Happy 35th: Kate Bush, Never for Ever

35 years ago today, Kate Bush released an album which would provide her with three very notable firsts, but there are some who remember it predominantly because one of its singles led to one of the most iconic videos of the '80s…in the UK, at least.

Although Ms. Bush released two top-10 UK albums in a row, her second album, Lionheart, hadn't charted quite as high as her first, which is exactly the sort of thing that causes rock critics to giggle with glee and start ripping artists to shreds for having suffered a “sophomore slump.” But it's a pretty sorry excuse for a slump when an album hits #6, and even if anyone was foolish enough to believe that she was suffering through such a thing, Kate killed those suggestions stone dead when Never for Ever became not only her first #1 album but also the first studio album by any female solo artist to enter the UK Albums chart at #1.

In addition, Never for Ever took Bush back into the top five of the UK Singles chart for the first time since releasing her debut single, “Wuthering Heights,” in 1978. The song that did it for her was “Babooshka,” and we're not saying that the video necessarily had anything to do with it, but it certainly couldn't have hurt.

With that said, however, Never for Ever also provided Bush with two additional hits: “Breathing,” the album's first single, which took her into the top 20 (or to #16, if you want to be specific about it), and “Army Dreamers,” which also went to #16, as it happens, thereby making a pair of very nice bookends for “Babooshka.”

Once upon a time, Kate Bush declared Never for Ever to be her favorite album to date. That was some time ago, admittedly, but just knowing that she said it at all surely makes it worthy of revisiting on the anniversary of its initial release.