• News
  • Film and TV
  • Music
  • Tech
  • Features
  • Celebrity
  • Politics
  • Weird
  • Community
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • LADbible
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
TikTok
YouTube
Submit Your Content
Kate Bush Running Up That Hill Music Video Was Banned In America For Being ‘Too Weird’

Home> Music

Published 15:54 31 May 2022 GMT+1

Kate Bush Running Up That Hill Music Video Was Banned In America For Being ‘Too Weird’

The clip was considered 'too esoteric' for audiences by MTV, who chose a lip synced live performance instead.

Simon Catling

Simon Catling

The iconic Kate Bush was propelled back into the topic of discussion this week thanks to her legendary hit 'Running Up That Hill' featuring prominently in the new series of Stranger Things.

However, the track hasn't been without its controversy, with the video for it even being banned from MTV at one point.

The first volume of season four of Stranger Things premiered on 27 May, and sees the British pop legend's 1985 hit 'Running Up That Hill' feature heavily throughout the show, in turn helping the reclusive star get to number one on the iTunes chart.

Advert

It's first heard in the first episode, on Max Mayfield’s (Sadie Sink) Walkman, and continues to be a pivotal song for the character as the drama unfolds.

Netflix

The success of the track has been such that not only has the song topped the iTunes chart, but it’s also overtaken 'Wuthering Heights' on Spotify to become Bush's most popular track on the service.

However, what people perhaps don't know about the track is that its abstract and controversial video was deemed suitable by MTV in the 1980s; the channel decided not to run it, instead opting for a lip-synced performance of it from the Terry Wogan show of all places instead.

Advert

While the video is certainly artfully done, it wasn't particularly outrageous. Featuring Bush performing an interpretive dance with dancer Michael Hervieu, the pair perform a repeated gesture suggestive of drawing a bow and arrow, with these scenes intercut with surreal sequences of Bush and Hervieu searching through crowds of masked strangers.

Netflix

As the song comes to a close, Bush's partner withdraws from her and the two are swept away in opposite directions by a slew of anonymous figures wearing masks made from pictures of Bush and Hervieu's faces.

The site Eighties Kids claims that MTV executives were worried it was 'too esoteric' and didn't want to risk playing the video to an audience who might not understand it – which seems pretty rich when you consider some of the nonsense music vides that were floating around in the 80s.

Anyway, with Gen Z now aware of Kate Bush, they're started circulating various clips of the retiring artist, which have typically gone viral. What seems to be fascinating them most though, is how Bush pours her tea.

Advert

The clip shows her pouring boiling water into her teapot before pouring the tea into the cups on her kitchen sink. However, she pours until they overflow and also puts in the milk first!

The footage has since gone viral after being posted by Twitter user @enayessa, who wrote: "Any new kate bush fans must see this VERY IMPORTANT video of her pouring tea," before adding: "The mind that wrote all the love makes tea like this... makes you think."

If you have a story you want to tell, send it to UNILAD via [email protected]  

Featured Image Credit: Netflix/EMI

Topics: Netflix, Stranger Things

Simon Catling
Simon Catling

Advert

Advert

Advert

  • Stranger Things bosses wrote an essay to convince Kate Bush to let them use 'Running Up That Hill'
  • Kate Bush Sent To Highest Ever Place In US Charts By Stranger Things
  • Stranger Things Fans Unhappy At Major Characters Being Made 'Irrelevant' In Season 4
  • Stranger Things star Noah Schnapp opens up on hitting puberty during filming

Choose your content:

4 days ago
5 days ago
17 days ago
18 days ago
  • 4 days ago

    Sabrina Carpenter slammed for X-rated album cover but some fans think it has a hidden meaning

    Sabrina's fans are up in arms over her artwork and concept

    Music
  • 5 days ago

    The Beach Boys singer Brian Wilson has died aged 82

    Brian Wilson has died at the age of 82, his family have confirmed

    Music

    breaking

  • 17 days ago

    Taylor Swift makes major announcement on her music after Scooter Braun controversially purchased it all for $300,000,000

    Taylor Swift has long been teasing a huge announcement to her fans

    Music
  • 18 days ago

    Scientists made guinea pigs listen to Adele for a week and discovered horrifying truth

    The guinea pigs listened to one of Adele's songs on loop for four hours

    Music