KT BUSH BAND FORMS
Del,Brian,Vic,Kate 1977 Plumstead Common
My mother got a note from Paddy Bush, asking for my presence one
afternoon. We got in touch, Paddy relating some ideas, and asked if I would be interested in listening to his proposal.
Paddy and myself used to jam at weekends on mandolins at his parents place. I still remember one afternoon Kate running into the room, and hiding behind the sofa, while Paddy and I innocently carried on playing, because the call had come for her Violin lesson to begin- ‘no sorry haven’t seen her, she made an appearance some time ago! Anyhow, Paddy explained that Kate was looking for some live experience as she was about to record her first album with EMI. I said “not many Benny”,(yes) and would endeavour to sort a band out. Paddy left, and I rushed around to Del’s house to explain things, saying that tons of gigs would come our way. Great singer, great looks with theatrical tendencies- she could front for sure, a pretty sensational outfit! Vic King was on board that evening!
Top to bottom - Brian,Del,Vic 1977
When we started work on a set, this would have the only time I’d have played with Kate, apart from an afternoon –when at her fathers invitation- around 1971 Kate played her wonderful songs at the piano with myself on electric guitar, and a later performance at Whitechapel Art gallery, where Kate did a dance routine during Paddy’s end of year show for his college finals. By the way, this was the birth of the Kate Bush ‘Tour of life’ routine. (See the‘ Violin’ song theatrics at Hammersmith Odeon) where the duelling Double basses appear to everyone’s astonishment! Paddy and my earlier version involved two live ‘duelling’ bass guitars with, Vic King- kicking in a thunderous rhythm!
Brian at Whitechapel Art gallery 1976
I met up with Kate -could she learn all those song lyrics? - a major concern. And what about just a trio backing her? Kate was more than pleased to join in with ‘the old school outfit’. We immediately set about organizing a set that would blow the socks off of any competition on the pub circuit. The bulk of this material came from a previous incarnation of an act we had got together earlier, in which Barry Sherlock took lead vocals, and Lionel,- who was thankfully back on drumming duties, after much rehabilitation and personal strength, had become the sparkle once again- playing in a professional capacity, amazingly whilst using just one arm.
Rehearsals for KTB Band, began in earnest. It had been explained from the start that this was a short term project. We set our equipment up in the barn over Kate’s parents place with little equipment, my brother, Alan, had helped me purchase the remaining share in a PA system which was soon put to good use.
Things began well. Kate spoilt us all with gallons of tea and biscuits, and fun was had by all. Brilliantly, she had learnt all the lyrics, so we spent useful time on some simple, largely rocking song arrangements that we were all happy with. We needed a gig to try the band out, so I went to the Rose of Lee pub in Lee Green one night, and told the guvnor about the band. -I got him interested. I said we would guarantee 20 people the first week, bodies up to the bar the second, down to the other end of the pub the third, and then packed out the fourth! This is precisely what happened. What a gig it became! Dry ice and even a few lights that Paddy operated. Kate’s best friend Lisa (who went on to run Kate’s very own fan club) and Rob her partner, who was our occasional roadie were always nearby. We were all working at day jobs at this time, juggling late nights, and early starts. Exhausting schedules were completed. Up at 7am, - home at 5pm then off to a gig, - home at 2am ,- back to work, -and around we went. A demo session was arranged at De Lane Le recording studios in Regent Street, London. Some nice ‘takes’ were captured on tape- overdubbing another guitar, and honky-tonk piano. Vic came up with the idea of slowing the song James and the Cold Gun at the outro stage. I was given a long guitar solo, which I used on previous gigs. Kate enhanced the performance with her own special brand of theatrics. These early gigs were a mixture of Kate’s songs, my own compositions and some popular covers. Kate, Del, myself and Vic sang in harmony adding colour and sometimes humour to the mix.
ICE CREAM AND CARROTS
We used to take turns to collect dry ice for the smoke machine, this was used for refrigeration purposes by ice cream vans. I remember picking it up (not literally-it would burn your hands off ) one summer afternoon from the East End of London, and driving home on a sweltering day. I had all my Morris Van’s windows open to get some heat in, because I was frozen from the ice that was loaded at the very back of the van! One night we had some ice left over and Kate put it in her fridge. The next day she asked me to look in it ,- well, half an opened tin of carrots had compressed into little tiny particles, and something real strange happened to the milk!
Poster from Brian's original collection.
A gig in Brighton followed and to our pleasant surprise loads of our followers made the journey down south to be there. We sure were in fine company! The band finally disbanded as Kate’s album progressed, (The Kick Inside) and we all became kind of unemployed again. Contact still existed and by now the idea was forming to gig the album, to promote and perform it in some shape or form. Other additional musicians were to be auditioned, the nucleus now being myself, Del and Paddy, followed by a search for a keyboard player and this time, a new drummer. An awful lot of hard work followed. I produced bar charts of Kate’s songs, working chord progressions and timings to the best of my knowledge, to allow a reasonable starting point for forthcoming rehearsals.
I was spending time with Kate at the piano, getting things as right as possible at these early stages. A showcase at The White Elephant restaurant along the Embankment in London was the next stop, performing privately for EMI executives worldwide. Sometime around this time it was tea at Kate’s (of course) - but alas - no milk! Paddy and myself volunteer, and we are off to the corner shop near Wickham Road, Brockley. As we are about to purchase, Paddy screams, ‘”It’s my sister!!!”… and there before us on the counter, a picture – yes, in full colour, with Kate on the front cover of Record Mirror, one of the top selling music weeklies of the time! This must have in no small way followed the first playing of Wuthering Heights on Capital Radio the previous Tuesday evening. That night all of us were gathered around the radio in Kate’s flat to witness its first airing. It certainly caused a sensation when call after call went in to the station asking for replays and any info about this very special girl from South London. Things literally changed overnight. Kate’s song became the top song on Capital radio’s phone-in listings, and every day Ma Bush would check that we’d been casting our votes for each particular day. Very soon Wuthering Heights topped our national charts. Demand for Kate’s services sky rocketed.
TV shows required backing tracks for Kate’s appearances, and we found ourselves doing sessions at various TV companies. Ian Bairson the lead guitar on Kate’s album and Wuthering Heights, became the first of the album’s session men I had the strange pleasure to meet. We were recording the backing track for Wuthering Heights for Kate’s performance on Magpie, the Children’s TV show, attempting to recreate the enormous sound Andrew Powell (Kate’s producer at the time), who, along with Kate, had performed on the record.I was trying to get feedback for the solo at the end, and for some reason couldn’t find the long sustained note that was integral to the performance. There was a music shop just around the corner, so I thought I would buy an E bow (a device for creating infinite sustain), to overcome this problem at the session. Time was at a premium, so I set off in great haste. As I turned the corner who should I see? … Ian himself, strolling down the road! I recognized him from photos and TV shots with the band Pilot. We exchanged greetings, and I mentioned the problem. I still remember kind of apologizing that I seemed to be doing the session and he wasn’t! He was OK about this. Anyhow, sure enough, he used the very same method as me, which was to stand in front of the amplifier with pretty loud volume, and wait for the guitar to begin wailing away until you hold and direct it, the guitar acting like an aerial! I thought I’d go down that road again and said bye and thanks. I got back, cranked the amp right up and hey presto, feedback- sustain from my Twin Reverb, like nothing on earth!
We took on many other shows; one in particular in Germany – Biof’s Barnoff, the biggest Saturday night ding dong, live from Munich. But short of a drummer again, Charlie Morgan was invited along. Kate sent a car to pick me up, and we met Charlie at the airport and flew over to play on one song. Kite, a song off The Kick Inside album, was performed live on the back of a railway train. Myself, Charlie and Del, backed Kate while she bravely sang and danced her way through the number. The TV audience loved Kate. She finished with Wuthering Heights and received rapturous applause!
Del,Brian,Vic,Kate 1977 Plumstead Common
My mother got a note from Paddy Bush, asking for my presence one
afternoon. We got in touch, Paddy relating some ideas, and asked if I would be interested in listening to his proposal.
Paddy and myself used to jam at weekends on mandolins at his parents place. I still remember one afternoon Kate running into the room, and hiding behind the sofa, while Paddy and I innocently carried on playing, because the call had come for her Violin lesson to begin- ‘no sorry haven’t seen her, she made an appearance some time ago! Anyhow, Paddy explained that Kate was looking for some live experience as she was about to record her first album with EMI. I said “not many Benny”,(yes) and would endeavour to sort a band out. Paddy left, and I rushed around to Del’s house to explain things, saying that tons of gigs would come our way. Great singer, great looks with theatrical tendencies- she could front for sure, a pretty sensational outfit! Vic King was on board that evening!
Top to bottom - Brian,Del,Vic 1977
When we started work on a set, this would have the only time I’d have played with Kate, apart from an afternoon –when at her fathers invitation- around 1971 Kate played her wonderful songs at the piano with myself on electric guitar, and a later performance at Whitechapel Art gallery, where Kate did a dance routine during Paddy’s end of year show for his college finals. By the way, this was the birth of the Kate Bush ‘Tour of life’ routine. (See the‘ Violin’ song theatrics at Hammersmith Odeon) where the duelling Double basses appear to everyone’s astonishment! Paddy and my earlier version involved two live ‘duelling’ bass guitars with, Vic King- kicking in a thunderous rhythm!
Brian at Whitechapel Art gallery 1976
I met up with Kate -could she learn all those song lyrics? - a major concern. And what about just a trio backing her? Kate was more than pleased to join in with ‘the old school outfit’. We immediately set about organizing a set that would blow the socks off of any competition on the pub circuit. The bulk of this material came from a previous incarnation of an act we had got together earlier, in which Barry Sherlock took lead vocals, and Lionel,- who was thankfully back on drumming duties, after much rehabilitation and personal strength, had become the sparkle once again- playing in a professional capacity, amazingly whilst using just one arm.
Rehearsals for KTB Band, began in earnest. It had been explained from the start that this was a short term project. We set our equipment up in the barn over Kate’s parents place with little equipment, my brother, Alan, had helped me purchase the remaining share in a PA system which was soon put to good use.
Things began well. Kate spoilt us all with gallons of tea and biscuits, and fun was had by all. Brilliantly, she had learnt all the lyrics, so we spent useful time on some simple, largely rocking song arrangements that we were all happy with. We needed a gig to try the band out, so I went to the Rose of Lee pub in Lee Green one night, and told the guvnor about the band. -I got him interested. I said we would guarantee 20 people the first week, bodies up to the bar the second, down to the other end of the pub the third, and then packed out the fourth! This is precisely what happened. What a gig it became! Dry ice and even a few lights that Paddy operated. Kate’s best friend Lisa (who went on to run Kate’s very own fan club) and Rob her partner, who was our occasional roadie were always nearby. We were all working at day jobs at this time, juggling late nights, and early starts. Exhausting schedules were completed. Up at 7am, - home at 5pm then off to a gig, - home at 2am ,- back to work, -and around we went. A demo session was arranged at De Lane Le recording studios in Regent Street, London. Some nice ‘takes’ were captured on tape- overdubbing another guitar, and honky-tonk piano. Vic came up with the idea of slowing the song James and the Cold Gun at the outro stage. I was given a long guitar solo, which I used on previous gigs. Kate enhanced the performance with her own special brand of theatrics. These early gigs were a mixture of Kate’s songs, my own compositions and some popular covers. Kate, Del, myself and Vic sang in harmony adding colour and sometimes humour to the mix.
ICE CREAM AND CARROTS
We used to take turns to collect dry ice for the smoke machine, this was used for refrigeration purposes by ice cream vans. I remember picking it up (not literally-it would burn your hands off ) one summer afternoon from the East End of London, and driving home on a sweltering day. I had all my Morris Van’s windows open to get some heat in, because I was frozen from the ice that was loaded at the very back of the van! One night we had some ice left over and Kate put it in her fridge. The next day she asked me to look in it ,- well, half an opened tin of carrots had compressed into little tiny particles, and something real strange happened to the milk!
Poster from Brian's original collection.
A gig in Brighton followed and to our pleasant surprise loads of our followers made the journey down south to be there. We sure were in fine company! The band finally disbanded as Kate’s album progressed, (The Kick Inside) and we all became kind of unemployed again. Contact still existed and by now the idea was forming to gig the album, to promote and perform it in some shape or form. Other additional musicians were to be auditioned, the nucleus now being myself, Del and Paddy, followed by a search for a keyboard player and this time, a new drummer. An awful lot of hard work followed. I produced bar charts of Kate’s songs, working chord progressions and timings to the best of my knowledge, to allow a reasonable starting point for forthcoming rehearsals.
I was spending time with Kate at the piano, getting things as right as possible at these early stages. A showcase at The White Elephant restaurant along the Embankment in London was the next stop, performing privately for EMI executives worldwide. Sometime around this time it was tea at Kate’s (of course) - but alas - no milk! Paddy and myself volunteer, and we are off to the corner shop near Wickham Road, Brockley. As we are about to purchase, Paddy screams, ‘”It’s my sister!!!”… and there before us on the counter, a picture – yes, in full colour, with Kate on the front cover of Record Mirror, one of the top selling music weeklies of the time! This must have in no small way followed the first playing of Wuthering Heights on Capital Radio the previous Tuesday evening. That night all of us were gathered around the radio in Kate’s flat to witness its first airing. It certainly caused a sensation when call after call went in to the station asking for replays and any info about this very special girl from South London. Things literally changed overnight. Kate’s song became the top song on Capital radio’s phone-in listings, and every day Ma Bush would check that we’d been casting our votes for each particular day. Very soon Wuthering Heights topped our national charts. Demand for Kate’s services sky rocketed.
TV shows required backing tracks for Kate’s appearances, and we found ourselves doing sessions at various TV companies. Ian Bairson the lead guitar on Kate’s album and Wuthering Heights, became the first of the album’s session men I had the strange pleasure to meet. We were recording the backing track for Wuthering Heights for Kate’s performance on Magpie, the Children’s TV show, attempting to recreate the enormous sound Andrew Powell (Kate’s producer at the time), who, along with Kate, had performed on the record.I was trying to get feedback for the solo at the end, and for some reason couldn’t find the long sustained note that was integral to the performance. There was a music shop just around the corner, so I thought I would buy an E bow (a device for creating infinite sustain), to overcome this problem at the session. Time was at a premium, so I set off in great haste. As I turned the corner who should I see? … Ian himself, strolling down the road! I recognized him from photos and TV shots with the band Pilot. We exchanged greetings, and I mentioned the problem. I still remember kind of apologizing that I seemed to be doing the session and he wasn’t! He was OK about this. Anyhow, sure enough, he used the very same method as me, which was to stand in front of the amplifier with pretty loud volume, and wait for the guitar to begin wailing away until you hold and direct it, the guitar acting like an aerial! I thought I’d go down that road again and said bye and thanks. I got back, cranked the amp right up and hey presto, feedback- sustain from my Twin Reverb, like nothing on earth!
We took on many other shows; one in particular in Germany – Biof’s Barnoff, the biggest Saturday night ding dong, live from Munich. But short of a drummer again, Charlie Morgan was invited along. Kate sent a car to pick me up, and we met Charlie at the airport and flew over to play on one song. Kite, a song off The Kick Inside album, was performed live on the back of a railway train. Myself, Charlie and Del, backed Kate while she bravely sang and danced her way through the number. The TV audience loved Kate. She finished with Wuthering Heights and received rapturous applause!