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[ 4 Minute read ]
Lost in translation
I was watching a YouTube video of Kate Bush being interviewed in, I think 1985. You know, that amazingly creative performance artist-singer who went straight to number 1 in the UK pop charts with 'Withering Heights', and later had a recent revival with, 'Running Up That Hill' which featured in 'Stranger Thins.' I have never seen it, but I think it is a television series on how to lose weight. No?
A little way through the YouTube interview, I couldn't help noticing that she seemed amused by the questions she was being asked. Things become a little clearer as she manages to get the interviewer to understand just how creatively focused she is. I seem to remember that, in the 1980s, she was pilloried for being weird. The UK 1980s music was really diverse, following an odd 1970s cornucopia of pop sounds. Disco music in 1978 came from the likes of The Bee Gees, who held the top two spots in March with 'Night Fever' and 'Stayin' Alive' following the success of 'Saturday Night Fever'; Donna Summer - 'I feel Love'; and Village People with 'YMCA'. Disco was top and only really contested by Punk Rock - The Sex Pistols, and The Clash, etc.
In January 1978, a skinny, wild-haired 18 year old woman with dance performance skills, including ballet, with an operatic screechy voice released 'Wuthering Heights'. In those days, singers and bands appeared on Top of The Pops, a weekly music show. With her waving arms, like an octopus in a strong current, and her Morticia Addams look, and her unique screechy voice, Kate Bush shocked us into paying attention. (Morticia Addams - Fictional character from The Addams Family).
In 1979, Gary Numan gave us 'Cars'; our first taste of synthesiser pop. Comments on a YouTube video include,
'No matter how far in the future you play this song it will still sound like it came out in the future' - @michaelfrazia4569
'People in 1980: This makes me want to be in the 2020's. People in 2020: This makes me want to go back to the 80's - @futurecenterofficial
I like @Arielgrrl: 'I think it is hilarious that Gary Numan is two weeks older than Gary Oldman'
My favourite: 'This is the best 80s song of 1979' - @BellefontePerson
He really did sum up what the 1980s pop culture was about to experience. I strongly recommend listening to 'Cars' by Gary Numan, and 'Are Friends Electric?'
Gary Numan was the first of a wave of synthesiser hits. Meanwhile, Kate Bush carried on with her haunting songs and her performance dancing. Some said she was a recluse at the time. In the interview she says she had her own recording studio and took her time creating; all the while, she seems delighted at the questions given to her. There is a comment to that interview on YouTube that denigrates the interviewer, We have to understand that the interviewer and Kate Bush are seen as they were forty years ago. Things were very different then. I can just use a laptop today to get a broader and deeper sense of music, despite not really liking music, than somebody who had to immerse themself in music from an early age. Not only that, interviewers had to rely on their memories a lot of the time.
The point I am making is that Kate Bush arrived when The Bee Gees had the two top pop spots during a disco-dominated UK hit chart; she traversed the Punk era, and continued screeching while the UK embraced New Wave; and she lived in a house with its own recording studio. What a weird woman, No! The timing was weird. Her career spans a strange transitional time in music popularity.
So, a lot can get lost in translation. Unfortunately, I came across a most troubling instance of mis-translation while watching the Kate Bush interview. YouTubers who upload to YouTube have to signify how many adverts they want YouTube to put in with their upload. Since everyone wants money, most agree to at least one.
Lots of adverts on YouTube are Chinese products, or at least from Asia. Sometimes, I think they use A.I. generative software for translation and speech synthesis from text.
Kate Bush is charming and delightfully complex but manages to be generous and charitable and honest in her interview answers. Suddenly, the interview is interrupted by the one ad in the video. It has a written and spoken strap-line.
'Extendable dog-beater for close combat'.
It is an extendable baton a bit longer than the UK police use which can be used to dissuade attackers. I skip all adverts, so I soon went back to charming Kate, smiling away. It was just so incongruous. Really interesting though.
I don't like providing links away from the OU pages, so hold down the CTRL key while you use the YouTube Kate Bush interview link below.
Kate Bush YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QilTUQpH-Qs
There is a dog near a baton in the advert, if YouTube hasn't replaced it for no reason at all!