Episode 87 - Peter Reich in Orgonon - Cloudbusting Special!

NB: Watch the visual trailer for this episode! https://youtu.be/H1Cw7woW3q8 In this very special episode of the Kate Bush Fan Podcast, Darrell Babidge chats to Seán about a memorable day spent in the company of Peter Reich at Orgonon itself! Peter is of course the writer of A Book of Dreams about his father Wilhelm Reich, the book that inspired Kate's Cloudbusting. The visit took place at the Wilhelm Reich Museum which Kate currently also shares a link to on her official website. Because Darrell has so much visual content from the day Seán also created the visual trailer below for you to whet your appetite for the podcast episode: https://youtu.be/H1Cw7woW3q8 Orgonon is located in the state of Maine, USA and is where Wilhelm Reich established his laboratory and observatory where he conducted his work and research into orgone energy among other things. Peter's father Wilhelm was memorably played by Donald Sutherland in the celebrated 1985 music film for the song Cloudbusting.  

Seán introduces our first episode of 2026! Following on from their recent countdown from No. 20-11, Paul and Darrell now share each of their Top 10 Kate songs. There are a few surprises along the way! Did they miss out some of your favourites?

Happy Christmas! Seán introduces a fun episode in which Paul and Darrell share each of their top 20 Kate Bush song lists. This is part 1 where they count down from number 20 to 11, without knowing what each other's choices are! They are surprisingly quite different, and they explain why they chose each song. Wishing all our listeners a lovely Christmas and a wonderful, peaceful New Year in 2026!  

As we continue to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Hounds of Love album by Kate Bush, Darrell and Paul from Bush Telegraph (and Seán in Dublin from Kate Bush News!) discuss Kate's incredible music videos from The Hounds of Love album.

As part of our celebrations of 40 years of Hounds of Love, Darrell and Paul (Bush Telegraph) reminisce about the release of Kate's album in 1985!

Richard Ames, tour manager for Kate's Tour of Life in 1979 chats with Darrell from Bush Telegraph. Richard's professional and personable qualities were always sought after by many leading bands and musicians, including Fleetwood Mac, Paul McCartney and Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel to name just a few. He talks about his work with Kate and the process of how the tour all came together, from meeting with Kate and her family at East Wickham Farm to the heady days of the rehearsals and sold out performances. We also get a glimpse of the genius of Kate's creative mind and artistry as we go behind the scenes of this once-in-a-lifetime tour, when she was still only 20 years old. With the highs also came the lows, and Richard talks about the devastating loss of lighting engineer, Bill Duffield on the first leg of the tour in Poole, Dorset. Outside of this tragic story, there are still many other stories and experiences that will bring a smile to your face. Let's go back to 1979, and see the young Kate at work on stage...

Darrell from Bush Telegraph chats with Jay Myrdal, the photographer who took the 'Wuthering Heights' and 'The Kick Inside' cover photos. Jay talks about how he got into photography, and his move from Montana in America to the UK, where he has lived ever since. For the very first time we get to hear Jay talk about the iconic photo session with the young Kate Bush, as well as his work with other artists. This was Kate's very first photo session at the age of 19, and yet you get a glimpse into how important the visual concepts were to her even back then. Jay recounts the process of this session, including the arrival of Kate's father a few days before who came to build that iconic kite for Kate. Enjoy!

Paul and Darrell are back to talk about Kate's prolific catalogue of videos. The Dreaming had one of her busiest periods of video output, although sadly most were not seen in their entirety until the Single File was released a year later. Sat In Your Lap, The Dreaming, There Goes A Tenner and Suspended in Gaffa are discussed in detail, and highlight how well they still stand on their own today. Kate and Paddy's takes on the filming of each video are also quoted. Paul and Darrell, as always, go down memory lane, reminiscing about their first impressions of the singles and videos, and how they rushed to the record shops on each release date. They also talk a little bit about the release of 'Little Shrew' and other recent Kate news, with their own take of when they think Kate will release new work.

Darrell chats again with Paul Simmons of the design company Timorous Beasties. This time they discuss Paul's work with Kate in creating artwork for Before The Dawn , Hounds of Love (Baskerville Edition) and The Dreaming (Escapologist Edition). In the podcast Paul also talks about how he and his friend Alistair McAuley started Timorous Beasties together from their college days, and how they came up with the name!

In the third and final part of Seán's wonderful chat with guitarist and musician, Brian Bath, they discuss more of his memories of playing on Kate's 1979 tour, his work on the Kate BBC TV Special, his deep involvement in the recording of the Never For Ever album, co-starring in the videos for Breathing and Army Dreamers, playing on The Dreaming album and starring in the video for There Goes A Tenner, and working on the Hounds of Love album once again with Kate. Incredible to listen to him, Seán was pinching himself!