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The Secret History of Kate Bush
Book by Fred Vermorel
- GenresNonfictionBiographyMusic
96 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 1983
7 people are currently reading
152 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
December 27, 2022
So, I knew nothing about Fred Vermorel before reading this book, and after reading this book I have two questions - is this suppose to be satire? And if not, he has been arrested for stalking, right?
I mean if he is telling the truth, he supposedly tracked down the ditch where Kate Bush's great great granddad died and lay in it. WTF?
And that whole thing about suburban life? Is just weird.
At times the writing is really good, but you are also wondering wth he is smoking.
I mean if he is telling the truth, he supposedly tracked down the ditch where Kate Bush's great great granddad died and lay in it. WTF?
And that whole thing about suburban life? Is just weird.
At times the writing is really good, but you are also wondering wth he is smoking.
July 27, 2011
Universally loathed by Kate fans, Vermorel goes for a reaction more than anything else. Having said that, this book is really interesting just for his unique style.. and the great pics of course.
February 16, 2016
Pretentiously self obsessed writing...and the sentence 'but spring ripens chestnut buds fat and sticky as a man's penis' should never appear anywhere let alone in a book supposed to be about Kate Bush!
December 29, 2025
Honestly? Baffling. We learn about Kate’s Viking ancestry (I’m dubious of its truth) and about the first time the author ever heard a girl fart(???!!).
Sure, it’s a tough job writing a sort of biography on someone who’s very private and hasn’t lived very long — Kate was in her early 20s at the time of publishing — but there’s so much waffle and insubstance here that I’m almost impressed.
I also can’t tell if the author’s taking the piss or if he’s genuinely sleazy — especially when he talks about seeing Kate for the first time (on a poster) and talks about her nipples through her cotton vest 🥴 Probably the latter. Which is a shame because the prose is wonderfully obscene and over the top, and some of it was genuinely a joy to read.
Sure, it’s a tough job writing a sort of biography on someone who’s very private and hasn’t lived very long — Kate was in her early 20s at the time of publishing — but there’s so much waffle and insubstance here that I’m almost impressed.
I also can’t tell if the author’s taking the piss or if he’s genuinely sleazy — especially when he talks about seeing Kate for the first time (on a poster) and talks about her nipples through her cotton vest 🥴 Probably the latter. Which is a shame because the prose is wonderfully obscene and over the top, and some of it was genuinely a joy to read.
December 26, 2023
3.5
Fred Vermorel dresse une biographie malsaine et obsessionnelle de la pop star anglaise Kate Bush. En passant par la sémiologie du prénom Kate et sa connotation, il remonte aux origines du “clan Bush”, comme si elle était un mythe de primate devenu ensuite mondialement célèbre.
Il ressuscite ainsi la lueur d’une étoile particulière ancrée dans un milieu social, culturel et musical bien particulier. Filiation, héritage, sources d’inspiration, tout est passé au scanner pour mieux comprendre.
C’est aussi l’anthologie d’un art pas comme les autres : la Pop comme apogée de la société de consommation. Un art subtil dans sa psychologie et son effet sur l’inconscient.
C’est un texte brillant, passionné et complètement barge qui demande un recul intellectuel pour ne pas être offensé et pour comprendre ce qui touche au mystique. C’est le génie d’un fan dans un traité de la pop, à travers l’étude de la psyché humaine, la culture underground anglaise et le concept de fan.
L’édition d’Adrien Durand au Gospel permet de rendre totalement hommage à ce type de publication en en faisant un carnet de street-art “destroy” totalement dans l’esprit de l’artiste underground. C’est une expérience littéraire, visuelle et sensorielle, à réitérer.
Fred Vermorel dresse une biographie malsaine et obsessionnelle de la pop star anglaise Kate Bush. En passant par la sémiologie du prénom Kate et sa connotation, il remonte aux origines du “clan Bush”, comme si elle était un mythe de primate devenu ensuite mondialement célèbre.
Il ressuscite ainsi la lueur d’une étoile particulière ancrée dans un milieu social, culturel et musical bien particulier. Filiation, héritage, sources d’inspiration, tout est passé au scanner pour mieux comprendre.
C’est aussi l’anthologie d’un art pas comme les autres : la Pop comme apogée de la société de consommation. Un art subtil dans sa psychologie et son effet sur l’inconscient.
C’est un texte brillant, passionné et complètement barge qui demande un recul intellectuel pour ne pas être offensé et pour comprendre ce qui touche au mystique. C’est le génie d’un fan dans un traité de la pop, à travers l’étude de la psyché humaine, la culture underground anglaise et le concept de fan.
L’édition d’Adrien Durand au Gospel permet de rendre totalement hommage à ce type de publication en en faisant un carnet de street-art “destroy” totalement dans l’esprit de l’artiste underground. C’est une expérience littéraire, visuelle et sensorielle, à réitérer.
May 10, 2025
I can see why this was hated by so many KB fans at the time, not because it was a correct assessment but more because you can appreciate the baseline for fandom cognizance around the actual subject as opposed to their emotional pull towards it.
I wonder - now that it has been reprinted - whether such a thing would land today in a supposed time of heightened intellectualism around pop culture? I feel you would have even more hate levelled at such a book about Taylor Swift, Beyonce, or a K-Pop star specifically because that fan emotionality has been ringfenced by a false intellectualism which is only really a sophist deflection. you're not supposed to engage with that intellectual barrier, just accept it's there.
In that sense you wonder what use poptimism is at all if it doesn't inspire any discussion of pop as a cultural object but instead serves to shut down discussion.
Ultimately, pop will always be protected from criticism by a two-pronged offensive from above and below: the music industry and the fan. In the middle is an artist and their art, still waiting to be engaged with.
I wonder - now that it has been reprinted - whether such a thing would land today in a supposed time of heightened intellectualism around pop culture? I feel you would have even more hate levelled at such a book about Taylor Swift, Beyonce, or a K-Pop star specifically because that fan emotionality has been ringfenced by a false intellectualism which is only really a sophist deflection. you're not supposed to engage with that intellectual barrier, just accept it's there.
In that sense you wonder what use poptimism is at all if it doesn't inspire any discussion of pop as a cultural object but instead serves to shut down discussion.
Ultimately, pop will always be protected from criticism by a two-pronged offensive from above and below: the music industry and the fan. In the middle is an artist and their art, still waiting to be engaged with.
August 29, 2023
Je suis un anglais loufoque j’écris une parodie de biographie de Kate Bush qui débute à ses ancêtres vikings je suis tellement loufoqueee
Want to read
February 21, 2023Where`s book to read.
It`s not on screen.
Have I got to go and buy it.
It`s not on screen.
Have I got to go and buy it.
August 23, 2025
No mention of Francis Abernathy anywhere 💔
December 29, 2025
I REALLY wanna know what he was on, anyways nice book for pictures of kb
December 30, 2025
I'm so dissappointed and should've done my research about this one prior
January 6, 2026
I expected this to be bizarre and perhaps not as strictly on-topic as I’d have liked. Yes, that.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews