well-known and lesser-seen shots of the singer including pictures from The Tour Of Life which reached Edinburgh’s Usher Hall on April 13th 1979.
Among the most fascinating snaps are of Bush signing her now classic Never Forever vinyl sleeve for Glasgow fans in October 1980. The various press cuttings are a fascinating document of the period as are shots of her performing Wuthering Heights for television. A must-have for Kate Bush fans or collectors and a good visual introduction for new fans who have come on board since Stranger Things introduced a new generation to the artist’s work.
Rumours are already circulating that a new Kate Bush album will arrive in 2023 called Hidden Pearls. Whether it’s a new collection or archive tracks remains to be seen. One thing is for sure, the mythology and cult of Kate Bush look set to flourish in 2023.
For more information on Baby Bushka visit www.babybushka.com
For more information on Kate Bush: A Visual Biography visit wymeruk.co.uk
