I Wanna Be Kate is a compilation album of cover versions of Kate Bush songs, as performed by several bands and artists from the Chicago area. A total of 71 musicians and 19 engineers worked together to complete the project. The artists recorded and mixed their tracks at 13 different studios. The album was released on 22 September 1998.

Track listing

  1. L’Amour Looks Something Like You (The Aluminum Group)
  2. The Sensual World (Susan Voelz)
  3. Hounds Of Love (The Moviegoers)
  4. The Man With The Child In His Eyes (Syd Straw)
  5. There Goes A Tenner (The J Davis Trio)
  6. The Saxophone Song (Nora O’Connor)
  7. You’re The One (Justin Roberts)
  8. Coffee Homeground (Mouse)
  9. Jig Of Life (Catherine Smitko)
  10. The Kick Inside (Victoria Storm)
  11. Running Up That Hill (The Baltimores)
  12. Home For Christmas (Diamond Jim Greene)
  13. Suspended In Gaffa (My Scarlet Life)
  14. Kashka From Baghdad/Babooshka (The Plunging Necklines)
  15. Love And Anger (Trinkets Of Joy)
  16. And Dream Of Sheep (Thomas Negovan)
  17. Not This Time (Tom Dunning & Your Boyfriends)

Formats

I Wanna Be Kate was released as a CD.

'I Wanna Be Kate' - CD cover
‘I Wanna Be Kate’ – CD cover

Critical response

Some American publications reviewed the collection.

From an independent Chicago label comes an inspired and long-overdue tribute to the Great Ms. Bush, arguably one of the most influential female rock artists ever. (…) Bush is done justice here. The star here is The J David Trio’s acid jazz reworking of ‘There Goes A Tenner’, from Bush’s masterful and highly experimental 1982 album The Dreaming.

Mark Lowry, Dallas/fort Worth Star-Telegram, 14 september 1998

The new tribute album is a mixed bag, displaying both Bush’s best and worst tendencies, as well as those of the mostly local performers who render them. The most successful tracks are those by artists who find their own path into a song and then work their way back, turning it inside out in de process.

Monica Kendrick, Chicago Reader, 2 October 1998

References

  • ‘News’. Homeground 62, Winter 1998