Never for Ever

Beginning production after her 1979 tour, Never for Ever was Bush's second foray into production (her first was for the On Stage EP the previous year), aided by the engineer of Lionheart (1978), Jon Kelly. After initially considering Eric Stewart for the position of producer, she ultimately decided to produce Never for Ever herself alongside Jon Kelly, who was to be the audio engineer. The first two albums had resulted in a particular sound, which was evident in every track, with lush orchestral arrangements supporting the live band sound. Andrew Powell had worked on the orchestration for those two albums, although Bush decided to proceed without him on Never Forever. Bush commented that she had "nothing against Andrew at all because he is a fantastic arranger", but said that she was "strong-minded" and wanted to make more creative decisions on her own. "The Wedding List" drew from François Truffaut's 1968 film The Bride Wore Black. "Delius (Song of Summer)" was inspired by the 1968 Ken Russell television film Song of Summer, which portrays the last six years of the life of English composer Frederick Delius, when Eric Fenby acted as his amanuensis. Fenby is mentioned in the lyrics ("in B, Fenby"). "Blow Away (for Bill)" commemorates her lighting director Bill Duffield, who had been killed in an accident at Poole Arts Centre during her 1979 tour. The song links his name to those of several music stars who died in the previous three years—Minnie Riperton, Keith Moon, Sandy Denny, Sid Vicious, Marc Bolan—and one earlier icon, Buddy Holly. Never for Ever is the only studio album by Bush up to ''Director's Cut'' (2011) not to have a title track. According to Bush, the title alluded to conflicting emotions, good and bad, which pass, as she stated: "we must tell our hearts that it is 'never for ever', and be happy that it's like that". The album cover is an illustration (in pencil) by artist Nick Price, who had also designed the cover for the programme for her 1979 tour. Bush was pleased with the results (it depicts a multitude of animals and monsters emerging from under her skirt). Of the concept, Bush said that it reflects the title, depicting good and bad things that emerge from one's self. The album was released on compact disc in Japan in 1987 with the cover art modified. A section of the original cover art was enlarged, creating two different booklet covers: the outer one modified; and underneath the original. The album's cover was voted 'Greatest Album Cover of 1980' by Record Mirror. "Violin" and "Egypt" were performed live during The Tour of Life in April–May 1979. "The Wedding List" was aired in a BBC Christmas Special on 28 December 1979. ==Release and critical reception==

With work on the album completed in May, Never for Ever was released on 8 September 1980. Over the following week, Bush undertook a record-signing tour of the UK – including London, which resulted in lengthy queues down Oxford Street. During October she also undertook promotional appearances for the album throughout Europe, most prominently in Germany and France. The album became Bush's first record to reach the top position on the UK Albums Chart, also making her the first female British solo artist to achieve that status. Technically, Never for Ever is the first studio album (i.e. not a greatest hits compilation) by any solo female artist to reach number 1 in the UK. Barbra Streisand and Connie Francis achieved the feat prior to 1980, but only with compilation albums. (Diana Ross too had achieved three UK number 1 albums by then – but not only were those compilations, they were credited to Diana Ross & The Supremes, and were therefore not solo albums.) Three singles were released from the album, all of which fared well in the charts. The first, "Breathing", reached No. 16 in the UK, as did the third, "Army Dreamers". The second single, "Babooshka", became one of Bush's biggest hits, peaking at No. 5 in the summer of 1980 in the UK and faring even better in Australia, where it reached No. 2 and was the 20th-best-selling single of the year. In November 2018, Bush released box sets of remasters of her studio albums, including Never For Ever. The album was favourably received by music critics at the time, save for a review in Record Mirror, which criticised it as "depressing" with "meanderingly unattractive" music. The publication was also complimentary of certain tracks, including "Babooshka", "Army Dreamers", and "Breathing". ==Track listing==

Credits are adapted from the Never for Ever liner notes. • Kate Bush – vocals; piano; keyboards; harmony vocals; Fairlight CMI digital sampling synthesizer; Yamaha CS-80 polyphonic synthesizer (1, 4); arranger • John L. Walters and Richard James Burgess – Fairlight CMI programming • Max Middleton – Fender Rhodes piano (1, 3, 5, 6, 11); Minimoog (5); string arrangements (3, 6) • Duncan Mackay – Fairlight CMI (4, 10) • Michael Moran – Prophet-5 synthesizer (5) • Larry Fast – Prophet synthesizer (11) • Alan Murphy – electric guitar (1, 2, 6, 7, 8, 11); electric guitar solo (7); acoustic guitar (4, 10); bass (10) • Brian Bath – electric guitar (1, 6, 7, 11); acoustic guitar (3, 4, 10); backing vocals (6, 10) • Paddy Bush – backing vocals (1, 4, 5, 6, 10); balalaika (1); sitar; bass vocals and voice of "Delius" (2); koto (4); strumento de porco (psaltery) (5); harmonica and musical saw (6); banshee (7); mandolin (10) • Kevin Burke – violin (7) • Adam Skeaping – viola da gamba (8); string arrangements (8) • Joseph Skeaping – lironi (8); string arrangements (8) • John Giblin – bass (1); fretless bass (11) • Del Palmer – fretless bass (3); bass guitar (5, 6, 7) • Preston Heyman – drums (3, 5, 6, 7); percussion (2, 3, 5); backing vocals (4, 6) • Stuart Elliott – drums (1, 11); bodhrán (10) • Roland – percussion (2) • Morris Pert – timpani (4); percussion (11) • Ian Bairnson – bass vocals (2) • Gary Hurst – backing vocals (1, 4) • Andrew Bryant – backing vocals (4) • Roy Harper – backing vocals (11) • The Martyn Ford Orchestra – strings (3, 6) Production • Kate Bush – producer • Jon Kelly – co-producer; recording engineer • Jon Jacobs – assistant engineer ==Charts==

Weekly charts Year-end charts ==Certifications and sales==