Off to mainland Europe to conquer
1979 Kate Bush Europe
There was no time at all after the last shows at the London Palladium for anyone to recoup. We set off for Stockholm and it was clear that Kate was not well.
Doctors were summoned and I think she had a vitamin D jab. But the show went on with a couple of numbers left out to save her voice and strength.
If you have ever seen a Cheech and Chong movie, then you will be able to imagine the scene as we were driven to the airport in Amsterdam. In truth I would not have been surprised if we had been stopped by the police as the amount of smoke wafting out of the ventiltor windows in the roof of the coach would have made it appear like we were on fire. Inside, I was walking up and down the centre aisle repeatedly telling everyone to either smoke the last of their stash or throw it out of the windows, as I did not want anyone to try carry any left overs to the next port of call.
I had never been on a tour with so many of us smokers, I felt at times like the only straight one in the bunch but thinking about it now, I'm sure Hillary was as well !!!
You must read the story written in the tour edition of the KB Fanzine of a most colourful description of our adventures, by Lisa our make up artist. I've put it in the gallery called 'My Tour Programme" at the top of this page.
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My tour programme was signed by the majority of the band, with the exception of Alan Murphy for some reason, however I became quite close friends with Alan after the tour and in late '88 before he passed away, Alan helped me quite a bit with recording some demos of a guy I was managing at the time called Matt Moffitt from Australia. The memorial service fro Alan in 1989 was one of the saddest days of my life. RIP xxx
This page that Kate signed is a lovely memento of the tour, and the truth is, I make a great cup of tea and become a comfy cushion when things aren't going great sometimes.
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Well I ask you, how often does a tour manager get a letter of thanks from the Managing Director of a record company. Truly I'm honoured because it is the first and last!! It is a most generous letter and having known Bob Mercer for several years as I had been with Steve Harley, another EMI artist, it was nice to get it from someone I knew too. Thank you Bob... Well EMI were very proactive on the tour all over Europe, and as Hillary was also an ex-EMI'er the whole thing felt like one big family at times.
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Then Gerry, Nick's assistant stage manager, in full frogman's outfit, came out of the dry ice from under the dock as Kate somehow kept going in the song WOW. There wasn't a dry eye in the wings.....
And here he is on the left in his outfit, thank you someone for taking this picture
You know at the end of a tour there is always a bit of fun and frivolity and this tour was no different. Before the final curtain had fallen the crew had something up their sleeves, and boy did they ever. It was all kept a secret and I wasn't told about any of it until the very last moment. Nick Levitt was in charge of the stage, but each member of the crew in some way or another took part in what I can only describe as an assortment of amazing stunts, LIVE within the content of the show.
There was a two man stage camel that sauntered on stage, with the aim of getting from one side to another, but Kate stopped them and sang the whole of Egypt to them in the middle of the stage.
An old bicycle was riden across stage with the driver dressed up in a big mack and he had a metal hanger inside the scarf to make it look like a windy day, hillarious....
Preston didn't get away with things either, as behind the drumkit a crafty arm swung a plate of fried eggs on to the floor tom skin as he played a roll across the whole kit from left to right. Preston couldn't stomach eggs, and these went flying all over the place as his sticks came crashing down on the plate.
Talking of getting away with it, I thought I had until the aftershow party in the green room at the Hammersmith Odeon. Everyone was happy, sad, getting pissed when Kate came up to me and landed a huge cream pie straight into my face, I think you can read my lips from the photo. Oh well, a tour managers job is a difficult one sometimes :)
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When Billy died I discussed the option for a memorial benefit concert with his family and Hillary and Kate. It was agreed that I contact Peter Gabriel and Steve Harley to see if they would be part of it too. Both guys agreed so we set up a third Hammersmith Odeon date and a brief period of time for rehearsals. We were playing in Amsterdam for two nights so on the second afternoon Peter and Steve arrived and ran through what was going to happen. It all went very smoothly and the show itself was a massive success and an emotional roller-coaster.
After the tour Dick Parkinson and I looked into a civil court action against Poole Arts Centre for negligence, but at the time only family could sue in this way, and Billy's mum and dad had had enough grief......
