Why Kate Bush thought punk was “a big business game”
The 1970s indeed marked a turbulent period for Britain, characterised by economic challenges like the three-day working week, sporting disappointments such as England’s loss in The Ashes and failure to qualify for the World Cup, and a general sense of disillusionment following the idealism of the 1960s. Musically, the decade saw monumental achievements, but by the mid-1970s, a sense of stagnation had set in, prompting a need for change. This is where punk emerged as a transformative force, shaking up the status quo and injecting new energy and attitude into the music scene.
As a reaction to the establishment, punk had been bubbling under the surface of the mid-1970s, inspired by the work of The Stooges, The New York Dolls, and The Velvet Underground. Angered at the sclerotic state of the global economy, with a nihilistic outlook due to the younger generation believing that there genuinely was no future, music became their means of escape and their weapon for bringing down the established order in the industry and broader society.
Directing their righteous rage towards the flabby classic rock acts such as Led Zeppelin and the prog-rock hubris of Yes and the like, punk swept the country like a tsunami in 1976, with its audience, who had been languishing, perfectly poised to be galvanised. The likes of Ramones, Sex Pistols, The Clash and others vocalised the strife that abounded and offered a route out of the somewhat limp cultural juncture. What followed, in the forms of post-punk, goth, indie and grunge, would become some of the most vital genres popular music has ever known.
However, punk burned out quickly after it captured the public’s imagination. Due to the usual trappings of fame and the disaster that unfolded with Sex Pistols bassist Sid Vicious, most punk bands quickly became a caricature of themselves, like the acts they originally had in the crosshairs. This implosion set the scene for post-punk, a much more artistically and philosophically viable offshoot that bridged the two decades.
Naturally, by the end of the 1970s, the major punk bands had many enemies that weren’t just Bill Grundy. While they might have changed the musical landscape and facilitated the rise of many of our contemporary favourites, some of the day’s most important acts weren’t taking any of punk’s schtick. One of those more critical than most was art-pop innovator Kate Bush, an artist not usually known for her sharp tongue. Alas, though, she thought that punk was nothing more than a “big business game”.
Speaking on the Australian show Countdown in 1979, which reflected on punk, Bush clarified her thoughts. She said: “I thought that the whole thing was really just like a game, you know, it was just like a big business game, with business people saying, ‘Oh no, we don’t want them’… it’s all people acting and becoming roles and playing their roles.”
Ironically, former Sex Pistols frontman Johnny Rotten was also included in the programme and added credence to Bush’s comments: “I was expected to live up to the press… That’s why I was disliked; I would not be a puppet and not act out somebody else’s pantomime.”
Watch the clip below.
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