Kate Bush & Stranger Things Just Made the Impossible Happen

In this episode we discuss how Kate Bush's 1985 Hit "Running Up That Hill" became a #1 Hit Song AGAIN nearly 40 years after its release due to the song's appearance in Netflix's "Stranger Things" Season 4.

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[JB-pliu]

My Dad years ago was telling me about Kate Bush randomly. I had never heard of her, but he mentioned how he loved her music . He had me bring up the Running Up That Hill video on YouTube to show me. That Christmas I bought him a Kate Bush book and record.

He passed away the very week Stranger Things season 4 aired. Suddenly I am hearing Kate Bush everywhere, and it's the song he had me listen to as an introduction to her. He would have loved seeing her getting huge recognition in 2022. Bitter sweet whenever I hear this song now.

[dieter]

Kate did one big tour right after her first record. This tour became one of the most influencial tours for live performances. She wanted to dance her songs like in her early video clips. So her crew invented the head set so that her hands were free. Her dance performance of her songs became the role model for every modern show, no matter if it is Madonna or Lady Gaga. This is often forgotten.

[nickking]

For me, the most mindblowing fact about Kate Bush is that she wrote 'The man with the child in his eyes' when she was just 13 years old! For most artists, writing a song like that would be their crowning achievement after years of crafting their songwriting, but for Kate it was just the start!

[SiriusV]

There have been old songs that have become popular again after being featured on tv shows or movies. But I have never seen an old song become so popular that it now gets played on current pop stations. That is unheard of. I think this song has set a new standard.

[franklampard]

If you like this song, listen to her duet with Peter Gabriel, “Don't Give Up”. It’s another great song from Gabriel, but it’s Kate’s singing that makes it the stunning song it is.

[senselocke]

One of the most haunting, unique songs from the 80s. It's always struck me as otherworldly, gave me goosebumps. You don't often get a chance to hear a song "for the first time" again, but when Stranger Things used it, I got to see my kids, get the same chills and goosebumps as I did. They lookad at each other and said, almost in unison, "Ooooh, that's *so cool!* ". It wasn't just dropped in, either, it was used in a truly meaningful context, in the same era in which it was written. It was like travelling in time with them, in a way, and was just a really, really cool moment I'm very grateful for.

[debbiekeates]

Elton John was talking about his wedding and his wedding guests. He said that everyone was more interested in meeting Kate Bush than the actual wedding ceremony & reception. Said with no malice or spite, just a comment about this lovely lady and what the public and her industry think about her. A complete talented 'one~off' .

[neorich]

Kate Bush is a genius. I was privileged to see one of her live shows at the Hammersmith Apollo, back in 2014, 2nd row, one of the most amazing experiences of my life.
I have all of her albums.
She was so far ahead of her time and still waiting for everybody else to catch up!

One of the things that makes "Running Up That Hill" work, is that (I believe) that the melody is (mostly) in the Dorian the intervals are unlike any you'd find in a traditional modal melody!
The bit that really (even now) gets me is the harmony singing on the line "is there so much heat for the ones we love?" Absolutely beautiful.

The whole "Hounds of Love" album is a true masterpiece!

[lummergnu]

My teenage kids watched that series as well, came into the living talking about the song, I went to the basket, picked up the 3 track 12" single and put it on the dad of the vinyl is still on the turntable, and the kids has be listening to it everyday since. Not on Spotify, not on their phones...but on the turntable, listening to the whole song, and the instrumental on the b-side is very much a hit as well.

[mattthompson]

If anyone deserves a late career recognition, it's Kate Bush. This often happens after someone's passed. Imagine! Good music still resonates

[SternLX]

You know that must have been quite the shock when her agent called and said "Hey Kate, your song Running Up That Hill went number 1 on the charts... again."

[geoff]

Kate Bush was such a breath of fresh air when she appeared on Top of the Pops in 1978. I have her early albums. Running up the hill one track on one. So glad she's now getting the recognition she deserves from a younger audience.

[dennisneo]

The scary thing is, Kate wrote many of her greatest songs when she was between 13 and 19.
Wuthering Heights is sheer brilliance.

[SHALAt]

She was only 17 years old when she wrote Wuthering Heights -
Now, I am so excited to see a whole new generation discovering her - she deserves it.

[jkratzok]

I fell in love with Kate Bush when I saw her on Saturday Night Live in 1978. Immediately (the next day) I ran out and bought her album "The Kick Inside!" She's influenced so many other female singers and has done incredible work over the years. I'm so glad Stranger Things boosted her back to the top of the charts.

[diamondmidnightgardener]

Apparently Running up that Hill has clocked up 8 non-consecutive weeks at number 1 on Australia's ARIA singles My year 9 son said just then that all the kids in his class are "humming that stranger things running up that hill song. "... suddenly 2022 has become much better than 2020 and 2021.... it gives me hope for music and humanity.

[DizzyMamma]

My kids are 12 and 17. I'm 47. We already went through phases of singing songs from previous seasons, but this one has been on a loop for three weeks now in our house. I love that a song I grew up on, being essentially from the 'generation' the Stranger Things characters are from, is now a favourite of theirs. I also love the look on my 12 year olds face when I know a song that she has just discovered. Mom is occasionally cool now.

[bungopony]

Kate is a true one-off. Her songs don't sound like anyone else's and she has so many unusually great songs and videos. It's hard to believe the amazing songs on Kick Inside were written when she was 16yo. Hounds of love is an album everyone on the planet should own.

[nicholasrameka]

Kate Bush for me as a child of the 80s was kind of like that character in a story that somehow stands outside of time. I was 11 years old when I first heard Running Up That Hill. My parents were driving us to relatives in the city and I remember being especially haunted by the descending synth notes. It was around the time - 1985 - when my fear of nuclear war was at its most heightened. This song stopped me in my tracks. There was a lot of wallpaper music in the 80s, but you just knew when something hit like this. It was yet another offering from a true musical genius.

[firstnamelastname]

That one song made me buy the album in 1985. Not being totally stupid, I immediately bought her earlier albums. BAM! A whole new world of music entered my soul. I don't know how else to put it. Unique and ingenious.