Running Up That Hill: 50 Visions of Kate Bush

by Tom Doyle

Kate Bush: the subject of murmured legend and one of the most idiosyncratic musicians of the modern era. Comprising fifty chapters or 'visions', Running Up That Hill is a multi-faceted biography of this famously elusive figure, viewing her life and work from fresh and illuminating angles.

Featuring details from the author's one-to-one conversations with Kate, as well as vignettes of her key songs, albums, videos and concerts, this artful, candid and often brutally funny portrait introduces the reader to the refreshingly real Kate Bush.

Along the way, the narrative also includes vivid reconstructions of transformative moments in her career and insights from the friends and collaborators closest to Kate, including her photographer brother John Carder Bush and fellow artists David Gilmour, John Lydon and Youth.

Genres: Music, Biography, Nonfiction

343 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 27, 2022

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads data base.

Reviews

[Jaidee · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 "kaleidoscopic, respectful, admiring" stars !!

2023 Honorable Mention Read with High Distinction

Warm thanx to Netgalley, the author and Rowman & Littlefield. This edition was released July 2023.
I am providing an honest review sending Kate Bush the biggest cosmic hug.

Wow that was fucking terrific long form journalism !

The past few years I have been so into Lana Del Rey and Sufjan Stevens that you would think that they are on top of my musical mountain. They are on the mountain for sure but the pinnacle has space only for three goddesses. They are the beehived blue eyed soul of Dusty Springfield, the most exquisite opera diva Montserrat Caballe and yes my beautiful elven Kate Bush.

Taking his cue from Kate's song 50 Words for Snow...the author has collated and compiled the most fascinating collection of interviews, descriptions and articles around the artistry, creative processes and musical trajectory of our most revered Kate Bush. This is done in 50 short to medium length chapters.

This is not a deep dive into Kate Bush's life story or intrapsychic psychodynamics but a wonderful tribute and narrative of her career and musical life. All of the information comes firsthand from Kate herself, her life partners, her family of origin, her musical collaborators, her fans and the record companies. An amazingly complex and accomplished feat for our author journalist.

We go through her musical early life, to playing at the pubs, to precocious adolescent songwriting, learning the piano and other instruments and the development of her most beautiful voice. We have the process for each album, videos and descriptions and meanings of the songs. We experience Kate's perfectionism and tenaciousness. Her long processes for getting things just right, discomfort around her beauty and her sheer determination to always do her best. We learn about her forays into comedy and acting and her more mystical side as well as deep love of being a mother. On and on and on it goes....all equally interesting and charming and fabulous !!

If you are a diehard or casual fan of Kate...this is a must read.

PS...my beloved Dusty Springfield sang a cover of Kate's the Man with the child in his eyes at a 1979
concert...I think I would pass out if I heard that...yes passed out and gone to heaven folks....

My one lament is that the arc did not have photographs. I need to get a hard copy now.

Take a few minutes to listen to the amazing 50 words for snow-not a pop song but a long conceptual tone poem

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGtYg...




For a more personal look at my history with Kate please see my review of Under the Ivy: The Life & Music of Kate Bush.

[Jordan Bailey · Rating 5 out of 5]

This Woman's Work really is fantastic

[Stefan Garland · Rating 5 out of 5]

Forever grateful to be living in the age of Kate Bush!

[Olivia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This truly is a must-read for all Kate Bush fans, obsessives and casual-listeners alike. Doyle's intimate c. 2005 interview with Bush prior to the release of 'Aerial' provides the bulk of the narrative here (with Bush's own words and own thoughts about her life & career leading the charge) but as a seasoned music journalist, Doyle also brings in Bush's friends, family, fans, fellow musicians, photographers etc. to illuminate her further. Each of the 50 chapters represents a different 'vision,' a different aspect of Bush's life, and not all the visions focus solely on her music career. It was fun, for example, to read about different comedians reacting to Kate through the years (and how she'd, in turn, reacted to that), her time on Swap Shop, and how the Utah Saints had gone through her back catalogue to find the perfect song to remix for a rave track. I was particularly moved by the final chapter charting the resurgence of 'Running Up That Hill' after it was used in Stranger Things, and the way young and new fans were discovering how great and, frankly, ahead of her time she was (a positive portrayal of same-sex love in 'Kashka from Baghdad', potential trans interpretation of 'Running Up That Hill' etc.)

I'm a massive Kate Bush fan anyway but I've come away with a totally new appreciation of her as an artist and as a woman after finishing this book. Especially with the almost meticulous breakdown of the meaning and stories within the lyrics of the vast majority of her songs - I feel like I see them in a whole new light now.

[Sembray · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to Bonnier Books for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review, which you can find below.

One of the few positive stories amongst the global chaos of recent times has been the critical and commercial renaissance of Kate Bush thanks to Netflix's Stranger Things using 'Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)', and now this book has arrived with perfect timing. I am happy to say it does not disappoint!

As someone who has read a fair few music biographies and tends to find them very repetitive in terms of structure, Doyle's decision to divide this book into 50 short chapters covering various topics within Bush's career and music was very satisfying to me. This makes the book highly accessible and easy to dip in and out of, while also ensuring that every aspect of the artist's unique story is covered.

This book has all the stories behind the iconic tracks such as 'Wuthering Heights' and 'Babooshka,' as well as Bush's collaborations with artists as varied as Elton John, David Gilmour, Prince and the Trio Bulgarka. There are also a fair few fascinating anecdotes which even a dedicated (or should that be dediKated?) fan such as myself was unaware of. Particular highlights for me included the band Shambush and their creation of the Most Wuthering Heights Day Ever, and electronic duo Utah Saints, who enjoyed a Number 4 UK hit which sampled 'Cloudbusting.'

As you would expect from such a seasoned music writer, Doyle manages to be informative, readable and humorous throughout this book. He draws extensively on an interview he conducted in 2005, a privilege granted to few journalists but one which seems warranted based on this book. He has crafted an affectionate and informative portrait of the woman behind some of the greatest music ever recorded. Whether you're a seasoned enjoyer of Kate Bush's unique discography or a new listener discovering her work for the first time, this book comes highly recommended.

[🌶 peppersocks 🧦 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reflections and lessons learned/the content of this book made me feel…
“If there is indeed an afterlife, then God is Kate Bush riding a dolphin”

I must admit that there are times where I’ve skipped radio channels over Kate Bush, and then there have been times where I positively kickstepped to Babooshka as though my life depended on it! I already had this book on library loan but when we caught a Friday night show of all of her bbc tv appearances, it suddenly got boosted up the list.

A mixture of interviews and stories, as well as first hand chats with the lady herself. Some parts were lost me, as I’m not an aficionado, but to read the background and context left me completely smiling. Of course there were John and Bowie influences - theatricality and musicality and overall surreal. Like completely out there fiction and sci fi, really unusual theatricality is not something I can always get on board with, but it was all so ground breaking, that’s it’s just an intrinsic part of female British 80s music. To go from TOGWT, to Wogan and Aspel, to Saturday kids shows, to TOTP, to comedy dedications, to the rave and clubbing scene twice. And from now on, I’m calling it RUTH too… I may never own an original signed album but you’ll make me cry if you remove any of the cover playlists from Spotify…

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book for fans of Kate Bush. It is probably most meaningful to those who are familiar with Kate’s work because many chapters refer to Kate’s albums and specific songs. There are third party comments about Kate and her work but also some direct quotes, particularly from a lengthy and exclusive 2005 interview that the author had with Kate. Time to relisten to my Kate Bush albums for the umpteenth time!

[Ania · Rating 4 out of 5]

dziękujemy za kate bush

(i za toma doylego, bo właśnie tak powinno się robić dziennikarstwo muzyczne!)

[Translator Monkey · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing gift from Tom Doyle and Kate herself. I first saw and heard Kate during her appearance on Saturday Night Live in the late 1970s, and I pretty quickly fell in love, following her every musical move. Haven't fallen out of love with her yet.

One of my favorite reads of the year. Easily. Read it, and then go say hello to the trees and the sky.

[Louise Bath · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book enormously, not least because it took me back in time and brought back a lot of pleasant memories of the late 70s and early 80s in particular. It also gave me an image of a wonderfully 'normal', warm, likeable, and down-to-earth woman. When David Bowie died in 2016, there was much affectionate talk of him having "returned to his home planet". I found myself musing that when Kate Bush (a massive Bowie fan) leaves us (many, *many* years from now, I hope), she'll be borne across the water to the Isle of Avalon in a flower-bedecked barque, in the style of King Arthur. I still think that; but after reading RUTH, I think her leave-taking will be less shrouded in morning mists and accompanied by angels singing mournful airs than an altogether more jolly affair, with lots of waving and goodbyes, and as much laughter as tears. Oh, and there'll be a loud and gently raucous party.

RUTH is a nicely-structured book, taking readers from Kate's schooldays and earliest forays into music and songwriting, up to and including the resurgence of interest in her music after Running Up That Hill was used in Stranger Things. I don't suppose for a moment that there's anything here that devoted Kate Bush fans won't already know, but I felt that I learned a lot. It's also worth noting that Doyle makes it clear that Bush is neither as precious nor excessively "out there" as some have liked to portray her. Nor does she mind having the mickey taken out of her. She has especially sweet things to say about Noel Fielding's appearance in Let's Dance For Comic Relief, in which he danced to Wuthering Heights dressed as Kate in the "red dress" video, and using the iconic choreography. In this version, however, 'Cathy' was carried off at the end by 'Heathcliffe' - played in this instance by Fielding's "Mighty Boosh" partner, Julian Barrett. However, I personally always hated Pamela Stephenson's parody of Bush on Not The Nine O'Clock News; I found it cruel and spiteful.

The book's earliest chapters made me particularly wistful; I was reminded that her homelife with her big, warm, creative family was exactly what I would've loved myself, and I do envy her that.

But what I found extraordinarily moving and powerful in one of the later chapters was Tom Doyle's account of Kate's appearance at the Q Awards in 2001. When news of her arrival started to spread, the excitement was extraordinary; even Elvis Costello approached her in the most fanboyish manner: imagine *them* working together one day! When Midge Ure announced Bush as the winner of the Classic Songwriter Award, she was greeted with a standing ovation and a huge wave of love and affection. Later, when collecting his Inspiration Award, John Lydon declared: "Kate Bush, I love you. Your music is brilliant." Kate and Lydon are, in fact, very good friends.

All in all, I found this to be a fantastic book, and I could happily have read much more. Tom Doyle has put together a wonderful read, and I recommend it highly.

[Nick Mellish · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading this reminded me (should any such reminder be required) of just how special her output is. A wonderful read.

[Lynn Nevin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this personal insight into such a private musician....
Really brought home the labour of love producing an album can be, along with the fears and uncertainties success can bring.
How inspiring she was/is to want to be so in control in such a male dominated industry.
Has made me revisit all her albums and realise why I fell in love with her music in the beginning back in 1979 😍

[Alicia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very readable and enjoyable. But I'm a huu-uge fan, so what can I say. Loved getting some more up to date information and the format of 50 thematic chapters worked very well.

[Stephen · Rating 3 out of 5]

interesting book looking at the career of Kate Bush using different sources and articles

[tessa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I ♡ BUSH

[lotte langs · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m not sure why this book needed two titles but whatever. A quirky biography that is divided into 50 short chapters (or visions). Each vision focuses on a song, album, a point in Kate’s career, an interview transcript or recollections. I found this a fun if somewhat cringey easy read and agree that it’s befitting for the lifelong fan or any newbies that heard Running Up That Hill for the first time last year.

Here is my only problem with this book. I found it so entertaining and would have been a 5 star read if the author hadn’t done a shitty typical music journo thing of interviewing, quoting and *deep breath* thanking in the last pages another singer songwriter who some (certainly not me) might compare to Kate Bush and portraying it in subsequent chapters in a derogatory and bitchy way. Not cool. So a ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 stars for that move.

[Ross Felton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great and thorough information on a living music legend, some of the writing was just kind of clunky and awkward. I would still recommend it for any fan

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

My thanks to both NetGalley and the publisher Rowman & Littlefield for an advanced copy of this biography about one of the most important and misunderstood singers whose music is still as vibrant as they were when they were recorded.

Kate Bush was someone I knew of but really didn't. I was big into the Pink Floyd and Kate Bush came up a few times as someone that David Gilmour, gutiarist and singer for Floyd had discovered or premoted. Actually in this book he give a full account, but that is for later. Somehow, probably tag sale or flea market I was able to get a whole bunch of albums for a really good price. And one of them was an import Hounds of Love, Ms. Bush's fifth album. And I was hooked. Yes the big songs were on this one, but I loved Cloudbursting and Under Ice were the ones that made me a fan. Even now I still love this album, something I rediscovered while reading this book and playing songs as they came up. The lyrics, the music, the ambience and mood the music enstills, and the nostalgia of being young and hearing this perfect little sonic poems. Running Up That Hill: 50 Visions of Kate Bush by respected music journalist and historian Tom Doyle is a look at the life of Ms. Bush, the music, and her legacy, told though her own words, friends, and fans.

In 2005 Kate Bush announced a new album, almost twelve years after her last one, The Red Shoes, which sadly did not do as well as expected. The album Aerial was a double album, and as it had been a while, the record label was asking Ms. Bush to do interviews, something she was not keen on, as many music journailst prefer the the print the legend idea of writing about musicians. However Tom Doyle and Ms. Bush seem to hit it off, and the interview went well. This allowed him a rare view of the musician, one that was not the spriightly elven character as portrayed by many, but of a a craftswoman who cared about her music, and wanted to take the time to make it right. From this humble beginnings a biography was born. The book is filled with insights, starting from Ms. Bush childhood, learning music, her brother's influence and the musicality that is present in the family. Doyle was able to talk to Ms. Bush, friends, family, and other research to put together one of the best studies of Kate Bush, her life, work and her continuing influence on music.

The book is very well written, with a lot of insights and a whole lot of new information. I'm sure gathering this was not easy, as Kate Bush is known to be reticence, but Doyle does a very excellent job. The interviews are all insightful, and when there is a question about what might have happened, Doyle gives all the sides, and lets the reader decide. Doyle looks at the recording, the times between albums when songs were worked on, new technology tested, videos thought of, and other collaborations. Doyle also examines the songs, pointing out what worked, what might not have, and why certain songs were so far ahead of what was being released.

A really great book not only for a fan, but for anyone interested in music in the last forty years, watching the industry change in so many different ways. Also, this is a great book for creative people looking for inspiration and how to make one's art.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a biography of English singer-songwriter Kate Bush. Scottish writer Tom Doyle wrote it in a series of 50 text snippets, each a few pages long and focusing on one thing in a roughly chronological order. He covers her childhood, the release of each album, the inspiration for some of the songs, the reactions of celebrities like David Bowie, Ian Rankin and Cher, and even his own experience interviewing his subject. With an output of just ten studio albums over a career lasting more than three decades, she was recently introduced to a new generation through the use of her music on the TV series Stranger Things. Despite long lapses between records, she doesn’t seem ready to retire.

I was never a fan of Kate Bush – her banshee wailing and quirky eccentricity never appealed to me. But she got a lot of airplay in the late 1970s when she was an overnight success with “Wuthering Heights” at the tender age of 19 and scored another hit in the mid-1980s with “Running Up That Hill”. So I was certainly aware of who she was, and I thought she would be an interesting person to read about. There is some detail on the creative process, which is always my favourite part of any writer or performer’s biography, and plenty about her career as it slowly moves forward.

Yet I don’t feel I know Kate Bush as a person. Everything goes really well and there’s not much conflict with anybody. Her early family life is only briefly touched on, her brother is mostly discussed in his role as a photographer, she is partner with one member of her band and suddenly she’s married to another one and they have a son. Abruptly the son is a teenager, performing on stage with his mother, with barely any mention of his childhood. Nobody seems to have any personal problems. There are no touching human moments that would create an emotional connection to the reader. Maybe it’s an English thing, but I suspect the famously elusive Kate Bush prefers to keep those personal issues personal. Also strangely missing are pictures: other than Kate’s pose on the dust jacket, there’s nothing in the text - no album covers, no video stills, no TV interviews, no live performances, no family snapshots and no candid pictures taken during Mr Doyle’s interview.

However, the bite-size chapters make the book easily digestible and seem a lot shorter than it is. I persevered through the text despite having little knowledge of the subject matter - I had to go online to listen to more of Ms Bush’s music to understand what Mr Doyle was writing about. Published in 2022, it’s bang up to date and is surely a must for Kate Bush fans.

[Steve Payne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Let’s say beforehand, I’ve loved Kate Bush the songwriter, the singer, and performer since she first hit it big in 1978 with ‘Wuthering Heights.’ I love the strong and independent person who’s not without a touch of shyness. And I’d be lying if I didn’t say that it all started with the teenage me - along with a generation of other teenage boys in the 70s and 80s – falling for the cute looks and leotarded curves. She was different. Even then, I was aware of an all-knowing, grown-up flirtatiousness that was different and very appealing. All these years later, the love and admiration is still there. The rarity of her albums (and interviews) maintaining the air of mystery and anticipation. And as she’s aged, her strength of character has continued to shine, with her quiet confidence and disregard for any desperate need to grab attention in our often silly times being hugely admirable.

This is a well-researched book that’s smoothly written and fascinates on every page turn. The best sections refer to a lengthy interview the author did with Kate in 2005 to publicise her latest album, ‘Aerial.’ Much of the rest is also fine, even if there is the occasional short chapter that reads more like the addendum box you find attached to a magazine article, such as one chapter informing us of where to look for the sometimes hidden KT symbol that appears on her album covers.

Another criticism I would make is that the writer, like me, is a big fan. But like Kate herself, I’m not blind to the fact that not everything she’s done is great. The short film, for instance, she did at the time of ‘The Red Shoes’ album in 1994, called ‘The Line, The Cross And The Curve,’ was described by Kate herself as, ‘a load of old bollocks.’ Author Tom Doyle will have you believe that over the years the film has been re-evaluated and that time has only increased the value of the film. I’ll never accept that. The rushed affair is simply not good enough for re-evaluation and I’d align myself with Kate herself. It was crap then, and remains crap now! Another issue, given that imagery is so much a part of the Kate Bush mythos, is that ‘50 Visions Of Kate Bush’ is unusually devoid of any photographs.

But little nit-pickings aside, this is a very enjoyable book. It and Graeme Thomson’s ‘Under The Ivy’ are the two best books I’ve read on the singer. I’d recommend both…

[Justyna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Na wstępie muszę przyznać, że nie jestem fanką Kate Bush, ba! z pamięci potrafię wymienić jedynie kilka jej utworów. Dlaczego więc sięgnęłam po książkę o niej? Bo cenię ją jako artystkę, bo lubię czytać o osobach po utwory których sięgam statystycznie dość często.
Urodziła się 30 lipca 1958 roku w Bexleyheath (Wielka Brytania). Zadebiutowała w 1978 roku singlem „Wuthering Heights”, pochodzącym z płyty „The Kick Inside”. Od początku muzycznej kariery dążyła do ideału, nie produkując jedynie muzyki dla mas. Z czasem komponowanie, pisanie tekstów i śpiewanie nie było jedynie pracą, a pasją i rzemiosłem.
„Kate Bush w 50 odsłonach” Toma Doyle’a to portret artystki luźno nawiązujący do wywiadu autora, który przeprowadził z bohaterką w 2005 roku. Z opowieści wyłania się portret ambitnej kobiety, dążącej do perfekcji. Nie myśli schematami, wiele wymaga od siebie i innych. Nie zabiega o poklask i medialny szum wokół siebie, od wielu lat robi swoje. Fascynują historie o poszukiwaniu dźwięków idealnych, odkrywaniu w otaczającym świecie elementów, które będą mogły wzbogacić utwory (tłuczenie szkła, ptasie trele). Niezaprzeczalnie to jedna z najbardziej enigmatycznych osobistości w przemyśle muzycznym. Legenda i ikona.
Ojcem sukcesu Kate można nazwać Davida Gilmoura z Pink Floyd, bo to on odkrył ją jako pierwszy. Przez wiele lat towarzyszył jej podczas nagrywania płyt czy rzadkich występów na żywo. Zresztą to nie jedyne znane nazwisko wśród współpracowników Kate – nagrywała z Peterem Gabrielem czy Philem Collinsem.
Kate Bush dba o swoją prywatność, dlatego biografia Doyle’a to przede wszystkim historia o muzyce, tworzeniu kolejnych albumów, koncertowaniu, nagrywaniu teledysków. Muzyka, którą tworzy nie jest komercyjną – jej twórczość uchodzi za trudną, choć niezwykle intrygującą i tajemniczą. Dla części słuchaczy jej głos jest nieznośny i odbierają go w kategoriach piszczenia.
„Kate Bush w 50 odsłonach” to zgrabna publikacja, która prócz podstawowych informacji o artystce zawiera sporo anegdot i wspomnień, opowieści innych osób czy przytoczonych wywiadów Kate. Choć nie jest to wybitna biografia pozwala poznać choć fragment życia piosenkarki. Niech przy lekturze towarzyszą Wam kolejne albumy artystki, wzmacnia to przyjemność z czytania.
Polecam!
Za egzemplarz dziękuję Wydawnictwu Rebis

[Under Milkwood · Rating 4 out of 5]

In 2005 rock journalist Tom Doyle interviewed iconic songstress Kate Bush in her home for the popular music magazine Mojo. The ageing singer was now a mother and hadn't released any new music for some years and was, at the time of the interview, finalising a much awaited double album entitled Ariel. Unsurprisingly, Kate 'danced' back into the public's imagination.
Seventeen years later, Kate went back to number one on the world charts courtesy of 'Stranger Things' on Netflix where her 80's hit "Running up that Hill" was on heavy rotation as the driving force behind one of the show's characters. Kate Bush at 64 had wowed a new generation.
That was probably when Tom Doyle realised he had struck gold. He had the definitive interview with the seemingly eccentric goddess on 3 cassette tapes and the time was right for an all-encompassing
reappraisal - right up to the present day. With her divisive 2011 comeback "50 words for snow" in mind, he would call his new book '50 Visions of Kate Bush'.
The arguably clever title of the book is ultimately a bit restrictive in the sense that one feels that there is a bit of unnecessary padding just to reach the convenient 50 chapters. It helps that Doyle is a savvy writer and more importantly, it helps that Kate is an alluring subject. She's also an amazingly creative talent with the innate ability to mesmerise you at one moment then repel you at the next.
Anybody with the remotest interest in Kate Bush will find something to satisfy their curiosity in this absorbing read.

[Jeannette · Rating 5 out of 5]

Full Disclosure: I received an Advanced Reader's Copy of Running Up That Hill: 50 Visions of Kate Bush by Tom Doyle from Rowman & Littlefield Publishers via NetGalley.

Running Up That Hill: 50 Visions of Kate Bush by Tom Doyle is the biography that Kate Bush fans should be reading. I have long been a fan of Kate Bush. I remember the first time hearing her. I was in college. The song was Love and Anger. I am thrilled that Stranger Things introduced a whole new generation to Kate Bush. Media has not always been kind to Kate Bush because of her propensity to avoid the spotlight and not seek fame the way many other artists do. She takes a long time to release new music. She doesn't tour or promote her music like others. This book is split up into 50 segments focused on songs or periods in her life that give you a really in-depth idea of what was going on or how the song came to be. I learned that Kate is a serious perfectionist. That's really why the delay between albums, not a lack of inspiration. I also loved learning about her fusing of theatre and music, the way she develops her videos or live performances. Actually, everything about her process is fascinating. And to think it started when she was just a girl is even more incredible. She has also helped pave the way for artists to maintain creative control over their work in an industry that doesn't really support such a thing. She's pretty amazing. Now, excuse me while I go listen to her entire catalog of songs again.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I first saw this book at a shop and having a look at it, I wasn't sure I wanted/needed to read this book. The author is a music journalist in the UK and the book's chapters are based on various interviews he has done over the years, interspersed with new interviews to flesh out this book. Despite having read a couple of books on Kate, included 'unauthorized bios I was of the mind of 'will I discover anything new about one of my favourite musicians.' Well I was glad to have found the book at a market while in country Victoria a few weeks ago and the book is magic. He puts a different spin on Kate's music and her life, showing her to be a homebody surrounded by family and deeply committed to her child, but also deeply committed to her art. Admitting that perhaps she is a bit too deeply committed, saying that she is a perfectionist to a fault. She is deeply spiritual, but doesn't like talking about it, saying "we all live inside our heads. Although you have to live in the physical world." And it all comes down to how we perceive the world and those around us. She is a deep reader, both of philosophy, spiritualism as well as physics and astronomy. In the interview with David Gilmore, he clears up the myth that he was deeply involved in Kate's signing, saying he funded her original demo and was happy to be in a position to hand over that demo to someone at his label that he knew would take care at nurturing the young teenager. Whether you are new or a long time fan of the music of Kate Bush, this is a worthwhile read.

[J Earl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Running Up That Hill, by Tom Doyle, is an insightful and far more personal look at Kate Bush than what we usually get in writings about her.

These short chapters touch on most of her career, from writing and recording through personal feelings and even song analysis. This makes for a fun straight through read, but I think someone could read this a chapter or two at a time, maybe interspersed with listening to her work again, and spread it out over a week or two.

I was fortunate to have been going to and from the UK at about the time of her first recording and became a fan early on, turning some of my friends at home in the US on to her as well. This book brought back memories but, more importantly, it reminded me of her great talent. Sometimes it is easy, as time passes, to let favorites slip into the past. Books like this serves not just as a nostalgic trip but as a reminder to get some of her work into my regular playlists again.

I would highly recommend this to both fans of hers as well as those who just enjoy music history and/or biographies (though admittedly this isn't so much a biography as a series of visions that together tells a good part of her life). If you're just looking for a picture book, this might not be for you, there are a lot of words.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.

[Pm · Rating 2 out of 5]

Can't abide this. Seems like every book about her has to be breathless and cloying. Like her every burp is a work of art. Maybe fans won't buy anything else? Any criticism disturbs the cult

I used to be a huge fan. I saw her live in 2014, and that was superb. But after that, what? Endless remasters and re re re releases, and the hard-core cultists going, "Yes you can really hear the difference on this fifth remix of Cloudbusting, it was worth the expense". Even when she put out a rarities CD, there was one - yes, ONE - track not released before

Also the reissue have such hideous artwork - The Ugly Dogs Of Love, I call it. And extortionate prices. "You don't have to buy it if you don't want it!" cry the stans. And thus she wastes the goodwill of decades.

Not to mention the umbrellas, teatowels, endless teeshirts with endless ugly Fish People pictures. The extortionate merch at Before The Dawn was just the start. THIS is her career now. Souvenirs. Not music.

She can do what she wants of course. And we can stop buying her self indulgent merch.

But the writers have to fawn and flatter about what a genius she is. And invent a catfight withTori Amos. Tori is too busy touring and making new music to care. These biographers are just overgrown schoolboys reliving their days at boarding school, with the pink leotard poster on their dormitory wall.

It's pathetic.

[Darren · Rating 5 out of 5]

My love for Kate Bush is second only to my love for David Bowie. I know all about him from his many albums, the documentaries, podcasts and dozens and dozens of books I've read about him over the past 30-odd years.

There's less about Kate Bush altogether - far fewer albums, scant documentaries, and only a few books I'm aware of. This book is wonderful, a treat for any fan of Bush's, mixing stories and anecdotes. It's broadly chronological, with a neat framing device of the author's interview with her as she was putting the finishing touches to Aerial.

As someone fortunate enough to see her live in 2014, I loved reading about the Before the Dawn concerts (it really took me back there) and the details of how she made her albums and videos provided me with a lot of new info. If anything, the book only grew my affection for her, to the point where I'm now trying to work out what my Kate Bush tattoo will be. It'll be my second tattoo. My first, of course, commemorates Bowie.

[AnnieM · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a fan of Kate Bush from when I was a college student in the 1980's. I hadn't heard much about her until I heard that the TV show "Stranger Things" used one of her songs so she became popular with the younger generation. Running Up That Hill: 50 Visions of Kate Bush by Tom Doyle is not a typical biography, but rather a montage of different moments in her life and career with current interviews from those who knew her or transcripts from interviews with her on television shows or magazines at the time. What was really great is Tom Boyle tracks her down in her home (she is notoriously private) and interviews her. This book for me was like a walk down memory lane. I loved the parts about David Bowie and other famous musicians. I also liked hearing about her in the studio. An enjoyable read.

Thank you to Netgalley and Rowman & Littlefield for an ARC and I left this review voluntarily.

[Dan Jacobson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely stunning approach for an absolutely stunning biography of an absolutely stunning individual.

The thing I loved the most was how Doyle provides so much airtime to showing off all the ways in which Kate Bush has been an influence - whether that be the fans from all walks of life who found her in all different ways, the icons of music from every genre who give her credit (discovering 'Something Good' by Utah Saints has been revelatory), but most interestingly of all in terms of the technologies such as the Fairlight CMI and handless mics which she was instrumental in pushing forward. This is to not even mention the impeccable descriptions of all of Bush's work, in particular her live shows which are described breathtakingly.

[J. McCarthy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book really goes in depth into the life of Kate Bush, and her many reasons for the things she chose and didn’t choose over the course of her career, which is still going.
Written by TomDoyle, who was invited to sit down with Kate Bush at her home and go through her life story, this is really an autobiography about and transcribed by Kate Bush. Covering the few albums that she made, and the length it took to make each one, the lack of touring and many aspects of her daily life events, this is a book that any fan of Kate Bush should read.
Well written and covering the entire career of the singer in well thought out chapters, this was a very enjoyable read, I’m glad I have it as part of my collection.