“People confuse the strangeness of the songs with the way she lives her life.” – Jon Kelly. Washing up in the kitchen at East Wickham Farm, 1978. (EVENING STANDARD/GETTY IMAGES)
“People confuse the strangeness of the songs with the way she lives her life.” – Jon Kelly. Washing up in the kitchen at East Wickham Farm, 1978. (EVENING STANDARD/GETTY IMAGES)
“A refuge to which Bush has returned again and again in both body and song.” In the gardens at East Wickham Farm, 1978. (EVENING STANDARD/GETTY IMAGES)
“The whole family were very unusual and artistic and spiritual, but all completely different.” – Stewart Avon Arnold. Hannah, Paddy, Kate and Jay, with canine friend, at the farm in 1979. (BBC)
“A fiercely tight-knit Bush fiefdom in the south of the city.” 44 Wickham Road. Bush wrote ‘Wuthering Heights’ while living in the top floor flat. (G. THOMSON)
“There were so many depths that she kept hidden, because the school would perhaps not have given her room for them to be expressed.” – Shealla Mubi. Bush in Fifth Form at St Joseph’s, pursuing her music largely in secret.
“Within the school, the worst thing you could do was behave in an unladylike manner; that brought a very stern rebuke.” – Concepta Nolan-Long. The girls of St Joseph’s in their first year. Bush is fourth left on the top row
Poster advertising the KT Bush Band’s final gig at The Ship in Brighton: “A lager-drinking pub which wanted something completely different to us. After an hour we were asked to stop.” – Vic King.
“I said the first week you’ll get a handful of people, but by the fourth week you won’t be able to get them in the door. And sure enough …” – Brian Bath. The Rose of Lee in Lewisham, now called Dirty South, where the KT Bush Band played a residency in 1977. (G. THOMSON)
“The theatrical thing was starting to get there. She wasn’t shy on stage. She was pretty dynamic, she used to live it all.” – Brian Bath. The KT Bush Band at the Rose of Lee, 1977. Vic King on drums, Bush on vocals, Brian Bath on guitar, and (out of shot) Del Palmer on bass. (COURTESY OF VIC KING)
“She jumped out of dance lessons before she was fully trained, but she was a wonderful, fluid mover. I loved having her in class.” – Robin Kovac.
“She was regarded by many as part of the axis of orthodoxy, the Prince’s Trust and BPI set.” With Cliff Richard, Labi Siffre, compere Russell Harty and members of the London Symphony Orchestra on the steps of the Royal Albert Hall, publicising a show in aid of the LSO’s 75th Anniversary Appeal, November 14, 1979. (GRAHAM TURNER/KEYSTONE/GETTY IMAGES)
(MIKE STEPHENS/CENTRAL PRESS/GETTY IMAGES)
“She was harvesting gold and platinum discs from around the globe, and armfuls of awards from the industry and music magazines.” Weighed down with acclaim at the 1979 Capital Music Awards (RICHARD YOUNG/REX FEATURES) and, above right, celebrating success with Bob Geldof at the Melody Maker Reader’s Poll Awards, November 28, 1979.
Scenes from the ‘Tour Of Life’: “She was incredibly nervous, but the show was just extraordinary. We didn’t quite know what we were letting ourselves in for, this extraordinary presentation of her music.” – Brian Southall.
TOP LEFT: (ROB VERHORST/REDFERNS) TOP RIGHT: (JOE BANGAY/LFI) ABOVE: (ROB VERHORST/REDFERNS)
“For all the flash and grab of the theatrical spectacle, in the end the show really was all about her extraordinary face. One minute she was Douglas Fairbanks, the next Lillian Gish, the next Lolita.” Copenhagen, April 26, 1979. (JORGEN ANGEL/REDFERNS)