Under the Ivy: The Life and Music of Kate Bush

Graeme Thomson's comprehensive biography of Kate Bush is, without the lady herself putting pen to paper, the closest thing we'll get to her definitive life story.

Thomson is obviously a fan, and while his prose can be a little florid at times, he knows his subject well, has researched extensively and gives objective reviews of all her creations, be they album, tour or video. For me, who's impression of Bush has been formed from the music press and the albums themselves, it was refreshing to learn that, according to all sources, she's very down to earth, not the kooky, away-with-the-fairies songstress of popular myth.

Everyone who's ever worked with her has nothing but praise for her, both as a writer, singer, person and artist. That says a lot about the woman herself.

Thomson writes of her childhood in a fairly idyllic upper middle class family, through unremarkable school years to the precocious singer-songwriter, signed to EMI and then given two years to “develop” as an artist. Who these days would be given such laissez-faire? It was a sign of EMI's faith in her talent that they gave her such latitude.

He traces her artistic development exhaustively. The first part of the book is basically and album per chapter. There's one on the Tour of Life (up until this year her only foray into live performance) and it's now certain that Thomson will have to update this book again, given his assertion several times that Bush would never play live again. How wrong he was!

The only flaw in the book is the lack of information on her “wilderness years”, the time she spent away from the spotlight between 1994 and 2005 being a mother. But that only shows how well she protects her private life. It was two years before it was revealed she'd given birth!

All in all a great read, extremely well researched and written and a must for any Kate Bush fan.