The first album chart topper for Kate Bush, Never For Ever was released 44 years ago. Here’s some track by track thoughts…
Babooshka
I first bought Never For Ever in Summer 1998 on vinyl, and is probably the Kate Bush album I’m most familiar with. In these days of boring autotune identi-kit pop pap, it’s nice to be reminded of a time when female artists weren’t afraid to try something a little bit different.
Kate Bush definitely wasn’t. Wilfully embracing the quirky, she took it to extremes with Never For Ever, her third album that was the first one in which she took on production duties (co-producing the release with Jon Kelly). It’s an album that marries unorthodox subject matter to catchy hooks and well-judged arrangements.
The second single from the album is a good example of this approach. Babooshka – aided by a striking video – isn’t your average Top 5 bubblegum, telling the tragic tale of a paranoid wife testing her husband’s loyalty by sending him letters from a fictional, younger, sultry alter ego. Oh, for the days of communication by putting pen to paper rather than texting and social media inboxes.
The chorus of the track is primed to stick in the thinktank after just one play, and has proved to be one of Kate’s signature tunes. I love a couple of the minute details: John Giblin’s fretless bass really drives the track, and is a common hallmark of Never For Ever. The other is the weird conclusion of the sampled sound of breaking glass, which was achieved with the Fairlight CMI synthesiser. Never For Ever – like Queen’s The Game album earlier in the year- was the first one to feature extensive synthesiser and drum machine use.
Delius (Song Of Summer)
The drum machine is especially notable on Delius, bridging the mad glass smashing into this delightful palate cleanser. Largely an instrumental showcase, it’s punctuated by Kate’s brother Paddy intoning “Dee-lee-uzzz” and some Gregorian chanting in the background alongside Kate cooing the sparse verses in a feathery whisper and warbling “syphilis, deus, genius” (syphilis afflicted the composer, leaving him paralysed).
Delius (said to have been inspired by Ken Russell’s Song Of Summer) is a bit reminiscent of early ’80s Genesis, Peter Gabriel and Phil Collins. Little wonder, I guess, given that Kate had provided vocal backup on Gabriel’s Games Without Frontiers and No Self Control. Like the rest of Never For Ever, it became a favourite of mine because of its unusual subject matter and equally unpredictable soundscapes. A treat to listen to.
Blow Away (For Bill)
The Bill in question is Kate’s lighting director who was tragically killed in an accident during her 1979 tour. The lyrics ponder on the fear of death, and the concept that maybe we’ll get to meet classic musicians in the afterlife – such as Minnie (Ripperton), Moony (Keith Moon), Vicious (Sid), Buddy Holly and Sandy Denny. These days, you could probably write a version of Blow Away that would fill the entirety of Side One, given that so many legends have since shuffled off this mortal coil.
A suitably melancholy melody, Blow Away is another hidden masterpiece. Never For Ever is peppered with ’em, and Giblin’s fretless bass again adds much to the impact of this delicate track that explores the fragility of life and attempts to offer a small crumb of comfort for those left behind.
All We Ever Look For
All We Ever Look For sounds a bit like something from a stage musical. It makes extensive use of the Fairlight sampling gizmo, taking in an army of chanting Hare Krishnas, running footsteps, slamming doors, birdsong and applause.
Such tricks are child’s play by today’s standards, but back in 1980, sampling was still in its infancy. Never For Ever has more of a modern feel than her previous offerings, but curiously, it hasn’t aged 44 years down the line.
Egypt
Never For Ever’s genesis can be traced back to Christmas 1979, when Kate got her very own Christmas special. Unlike today’s cringeworthy cheese-fests accompanied by whooping noises from monkey people in the audience, Kate’s festive beezer is a relatively sedate affair that features previews of three tracks that would end up on Never For Ever.
One of these is Egypt, in which Kate – dressed up as a mad Quality Street Fudge chocolate – is crudely superimposed against a CSO backdrop of Egyptian destinations.
While for the most part, Egypt takes the pace down to a leisurely groove, it’s still a track of contrasts. The idea was to contrast the holiday brochure notion of Egypt as a tourist destination with the actual reality of the country which probably wouldn’t go down well on the travel agent shelves.
This contrast is reflected in the relatively gentle verses doing battle with the more ominous links, full of Paddy Bush baritone chanting and heavy drum and bass. As the song gets closer to the end, it’s joined by mad Kate screaming, all building up to a crescendo of darkness that then explodes into a more jaunty instrumental fade-out.
The Wedding List
The next couple of tracks were also included in the 1979 TV special. The Wedding List went to town on this, even including a couple of pre-filmed inserts at a church, in which a bridal Kate is horrified when the groom is shot dead. Any grannies who tuned in by accident expecting to see a Val Doonican special must have been appalled.
Lyrically, The Wedding List draws inspiration from Francois Truffaut’s The Bride Wore Black in which the bride takes revenge on the quintet responsible for her groom’s murder. So what starts out as a simple rock workout ends up as something more grandiose. The build-up to the chorus ramps up the tension with little details like a military drumbeat and a lone melancholic harmonica wheeze – all culminating in the crazy musical melee that is suddenly cut short by Kate’s last banshee wail of “Rudiiiii-eeeeee!!”
Typically, The Wedding List is as mad as a box of frogs, but it’s hard not to be won over by its sheer creativity and energy.
Violin
In case you were expecting some kind of orchestral pomp about Yehudi Menuhin’s meal ticket, you’d be wrong. Violin is the hardest rocking track on Never For Ever, even evoking a bit of punk.
Kate’s eccentric vocal mannerisms may be a bit much for newbies to take – they veer from high-pitched whoops of “Jigging along with the fiddle-dee-dee” to mad screaming in the chorus refrain. But that shouldn’t detract too much from the verve of Violin, with its dizzy madness producing another winner.
Violin was also featured in the 1979 Christmas special, and featured Kate doing her best not to be hampered by A/ A bat costume made out of net curtains spray-painted black and B/A couple of goons dressed up as giant violins and blundering about the stage like a couple of drunk football mascots.
And a quick shout-out to that final ending in which all the energy gradually fades away in a sad guitar sigh. It’s little quirky details like this that mark out Never For Ever ahead of the pack.
The Infant Kiss
It’d be easy to misinterpret the lyrics of this spooky piano/orchestral ballad, but in fact, The Infant Kiss was based on the 1961 gothic horror movie, The Innocents.
In a 1980 interview, Kate explained that she had seen The Innocents as a kid, and was terrified by it. She added that it had stuck with her ever since, and so decided to pen a track based on the film. Kate dials down the vocal drama a bit here, leaving the unnerving combination of orchestra and hollow synthesiser to create the atmosphere.
Night Scented Stock
Being an ageing old hippy, when Autumn and Winter nights draw in, I frequently look up at the day to night sky. The best ones are the reddish hazes, that look like the sun’s going down in a blaze of glory.
In my head, I can hear Kate’s Night Scented Stock – a quick a cappella interlude that bridges The Infant Kiss and Army Dreamers. It’s only 51 seconds, but there’s something about it that conjures up that hazy Autumnal atmosphere as nights grow longer, darker and colder. The multi-tracked overdubs all combine to create a sense of eerie wonder. For what could have been a throwaway link, that’s no mean feat.
Army Dreamers
The third and final single to be selected from the album, Army Dreamers managed to reach the Top 20 in the Autumn of 1980.
This anti-war ballad is probably the easiest on the ear, a gentle waltz that’s sung by Kate in a cod-yokel voice. Like other selected tracks (such as the Cockney of There Goes A Tenner), Kate acts out the protagonist – in this case, a grieving mother of a young soldier who was killed in battle. It was accompanied by another distinctive promo video in which Bush is decked out in army camouflage.
Breathing
An odd choice for a lead single, Breathing’s average performance in the charts (Number 16 in Spring 1980) may have reflected the general public at large’s collective “Huh?” I suppose it’s not every day that you hear a song about an unborn foetus contemplating nuclear war fallout while eating your Cornflakes and listening to the radio.
In the context of Never For Ever’s track listing, Breathing is the logical follow-up to the similar anti-war Army Dreamers, taking it one stage further with a subtle diatribe about the horror of nuclear weapons. Musically, it’s a bit Pink Floyd-esque, and in fact, Bush commented that Breathing had been inspired by The Wall.
A measured but effective ballad, Breathing’s “in, out, in, out, in, out, in out” rhythm precision makes it all the more unnerving. Roy Harper guests on the track for the final furlong, which builds to its dramatic climax, ending the album as suddenly as it began. All in all, a classic album, and one that’s highly recommended to Kate Bush newcomers.
(Cover art credited to Nick Price)
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