Running Up That Hill, a Kate Bush song from the 1980s, has experienced a remarkable comeback, culminating in its ascent to the top of the UK singles chart.
The song, which was first published in 1985, has seen a fresh lease on life since it was featured in the Netflix science fiction programme Stranger Things. It surpassed Harry Styles’ As It Was to take the top spot this week after debuting at number two the previous week.
Bush expressed her shock at the level of love for her song.
The actress stated in a statement, “It’s all happening incredibly rapidly, as if it’s being driven along by a kind of elemental force.” I must say that I am deeply moved by it all.
Bush last achieved the top spot with her debut hit, Wuthering Heights, 44 years ago. Compared to Tom Jones, who had to wait 42 years between the top of the charts in 1966 with Green Green Grass of Home and his subsequent number one, the charity single (Barry) Islands in the Stream, this four-decade gap is the greatest in chart history.
Bush’s acclaimed fifth album Hounds Of Love, which she self-produced and largely wrote with a Fairlight CMI – a revolutionary digital sampling synthesiser, featured Running Up That Hill as one of its original tracks.
The most recent season of Stranger Things, which debuted at the end of May, is where many of those viewers first learned about Running Up That Hill. One of the teenage protagonists, Max Mayfield, obsessively plays the song throughout the film as she tries to cope with her brother’s passing.
The Official Charts Company’s CEO, Martin Talbot, emphasised that the laws remained the same. “Kate Bush’s Running Up That Hill has simply been manually reset this week,” the record executive stated. “This method is available to all artists and is frequently employed by record labels during new marketing times and surges of this sort.”
According to Charlotte Gunn, founder of the Forty-Five and former NME editor, labels may strive harder to get archival songs included in popular concerts in an effort to mimic Bush’s success.
“Stranger Things and Kate Bush are both well-liked. Because it’s such a touching tale, fans were rooting for her to get No. 1, she explained.
