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Glasgow Live
Glasgow Live
National
David McLean

Throwback Glasgow photos show the day Kate Bush greeted local fans in 1980

Much has been written about Kate Bush in recent months, thanks to the inclusion, as those not currently residing on the Moon will be aware, of her hit Running Up That Hill in season four of Stranger Things.

The surprise resurgence of the song has seen it climb all the way to the top of the UK charts - a feat it never achieved on its original release way back in 1985.

Take a look back at the music legend’s gigography, however, and you won’t find much of a local connection - because Kate Bush never played Glasgow. Let that sink in for just a moment: one of the UK’s best-known singer-songwriters has never had the pleasure of performing in front of the world’s best live music audience. Incredible.

READ MORE: Netflix Stranger Things link sees Kate Bush tribute act inundated with bookings

That said, the fact Kate Bush never took to a Glasgow stage is not particularly surprising. After completing a run of shows in 1978 and 1979, the Kent-born musician would not tour again for another 35 years and there are still plenty of UK towns and cities that have been starved of seeing her on stage.

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A concert at Edinburgh’s Usher Hall on April 13, 1979 was, rather scandalously, as close as the art pop pioneer ever got to performing Glasgow.

But that’s not to say that Ms Bush didn’t get to rub shoulders with her Glasgow fanbase. As our archive images show, the Wuthering Heights star visited the city at the peak of her early fame for an album signing at an unnamed local record store in October 1980.

It was part of Kate Bush's promotional tour for her third studio album Never for Ever, which contained now classic tracks such as Breathing, Army Dreamers and Babooshka and her Glasgow fans were out in force to meet the fresh-faced singer, who was then aged just 22.

Kate Bush would make another appearance in Glasgow in 1982 following the release of her fourth studio album, The Dreaming.

What we’d love to know about the 1980 photographs, however, is where the album signing took place. It’s an essential piece of information that appears to have been lost in the sands of time and was not recorded on any of the photos.

If you can recall, or even attended Kate Bush’s Glasgow album signing in October 1980, and, crucially, happen to know the location, please let us know in the comments section below.

Now that she's back in the charts again and has booked a short run of UK shows for September and October, perhaps Kate Bush will do us all a massive favour and finally book a gig here in Glasgow. Why not? After all, stranger things have happened.

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