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Tag: Kate Bush

  • Six artists whose music changed my life…

    Six artists whose music changed my life…

    The right music can be life-altering. Here are six artists whose music changed my life in some way…

    Pat Benatar Crimes of Passion (1980)

    Picture it. It’s 1981. I’m nine years old and there is still one older sister out of three living at home with me. My older sister is seventeen and has a stereo that plays vinyl. Every night, I hear her playing songs by Hall & Oates, Rose Royce, The Eagles and Pat Benatar. I am especially attracted to Pat Benatar’s voice. It’s huge, clear, and powerful. The album my sister plays is Crimes of Passion. I remember seeing the cover of it; tiny Pat is wearing a sparkly black leotard and is backed up to a barre. Her brown hair is permed and curly and she’s wearing a lot of makeup. Even though the big hit on that album is “Hit Me With Your Best Shot”, I’m attracted to deeper cuts– “Prisoner of Love” and a song called “Out-A-Touch”. I also love what Pat’s done with Kate Bush’s song, “Wuthering Heights”. At that time in my life, I had not yet been exposed to Kate Bush. I didn’t realize that the original was a lot better than Pat’s remake. I wanted my own copy of that album.

    Remember, it was 1981. That was before people were so concerned about kidnappers or other dangers. My parents were very underprotective by today’s standards. I was allowed to walk to the store by myself. This was permitted even though getting to the store involved walking along a busy major highway and crossing four lanes of traffic to get to the shopping center. The shopping center had a Murphy’s Mart, which was a discount store kind of akin to K-Mart. I remember scrimping and saving up about eight dollars so I could buy my own vinyl copy of Crimes of Passion. I remember the pride I felt in that accomplishment. It was my very first music purchase.


    Pat Benatar sings “Hit Me With Your Best Shot”.

    Years later, I still own a copy of that album, though now it’s in a digital format. I still really admire Pat Benatar’s talent. I love a lot of her early rock performances, though I was even more impressed when in 1991, she released True Love, an album that showcases her jazz and blues chops. I wish she’d do another album like that one.

    Kate Bush The Dreaming (1982)

    A couple of years after I purchased my own copy of Crimes of Passion, I was hanging out with another sister; this one is eleven years my senior. This sister is also a music lover, but her tastes are definitely more artistic and rock oriented than the other sister’s. We share a room in my parents’ house, because this sister is only home on breaks and frankly she and the other sister would be at each other’s throats if they had to share a room. This sister also has a stack of vinyl records and a stereo. And one day, she’s playing music that, to me, was both foreign and wonderful.

    I asked her who the singer was. My sister explained that it was Kate Bush, a British singer who had just come out with a new album called, The Dreaming. My sister had seen Kate Bush perform on Top Of The Pops when we lived in England a few years prior. She was impressed, so when she saw Kate Bush had a new album out, she took a chance and bought it. I remember being completely enchanted by songs from that album, particularly “Night Of The Swallow”, which stuck in my head for years until I finally purchased my own copy of The Dreaming on cassette.


    “Night of the Swallow”

    After I bought that album in 1989, I became a full-fledged Kate Bush fanatic…

    James Taylor Flag (1979)

    I could write an ode to just about all of James Taylor’s albums. They have all meant a lot to me. It was 1979’s Flag, though, that really got me hooked on his music. The same sister who was into Kate Bush had a copy of Flag on vinyl and I remember hearing her play “Up On The Roof”, Taylor’s gorgeous cover of a song written by Carole King and Gerry Goffin. I remember being affected by the warmth of James Taylor’s vocals. There was something about his voice that was so comforting and moving to me. I also loved the arrangement, which made use of strings and piano.


    James Taylor sings “Up On The Roof”.

    I bought my own copy of Flag in 1990 and remember listening to it a lot in college, especially during my freshman year. It consoled me through a lot of tough days.

    Alison Krauss and Union Station New Favorite (2001)

    Alison Krauss is one of those artists I used to hear a lot about when I was growing up, but I never bothered to sit down and listen to her music. Until the last fifteen years or so, she was primarily known in bluegrass circles for playing fiddle and having a beautiful, pure voice. Of course, now she’s a huge star who’s even recorded with Robert Plant, Led Zeppelin’s legendary front man. I think I’d heard her sing with Lyle Lovett on his 1998 double album, Step Inside This House and was impressed. So in 2002, when I still had a membership to Columbia House and had some free CDs coming, I purchased her solo album Forget About It and her 2001 album with her band, Union Station, New Favorite. I loved both of the CDs and quickly started adding to my Alison Krauss collection. I think I have just about all of her stuff, now. But it was New Favorite that got me there.


    Alison Krauss and Union Station sing “The Lucky One”.

    Lyle Lovett Joshua Judges Ruth (1992)

    I remember the very first time I heard Lyle Lovett sing. It was in 1996 and I was in Yerevan, Armenia at a gathering of fellow Peace Corps Volunteers. The married couple who was hosting the get-together had turned on some music. I wasn’t paying too much attention to it, until my ears caught the chorus of Lyle Lovett’s song, “Since The Last Time”. The song starts off kind of slow, then builds into an upbeat number with bluesy harmonies and lyrics about losing touch with loved ones… until the last time somebody died. When I got back to the United States in 1997, I started buying Lyle Lovett’s music so I could find that song. As I recall, I had bought most of his available albums when I finally stumbled across Joshua Judges Ruth. Since then, I’ve found plenty of songs by Lyle Lovett that I love… but this one was the very first.


    Lyle Lovett and “Since The Last Time”.

    Stevie Wonder Songs In The Key of Life (1976)

    Anybody who was around in the 70s and 80s knows Stevie Wonder. He was everywhere during that time period. I discovered his album, Songs In The Key of Life in the late 1990s. It was my oldest sister who introduced it to me when I heard his beautiful song, “As” playing on the radio. I had heard the song many times, but that was the first time I’d ever really listened to the lyrics closely. I started buying all his early albums until I finally found Songs In The Key of Life, a magnificent two volume set with songs that had healing lyrics. I can honestly say that Stevie Wonder’s music helped save me from clinical depression. If that’s not life changing, I don’t know what is.


    Stevie Wonder sings “As”.

    Of course, I can think of plenty of other songs and artists who have changed my life in some way. The six artists profiled in this article are the ones who have been pivotal to me… at least today as I sit here thinking about it. These are the artists who actually inspired an obsession… I was compelled to buy their music and I still love what they do years later. Can you think of any artists or albums that changed your life? Leave a comment.

  • Happy International Women’s Day! Songs for Women…

    This goes out to all the girls out there… on International Women’s Day

    I’ll be honest. I had never even heard of International Women’s Day until I lived in the Republic of Armenia. Although my experiences in Armenia in the mid 1990s did not leave me with the impression that Armenians cared much about feminism, I did notice that they celebrated this holiday every March 8th. Then I learned that International Women’s Day started out as a Socialist political event in Russia, Eastern Europe, and Soviet bloc countries. It was originally intended to honor working women and their social, political, professional, and economic achievements. Since Armenia was a Soviet country until 1991, it makes perfect sense that they’d still be recognizing this holiday in the mid 1990s and beyond. I liked this holiday a lot better than Vartavar, a holiday that takes place 98 days after Easter that involves throwing water on people– especially women wearing thin blouses. On that day, you have to be careful walking down the street because it’s perfectly acceptable for someone to dump a bucket of water on you from their balcony.

    In the fifteen years since I left Armenia, I notice that more people seem to be embracing International Women’s Day. Indeed, on my personal music blog, a commenter from Ireland left me a link to a song that he thought was perfect for today’s festivities.

    Trouble In The Fields by Nanci Griffith

    This particular version was recorded live in Edinburgh, Scotland in July 2012. The song is about farming, and the hard work that goes into making soil produce. The lyrics very poignantly outline doing what it takes to survive during hard times. They also point out how city life divorces people from the reality of where food comes from and how important rainy weather is. I guess I should remember that, next time I complain about the rain! I think it’s especially meaningful that this song was co-written by Nanci Griffith, since women are generally seen as the primary source for nurturing, even if when we think of farming, we might think of men first.

    Hammer and A Nail by Indigo Girls

    I remember the first time I heard this song by Indigo Girls. I was a sophomore in college, working at the campus radio station. I remember thinking this was a great song back then. It has an upbeat melody and lyrics about empowerment and social justice. Years later, when I earned a master’s degree in social work, this song was featured at our hooding. It seemed to fit really well with the concept of social work and helping those in need. Social work is a profession very much dominated by women of all ages and the words to “Hammer and A Nail” are all about putting your shoulder to the grindstone and making the world a better place. I think it fits here perfectly on International Women’s Day.

    Women Be Wise by Sippie Wallace (and Bonnie Raitt)


    I will admit the first time I heard this song, it was on Bonnie Raitt’s Collection, which had a great duet version of Sippie Wallace’s blues song about how to keep your man around. She advises, “don’t advertise your man!” The first video is just of Sippie Wallace singing her song, but I love the sassy duet she did with Bonnie. It totally changes the mood of the song to one of two girlfriends sitting around, talking. The second video is Bonnie performing it in Montreux in 1977.

    This Woman’s Work by Kate Bush

    Switching gears, here’s a sublime song by one of my favorite singer-songwriters, Kate Bush. This song was originally written for the John Hughes film, She’s Having A Baby. In the film, it plays when the character, Jake (Kevin Bacon) learns that his pregnant wife and their unborn child are in danger. In the video for “The Sensual World”, Kate Bush depicts a pregnant woman who collapses while dining at a restaurant and is rushed to the hospital. The song is written from the man’s viewpoint as he prays that his beloved wife and child will pull through. There’s nothing more feminine than giving birth.

    Strati Angelaki Dunashe (Strati Angelaki was saying) by Trio Bulgarka

    Kate Bush has done two albums with Trio Bulgarka, a trio of amazingly talented Bulgarian female folk singers. I had actually heard of Trio Bulgarka before I purchased Bush’s The Sensual World and The Red Shoes, both of which featured songs with Trio Bulgarka. In the summer of 1996, I went on a vacation by bus that included stops in Turkey and Bulgaria. While I was in Bulgaria, I happened to purchase Trio Bulgarka’s album of selected folk songs on cassette. I remember thinking it was very primitively produced. Then I listened to it and was amazed by the vocal chemistry of these three women, Stoyanka Boneva, Yanka Rupkina, and Eva Georgieva. Since International Women’s Day is celebrated worldwide, especially in Eastern Europe, I thought it was only fitting to include a song by Trio Bulgarka. Thankfully, I was later able to download this album on iTunes.

    The Song of Solomon by Kate Bush and Trio Bulgarka

    Here Trio Bulgarka joins Kate Bush on “Song of Solomon”, a love song inspired by the Bible.

    Kirvem by Kizilirmak

    On that same bus trip through Turkey and Bulgaria, I discovered the Turkish band, Kizilirmak, named after a river in Turkey. As I wandered around Istanbul with my friend Elaine, we passed a music store and the haunting song “Kirvem” was playing. We were both lured into that store by this song’s lush melody and poetic lyrics. We both bought a copy of the album it came from, Rüzgarla Gelen. I have to admit, the entire album makes great lovemaking music, even if I don’t understand the words. Kizilirmak is a co-ed band, but there’s something very feminine about “Kirvem”, which is why I included it in this list.

    Maybe this list of songs for women seems curious, since these are all old songs! The women singing on these songs are women who have been around awhile and certainly have made contributions politically, culturally, socially, and professionally. I also discovered many of these women around the time that I discovered International Women’s Day. Perhaps my readers can inspire me with other songs that celebrate women.

  • Rain, rain, go away! Songs about rain…

    The rainy weather today sucks…

    I enjoy the occasional rainy day.  It’s good for quiet contemplation, sleep, reading, getting things done around the house.  Lately, we’ve been getting a ton of rain, though.  It’s not the pleasant, romantic type of rain, either, like the kind depicted in a recent Progressive car insurance commercial.  It’s cold and nasty and doesn’t make me want to go outside.  So, in the interest of celebrating yucky weather, today’s post is about songs that mention rain.

    BJ Thomas- Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head

    This one’s a no brainer and it’s surprisingly upbeat for a song about rain. Hey, if you can’t stop the rain from falling, you might as well enjoy it, right?

    The Carpenters- Rainy Days and Mondays

    Here are The Carpenters in all their early 1970s era glory, singing about how rainy days and Mondays always get them down. When I was a teenager, I got sort of obsessed with this melancholy song. I used to listen to it all the time, focusing on Karen Carpenter’s sweet, low, amazingly clear vocals. Perhaps this isn’t a good teen angst song; it’s more appropriate for lonely middle aged women with depressing jobs. But on a rainy day, especially if it’s a Monday, there’s no beating it. It’s good on a Tuesday, too.

    Creedence Clearwater Revival- Have You Ever Seen The Rain

    It took awhile before I developed an appreciation for this classic song by CCR. I think I finally learned to like it in the mid 1990s when I was serving in the Peace Corps in the Republic of Armenia. Some fellow volunteers and I used to sit at the Cascade Steps and play music. “Have You Ever Seen The Rain” was one of the songs we would do. The locals loved it. Looking at more recent pictures of the Cascades, I can see that they’ve really been cleaned up and perhaps finally finished. In the 90s, the steps weren’t quite completed at the top. I used to climb up and down them every day, though they had little to no effect on my figure. Anyway, when it rains, this is a fun song to listen to and reminisce about earlier days.

    Eddie Rabbit- I Love A Rainy Night

    This song takes me back even further than “Have You Ever Seen The Rain” does. When I hear this, I think of roller skating. In the early 80s, I used to go to the local skating rink every Friday night and hang out. I was all of about ten years old and my parents would just drop me off there for hours. It amazes me how things have changed since then. As songs about rain go, this one is pretty chipper.

    Madonna- Rain

    I don’t consider myself a great fan of Madonna’s, but she did contribute a song to the rain song genre with this hit.

    Led Zeppelin- The Rain Song

    I count “The Rain Song” as one of my favorite Led Zeppelin songs. It really needs no commentary from me. This song is so beautiful, with its expressive melody and Robert Plant’s sexy vocals. When I hear this song, I can practically hear the rain coming down in a good way.

    Alison Krauss & Union Station- Rain, Please Go Away

    If you need something motivating, check out this song with Dan Tyminski of Union Station taking lead vocals. It’s even better watching it live, since Alison Krauss and Union Station is one of those bands that easily pass my “live album” test!

    Led Zeppelin- Fool In The Rain

    If you need more motivation on a rainy morning, Led Zeppelin delivers with their festive “Fool In The Rain”.

    O.A.R.- Fool In The Rain

    I wouldn’t normally post a cover version of a song by Led Zeppelin, but this one kicks ass. Robert Randolph plays on it, after all. O.A.R. is short for Of A Revolution and they do a pretty great job with a Led Zeppelin classic.

    Phil Collins- I Wish It Would Rain Down

    Here’s a hit from 1989. Phil Collins and Eric Clapton team up to make an epic 80s era power ballad. I listen to this and picture myself standing in a downpour, staring at the sky screaming “Why?” Knowing me, I’d be screaming “Why” because I had a flat tire or something, not because something romantic or tragic happened. Phil Collins was alright back in the day; paired up with Eric Clapton, he’s pretty great.

    Herb Alpert, Janet Jackson, Lisa Keith- Making Love In The Rain

    Of course, if you have the time and the means, you can always use the rainy weather as an excuse to make love. This slow jam from 1987 brings back a lot of memories for me. I remember buying Herb Alpert’s Keep Your Eye On Me on cassette when I was 14 or 15. I bought it because it was all I could afford. It happened to be on sale and I knew there were a couple of Janet Jackson collaborations on it. This song happens to be one of them; Janet is singing backup. This was recorded before she became a mega star and was better known as an actress. Herb Alpert can be heard tooting his horn, too.

    Guns N’ Roses- November Rain

    No blog post about rain songs would be complete without this new classic by Guns N’ Roses. “November Rain” is definitely one of their epic hits.

    Kate Bush- Cloudbusting

    So this song doesn’t have the word “rain” in the title, but it is a very cool, timeless song about Wilhelm Reich who, along with his son, Peter, made a rain machine called a Cloudbuster. Reich was arrested and imprisoned, and Peter felt guilty because he could not help his dad. Years later, he wrote a book called A Book of Dreams, which Kate Bush read and was inspired by. And the video stars Donald Sutherland, too!

    Dire Straits- It Never Rains

    Okay, so we know it does rain… and often, at least where I live. But I had to include this song because it’s amazing. And after today, I’d like for it to be true… at least for a few days.

    I guess if you have the time, the energy, and the ability to appreciate it, a rainy day really isn’t so bad. But it sure makes house training a dog harder, as I’ve already discovered this morning. So for the love of my carpets, I hope the rain goes away soon. For now, I’m going to enjoy these rain songs. Hope you do, too!