Kate Bush has removed the vocal contribution of disgraced Australian entertainer Rolf Harris from the newly remastered edition of 2005 album Aerial.



Harris played the role of ‘the painter’ on the conceptual side two of Aerial, known as A Sky Of Honey and contributed a spoken word section on ‘An Architect’s Dream’ as well as actually singing on ‘The Painter’s Link’. On the 2018 remastered edition, these parts are replaced by what sounds very much like Kate’s son Bertie (Albert McIntosh), who indeed took this role when Kate performed A Sky Of Honey in its entirety, as part of 2014 live show Before The Dawn.

Rolf Harris also features on Kate’s 1982 album The Dreaming. He plays didgeridoo on the title track. That performance appears to be intact on the 2018 remaster.

There had been some debate on SDE as to whether Kate would make any changes to the recording and having heard the audio, we can confirm that it has definitely happened. It also means that the tracks in question will have been remixed, not just remastered and indeed Bertie sings much more on ‘The Painter’s Link’ than Rolf did, and the ending of that song now sounds very different as it segues into Sunset, with Kate’s vocals much more in the background than there were before.

Fans tend to not like artists messing with their albums, but one can argue that this was a special case. Has Kate done the right thing? In 2014 Harris was found guilty of 12 counts of indecent assault. SDE reached out to Kate’s representatives about these changes and received a simple ‘no comment’.

Kate’s remasters are released in two phases, starting next week on 16 November and then again on 30 November 2018.

Box Set Promotions





Kate Bush Remastered Vinyl Box 1

The Kick Inside (1978)

Lionheart (1978)

Never For Ever (1980)

The Dreaming (1982)

Kate Bush Remastered Vinyl Box 2

Hounds of Love (1985)

The Sensual World (1989)

The Red Shoes (1993).

Kate Bush Remastered Vinyl Box 3

Aerial (2005)

Director’s Cut (2011)

50 Words For Snow (2011)

Kate Bush Remastered Vinyl Box 4

12″ Mixes

The Other Side 1 (B-sides)

The Other Side 2 (B-sides continued)

In Others’ Words (covers)

Kate Bush Remastered CD box 1

The Kick Inside (1978)

Lionheart (1978)

Never For Ever (1980)

The Dreaming (1982)

Hounds of Love (1985)

The Sensual World (1989)

The Red Shoes (1993).



Kate Bush Remastered: CD box 2

Aerial (2005)

Director’s Cut (2011)

50 Words For Snow (2011)

Before The Dawn (2016)

12″ Mixes

The Other Side 1 (B-sides)

The Other Side 2 (B-sides continued)

In Others’ Words (covers)

What’s in the rarities discs:

12” MIXES

Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God) The Big Sky (Meteorological Mix) Cloudbusting (The Orgonon Mix) Hounds Of Love (Alternative Mix) Experiment IV (Extended Mix)

THE OTHER SIDE 1

Walk Straight Down The Middle You Want Alchemy Be Kind To My Mistakes Lyra Under The Ivy Experiment IV Ne T’Enfuis Pas Un Baiser D’Enfant Burning Bridge Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God) 2012 Remix

THE OTHER SIDE 2

Home For Christmas One Last Look Around The House Before We Go I’m Still Waiting Warm And Soothing Show A Little Devotion Passing Through Air Humming Ran Tan Waltz December Will Be Magic Again Wuthering Heights (Remix / New Vocal from ‘The Whole Story’)

IN OTHERS’ WORDS